Researchers have looked into the consequences of the overconsumption of food supplements intended for athletes, a phenomenon on the rise.
Their name suggests harmlessness, wrongly. Food supplements (proteins, creatine, carnitine, etc.) are increasingly consumed by non-professional athletes in order to increase their muscle mass and their physical performance. However, apart from a strict and medically supervised diet, and energy expenditure justifying supplementation, this undue consumption has alarming impacts on health.
These are the conclusions of a study presented in Toronto at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association and relayed by the site of Radio Canada. The authors of are focused on the use of these products by non-professional athletes.
Misuse
Their work involves 200 men aged 18 to 65 who exercised on average twice a week and who had consumed dietary supplements such as creatine, whey protein or L-carnitine in the past 30 days.
The authors of the work noted an increasing misuse among the participants. Thus, more than 40% of them admitted to having used these products more over time and 22% of them explained that they had replaced a meal with these supplements, even though they were not designed. to be substitutes, as specified in the notices.
Low self-esteem
In addition, 8% of participants were advised by their doctor to reduce their consumption due to potentially harmful side effects, and 3% had to be hospitalized for liver and kidney problems. On all subjects, a third explained to be concerned about their consumption of food supplements and their health consequences.
In order to better understand the reasons which push these non-professional athletes to supplement themselves, the authors questioned consumers on their motivations. They isolated several factors, such as dissatisfaction with their body image, a lack of self-esteem, and a feeling that they did not match the male image dictated by modern culture.
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