The Dangers of Muscle Building Supplements

Some of the worst dietary advice is given to athletes of all ages. The misinformation starts in middle and high school, when well-meaning but misinformed coaches often instruct student athletes to eat more protein, use sports drinks for hydration, and consume dairy products for strong bones. Supplements are almost always recommended by trainers for body builders and other adult athletes with the promise that they contribute to more rapid muscle development and better performance. Diet and supplement recommendations are delivered with the implication that results are virtually assured and usually without any explanation of the potential risks. Furthermore, other dietary patterns, such as more plant-based diets are almost never discussed, except to dismiss them as not adequate for helping athletes to train and perform.

Supplements, in particular, are a concern, and the results of a new study should encourage even more people to avoid them. This study included 356 men between the ages of 18 and 55 who had had testicular cancer and 513 controls. Researchers looked at many factors, including exercise, smoking, drinking, family history, and the use of supplements for building muscle. The researchers concluded that muscle-building supplements, particularly those that contained both creatine (which is a hot topic right now) and protein, and those with testosterone-boosting androstenedione, significantly increased the risk of testicular germ cell cancer. Lead researcher Tongzhang Zheng said, “The observed relationship was strong. If you used them at an earlier age, you had a higher risk. If you used them longer, you had a higher risk. If you used multiple types, you had a higher risk.”

The researchers also noted that many supplements contain unknown ingredients that can increase the risk of cancer, citing a study that showed that 15% of supplements that did not include hormones on the labels contained anabolic androgenic steroids which have been associated with testicular cancer in animal studies.

The incidence of testicular germ cell cancer is rising in both the U.S. and Europe, and is the most common malignancy in men between the ages of 15-39 years of age. While many other factors are most certainly contributors, including poor diet, supplements to boost sports performance increase the risk even more, and should be avoided.

Athletes should be informed that optimal performance can be achieved without high-protein diets and supplements; in fact more and more athletes are finding that sports performance is enhanced by eating a more plant-based diet. Athletes do not need to choose between optimal performance or optimal diet. In fact optimal diet leads to optimal performance.