Junior Adam Camp is strong enough to deadlift 475 pounds. He does intense workouts in preparation for football. These workouts leave him exhausted and sore.
As a result, he is one of thousands of young athletes to use nutritional supplements such as protein shakes to give himself an extra boost and make bodily adjustments.
Many young athletes aspire to be ripped, with muscular physiques of mature collegiate national champions or Olympians. They use products intended for ingestion that add nutritional value to supplement an athlete’s diet, and come in the forms of powder, shakes, pills, energy drinks and even chewing gum.
The inclusion of nutritional supplements in an athlete’s diet is controversial, and wanting to find out about their benefits and potentials harms, I recently did research using resources like Web M.D., nutrition pamphlets and student athletes who have taken nutritional supplements and consulted nutritionists.
Student athletes generally take supplements in order to gain muscle, give themselves an extra edge to bodybuilding or improve their physique. Many claim it has helped them grow, recover from injury, amp up their workouts or start a new program.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the leading trade association representing dietary supplement manufacturers and ingredient suppliers, points out that if a supplement’s promises sound too good to be true, it’s probably best to steer clear.
"Any product promising to help you get stacked or put on muscle mass in a short amount of time is a red flag," says Duffy McKay, a former high school wrestler and coach from San Jose who is now Senior Vice President of Scientific & Regulatory Affairs for the CRN, in a Vitamin Retailers article.
However, in-depth research by nutritional scientists show that safe, healthy supplements can be part of a young athlete’s lifestyle if consumed at appropriate amounts and balanced with a proper diet and the right amount of rest and recovery. In fact, young athletes between the age of 10-18 are encouraged by nutritionists to take natural supplements such as fish oils, multi-vitamins, whey protein or probiotics. These drugs are considered the safest and have no harmful side effects.
Benefits of supplements
For his part, Camp is confident about taking nutritional supplements in his diet. He told me about his personal routines for supplement intake along with his safe usage and progressive results.
Before his junior year, Camp lifted simply to aid whichever seasonal sport he was playing, whether it was football, wrestling or baseball. After learning the fundamentals of weight lifting, he “fell in love” with the sport of weightlifting itself. Instead of lifting daily as a side routine, he placed his focus on learning the techniques of lifting.
“I began researching good form, and along with that, supplements,” Camp said.
Camp takes whey protein, fish oil, a multivitamin and creatine monohydrate on a daily basis. As long as there is no overdosing, these supplements pose no major risks. Besides dehydration, which can be solved by intaking more fluids, he said they have not caused harmful side effects.
Whey protein is a fast-acting protein great for the anabolic stage, the immediate 30 minutes following a workout for muscles to repair. Camp takes it once a day after his workouts or on a rest day as a meal replacement shake.
Fish oil omega-3 fatty acid, a different supplement, has proven through studies to help reduce muscle inflammation and reduce symptoms of concussions, the kind Camp has received from playing football.
Camp also recommends multivitamins to any athlete interested in taking supplements as they are “great to ensure that all micronutrients are hit for the day.”
Finally, Camp said creatine monohydrate is another popular supplement that the body already naturally produces in protein metabolism. Extra creatine is proven to have positive effects on power output and lean muscle gain. This is generally taken daily. It is possible that creatine can dehydrate an athlete’s body in the long run. However, studies on whether creatine really does dehydrate bodies are inconclusive.
Camp began this diet the summer before his junior year and is continuing throughout his sports seasons.
In addition to the supplements Camp is accustomed to, athletes from different sports have researched and experimented with other types of nutritional enhancers.
Janet Rankin, a professor in the department of human nutrition, foods and exercise at Virginia Tech, notes that caffeine is a great endurance enhancer for athletes, including tennis players and runners. The stimulant boosts athletes’ speed and can even curb soreness after exercise. This allows for athletes to get back to training sooner.
Caffeine is commonly taken through energy drinks, tablets, chewing gum, sport gels and sprays. Each gives different doses, so reading the label is the best way to figure out what is the best choice.
According to Rankin, too much caffeine can cause headaches and trouble sleeping. It is crucial that athletes consult a health specialist or nutritionist if there is any question as to what type or amount is appropriate.
Risks of supplements
Nutritional supplements can pose rapid and potentially unsafe changes in body composition or appearance. Athletes, especially young athletes, are often influenced by media and become prime targets for nutrition fraud.
Most of the time, stores and their employees are unable to give unbiased or reliable information about supplements, their usage and their side effects.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website, the FDA does not regulate nutritional supplements in the same way it regulates other conventional foods and drug products. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) states that “manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded.”
That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations. The FDA is simply responsible for taking action against any adulterated or misbranded dietary supplement product after it reaches the market.
On top of the minimal regulation, health studies have shown negative side effects to overdosing on vitamins, according to Cari Nierenberg’s article, “Getting Too Much of Vitamins and Minerals.” Too much vitamin C or zinc can cause nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramps. Too much selenium can lead to hair loss, gastrointestinal upset, fatigue and mild nerve damage.
This being said, it’s best to view supplements the same way as you would over-the-counter drugs. When children are sick, parents pick up a bottle of cough syrup or a pack of antibiotics. When the patient takes the prescribed amount for his or her weight and age, it is a perfectly safe. Likewise, as long as athletes are not overdosing on supplements and drinking or consuming an unprecedented amounted, there are no major risks.
Furthermore, “daily value” is the amount of a vitamin or nutrient that a person should get each day for optimal health. Johanna Dwyer, R.D., a scientist with the National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements, stated to Web M.D., "If you're taking a supplement, stick to one that's no more than the daily value.”
In all, most athletes add supplements to their diets to give themselves an extra edge. As long as an athlete does not overdose or excessively replaces meals with supplements, taking them is a very safe and beneficial thing to do.
“It has helped to an extent, but no supplement will do the work for me,” Camp said. “They can, however, prove helpful when I’m in need of a quick meal, haven’t hit my micronutrients, and need overall recovery of the body.”
