Do Supplements Cause More Harm Than Good?

Anybody who has ever played a sport competitively, or trains in the gym on a daily basis has taken or heard about fitness supplements.

With more and more cases of athletes testing positive for steroids, and professional sports organizations like Major League Baseball and the NFL cracking down on performance enhancement drug (PED) use by athletes, people are looking for a legal way to “get that edge.”

Whether it’s to perform better in the “games that count” or just to look better, supplements have become a million dollar industry.

I have experienced with different, LEGAL, sports supplements and have always wondered if what I was putting in my body was causing more harm than good?

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons…

The Benefits Of Supplements

First, before we talk about the benefits, lets just mention some of the basic and most common supplements that many athletes and bodybuilders take while training.

These being protein, creatine, and some form of pre-workout supplement (Usually an energy igniter that contains caffeine or Nitric Oxide).

Protein is the most basic supplement that one can take, next to a multi-vitamin.

It’s purpose is simple…to deliver more protein into your system to repair torn muscle fibers–

Which will result in muscle growth.

Protein is pretty much a requirement for any bodybuilder who athlete who is looking to becoming stronger or grow bigger —

But, it is also a benefit for older individuals because of the affects it has on strength increase.

The next supplement is creatine.

Creatine has been around forever.

It helps aide in muscle fatigue and growth.

It is known for retaining water in your body, so some believe that you are only looking bigger from water-weight —

But in my personal experience with the supplement, a great increase in strength and size is noticeable after only a week or two of proper use (And staying properly hydrated).

Finally, pre-workout supplements, or sometimes know as N.O. products.

The benefit of a N.O. product is simple…

It gets you more pumped up and energized to workout.

The nitric oxide increases blood flow through your buddy and helps keep your energy levels up.

You have to be careful with these products because you DO NOT want to exceed the suggested usage.

In fact, sometimes you want to start with less to see how your body reacts to the supplement.

The Side-Effects Of Supplement Use

Even though supplements can have a great impact on how well you look and how you perform physically, they can have side-effects.

Some are large, and some occur over long periods of time.

Protein is a great supplement for any athlete, but you should never take too much.

Like with anything that goes into your body, your liver and kidneys have to filter the toxins and different enzymes.

If you look at the back label of any protein, creatine, or N.O. product, you will notice the excessive number of ingredients in these supplements.

These chemicals have to filter through your body every time they are consumed.

Although studies have been performed, many of these products have not been around long enough for long-term affects to be really evaluated.

If you use these products excessively you could suffer from severe kidney or liver damage.

Also, the energy products can really make your heart work…you should always make sure for every cycle of an N.O. supplement, or even creatine, that you take a month or two off from it.

So, you have read the benefits and downfalls…

Is the benefits of taking supplements worth the downfalls?