Risks of Supplements

In addition to using steroids, which are illegal in athletic competitions, many male athletes try to "bulk up" using nutritional supplements or powders. The most common ones on the market include Creatine, Andro, DHEA, Thunder Nectar, Inner G, and Amino Flex, and can be bought at most nutrition stores, making athletes and their families think that they are not harmful to the body.

In reality, Healthy Canada has issued warnings about many nutritional supplements. They can have serious side effects such as agitation, vomiting, incontinence, amnesia, and breathing difficulties. Before using these or any other nutritional supplement, powder or pill, it is important to check with your doctor about the potential risks and side effects.

For athletes the problems don’t end there. Many supplements have been shown to contain banned ingredients, which will show up in a sample taken during doping control. Athletes are strictly liable for anything found in their sample, which means that you can be banned from participating in sport even if you did not know that your supplement was contaminated with steroids or stimulants!