Performance-Enhancing Supplements

Adjusting a biochemistry course for physical education majors: A case study

“…These behavioral modifications have brought new responsibilities to physical education professionals, placing them in an essential position for recommendations not only to athletes, who were always under their orientation, but also to common citizens. For instance, physical educators have a strong recognized influence on the decision of many people practicing physical activities to use well-known nutritional supplements or ergogenic aids [1][2][3][4] such as protein and amino acids [5,6], carnitine [7], creatine [8], sports drinks [9], and/or anabolic-androgenic steroids [10].…”

The Neurosurgeon in Sport: Awareness of the Risks of Heatstroke and Dietary Supplements

“…103-417, 103rd Cong., 2nd Sess., October 25, 1994), the United States Food and Drug Administration does not have strict authority to regulate the manufacture or sale of these products. This deregulation led to the explosion in the marketing of such products and their purchase by eager consumers, resulting in the creation of a multibilliondollar industry that is subject to little or no government control or oversight with regard to the purity, consistency, potency, drug interaction, and potential side effects of its products (15,17,30).The use of anabolic steroids, stimulants, and performanceenhancing substances has become a temptation for, as well as a practiced behavior of, many amateur, school, and professional athletes (1, 3). Despite extensive efforts to discourage or ban the use of these substances at many levels of organized sports, a certain number of athletes nonetheless exist who seek a competitive advantage by the use of such compounds.…”

“…Creatine is marketed as an ergonomic aid and is used to enhance energy use by increasing energy production, control, and efficiency. Popularized in the early 1990s, creatine has been purported to increase skeletal muscle creatine concentration by up to 20%, thereby increasing the resynthesis of adenosine triphosphate during periods of peak muscular contraction (5,15,23,30). Although the overall safety profile of this compound may be reasonable, the literature on it is controversial.…”

“…There is some evidence that creatine usage causes shifts of body water into skeletal muscle cells, which, especially early in the usage of this substance, may result in a relative and unsuspected depletion in intravascular volume (12). Reports of athletes' experiencing diarrhea, muscular cramps, and heat intolerance during or after the consumption of creatine are numerous (16,23,30,31,35). Barrette (4) reported that creatine may cause dehydration, reduced circulating blood volume, electrolyte abnormality, and heat-related illness.…”

“…Greater concern exists, however, with regard to the prevalent use of certain dietary or nutritional supplements. Claims of their properties are made on the basis of the manufacturer's interpretation of the scientific literature and these supplements' purported activity on the consumer's body structure, function, and general health or well-being (9,30). Since 1994, under a law known as the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act (U.S. Public Law No.…”