New Supplement Study Aims to Scare Parents

There's a new study in Pediatrics where a 20 yo guy called health food stores asking what supplements they would recommend to gain muscle. If they didn't recommend them specifically, the guy would ask about creatine and testosterone boosters. The study says these supplements are dangerous and teens shouldn't be taking them.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that creatine may impair hepatic and renal function as well as cause dehydration and muscle cramps. Creatine use has also been associated with an increased risk of compartment syndrome, a condition where pressure builds in a muscle compartment and prevents bloodlfow. Furthermore, because dietary supplements are subject to little oversight by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the safety and efficacy of supplements available on the market are not rigorously established. Pomeranz et al note that dietary workout supplements, such as creatine, are often adulterated with pharmaceutical drugs and can lead to adverse effects, such as hypertension, stroke, and liver injury.

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In my opinion, these dangers are wildly overblown. Creatine is a natural substance produced by the body, has a long history of safe use, and if purchased from a reputable company is not adulterated. I can see the news reports already, the anxious parents searching their children's rooms and tearfully begging their sons not to take that "dangerous" creatine.

Here is what the article has to say about the dangers of testosterone boosters.

Research on supplemental use of testosterone boosters in adults has found that it can cause polycythemia, increased blood viscosity, prostatic hyperplasia, hepatotoxic effects, hepatic neoplasia and dysfunction, and the exacerbation or development of sleep apnea.

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These are the possible side effects of testosterone or other steroids, as the readers of this forum know. The real danger of testosterone boosters is light wallet syndrome. The effects of testosterone boosters is small or nonexistent. If not, I would be taking them instead of jabbing myself with a needle twice a week.

So, another stupid, pointless study aiming to create confusion and fear. To what end?