skepticsociety.co.uk
How safe is exercise supplements
An Australian woman with a genetic disorder died from consuming too many protein supplements, it was recently reported. The woman in question, Meegan Hefford, a 25-year-old bodybuilder, suffered from a rare, undiagnosed disorder that caused a fatal build-up of ammonia in her body (ammonia is produced when the body breaks down protein). This raises the question: are exercise supplements safe? In healthy people, most commonly used supplements intended to enhance the body – often referred to in the scientific literature as “nutraceuticals” or “functional foods” – are harmless. Nonetheless, there are rare cases where underlying health conditions or excessive consumption could cause ill health. By far the most common supplement taken by gym goers are those containing amino acids in the form of protein, protein hydrolysates (such as whey protein), or individual branched chain amino acids (BCAA), containing leucine, isoleucine and valine. People take these supplements to support muscle building on the premise that amino acids are the building blocks of muscle tissue. Aside from the rare genetic disorder suffered by Meegan Hefford, are there …
José