2024-07-17 07:49:48
Beware, danger: nutritional supplements taken by athletes to develop their muscles or burn fat are risks, sometimes serious, to health and may fall under the umbrella of doping, warned the National Health Safety Agency on Thursday July 17 of food (ANSES).
This warning is intended for athletes, their guardians and health professionals in the run-up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, which begin on July 26. In the world, “154 new cases of adverse effects were reported” between 2016 and February 2024 after using dietary supplements, “Two deaths occur and four people find their vital prognosis threatened”explained Anses is released.
The health center has already sounded the alarm on these products in 2016, recording 49 reports of adverse effects since 2009, the year of the launch of the national alert system. “Since 2016, 20% of adverse effects have been very serious”it is specific.
Sold on the internet, in gyms or in pharmacies, certain nutritional supplements and foods enriched with proteins, amino acids and plant extracts can be consumed during training, before, during or after competition , but also during rest exercise. Their use, traditionally widespread among people who exercise, “continues to expand, especially to sports whose work is based on strong muscle power or a reduction in body weight”underlines Anses.
Cardiovascular risks
We simply add, just like you, through “an unfounded belief that the current diet will not be sufficient to achieve performance goals”. “If viruses are friends for great athletes and can help them in their quest for performance, we must be careful in order to limit as best as possible the destructive effects of potential that abuse or use of dietary supplements can cause”also warned Inserm, the public scientific research organization, at the beginning of July on its site.
The adverse effects of nutritional supplements for athletes are often cardiovascular – tachycardia, palpitations, even cardiac arrest. General symptoms – malaise, fatigue, fever, dizziness, digestive effects – but neurological symptoms such as seizures also sometimes appear. These risks increase in young people, who are more sensitive than adults.
Another warning from ANSES: certain substances in nutritional supplements, such as anabolic steroids, clenbuterol and ephedrine, are prohibited, especially for their many strong adverse effects on cardiovascular function. “Their presence in food supplements is deceptive and can expose sports consumers, more than health risks, to abnormal analysis results. [contrôle positif] during anti-doping control », warned the agency. Even if it meets French regulatory requirements, an application may not be authorized by the World Anti-Doping Agency, he noted.
Damage by food supplements is more and more often forward to justify the presence of a doping product in the analyzes of athletes, as in the cases of tennis player Simona Halep, soccer player Paul Pogba or recently sprinter Mouhamadou Fall. “It’s really something we focus on a lot today”recently declared the president of the French Anti-Doping Agency, Béatrice Bourgeois, emphasizing that, “for a number of sportsmen, it is indefensible to accuse completely unjustified damage”.
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For athletes, professionals or experts, ANSES recommends paying attention to the composition of the products, avoiding the simultaneous use of many nutritional supplements or combining them with drugs and seeking the advice of a health professional or sports consultant before use. It also recommends sensitive products that comply with European standards or avoid purchases on the internet.
Unlike drugs, the marketing of nutritional supplements does not require a marketing authorization and numerous online sales sites. Big distribution brands have also gradually launched into this lucrative niche.
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