2024-07-17 07:49:48
Food supplements in a store window in Washington. AFP/Brendan Smirovsky
BEWARE OF THE DANGER: Food supplements taken by athletes to build muscle or burn fat pose health risks, sometimes serious, and may be doping, the National Health Security Agency (ANSES) warned on Wednesday, July 17 category.
The warning was issued to athletes, their supervisors and health professionals ahead of the start of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games on July 26. within the globe, “154 new cases of adverse reactions reported” After consuming food supplements between 2016 and February 2024, “Two deaths occurred and the vital prognosis of four people was at risk”ANSES explains in press release.
Health agencies had sounded the alarm regarding these products as early as 2016, and 49 reports of adverse effects have been recorded since 2009, the year the national alert system was launched. “Since 2016, 20% of adverse effects have been very severe”she pointed out.
Certain food supplements and fortified foods containing proteins, amino acids, and plant extracts are sold online, at gyms, or in pharmacies and can be consumed during training, before, during or following competition, and during recreational practices. Traditionally, they are widely used among bodybuilders, “Tends to stretch, especially those based on strong muscle strength or weight loss”Anses emphasized.
cardiovascular risk
According to her, this phenomenon is reinforced by “Unfounded belief that current diet is insufficient to achieve stated performance goals”. “If protein is an ally of great athletes in their pursuit of performance, we must remain cautious to limit, as much as possible, the potentially harmful effects that may result from overconsumption or use of food supplements.”In early July, the public scientific research organization Inserm also issued a warning on its website.
Adverse effects of dietary supplements in athletes are often cardiovascular – tachycardia, palpitations, and even cardiac arrest. General symptoms – malaise, tiredness, fever, dizziness, indigestion – but sometimes neurological symptoms such as stroke can also occur. These risks are increased in younger people because their bodies are more sensitive than adults.
Another warning from ANSES: Certain ingredients present in food supplements, such as anabolic steroids, clenbuterol and ephedrine, are prohibited, especially because they have many serious adverse effects on cardiovascular activity. “Their presence in dietary supplements constitutes fraud and, in addition to health risks, may expose sports consumers to abnormal analytical results. [contrôle positif] During doping control », warned the agency. She noted that an ingredient may not be authorized by WADA even if it meets French regulatory requirements.
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Food supplement contamination is increasingly being raised to justify the presence of doping products in the analysis of athletes, such as tennis player Simona Halep, footballer Paul Pogba or, more recently, sprinter Muhamadou ·Farr’s example. “This is indeed a problem we often face today”Béatrice Bourgeois, president of the French Anti-Doping Agency, recently explained that she emphasized that “For a certain number of athletes, accusations of total involuntary contamination are a line of defense”.
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For athletes, professionals or amateurs, ANSES recommends paying attention to the ingredients of the product, avoiding taking multiple food supplements at the same time or combining them with medications, and seeking the advice of a health professional or sports nutritionist before use. She also recommends giving priority to products that meet European standards or avoiding buying online.
Unlike pharmaceuticals, marketing of dietary supplements does not require marketing authorization, and online sales sites abound. Large retail brands are also gradually entering this lucrative field.
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