Sports Supplements: The hidden dangers of performance enhancing supplements in high school athletics

The performance enhancing supplement market is an 18 billion dollar industry with limited oversight from the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Sports supplements, also referred to as dietary supplements, do not require FDA approval before they appear on the market for consumer use.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency reports when taking dietary supplements, such as protein powders and pre-workout supplements, there is no guarantee the ingredients on the supplements facts label list all the ingredients that are actually in the product.

With limited regulation, these supplements remain on the shelf.  Only after a product is found to cause dangerous side effects or deaths does the FDA remove these products from stores.

Sen. Richard Durbin introduced the Dietary Supplement Labeling Act of 2013 asking congress “to improve the safety of dietary supplements by amending the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require manufacturers of dietary supplements to register dietary supplements with the Food and Drug Administration and to amend labeling requirements with respect to dietary supplements.”

However, this bill was not enacted and supplement companies still follow The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA).

This act requires companies to properly label products and places the burden of proof on the FDA to show a product is unsafe only after supplements have already been on the market.

Dr. Derek Kingsley, an assistant professor in the School of Health Sciences at Kent State University says the DSHEA was the last act to regulate supplement labeling.

“The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 was the last true act that really kind of talked about labeling,” Kingsley said.  “Congress does not require a burden of proof on these research companies.  They could put out a product today, find out it has a bad effect tomorrow and it’s going to take eight months to get it off the shelves.”

This can cause problems for adolescent athletes that have not had certain tests for cardiovascular problems due to their young age.

“There is always the risk for cardiovascular death,” Kingsley said.  “A young individual might not have had an EKG (electrocardiogram), stress test or have seen a physician about a cardiovascular disease because they are young and healthy.  Sometimes they take a supplement and it has an effect on some underlying cardiovascular disease that they have like cardiac arrhythmia (abnormal heartbeat) and then all of a sudden, dead on the spot.  There is always going to be a risk.”

Kingsley says he is uncertain why these supplements aren’t more regulated among consumers.

“What congresses big thing was, if this supplement is used for this, then you have to state that on the label,” Kingsley said.  “If this is used for weight loss, you can say that, but you can’t say it will help out with pain.  It has to be fairly specific.  I don’t think the government is truly ready to regulate that because it is that much more.  I don’t think they want to deal with all the supplements because there are so many.”

According to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the number of high school athletes in the U.S. is an estimated 7.8 million participants.

 

 

The use of performance enhancing supplements is estimated to be 24-29% among middle and high school athletes.  A 2006 National College Athletic Association report shows that two thirds of supplement use started before college, and one in ten athletes began to use supplements before high school.

In 2015, Florida Gators quarterback Will Grier was suspended one year for violating NCAA rules.  Grier tested positive for a performance-enhancing supplement that was in an over-the-counter supplement called Ligandrol.

“I took an over-the-counter supplement that had something in it,” a Grier said during a news conference in October. “I did not check with the medical staff before taking it.”

Supplements among athletes are an increasing trend when wanting a competitive edge in sports.

Coach Colin Dotson of the LaBrae high school football team tells his players that supplements are second behind proper weight lifting.

“When we speak to our players our big thing is supplements are there to assist,” Dotson said.  “We truly preach lifting weights.”

Although Dotson says weight lifting is key, he also says sometimes supplements can be the difference between good and average athletes.

“I feel it’s very important,” Dotson said.  “Those who want to push themselves to be better, they’re are going to want to use it.  Those who are okay with being average, well they just lift and what’s done is done.”

One of Dotson’s players, Arjay Oliver, is a junior running back at LaBrae High School and says he just started taking the muscle enhancer creatine to gain weight to increase his chances of playing college football.

“I take creatine in the pill form,” Oliver said.

Before Oliver started taking creatine, he said his mom did research online before allowing him to take these supplements.

“She just looked it up seeing what would be healthy for me and not dangerous,” Oliver said.  “She is trying to make sure I’m safe.”

Kingsley says research is important when taking supplements and can help decide whether or not to keep taking certain enhancers.

“The best advice to give is to always do your research,” Kingsley said.  “Do you know what you’re taking? Do you know what’s in it?  There is no burden of proof.  As a company, I don’t have what’s in the product.  I think as a parent, it’s always due diligence to do your research to see is this going to work.  Give it a trial.  Try it out. Did it make a difference? Collect some data and do your maximum strength test, take it for a month and do your maximum strength test again.  Did you really get this huge increase or is it the same you were doing before? If it’s the same, then don’t take it.”

Article written by: Zac Sommers