Can sports nutrition be harmful?
It is no secret that for many years, sports nutrition had a bad reputation. The main reason is that quite harmless natural supplements were confused with drugs hormones, which could give a similar effect. Despite the fact that hormones are not available as milkshakes but as vials or pills, fears were strong.
Over time, however, as sports nutrition became widely available and sports literacy grew, ignorance began to recede. But does this mean that sports nutrition is completely safe and harmless? It’s not that simple.
Sports nutrition is a natural supplement made from ordinary foods. If you choose a quality product with an unexpired shelf life, then the harm from it can be no greater than from conventional food. It would seem that the question is closed? But one “but” prevents us from putting an end to it.
Mandatory rules of consumption and contraindications:
Carefully study the composition of any consumed product, if you have an individual intolerance or allergy to the components of the products from which the dietary supplement is made.
- Time of ingestion. If you have problems digesting proteins or gainers, do not take them in the morning on an empty stomach. Take them an hour after breakfast, when your digestive system is already “awake” and will not be completely empty.
- If you have gastrointestinal problems, it is especially not recommended to take amino acids on an empty stomach. They can cause both simple stomach discomfort and even lead to an aggravation, where stomach pain will haunt you regularly.
- Mutually exclusive taking of medications. It is not uncommon for drugs to be taken for the opposite purpose. For example – gainers and fat burners. It is almost impossible to gain muscle mass and burn subcutaneous fat simultaneously. These are different processes, and therefore supplements should be taken differently.
- Abuse. Many athletes ignore the doses prescribed by the manufacturer, acting on the principle “the more the better. They forget that too much is sometimes worse than not enough. The resources of the digestive system are not infinite. Exceeding the serving size of protein, for example, can lead to a significant portion of it not being absorbed. This is a direct pathway to fermentation, gas and further upset stomach. Excessive doses of amino acids or other drugs can also have a negative effect on the stomach and gastrointestinal tract as a whole. Excessive doses of vitamins or special drugs overload the liver, and the abuse of some special supplements will give an increased load on the pancreas. Well, do not forget that the surplus is excreted to the kidneys – they will also have a hard time.
Contraindications:
- It is not recommended to take drugs that affect the metabolism, in adolescence, during pregnancy, as well as people with cancer. Sports nutrition is not a hormonal drug. But some of them can create a good basis for increasing hormone production. By the way, hormone production is accelerated even with simple exercise. For 90% of athletes, this is a big plus and benefit. But there is another 10%.
- People with stomach problems are not recommended to take amino acids, creatine, glutamine, BCAA and other pure amino acids on an empty stomach. In case of serious problems (ulcers, periods of exacerbated gastritis, etc.) taking amino acids (not in shakes) should be excluded.
- Do not take gainers or other high-carbohydrate drinks if you have diabetes or other endocrine problems.
- Do not consume caffeine-containing products if you have blood pressure problems or cardiovascular disease.
Select sports nutrition
- High-quality products.
- Optimally balanced formulas for professionals and beginners.
- Sports nutrition without dyes and preservatives.
If you are a professional, all the above information is not new to you. You can easily choose the necessary types of sports nutrition and calculate the doses for yourself.
If you are a beginner and are not engaged in professional sports, you do not have a goal to become a “bodybuilder” and gain kilos of muscles. And the main goal is to improve health, strengthen the muscle corset, to put in order your figure, then the choice of sports nutrition is completely different.
- It is fractional, full and varied meals with the necessary amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Restriction of the caloric content of the daily diet. As well as the use of sports nutrition, which is a balanced combination of all necessary substances: proteins, amino acids and vitamins.
- It is necessary to observe the water-salt regime with the help of ordinary water and isotonic drinks.
- In sports nutrition should be exclusively natural composition, without dyes and preservatives.