Are Teens and Supplements a Bad Mix?
With football season approaching, many teenage males are hitting the weight room with exceptional vigor in an effort to get bigger and stronger. Often times, in the month of August, high school football teams do what is known as 2 a days. That simply means that there are 2 practices sessions per day on the field. Obviously, that requires quite a bit of energy as well as stamina. Because of that, a lot of teenagers are supplementing with protein powders, creatine, and even steroids. Are teens and supplements a bad combination?
Teens and supplements are a highly risky proposition as most supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA. This means that whatever is on the label, isn’t necessarily in the bottle. Therefore, if you scoop some protein powder in your drink, you may be getting more than you bargained for. A lot of supplements have tested positive for anabolic steroids, heavy metals, and stimulants. This is bad enough for an adult, but a teenager doesn’t have a fully developed endocrine system so them putting anabolics in their bodies can have dire consequences both mentally, as well as physically.
There is a very positive side to supplementing one’s diet for performance and/or aesthetics, provided, of course, that you are putting non tainted supplements, such as protein, into your body. You can eat 4 ounces of chicken and get about 25 grams of protein. Conversely, you can drink a 25 gram protein shake and the protein will uptake into your bloodstream and into the muscles remarkably faster because of the digestive process than if you were to consume that chicken breast instead.
Teens and supplements aren’t necessarily a bad combination if the supplements are pure, but what supplements are truly needed, for a high school football player, for example? Testosterone levels are naturally very high at this age, so building muscle is the easiest it’s ever going to be at their age, naturally. Taking steroids such as testosterone, has an adverse effect on the endocrine system as previously mentioned. Psychologically, putting a bunch more testosterone in the body, especially during the teenage years, makes heads spin, to put it nicely. If you’re an adult with a multi million dollar contract in the balance, and you choose to take steroids, that’s your business, but no child has any business taking them. It’s simply harmful in virtually every way.
Creatine is another popular supplement, but it has only limited benefits as I wrote. Teens and supplements is a tricky area to navigate as their energy expenditures are very high, especially in sports, but ultimately, are they necessary? Good nutrition is much more important than supplementation for teenagers. If you are working out and have a good protein drink that’s free of any harmful ingredients, that’s fine, but it can’t be in place of proper nutrition. As for energy boosters, they need to be avoided by everyone. Getting your energy from a balanced diet is a much more sustainable method than a blast of caffeine coupled with other stimulants. Teens and supplements, like anyone else, for that matter, is fine. Supplementing with things such as protein powders are not harmful, when done properly, so long as they know for sure what they’re really putting into their bodies.
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Andy
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