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Kyle Shannon

Professor Kate Kimball

ENC 2135-206

17 October 2021

The Benefits and Dangers of Dietary Supplementation

All across the sports and fitness world it is common practice for athletes of all shapes,

sizes, and skill sets to take dietary and performance enhancing supplements regularly to increase

strength, focus, and energy (Cooper). However, the supplements industry is under scrutiny for

having dangerous chemicals in their products (Weaver). Based on the research I've gathered,

performance enhancing supplements improve your performance, but overall are dangerous and

consumers should be made aware of this and the companies putting out subpar products should

be held to higher health and safety standards.

The use of supplements is almost essential in order to become a high level athlete. This is

because it has clearly shown over the course of decades that proper nutrition along with vitamin

and protein supplements leads to stronger, bigger muscles as well as leading to improvements in

cardio-vascular performance. The peer reviewed article Effects Of Diet Interventions, Dietary

Supplements, And Performance-Enhancing Substances On The Performance Of CrossFit-

Trained Individuals: A Systematic Review Of Clinical Studies By ‌Dos Santos Quaresma, Marcus

V.L, Camila Guazzelli Marques, And Fernanda Patti Nakamoto examines the extent of this

effect. They looked into 219 studies, but only 14 of these studies matched the criteria required

for their study. These 14 studies all looked into different kinds of supplementation, some of the

substances tested include, but aren’t limited to, caffeine, carbonates, and sodium bicarbonate.

The conclusion that the researchers reached was that even though the studies didn’t show clear
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success, they did show minimal success, so the researchers believe that if the sample size was to

increase dramatically that there would be a clear positive trend. They also added that it is

possible that CrossFit wasn’t the best measure for athletic performance, this could be because it

is a very mental sport so the effects of the supplements could be hidden or appear overly positive

due to a placebo effect. Even though the success of the study was minimal it still shows that

supplementation does increase performance, and there have been hundreds of studies to back this

over the course of the decades. This is why the current rate at which supplements are being

consumed is very high. According to a survey taken of those who attend The Leach Recreation

Center in Tallahassee Fl, 54% of those who attend the gym regularly take some sort of

supplement, the most common being some form of protein powder or premixed shake. People

take supplements because they believe it will improve their performance, but of those that were

surveyed out of the 27 surveyed that answered yes to the question of whether or not they took

supplements, only 5 could name the brand of supplement. That is where the problem with these

supplements lie.

The supplement industry is fairly unregulated by the US Government, this means that

new products don’t have to go through the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA) regulation

process, this can lead to products that do not work as advertised or potentially dangerous

products being sold to consumers that are unaware of the dangers (ACHS.edu). One of the most

common chemicals in supplements that can be considered dangerous are artificial food color

additives or dyes. While these additives are approved by the FDA according to the American

College of healthcare sciences the public is pushing to ban them, or at least require warnings that

say something along the lines of “May have an adverse effect on activity and attention.”

Governments in Europe have already started doing this. It’s small changes like this that can lead
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to healthier, more informed decisions on the part of the consumer. ACHS also states that many

supplements may contain Hydrogenated Oils, which are known to be dangerous by the FDA,

however there is currently no ban or limitations on hydrogenated oils in place. The 2010 Dietary

Guidelines for Americans specifically states: “Keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as

possible by limiting foods that contain synthetic sources of trans fats, such as partially

hydrogenated oils, and by limiting other solid fats.” And in January of 2014 the CDC released a

statement saying “Consuming trans fat increases low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or ‘bad’)

cholesterol. This risk factor contributes to the leading cause of death in the U.S. – coronary heart

disease (CHD). Trans fat may also have other adverse health effects like decreasing high-density

lipoprotein (HDL, or ‘good’) cholesterol. Further reducing trans fat consumption by avoiding

artificial trans fat could prevent 10,000-20,000 heart attacks and 3,000-7,000 coronary heart

disease deaths each year in the U.S.” So the question must be asked, if these oils containing high

amounts of trans fat are known to be dangerous, then why are they still being used in dietary

supplements that are meant to improve overall health and fitness? The FDA knows about the

problem, but is hesitant to propose a solution, they do not even require a warning label.

As this problem begins to come more evident experts have started to focus on the

functionality and safety of specific popular substances, the most notable of these being creatine.

Creatine causes the body to send more water to their bloodstream which in turn allows for an

increase of the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the chemical that your cells

use for energy. In essence, creatine allows for your muscles to use their strength more readily

and efficiently, this leads to increased performance in anaerobic exercise. A peer reviewed article

by Robert Cooper goes into depth about this. He discusses a study in which participants were

given .1 grams of creatine for every kilogram they weigh. The researchers discovered that along
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with the same training regiment as before the creatine helps to increase cell adaptations to

training on a subcellular level (Cooper). Once again it is evident that the successes of the

supplement field are helping athletes to become stronger and faster. However, at the end of the

paper is a section seeming almost as a disclaimer to taking creatine. It is discussed that creatine

monohydrate when taken orally can improve athletic performance, however there are other forms

of creatine that are available to the public that do not have near the amount of research about

their safety. This follows the same trend that is seen across the whole supplement industry;

success leads to other companies trying to expand on that success, by cutting corners to make a

larger profit at the expense of the consumer’s safety.

Another form of supplementation that can have adverse effects is taking vitamin

supplements. A study from the University of Colorado looked at thousands of patients over a

decade, and they concluded that those who took extra vitamins and minerals were more likely to

have health problems (Weaver). Beta carotene in particular, which is advertised to boost immune

health, was shown to increase the likelihood of lung cancer and heart disease by 20%. While

these discoveries do cause concern, the study looked at participants that were taking an excess of

vitamin supplements, so if one is to take the recommended amount no damage would be done.

However, the supplement industry tends to overdue the amount of vitamins your body needs,

because most consumers find a product more appealing if it is advertised that said product has

high amounts of certain vitamins. The product ZipFizz, which is a vitamin supplement that is a

powder that is added to water, is an example of the phenomenon of the over dosage of vitamins.

ZipFizz, in a single serving, has 556% of the daily recommended value of vitamin C at 500mg

and has a staggering 104,167% of the daily recommended amount of the vitamin B-12 at
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2,500mcg. This is just one example of a company that appears to be overachieving, but is

actually just harming uninformed consumers.

Supplements are a tool that can be used to build a healthier body, however consumers are

not educated enough to make safe decisions, because many experts question the efficacy of the

supplement industry which is worth 400 million euros in Britain alone (Cooper). Professor Tim

Byers, associate director for cancer prevention at the University of Colorado cancer centre

speaks out about this problem. He encourages not using supplements as a replacement for

healthy food, saying that taking vitamins at the correct dosage is good for overall health,

however it is “no substitute for good, nutritional food”(Cooper). The solution he suggests is to

“pay more attention to safety, and how it (the product) is advertised.” This solution is not

directed at consumers, but rather the authorities and the producer. Byers, by saying this is

suggesting that governments need to take a more leading role in regulating the safety of the

supplement industry, because the use of misleading advertisements about health benefits and no

risks is causing consumers to make unhealthy decisions without their knowledge.

In conclusion, supplements can be a great tool and have helped athletes reach higher

limits than ever before, however there are dangers involved. The supplement industry has a

tendency to be misleading and doesn’t reveal the dangers of their products. Oftentimes

companies put out products that are not well researched, that are dangerous but the company is

not even aware. Without the proper regulation of the industry the consumer takes the fall, as they

receive subpar overdosed products that have the opposite of the intended effect. Since there is

little to know signs of change when it comes to regulation, the responsibility once again falls to

the consumer to use only trusted brands, and products that have been properly researched. With
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higher public education on the issue, supplements could be used for their intended purpose more

safely and effectively.

Cooper, Robert Et Al. “Creatine Supplementation With Specific View To Exercise/Sports

Performance: An Update.” Journal Of The International Society Of Sports Nutrition 9.1

(2012): 33–33.

‌Dos Santos Quaresma, Marcus V.L, Camila Guazzelli Marques, And Fernanda Patti Nakamoto.

“Effects Of Diet Interventions, Dietary Supplements, And Performance-Enhancing

Substances On The Performance Of CrossFit-Trained Individuals: A Systematic Review

Of Clinical Studies.” Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) 82 (2021):

110994–110994.

‌“Hidden Dangers in Your Dietary Supplements | Achs.edu.” American College of Healthcare

Sciences, 2 Dec. 2016, Accessed 26 Sept. 2021.

Maughan, Ron J, Doug S King, And Trevor Lea. “Dietary Supplements.” Journal Of

Sports Sciences 22.1 (2004): 95–113.

Weaver, Matthew. “Vitamin Supplements Can Increase Risk of Cancer and Heart

Disease.” The Guardian, 21 Apr. 2015, Accessed 26 Sept. 2021

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Shannon, Kyle. “Performance Enhancing Supplement Use Survey”, Tallahassee Fl, 2021.

Unpublished Survey.

Shannon, Kyle. “Photograph of the Recommended dose of Pre-Workout”, 2021. Author's

Personal Collection.

Shannon, Kyle. “Photograph of ZipFizz supplement facts”, 2021 Author’s personal collection.