The research was presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention.
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The study after observation found out that out of almost 200 men who took body-building supplements in the past month 29% expressed concern about using the products.
For the study, the researchers recruited 195 men age 18-65 who had consumed legal appearance- or performance-enhancing supplements (e.g., whey protein, creatine, L-carnitine) in the past 30 days and had stated that they work out for fitness or appearance-related reasons a minimum of two times a week.
The study found that over 40% of participants reported an increased use of supplements over time and 22% reported replacing regular meals with dietary supplements not originally intended to be meal replacements.
Twenty-nine percent of the men surveyed “said they were concerned about their own use” of supplements, CBS News reported. In addition, 8 percent of the men had been told by a doctor that they should cut back on their supplement use or stop taking them altogether, and 3 percent said the supplements had caused kidney or liver damage severe enough to land them in a hospital.
“The most critical implication for these findings is to put risky/excessive legal supplement use on the map as an issue facing a significant number of men”, Achiro said in the statement.
Although these supplements are legal and sold over-the-counter, overusing them or substituting them for food can cause serious health problems.
If the supplements are taken moderately it is not a problem, but excess intake of these powders does bad to the men who uses it.
Misuse of the supplements appeared to be driven by multiple factors in the study, such as body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem and the perception that an individual is not meeting the strict expectations of masculinity in modern culture. Achiro said that these men were not bodybuilders but did workout at least twice every week. Participants also completed an online survey asking questions about a variety of subjects, including supplement use, self-esteem, body image, eating habits, and gender role conflicts. As a result, the strength, purity and safety of such products can vary, and health care providers should be consulted prior to beginning using new supplements. In most of the cases, gym-goers face peer-pressure to use supplements. “The men who are most likely to use those supplements are those kinds of men”.
“Historically, it was women’s bodies that were objectified more in the media, but men’s bodies are catching up, and they are being more often objectified in the media”, Achiro said.
“They need to pay attention to why exactly is this so important to them”, Franzoi continued.
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“Overall, the current findings suggest that excessive legal APED use may represent a variant of disordered eating that threatens the health of gym-active men”, the study’s abstract reads.
