Young male and females these days are moving towards the sports field hoping they might get a career in it.
To play with intense vigor and energy many of us are taking performance-enhancing drugs and anabolic steroids which make it quite easy.
This is true that long time use of these substances poses dangerous threats to your health and in many countries, it’s a felony to use steroids in any sport.
Many of us, especially the teenagers do not understand the potency behind these drugs which are banned in many countries.
Well, they can’t be banned if they are good for you are they?
Giving you an idea about those performance-enhancing drugs and steroids, and the effects they cause seems very important to us.
Since the use of performance-enhancing supplements has increased 700% from the past decade, which has also left a negative impact in many people’s lives.
What Are Performance Enhancing Drugs?
A performance-enhancing drug is a substance which increases the body strength and energy level temporarily.
It’s a shortcut which many athletes and bodybuilders take in order to survive the toughest competition.
They work either boosting Nitric Oxide in your blood or causing vasoconstriction which enables the adrenaline rush in most conditions.
To improve the athletic strength and physical performance, performance-enhancing drugs have been used for a long time.
It’s not new, centuries ago Chinese and Roman Traditions were so much into the performance enhancing things that they discovered several plant extracts which naturally enhance your body potentials, but these days it’s kind of Synthetic or you can say “Artificial”.
Performance enhancing supplements, mainly include
- Anabolic Steroids
- CNS Stimulants
- Creatine as Dietary Supplement
- Diuretics
- Protein and Amino Acid Containing Supplements
- Human Growth Hormones (HGH)
Let’s discuss each of them briefly with their dangerous aspects which many of us are still unaware of.
1) Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic steroids are synthetic substances which are used to boost the secretion of Testosterone.
A sex hormone so powerful that increases the size of your muscle and enhances total body strength.
Anabolic steroids can only be obtained if you have a doctor’s prescription because they are designed to overcome that serious medical illness which cannot be treated with other medications.
The use of anabolic steroids delivers the fastest effects, but they have multiple problems with the heart, skin and other vital organs of the body.
For example, Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine, which used to be given to the patients of COPD or Asthma, later on, it was abused heavily by the bodybuilders for cutting purposes.
Majority of Anabolic steroids are administered through a hypodermic needle which is quite unsafe if not administered by a medical professional.
The use of Anabolic steroid is strictly prohibited to young individuals.
Example of Anabolic Steroids
- Methandienone – Dianabol
- Nandrolone – Deca Durabolin
- Oxandrolone – Anavar
- Stanozolol -Winstrol
- Oxymetholone – Anadrol
- Methyltestosterone – Android
Health Risks from Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic steroids are effective, but more than being effective they are dangerous to the health where they leave a person with the following side effects.
- Gynecomastia
- Baldness
- Hypertension
- Mood Swings
- Aggressive Behavior
- Increased blood cholesterol level
- Liver diseases i.e. liver cirrhosis, liver cancer
- Tumors
- Testicular Shrinkage
Anabolic Steroids – Warning Signs
Anabolic steroids create an anabolic environment in your body and bring certain hormonal changes which cause:
- Depression
- Irritated behavior
- Aggression
Steroids Withdrawal Remedies
You can find many advices online to legally quite the anabolic steroids which by the way isn’t that much easier.
The use of legal steroids is by far the safest option to quit taking steroids, which helps you fulfill the health objectives, but the formula provides in those supplements are completely natural.
Consult a healthcare professional if you are looking for secondary options.
2) CNS Stimulants
Stimulants are the substances which improve the mental alertness and concentration level of an individual.
When it comes to performance enhancement, stimulants are basically involved in mental performance rather than the physical.
They actually can be used for weight loss purposes where bodybuilders are demanded to shed fat.
Here are some stimulants, but not each of them can be found easily
- Caffeine
- Cocaine
- Methamphetamine
- Amphetamine
Stimulants Side Effects
The stimulants cause manic depression in men and women who are taking anti-depressant medications.
The side effects of Stimulants are:
- Tachycardia (increased heart rate)
- High Blood Pressure
- Enhanced Metabolism
3) Diuretics
Diuretics are basically antihypertensives which balance water, salt and electrolytes in your body.
The therapy is given to the patients with high blood pressure; passing of water content from the body is known to decrease the blood pressure.
Diuretics are beneficial for weight loss where athletes prefer so much these days.
The medication induces dehydration, which inhibits the water retention in the muscles and this way you can be ripped.
Health Risks from Using Diuretics
- Muscle cramps
- Dehydration
- Hypokalemia (Potassium depletion)
- Hypotension
- Cognitive impairment
- High dose can cause immediate death
4) Creatine
Creatine is the end product of protein metabolism, which supplies energy to the muscle and the entire nervous system.
The use of Creatine is known to rapidly increase the muscle mass and intensify the workout sessions with performance-enhancing effects.
The studies on Creatine show remarkable athletic benefits which get you powerful in no time.
Creatine abolishes the lactic acid during its cycle, which is the main cause for muscle fatigue.
The use Creatine with teens has not been approved yet, but bodybuilders use it daily to increase their bulk size and performance.
Creatine appears to help muscles make more adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which stores and transports energy in cells and is used for quick bursts of activity, such as weight lifting or sprinting.
But there’s no evidence that creatine enhances performance in aerobic or endurance sports.
Creatine Health Risks
Too much of creatine is known to be dangerous for human health.
Here are the potential health risks which continuous use of high dose Creatine can cause.
- Muscle cramps
- Abdominal cramps
- Weight gain
5) Protein and Amino Acid Supplements
Protein and amino acid supplements fulfill the demands of normal protein intake for a normal individual, whereas, in the case of bodybuilders and professional athletes, they need to take an extra amount of protein for better performance.
Rich protein diet includes egg yolk, nuts, red meat, tofu etc.
Illegal protein and amino acid supplements stimulate the process of protein synthesis by directly boosting testosterone level in men’s body.
Nandrolone is the best example of amino acid supplement which belongs to the class of anabolic steroid and is dangerous for human consumption.
Young men who are using Nandrolone may have experienced the following side effects.
6) Human Growth Hormones
Human growth hormones are synthetic Gonadotropin which is produced naturally in the human body.
Its function is to enhance bone density, muscle mass and various features ina personality of a person like his sexual performance and sportsmanship.
The injections of HGH are administered to enhance the endurance level and physical stamina during the gym sessions.
The medication is available upon prescription only and cannot be purchased just like that.
HGH Health Risks
- Arthritis
- Water retention
- Blurred vision
- Cardiomegaly (Enlarged Heart Muscles)
- Glucose imbalance
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Infertility
Legal Status of Performance Enhancing Supplements – Are They Legal?
According to the FDA guidelines, the use of Anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing supplements mentioned above are illegal for normal use.
However, a person can use these drugs if only he/she has a serious medical illness.
Muscle wasting disease is a common type of medical condition where a person is usually prescribed Dianabol since it limits the wasting of any more muscles and increases the quality gains, but this type of effect is not to experience for personal use.
The reason is the high intensity of side effects, you don’t get a mild headache with the use of anabolic steroids, instead, you get you testes shrunk and it may cost you the libido and other traits which makes you a man.
Long term use of performance-enhancing supplements is illegal only because of the horrendous side effects.
Is There Any Safe and Legal Performance Enhancing Supplement Available?
Yes, there are legal alternatives of anabolic steroids available by the name legal steroids.
The top–ranked company which manufactures safe performance enhancing supplement is Crazy Bulk which has designed about 10 different supplements as a legal version of the top 10 powerful anabolic steroids.
Below are the complete line of Crazy Bulk legal Steroids
For Dianabol, they got D-Bal Max which ensures the same mechanism, but all it contains is the mixture of natural ingredients.
More like steroid mimicking plant extracts designed to increase the overall performance level during a physical workout.
Final Verdict
Steroids and Performance Enhancing Supplements are banned for a reason. Either you take care of your health and stay away from them, or you can test the legal steroids and see where the results will take you.