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Performance Enhancement Analysis

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Performance enhancement supplements and drugs are a billion dollar industry due to their growth and popularity with athletes of all ages. There are two types of performance enhancement substances: legal and illegal. Substances that are considered legal are usually naturally occurring and are easily available. A substance is usually deemed illegal because it is manufactured, possibly more harmful than helpful to an athlete’s body, violates the spirit of sport, and banned by many sport organizations. Although this industry continues to grow it usually stirs up some controversial conversations. Mentioned before was the violation of the spirit of sport which is defined by the World Anti- Doping Agency as, “the celebration of the human spirit, …show more content…

The federal level includes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Academy of Science (NAS). The FDA is responsible for regulating product labeling and other safety and quality regulated practices. The FTC regulates advertising, and the rest play a considerable role in other forms of regulation. In 1990 the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) was passed to restrict certain health claims being made by manufactures, and in 1994 the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act (DSHEA) granted authority for the FDA to oversee product labeling, package inserts, product literature, manufacturing practices, and product safety (ability to ban products if proven unsafe). These regulations can help product development become safer to help athletes understand what they are putting into their bodies and how these types of enhancements may not be the best option for them. It is crucial for an athlete to discuss any form of enhancement supplement or drug with a medical …show more content…

Creatine is viewed as “the most effective nutritional supplement available to athletes to increase high intensity exercise capacity and muscle mass during training. The only clinically significant side effect reported has been weight gain,” (Kreider, 2004). Unfortunately some studies have proven otherwise. For instance, there is a study that included 12 male athletes who participated in an endurance trial (2 60 minute running exercise) where 12 grams of creatine supplements were taken on a daily basis for 15 days followed by a 5 day wash period. Afterwards they participated in a power trial (2 100 m sprints) before and after 15 days of creatine supplementation in accordance with the supplementary protocol of the endurance trial. Results revealed a significant increase in body weight of the athletes of the endurance trial, and a decrease in muscle glycogen and protein degradation. This study did prove that creatine induced collagen proteolysis in athletes after sprint

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