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a direct contrast to medical studies that insist these products do not enhance athletic performance during actual competition. Maybe that's why the National Collegiate Athletic Association continues to allow athletes the freedom of choice when it comes to nutritional supplements and exhibits a juvenile stance on the current and long-term health concerns. Studies show that when taken orally, creatine has no adverse effects in healthy athletes when recommended dosages are followed. But one area athlete said he followed the directions on the back of a bottle of creatine and recently became seriously ill. Perhaps his experience should raise a caution flag. Rich Kowalczyk, a graduate of Stagg High School and current Lewis University baseball player, found himself in the hospital for five days, dealing with |
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84 Pages — 7 Sections Vol.11 — No. 5 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1999 |
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Athletes are not wary of supplements
hey yearn for more power, to hit the baseball farther, to tackle an opponent with extraordinary force, to have a greater sense of invincibility. The use of nutritional or dietary supplements such as creatine is becoming widespread among today's high school and college athletes. Just a few years ago, a nutritional bowl of your favorite cereal, a glass of juice and an honest workout was the way to start the day for athletes. Today, a couple of teaspoons of creatine and 48 ounces of water represent the breakfast of champions. Athletes insist they feel stronger and perform better when taking nutritional supplements, the latter |
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my wrestlers on the stuff. But every athlete I come in contact with asks me about nutritional supplements. Athletes want to do better. No matter what the cost. Athletes are in denial." Creatine is naturally present in food sources such as meat and fish, providing around one to two grams of creatine per day. But that level is not enough to please today's athlete, many of whom reach for an additional 40 grams of creatine per day to increase body mass. "The kids think they're bulking up, but they're likely just retaining extra water ," Dr. Rizzo explained. "Kids see a nutritional supplement in a bottle and they think it's safe." And what about the impressionable teenage athletes who are not following the directions? Besides, how can teenagers — some who can't meet their parents' curfew rules, turn in a term paper on time or take out the garbage on a daily basis — be trusted to follow serious directions? Yet, they're taking nutritional supplements, in some cases, without their parents' knowledge or understanding possible long-term health concerns. Kowalczyk's unfortunate experience supports one medical study that claimed there was strong circumstantial evidence linking creatine supplements to |
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deterioration of renal function. I recently talked to numerous college and prep athletes, mostly football and baseball players, and nearly all admitted to taking a nutritional supplement and, shockingly, said most of their teammates are doing likewise. If players at Division II Lewis University are taking nutritional supplements just imagine what's going on at the big Division I programs. It's the same at high schools where the desire to excel and. receive a college scholarship is simply forcing kids to try nutritional supplements. A greater cause for concern is a growing number of athletes taking it a step further, reaching for androstenedione or "andro," the nutritional supplement made famous by St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire. "Andro," however, is illegal by NCAA standards. No data are available on the long-tem safety of taking androstenedione. However, adverse effects of exogenous testosterone in men include decreased sperm production, behavioral changes, testicular atrophy, decreased height, and breast growth. Great. Baseball players might have to submit their cap and bra size in the future. According to college athletes speaking on the condition of |
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anonymity, athletes who take "andro" simply stop taking the nutritional supplement once the post-season nears, knowing a drug test is approaching. What is the fascination with these nutritional supplements? And what ever happened to relying on an honest workout and quality diet? Surely, professional, college and, to an extent, high school coaches share in some of the blame, putting too much emphasis on the size of the athlete's body and not his performance or size of his heart. "My coach (Irish O’Reilly) told us not to take any nutritional supplements," Kowalczyk said. "I never thought I needed the stuff, but when I went on it I couldn't believe how strong I felt. But it's not worth it. I might be a l-in-10,000 case, but I'd never want to be that one again." The one aspect college and high school athletes should realize is that if these products enhance performance, wouldn't one of the many drug companies gain a patent and attempt to sell this stuff at even more bloated prices? Think about it.
e-mail Pat Disabato at hintite@interaccess.com |
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excruciating abdominal pain and kidney failure. "It was like I had a heart attack of the kidneys," Kowalczyk said. "The doctors refer to it as renal failure. I was in so much pain. It felt like my sides exploded." It was a far cry to how Kowalczyk felt for the three months leading up to his scary ordeal. "I was in the best shape of my life," Kowalczyk said. "I was running and working out every day. I was doing exactly what they said to do on the instructions." But when Kowalczyk was finishing a mile run, clocking in at a superb time of 5:45, he collapsed, unable to endure the pain in his sides. He went to the hospital and experienced the discomfort of a myriad of tests. "Basically, Rich dehydrated and shut down some blood flow to his kidneys," said Dr. Nicholas Rizzo, who treated Kowalczyk during his illness. "I think the creatine could have potentially dehydrated him more and could have partially elevated his labs. He knocked out three-quarters of his kidney function. Fortunately, he recovered nearly all of his kidney function." Fortunately is right. Dr. Rizzo, who is also an assistant wrestling coach at Marist, is not an advocate of athletes taking nutritional supplements. And if you're looking at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for help, it does not regulate nutritional supplements. "Aside from a multi-vitamin, I'm totally against nutritional supplements in general," Dr. Rizzo said. "I won't allow any of |