Originally published September 19 2005
Debate continues on high school athletes' supplement use
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Many high school athletes take nutritional supplements in an effort to get a better, stronger body, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supports the use of supplements, however, a bill proposed in the California legislature would bar high school athletes from taking three nutritional supplements: synephrine, ephedra and DHEA.
He's admiring the new muscle that helped him win a spot as starting defensive tackle on the varsity football team at Cordova High School in suburban Sacramento.
Sailor credits the strength to hard work, a timely growth spurt and a hodgepodge of powders and shakes from a local health store.
Like many high school athletes, Sailor is barely aware of the furor that erupted this summer in California over Gov.
For Sailor and many of his peers, navigating the world of nutritional supplements has become part of the formula for success.
Eight percent of girls and 12% of boys ages 12-18 said they used supplements in pursuit of a better body, according to a survey funded by the National Institutes of Health and cereal-maker Kellogg Co. published this month.
"Everybody's tried them, pretty much," said quarterback Andrew Davis, surveying the Cordova Lancers weight room, where the team spends at least four hours a week.
Most popular are protein shakes and powders that add calories to fast-growing teenage bodies.
The goal for many high school athletes is to try to get faster and stronger.
The Schwarzenegger controversy was the result of the governor and body-builder having close ties to the nutritional supplement industry at the same time he vetoed a bill that could have hurt it.
People who need supplements have, basically, a disease or some dietary behavior that would leave them wanting something," said Dr. Gary Wadler, a professor of sports medicine at New York University and an expert on performance-enhancing drugs.
The list would not include the protein and creatine products many athletes say they use.
They said they never considered taking steroids, and many had never heard of the substances that would be banned in the bill.
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