A new study suggests that nearly 30 percent of men are consuming more than enough workout supplements and might already be suffering from eating disorders.
Richard Achiro, study leader at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, Los Angeles, worked with his colleagues for an online survey that was participated by 195 men with ages 19 to 65 who had used workout supplements for the past 30 days. The researchers aimed to get information about men's supplement use, self-esteem, body image, eating habits and gender role conflicts.
The commonly-used workout supplements of the participants included whey protein, creatine and L-carnitine. The respondents said that they work out at least twice a week to stay fit or improve their appearance.
The analysis showed that more than 40 percent of the respondents had increased their workout supplement consumption over time, and 22 percent had replaced some of their meals with these products. Disturbingly, 29 percent admitted that they are concerned with their excessive use of the workout supplements, some so much so that eight percent of them were advised by their doctors to stop and three percent had suffered from kidney problems.
"These products have become an almost ubiquitous fixture in the pantries of young men across the country and can seemingly be purchased anywhere and everywhere - from grocery stores to college book stores," Achiro said in a news release. "The marketing efforts, which are tailored to addressing underlying insecurities associated with masculinity, position these products perfectly as a 'solution' by which to fill a void felt by so many men in our culture."
The researchers also found that men with low self-esteem and experiencing gender role conflict are most likely to overuse workout supplements.
Overusing workout supplements is not a new problem and may have overlooked in the past because these men look healthy on the outside. The researchers found that the excessive use of workout supplements also lead to symptoms of eating disorders, such as being concerned of what they eat or restricting their eating.
"These men look physically very healthy, but they might be driven in a way that's pathological," Achiro told Live Science.
The study was presented on Aug. 6 at the American Psychological Association's annual meeting in Toronto.
