No, Muscle-Building Supplements Have Not Been Proven to Cause Cancer
There seems to be research coming out every day that links something new to cancer. One such study, conducted by researchers at Brown University, recently linked muscle-building supplements (or MBS) to cancer. Will your daily creatine habit really lead to untimely death?
As Examine.com points out, such studies are correlative and do not necessarily show causation . For example, if research shows that diet soda is associated with obesity, obese people are much more likely to drink diet soda than their lighter counterparts. (Fun fact: Correlation also links Internet Explorer usage to killing .)
Another problem with this study is that “muscle building supplements” were a vague generalization that only disclosed three of the many ingredients tested: creatine, protein powder, and androstenedione. According to research:
This ambiguity makes it difficult to link this study’s findings to anything more specific than the general category of muscle-building supplements. Moreover, it is almost impossible to analyze what actually falls into this category. The disclosed only three components also differ greatly in their action in the body.
You can find a full analysis of the Examine study at the link below, but they came to the following conclusion:
This study provides no practical evidence to answer the personal question, “Could this supplement cause me testicular cancer?” However, it is always a good idea to search the Examine.com database for every ingredient in your dietary supplement to see if there is any individual concern.
For example, you can see thataccording to existing research, creatine is safe . At this point, there is no reason to fear “muscle building supplements” as a group.
Articles like these are easy to scare the layman, so make sure you understand what to look for when reading any health and fitness article . Sometimes such long-term correlation studies can do more harm than help . Do muscle building supplements cause testicular cancer? Examine.com