Texans nutritionist Roberta Anding is back for another nutrition installment of Fitness Corner. Join in by shooting over an e-mail to fitness@houstontexans.com.
A lot of my friends take supplements before they lift everyday after school, they take creatine, and amino acids, and I was wondering if by taking these if there going to harmful effects down the road for them?
-- Nick Gniadek
Dear Nick,
**3 oz chicken breast Amino acid supplement
**
Tryptophan 390mg
Tryptophan .55mg
Threonine 1412mg
Threonine 35mg
Isoleucine 1765mg
Isoleucine 24mg
Leucine 2509mg
Leucine 52mg
Lysine 2836mg
Lysine 169mg
Methionine 925mg
Methionine 9mg
Cystine 428mg
Cystine .55mg
Phenyalanine 1328mg
Phenyalanine 37mg
Tyrosine 1128mg
Tyrosine 6mg
Valine 1659mg
Valine 41mg
Arginine 2015mg
Arginine 129mg
Histidine 1037mg
Histidine 11mg
Alanine 1823mg
Alanine 160mg
So which is best? The three-ounce chicken breast wins hands down. So instead of an amino acid supplement, try real food first and save your money! Additionally, dietary supplements are not regulated in the United States, so what is on the label may not be what is in the product.
Creatine is a supplement that works for explosive sports and has been tested and studied in adults.[1] According to Dr. Joe Chorley in Sports Medicine at Texas Children's Hospital there are no long-term studies showing safety of this product for growing adolescents and until those are available this product should be avoided in young people under 18.[2]
[1] Krieder,RB Effects of creatine supplementation on performance and training adaptation. Mol Cell Biochem 2003;244:79-84.
[2] DesJardins, M. Supplement use in the adolescent athlete. Curr Sports Med Report. 2002; 1:369-73.
