Supplements are meant to supplement your diet and lifestyle.
So maybe you take high quality omega 3s, multi-vitamins, and multi-minerals to eliminate the deficiency caused by modern foods. You might take calcium, ZMA, antioxidants, probiotics, and so on and on, but regardless, most of these are meant to supplement the diet and lifestyle.
Some people argue that you should only use whole foods to attain all your macro/micro nutrients, and that taking supplements like the above is unnatural. The problem with that argument is that our soil (which our foods grow from) no longer contain the same nutrient quality, and our food is more processed; there are more chemicals; there are less antioxidants; and our lifestyles are more toxic.
On top of all that, these supplements are used to fill a deficiency, and any deficiency to the body means it is functioning less optimally. Would you rather take a supplement and not have deficiencies or continue to stick to the dogma of natural vs. unnatural while living with a deficiency?
If you chose the latter, all the more power to you. I’d rather fill the gaps with supplements then live on the edge with a deficiency. And that leads me to the point of the post, which is the more controversial supplements like steroids, pro-steroids, fat, burners, etc…
If someone has the knowledge of the consequences and protocols on each and every supplement, and still chooses to take it, then that is their choice. You don’t make that decision for them, and you really shouldn’t criticize them for it either. Yes it’s vanity driven. Yes they might be “cheating”, and yes they are most likely damaging their health (adrenals specifically) to achieve the body of their dreams, but the key point in all of this is that it is their body.
Many people’s lives are driven by how their body looks, or how they perceive their body image. And if you’re not comfortable with your body, that’s going to kill your confidence, make you sad, and really have a negative domino effect in your life. Not to say this can’t be accomplished with “natural” methods like exercise.
But what if taking one supplement changes all of that? Who has the right to say it’s wrong? See all anyone takes into consideration when someone decides to take a controversial supplement is the cases in which the consumer took the wrong dosage, took multiple non-combinable supplements, or didn’t pay attention to who the supplement was for.
But no-one takes into consideration the thousands and thousands who got great results, and the fewer whose lives were actually drastically improved by improving their body image.
This isn’t me saying supplements are for everyone, and that regardless of your goals you should take fat burners and/or pro-steroids, but I am saying that after you’ve read and researched a supplement, after you know the serious consequences and the benefits, it’s YOUR decision.
Actually it’s always your decision, but you really shouldn’t even need to make that decision until you have a respectable amount of knowledge about health, and more importantly have applied that information for years and years.
And even controversial supplements like steroids, pro-steroids, fat burners, and sexual enhancers (it’s a big market) are SUPPLEMENTAL to your diet, training, sleep, hydration, breathing, thinking, and stress management.
Someone can take steroids or any controversial supplement and not get results.
And someone can improve their diet, training, sleep/sunlight habits, breathing/hydration habits, thinking, and stress management, and get results, just maybe not the ones they wanted. By the way, it’s very likely you’ll get the results you want without the use of any of the supplements I’m referring to right now because more people have attained those results without those supplements than with.
Because in the end it’s the work you put in that is going to get you your dream body, not a supplement.
And in the end, it’s the knowledge you have in this field that is going to allow you to strategically put work in to achieve your results.
If you still think cholesterol and fat are bad for you, if you still think hours and hours of cardio are good for you, and if you still think steroids and the like are magic pills, then these supplements are NOT FOR YOU. Hell if you still believe that carbohydrates are bad for you, and that training intense day in and out is good for you, these supplements are not for you.
Knowledge, desire, and effort are still and will always be the magic pills that will assist you in achieving your dream body. Those magic pills are for everyone, and they are FREE!
P.S. sometimes a lifestyle change can cause the same improvement people are looking for in a supplement. For example, with motivation to exercise, workout classes can increase adherence and ability.