Muscle-Building Supplements May Cause Testicular Cancer

There are two supplements that are used by millions of serious athletes in the West seeking to build muscle. Using them raises a young male athlete's risk of developing testicular cancer by 65 percent. 

One of these potentially carcinogenic nutritional supplements is the controversial substance androstenedione. For about 30 years, American athletes have been using it as a substitute for injections of banned drugs such as testosterone. A man (or woman's) body uses androstenedione as an intermediary substance in the process of transforming cholesterol into testosterone and estrogen. Taken in the form of capsules, it provides the raw materials for making testosterone, which in turn stimulates muscle building and aggression.

Another of these potentially carcinogenic nutritional supplements is the far less controversial substance creatine. There are some creatine products that have received a US FDA designation of GRAS, generally regarded as safe, but creatine in general is not on the GRAS list. The human body makes its own creatine from the amino acids arginine and glycine to help cells all over the body store energy. The more creatine available to muscle, the longer it can perform. Creatine also helps with mental sharpness by providing the brain with more energy.

Greatly Increased Risk Of Testicular Cancer

British scientists have found that men use these muscle building supplements have a 65 percent greater risk of testicular cancer. Men who start using them before the age of 25 have an even greater risk of this painful, potentially fatal cancer that usually can only be treated by removal of the affected testicle(s) and aggressive chemotherapy.

Most men, of course, don't get testicular cancer. In the USA, a man has only a one in 263 chance of developing this particular kind of cancer at some point in his lifetime. Among body builders and athletes who start using androstenedione and creatine in their teens and early twenties, however, that risk rises to about one in 100. It's still far from a sure thing, but it begins to become sufficiently common that the risk is real and most athletes will know some man who has it.

The first symptom of testicular cancer usually is a dull pain in the abdomen. There may be a lump or hardened area in the testicle(s). This kind of cancer can cause gynecomastia, or breast enlargement, and later lumps in the lymph nodes all over the body. Rates of the disease are highest among White men, especially those of Danish or Norwegian ancestry, and also Hispanics and Native Americans. Black, Asian, and Pacific Island males are far less likely to develop the disease.

What's The Problem With Androstenedione And Creatine?

One of the major issues with the use of these two supplements is that Asian-made versions are often spiked with actual anabolic steroids, not just the chemicals the body can use to make steroids and sex hormones. These chemicals definitely increase the risk of cancer.

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Even worse, however, are the effects of products that combine creatine with protein powder. Possibly because of contamination with steroids, these products can increase testicular cancer risk by up to 615 percent. Men who use these products have a three to four percent risk of the disease.

If You Shouldn't Use Androstenedione And Creatine, What Should You Use?

There is a possibility that uncontaminated products have a very small effect on the risk of cancer. If you simply cannot work out a stack without these two supplements, at least use products made in Europe, Japan, Australia, or North America. Don't take anabolic steroids you don't intend to take.

However, there are other ways to increase the muscle-building power of the testosterone your body can make without increasing risk of cancer. Here are a few ways to deal with "low T" without endangering your health.

• The most important rule for raising testosterone is not to raise it too much. When the body senses there is too much testosterone, it activates a feedback loop, and the excess testosterone is converted into estradiol, a form of estrogen. Too much testosterone, ironically, can cause breast enlargement and put fat on the thighs and hips.
• Exercise itself increases testosterone production, but not just any kind of exercise. To trigger increased testosterone production, your workout has to stimulate a kind of nerve cell known as a beta-adrenergic receptor. These are the nerve cells that respond to adrenalin. A gentle afternoon game of tiddlywinks will not get your testosterone levels pumping. Working out as hard as you can as long as you can to go for your personal best may do the trick. However, long bouts of endurance exercise suppress testosterone production and may slow down the growth of new muscle.
• Both chronically low calorie intake and chronically high calorie intake can decrease testosterone levels. If you consistently eat 20 percent fewer calories than your body burns, your testes will make less testosterone. Intermittent fasting is not a problem, because you can "catch up" when you are not fasting. Long-term starvation diets are a problem. Any time you have eaten so much that you have become obese, your testosterone levels will fall.
• Sexual activity in men stimulates testosterone production.
• Sleep apnea, snoring, and insomnia can interfere with male sex hormone production, and muscle gain.
• Women's bodies, of course, also respond to testosterone, but much more sensitively. High-progesterone birth control pills may interfere with their bodies' ability to make the "male" hormone.

Even if you don't take any hormones at all, there are some simple (and cost-free) training practices that can do your body just as much good.

• Make sure you get seven to nine hours of restful sleep each night.
• Have an active sex life.
• If you need to lose weight, you need to eat less, but don't eat less than 80 percent of the calories you need for your basal metabolism plus exercise. Lose weight slowly to preserve muscle.
• When you work out, work out hard. Push yourself. It's the drive to excel that activates the nerves that stimulate a man's body to make the hormones that make it more manly.

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Still can't imagine your stack without androstenedione and creatine? Try Tribulus and/or chrysin. These herbal products help your body conserve the testosterone it makes without overproduction. Far more important than the supplements you take, however, is the care you give to healthy lifestyle, healthy sex, healthy sleep, working out hard, and eating enough but not too much.