While it is tempting to buy the hottest body building supplements on the market, it is also important to realize the underlying chemistry of these supplements and how that chemistry affects the body. While attempting to increase muscle size, these supplements might have surprising and unwanted side affects.



Water and creatine are excellent examples of why people need to pay attention to the chemical make-up of anything they might purchase First, consider the water molecule. Water is a truly amazing substance. Water can dissolve just about anything. That is why living things require it in order to get the most out of their nutrition and biology. Water is able to dissolve things because it binds with other chemicals. Water starts by breaking the molecular structure of compounds into ions or parts of a molecule. The ions, depending on their charges, will bind with either the oxygen or hydrogen in water. This changes the way water functions because the addition of other compounds can either help or hinder how water is absorbed in the body.

Creatine is another substance that bonds with just about anything. Creatine is composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. All of these elements are found in water, the body, and any nutrients that the body uses. While this can be helpful for providing increased energy and nutrition to muscles, it also will magnify the affect of anything lying around. In other words, if there is excess water in the system, the creatine can bring the water through the body in such a way as to cause bloating and other digestive discomfort.

If other supplements are in use such as steroids, hormones, proteins, and vitamins, creatine will magnify both the positive and negative affects of these substances. Therefore, it is absolutely important to know the chemicals present in the supplements being used, but it is also of equal importance to know what affects these supplements produce while in the body.

There are loads of supplements that will certainly increase muscle size. Two of the most dangerous supplements are steroids and hormones. Steroids are used to increase the growth of muscle.

These should be taken under the close supervision of a doctor, and they are not recommended for recreational use. Steroids are best used for people with asthma and persons recovering from surgery and illness. Taken as a fitness supplement, steroids will yield bigger muscles. But they will also yield changes in mood and temperament. As they bond with other substances, their affects may be seriously magnified or modified. This is also true for hormones.

Testosterone is most commonly associated with muscle growth. It is best not to take testosterone unless of a hormonal condition. Otherwise, testosterone will produce side affects such as changing vocal range, extra body hair, and uterine cancer in women.

In men, the bonding of testosterone to other compounds can create feminine hormones that will change the nature of the male reproductive system. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the way in which these and other supplements affect the body.