New research suggests that a new form of eating disorder is emerging among men, CBS News reported.
Researchers found that more men are turning to and overusing legal over-the-counter bodybuilding supplements to the point where it may qualify as an eating disorder.
"These products have become an almost ubiquitous fixture in the pantries of young men across the country and can seemingly be purchased anywhere and everywhere -- from grocery stores to college book stores," Richard Achiro, who presented the research at the American Psychological Association's annual convention, said in a statement. "The marketing efforts, which are tailored to addressing underlying insecurities associated with masculinity, position these products perfectly as a 'solution' by which to fill a void felt by so many men in our culture."
For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from nearly 200men between the ages of 18 and 65 years old who had consumed legal appearance- or performance-enhancing supplements such as whey protein, creating and L-cartinine, in the past 30 days, The Huffington Post reported. They had also stated that they work out for fitness or appearance-related reasons a minimum of two times a week.
They found that more than 40 percent of study participants indicated that their use of supplements had increased over time and 22 percent indicated that they replaced regular meals with dietary supplements not intended to be meal replacements. They used a scale to decipher risky legal supplement use.
Twenty-nine percent of the men surveyed "said they were concerned about their own use" of supplements, CBS News reported. On the more extreme end, 8 percent of participants indicated that their physician had told them to cut back on or stop using supplements due to actual or potential adverse health side effects, and 3 percent had been hospitalized for kidney or liver problems that were related to the use of supplements.
"Body-conscious men who are driven by psychological factors to attain a level of physical or masculine 'perfection' are prone to use these supplements and drugs in a manner that is excessive and which was demonstrated in this study to be a variant of disordered eating," Achiro said. "As legal supplements become increasingly prevalent around the globe, it is all the more important to assess and treat the psychological causes and effects of excessive use of these drugs and supplements."
The findings put risky or excessive legal supplement use on the map as an issue facing a significant number of men.
