Steroids are plagued by mass amounts of negative attention, but with so many athletes, bodybuilders and others using them safely, it makes you wonder if they’re really as dangerous as all the hype would have you believe. And the answer is a resounding “no”.
Steroids are a safe and normal part of bodybuilding for anyone who wants them, and because we want you to feel safe in your choice we’ve put together the top reasons why steroids aren’t as dangerous as they want you to think they are.
While not everything that others do may be right for you, this is one case where you can feel safe in following the lead of others. Athletes and a shocking amount use steroids all year round to enhance their performance and physiques.
Athletes have a vested interest in keeping themselves healthy; after all, they get paid millions of dollars a year to keep them in top physical condition. So why would they jeopardize their health and subsequently their own careers by using steroids? Simple: they wouldn’t.
Must Read: The History Of Steroid Use By Athletes
Athletes use steroids, despite the regulations banning them, because steroids work and keep them at peak performance. Nothing that’s unsafe truly “works” and if steroids didn’t work, athletes wouldn’t turn to them time and time again.
Steroids are different from any other drug because they aren’t pharmaceutical supplements meant to force the body into doing something it doesn’t already do naturally. Steroids are just a synthetic copy of testosterone, the natural hormone already produced by your body. They only enhance a process the body already does, which is why they are so much more effective than other medications or supplements which can be tricky to predict the reactions they’ll have in different body types.
It’s easy to think with all the negative attention that surrounds them, that steroids are completely forbidden and totally off the market. But this is not the case. Doctors have been providing and prescribing steroids to their patients for decades in the forms of pills, patches or creams, and they do so at a high rate to treat a multitude of medical issues in both men and women of all ages.
Must Read: 4 Diseases We Can Treat with Steroids
Steroids can be used to correct low sex drive, male pattern baldness, delayed puberty, delayed growth, menstrual or menopausal issues and even pain conditions. Doctors wouldn’t prescribe steroids for such a cast amount of medical conditions all across the board from different genders to ages if they were really considered dangerous.
Steroids do have side effects but just like all enhancement drugs or supplements, and they aren’t as bad as some people would have you think. The side effects of steroids can result in the development of breasts in men, or in rare cases a decreased sex drive. In women, steroids can cause hair loss from the scalp and cause bodily hair growth or even thickening. Steroids can also cause a deepening of the voice in both sexes and lead to early onset of puberty in children and adolescents.
However, the most common side effects are the mood swings typically referred to as “roid rage”. This can sometimes result in violent yelling, physical outburst or simply unprovoked and frequent anger.
Steroids became one of the “bad guys” during a time period when drug use of all kinds was prevalent. In an effort to crack down on all enhancements, any and all drugs were named illegal, including ones not known to cause any damage. This was a natural solution for the FDA and government to limit all drug use and made it so they didn’t have to write many laws for grey areas.
But as time, science and consumer needs marched on grey areas were expanded making room for the world of vitamins and supplements, and energy drinks. The people wanted ways to be more physically fit and healthy and steroids were able to make a comeback by using a supplement loophole. Supplements, no matter how unhealthy, cannot be regulated by the FDA if they contain natural herbs so long as they are sold with a medical warning. Now even though steroids aren’t harmful to the body the new “war on drugs” makes it too difficult for the FDA to repeal bans on them.
Many also believe that the sports industry and associations play a huge factor in the legal woes of steroids. These associations argue that enhancement drugs make it too difficult to regulate a level playing field among athletes and therefore disqualify any athlete caught with drugs in their system.
Must Read Our Article: When Steroids Begin to Be Dangerous For Your Health
The real reason behind this ban though is said that because steroids have such a bad rap as “doping” drugs that the bad press and media attention from steroids scandals creates too big of a financial loss for sports associations. When an athlete is caught with illegal substances in their systems they lose credibility as role models, lose sponsorship, and lose fans. This means fewer ticket sales, fewer purchases of fan material and fewer people watching on TV.
Like all medications and enhancement supplements, there’s a right and wrong way to take them. While steroids are considered incredibly safe for use and non-habit forming, if you take them in too high of doses or have any underlying medical conditions there’s always a possibility for bad side effects or negative reactions.
To make sure you’re staying within the limits of safety keep track of all medications you take, both prescription and over the counter and even any vitamins to make sure you aren’t overdosing on any ingredients. You should also contact your physician if you notice any negative or concerning changes with your behavior or body.
Must Read: Golden Rules of Steroids Use
Steroids aren’t at all as dangerous as the media and government institutions would like you to think they are and are a perfectly safe way to supplement your bodybuilding routine. When steroids are used safely they help create muscles beyond compare and enable us to obtain power through our bodies.
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