Do you spend every week working out your stomach at the gym and eating better than ever, only to see the numbers on the scale keep rising?
The ‘healthy’ supplements you take to improve your results could be to blame.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, nutritionists have warned that many popular powders and drinks, said to make muscles stronger and more resilient, are actually causing gym-goers to pile on unwanted, excess pounds.
The main culprits are the amino acid creatine – which can be taken in capsule or powder form – and protein shakes.
“When you look at protein powders and shakes, you see so many added sugars, fats and calories,” says Dr. Shauna Levy, an expert in obesity medicine at Tulane University.
But large amounts of other, apparently beneficial supplements, such as vitamin A, can also cause a shock to the scale.
People who use nutritional supplements labeled as “healthy” may become discouraged and frustrated when they see the numbers on the scale increase
Using some of these products every day can lead to weight gain of up to 4 pounds per week.
In the case of two of these waist-enhancing supplements, the problem is water retention. Although this problem will resolve on its own within a few weeks, it can be an initial shock to those expecting weight loss.
Dietary supplements are a more than $160 billion industry, and nearly four in five Americans take supplements daily to help with a range of ailments from stress, brittle bones and insomnia.
Creatine is a substance produced naturally by the body and is said to promote muscle growth and strength. Creatine supplements have seen a rapid rise in popularity in recent years, with reported annual sales in the US alone rising from $50 million in 1996 to more than $400 million in 2017.
Supplements like protein powders are sometimes packed with sugar and artificial flavors, which if not combined with a strict exercise regimen will cause a calorie surplus
The top sellers say their products support the increase in muscle mass, increase strength, improve endurance and improve overall exercise performance. But few include a disclaimer about the likelihood of gaining a few pounds during the first week.
Creatine actually draws water into the muscle cells, causing bloating or bags around your arms, legs or abdomen.
The result can be an addition of 2 to 4.5 kg of water weight, which according to studies usually disappears within a few days.
Grant Tinsley, a professor of body composition at Texas Tech University, said, “Some people” experience a “small amount of weight gain when they take creatine.”
“Although this effect has been observed in multiple studies, not all individuals or groups experience this,” he told mindbodygreen.
Protein powders can be of help to gym enthusiasts looking to build lean muscle mass. But eating too much can lead to a calorie surplus. If this is not combined with an exercise regimen to expend that energy, it will cause a person to gain pounds.
Some of the most popular protein powders on the market, including those derived from milk (whey) or plants (peas, rice, potatoes, hemp, soy), contain added sugars and artificial flavors and thickeners, making some as high in calories as a milkshake.
‘People think they are doing it right because it says 30 grams of protein, but what is the rest of the content?’ says Doctor Levy.
And vitamin A, at least in rats, has been linked to higher weight when combined with an unhealthy diet.
A 2019 study published in the journal Biochemistry and cell biology found that rats consuming excess vitamin A and a high-fat diet had higher body weight, liver mass and fat mass, indicating that vitamin A played a role in causing obesity among the rats.
More research is needed on the effects of vitamin A, especially a daily dose of more than 3,000 micrograms, experts say. But too much vitamin A is also linked to other health problems, such as osteoporosis, yellowing of the skin, nausea and stomach pain.
Dr. Levy said, “You don’t really need anything supplemental unless you train your muscles for more than 45 minutes to an hour every day, but you can get most of that through your diet.”