Sports Supplements Essays - Dietary Supplements,

Sports Supplements Athletes are competitive. They go out there to win. But, at all costs? Why are athletes willing to sacrifice their long term health in order to have one outstanding season? Will it be worth it when they are hooked up to machines in order to stay alive? Many athletes do not think that taking a supplement will harm them. They are strong, tough athletes, nothing can harm them, right? So, they start taking creatine or andro, or both. For most, they lose body fat, gain strength and muscle. That sounds great, but that is not always what happens. The use of over-the-counter sports supplements is dangerous and the FDA should take them off the shelf. Supplements are supposed to be taken to make up for a deficiency in some aspect of a person's diet. For example, if someone does not like milk and does not eat any foods that contain calcium, they could take a calcium supplement. But, athletes use supplements to lose body fat and gain muscle and strength. Once favored primarily by gung-ho body builders, products that purportedly add muscle and increase strength are now being snapped up by weekend athletes hoping to stay in top form, as well as older adults wanting to stay toned and healthy as they age ("Drugs" 8). These sports supplements are not being used correctly, and this causes problems down the road for users. There are different types of supplements. Creatine monohydrate, generally known as creatine is a popularly used supplement. Creatine occurs naturally in muscles, but many athletes or body builders take it to increase their strength and size. When using muscles, a chemical called ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) is broken down into ADP (adenosine DI-phosphate) and an inorganic phosphate. The release of the phosphate is what gives the muscles energy. Creatine, the naturally occurring kind, or the kind that comes in a jar, combines with phosphate and can restore ADP back to ATP. Theoretically, this means more energy. But it does not come without a price. The manufacturers and advertisers for Creatine tell people they should use the product because muscles contain an average of 3.5 to 4 grams of naturally occurring creatine per kilogram of muscle. They say the good news is that up to 5 grams may be stored. So, by using their product, you can use your full potential of muscle energy ("Creatine" 1). Basically what the company is telling you is to pay an outrageous amount of money to add 1 gram on creatine to your muscles. Also, taking creatine has many side effects, just as other supplements do. This is because this type of creatine is pure. The body gets its natural creatine from red meat. But, red meat is not one hundred percent creatine. The body cannot handle the potency of this supplement. Androstenedione (Andro) is a hormonally based supplement that is supposed to help weight lifters add muscle. Andro is taken orally and goes to the liver. The liver destroys most of what is ingested, but what does survive combines with various enzymes and temporarily boosts testosterone levels. This boost in testosterone allows an athlete to perform at a level above what he usually does. "Androstendione is an honest-to-goodness steroid and a precursor to testosterone" (Gorman 246). If an athlete takes andro before he goes to the gym, he will be able to lift more, and thus increase strength and size. Although it is not legally considered an anabolic steroid at this time, andro acts exactly as they do. "Many endocrinologists insist that the differences between supplements like androstenedione and traditional steroids (which are legal only for certain medical conditions) are trivial" (Zorpette 22). In Canada a prescription is needed to get andro, but in the US it is an over-the-counter drug (Sibbald 1). If they essentially have the same effects, then one should not be illegal and the other legal. "The American College of Sports Medicine says anabolic steroids such as androstenedione as well as other ?dietary supplements' should be reevaluated and considered drugs" (Sibbald 1). Taking steroids is known to cause many health problems. Yes, they do make people better athletes, but they are illegal and athletes should not use them. DHEA is a supplement in the same "family" as andro, called prohormones. DHEA also raises the testosterone levels in the body. There is very little scientific support of these prohomones. In fact, some preliminary evidence suggests that they may be counterproductive. In a well-controlled study just published in the American Journal of the American Medical Association, androstenedione failed to boost

Throughout the progression of this class

Throughout the progression of this class I have formed an increasing interest in what history is. Moreover, this is what I have given the most of my attention to, simply because I have never thought of this process in any other terms beside the ones I had learned throughout my childhood schooling. Much of the historical dates, events and arguements have never been of particular interest to me. Although, because of my recent awakenings to the historical process, I have become much more interested in the truthfulness of history and what the best way is for that truth to be attained. In the following paragraphs I would like to share with you my findings. All of these findings have come from, not only the modern opinion of history, but also historians of the past and the advancement of the process of an historian, as critiqued by modern analysts. Without the dedication of the historians of the past, and their pursuit of truth, historians would not have such a comprehensive understanding of history. In many ways, we can understand more about the accuracy of history by looking at the theories of our forefathers. In the first chapter of Great Issues in Western Civilization, there were many different theories on how to record history. Some historians debated on understanding history by scientific relationships, and others sought to understand history by modern principles. For example, John Edward Emerich Acton thought that he could better understand the actions of men in the past based on his present principles. On the other hand, Herbert Butterfield says that, Real historical understanding is not achieved by the subordination of the past to the present, but rather by our making the past our present and attempting to see life with the eyes of another century than our own. Or, Leo Strauss, who said, If principles are sufficiently justified by the fact that they are accepted by a society, the principles of ...

Cultural Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Tourism - Essay Example In looking at the official national website for Sri Lanka tourism, the first word that appears is heritage. This indicates a strong need for the country to promote the historical value of its country as being central to the event of a vacation within their borders. The website promotes a sense of otherness, attuned to Western sensibilities, through depicting men sitting on elephants, a lounging leopard, and an exotic woman reclining in what appears to be a spa atmosphere. The experience is connected back to the Western traveler through an image of a Caucasian man on a surfboard and a modern look at a beach. The emphasis is on the exotic, with a connection to the modern Western ideal in order to attract a broad set of travelers. The official national website for the Maldives has a picture of a surfer, swimming below the water towards the surface on a submerged board. The image evokes the sense of the beach, a cool splash of water against the heat of the sun. The first sub-category tha t is presented is titled culture. Just like the Sri Lanka website, the first promotional factor is the differences in culture that a Western traveler would encounter when visiting the country. The two subsequent headings promote diving and the opportunity for a honeymoon in the Maldives. The website reveals the daily temperature and has links to further information about where to stay and where to go, just like the Sri Lanka website. The otherness that is expressed in both websites leads the traveler towards thoughts of adventure. In creating an enticement to travel to the region, the websites are intended to evoke a sense of newness of experience so that the traveler will want to know what they do not yet know. The imagery also suggests that the locations have the element of the exotic, the â€Å"erotics of imperial conquest† as explored by McClintock (24). While the eroticism is not blatant, the notion that the locations will bring to the vacationer an experience that is de fined by adventure suggests that the attendee will be able to conquer an unknown territory. The use of the woman in the spa-like atmosphere on the advertisement for Sri Lanka can be linked to the desire to equate sensuality with the experience of visiting the island. McClintock states that â€Å"women served as mediating and threshold figures by means of which men oriented themselves in space, as agents of power and agents of knowledge† (24). The boundaries of the world have been typically characterized as women, objectifying the presence of the female spirit within the framework of territory. Through using a female image in a position of sensuality, this concept is continued into the modern day discourse about the experience of visiting a new land, thus having conquered that experience. The Maldives have a different approach to enticing their visitors. The site is full of images of the rich blue of the sea in contrast to the strand of islands. Several images of surfers, thei r boards planted beneath their feet and their bodies arched in control of their activity, grace the pages of their website. This evokes a different type of feeling towards the experience. This suggests that the natural environment is what will be conquered in visiting the isla