Effects of nutritional supplement use and its relationship with kidney disease in high-performance athletes: A review.
Keywords:
Nutritional supplements, kidney damage, high performance athletes, kidney disease.Abstract
Nutritional supplements, such as creatine, glutamine, and Whey protein (milk whey protein), have experienced a notable increase in consumption over the past 30 years. Their use has expanded to a broad population engaged in physical activity; however, the greatest impact is observed among high-performance athletes, as these products allow for the expected increase in muscle mass and improvement in exercise performance. Despite this, over the past decade their consumption has increased considerably, in many cases without adequate control of dosages or combinations used, which has raised concern within the health community. This concern is largely due to the lack of knowledge regarding the potential long-term side effects associated with the consumption of large quantities of these supplements. This thematic review, aims to clarify and present evidence on the effects that nutritional supplements may have on renal function. In particular, it seeks to determine whether there is an association between the use of nutritional supplements by high-performance athletes and the development of long-term kidney disease, according to the scientific literature published to date.
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