Excessive workout supplement use: Emerging eating disorder?

A new eating disorder may have been identified amongst men who live to work out, although it’s probably not what you’d expect: According to new research presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, some guys may be consuming over-the-counter bodybuilding supplements at a dangerous level in an attempt to construct a “better” body.
While some may see this as finding a problem where none exist, those who presented the research emphasized how pervasive this could be.
“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,” said Richard Achiro, PhD, California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, Los Angeles, who presented the research. “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.”
This void can be so large that men begin experiencing signs of an eating disorder—including extreme emotions and attitudes involving weight and food issues that drive them to develop health-threatening eating habits.
An issue facing a significant number of men 
To uncover how widespread this may be, Achiro and co-author Peter Theodore, PhD, recruited 195 men age 18-65 who reported consuming legal appearance- or performance-enhancing supplements (like whey protein or creatine) in the past 30 days, and who stated they work out for fitness or appearance at least twice a week. These men completed an online survey relating to a variety of subjects, including supplement use, body image, gender role conflicts, eating habits, and self-esteem.
Of these men, over 40% reported that their use of supplements had increased with time, while 22% indicated that they replaced regular meals with supplements not intended for meal-replacement purposes.
However, several results were even more alarming. For instance, 29% of the men said they were concerned about their supplement use, and 8% reported their physicians told them to cut down on or stop their usage due to actual or potential side effects. Three percent of the men had actually been hospitalized as a result of supplements causing kidney and liver problems.
“The most critical implication for these findings is to put risky/excessive legal supplement use on the map as an issue facing a significant number of men,” said Achiro.
Like with other eating disorders, what drives this over-consumption appears to be a combination of factors, including body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, and gender role conflict—or, the feeling that one is not living up to the strict limitations of masculinity as defined by modern society.
“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,” said Achiro. “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.”
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