> Supplements such as whey protein, creatine and L-carotene are used to improve athletic performance and fitness and are sold in grocery stores, vitamin stores and online.
The products are popular among gymnastics members to increase energy and create a mass of lean tissue. But researchers at Allied International University in Los Angeles, the United States, said excessive use was increasing and was dangerous.
"Men use dietary supplements in a risky way for their physical health, their health in terms of relationships and their emotional well-being," says Richard Ashiro of the University of California's School of Professional Psychology.
"It's an expression or a variation in the behavior of eating disorders in these men."
Unlike anorexia or bulimia in women, which results from the desire to be thin, men look for a physique that is both lean and muscular, and uses supplements to achieve it
