Popeye is in big trouble

NorthCascades
NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
edited July 2019 in Fitness and Exercise
A study released by Freie Universitat Berlin suggests that ecdysterone, a chemical found in the leafy green vegetable, has a similar effect to steroids and should be added to the list of substances banned in sport, CNN affiliate RTL reported.
The researchers ran a study involving 46 athletes who trained three times per week for 10 weeks. Some were given ecdysterone and others a placebo.

Those who took ecdysterone saw their performance improve by three times as much as those who did not.

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/06/25/sport/spinach-chemical-doping-scli-intl-grm/index.html

Replies

  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    I can see the headline now: "Athlete loses medal for eating too many salads!"
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    I always thought it was the iron in the spinach.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    Interesting - however - doens't explain anything like exactly HOW MUCH ecdysterone were the athletes given? I mean, if I eat a 120g bag of spinach a day (which happens often) will I get the magical performance booster that these athletes had? I doubt it.

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    puffbrat wrote: »
    I can see the headline now: "Athlete loses medal for eating too many salads!"

    "UCI finds eating a healthy diet of natural foods gives athletes an unfair advantage over athletes who eat processed foods. UCI looking into testing of athletes who eat natural organic foods....". :wink:
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Cahgetsfit wrote: »
    Interesting - however - doens't explain anything like exactly HOW MUCH ecdysterone were the athletes given? I mean, if I eat a 120g bag of spinach a day (which happens often) will I get the magical performance booster that these athletes had? I doubt it.

    It looks like you would have to eat 4 kg (almost 9 pounds) per day off spinach to get the dose study participants were given.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    @NorthCascades thanks! So yeah - most normal people would not be able to eat 4kg of spinach a day LOL!

    Therefore - no need to ban spinach.

  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    I was wondering when a thread about this would hit these forums :p
    I wonder if people are going to try to juice 4kg of spinach now. Ok, I suppose what's more likely is that more people will just buy ecydysterone.
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    edited July 2019
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    puffbrat wrote: »
    I can see the headline now: "Athlete loses medal for eating too many salads!"

    "UCI finds eating a healthy diet of natural foods gives athletes an unfair advantage over athletes who eat processed foods. UCI looking into testing of athletes who eat natural organic foods....". :wink:

    It's not April 1st yet, is it? :)
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    In my sport (cycling) people try to cheat any way they can think of. People take drugs, do blood transfusions, hide motors in their bikes ... and now we've come full circle. I'm strong to the finish 'cause I eats my spinach! :smile:
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Cahgetsfit wrote: »
    @NorthCascades thanks! So yeah - most normal people would not be able to eat 4kg of spinach a day LOL!

    Therefore - no need to ban spinach.

    In the real world, you're 100% right. But we can still have done fun with this.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    edited July 2019
    When I read the title, I thought it was going to going to be about how Popeye's, the fried chicken chain, was in financial trouble, and I was going to have a big sad. My performance would suffer without their chicken tenders!
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    In my sport (cycling) people try to cheat any way they can think of. People take drugs, do blood transfusions, hide motors in their bikes ... and now we've come full circle. I'm strong to the finish 'cause I eats my spinach! :smile:

    And that's the thing, while my post above was a bit in jest, I could totally see people trying to consume enough spinach to (attempt) to make a positive difference in performance. In the list of things people have done/still do to cheat, it a. inexpensive, b. logistically not especially challenging (for your average person ok yeah it's challenging, but given that blood doping is a thing...), c. still legal in terms of WADA - I could probably go on but you (general you) get the picture.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    "I swear I didn't know it was spinach! I just ordered the green stuff with cheese at an Indian restaurant!"
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    In my sport (cycling) people try to cheat any way they can think of. People take drugs, do blood transfusions, hide motors in their bikes ... and now we've come full circle. I'm strong to the finish 'cause I eats my spinach! :smile:

    ….And wash it down with beetroot juice.
  • trbp72
    trbp72 Posts: 33 Member
    Ah! The lengths Bluto will go to just to bad mouth the sailor man! :D
  • Shilo_Smith
    Shilo_Smith Posts: 11 Member
    edited July 2019
    They will need to take #2 samples to test them for any bulk over the weeks heading into their "performances".
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    aokoye wrote: »
    I was wondering when a thread about this would hit these forums :p
    I wonder if people are going to try to juice 4kg of spinach now. Ok, I suppose what's more likely is that more people will just buy ecydysterone.

    Hello kidney stones! :tongue:

  • Momjogger
    Momjogger Posts: 750 Member
    I guess my 4 cups of spinach a day isn’t going to turn me into a super athlete then?
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    aokoye wrote: »
    I was wondering when a thread about this would hit these forums :p
    I wonder if people are going to try to juice 4kg of spinach now. Ok, I suppose what's more likely is that more people will just buy ecydysterone.

    Hello kidney stones! :tongue:

    No pain no marginal gains?

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