Unintentional doping in sports is a real risk even for honest athletes. You weren’t looking for anything banned, yet the meat on your plate or a tub of “natural” supplement can turn your urine test positive. Below we look at where these substances actually come from and what you can do about it.
What is unintentional doping
An athlete who has returned a positive doping test will often say they took nothing. In quite a few cases that may be the honest truth: the banned compound entered the body passively, through food or a supplement. The trouble is that no lab can tell deliberate administration from accidental exposure. A sample is either positive or negative, and that’s where the story ends.
The summary below draws on the scientific article Non-Intentional Doping in Sports (Mauricio Yonamine, Paula Rodrigues Garcia, Regina Lúcia de Moraes Moreau). I focus on the aspects most relevant to bodybuilding and strength sports.
Meat as a hidden source
Anabolic agents aren’t given only to humans. Since the 40s, veterinary growth promoters have been used in cattle and other livestock to increase their weight. The US, Brazil and EU member states have by now strictly banned these compounds: some are permitted for therapeutic purposes, but not to speed up growth. In practice, this means that despite the bans, residues of anabolic agents end up in the animal’s body and from there on the dinner table. The highest concentrations are found in the kidneys, liver and intestines.
Kicman studied this using chicken meat as an example. Volunteers ate meat from birds that had been given methenolone for therapeutic purposes. The result: 24 hours after the meal, 50% of the subjects who had eaten meat from chickens given methenolone intramuscularly tested positive in their urine. No residues were detected in subjects who ate meat from orally treated birds.
It’s the same story with clenbuterol. Concentrations as high as 160500 µg/kg have been measured in calf liver. For comparison: a single clenbuterol tablet weighs 20 µg on average, so anyone can work out for themselves what a single portion of liver delivers to the body.
Supplements and unintentional doping
This is where things get truly absurd. The German Sport University collected 634 supplement samples from 13 countries. The result: 94 samples contained prohormones that weren’t mentioned on the label at all. That is 14.8% of the collection. 23 samples contained both nandrolone and testosterone prohormones, 64 contained only testosterone ones, and 7 only nandrolone ones.
In 2003, Delbeke and colleagues looked for banned compounds not named on the label. What they found: boldenone, 19-nor-4-androstenediol, testosterone, 5α-androstan-3α,17β-diol. One supplement whose label promised only hydroxycitric acid, levocarnitine, phenylalanine, vanadyl sulfate and citrus and guarana extract actually also contained 19-nor-4-androstene-3,17-dione and 4-androstenedione. DHEA, 4-androstenedione, testosterone and 19-nor-4-androstene-3,17-dione were identified in a jar of pyruvate.
After taking one such “natural” capsule, boldenone metabolites were present in the urine for 6 hours. In some subjects, the norandrosterone concentration exceeded the 2 µg/L threshold (the point at which a sample counts as positive) for up to 24 hours after a single capsule.
De Cock and colleagues gave subjects a “legal” supplement containing 0.7 mg of 4-androstene-3,17-dione and 4.8 mg of 19-nor-4-androstene-3,17-dione. After a single capsule, all 5 subjects tested positive. Norandrosterone stayed above 2 µg/L for 48 to 144 hours. The manufacturer recommended 7 capsules a day. Draw your own conclusions.
How to avoid unintentional doping
Nobody can give you a hundred-percent guarantee, but a few sensible steps can reduce the risk significantly.
- Choose meat from a reliable source. Offal and liver of dubious or unknown origin are the biggest risk.
- Choose supplements from certified manufacturers, preferably ones that have passed independent testing (for example Informed Sport or Cologne List).
- Keep the packaging and batch number of every batch. In a dispute, it’s the only evidence you have.
- During the competition season, cut your intake of exotic “natural complexes” to a minimum. The shorter the ingredient list, the smaller the risk.
FAQ
How long do these compounds stay in the body?
It depends on the compound and the dose. In the studies cited, norandrosterone stayed at a positive level for up to 144 hours after a single “supplement” capsule. After eating meat, positive samples were still being returned 24 hours later.
Is a “natural” supplement always safe?
No. Of 634 samples, 14.8% contained prohormones not listed on the label. The word “natural” on a label means nothing. What matters is the manufacturer, independent testing and batch checks.
Does the anti-doping panel take unintentional ingestion into account?
As a rule, no. An athlete is responsible for whatever is under their own control: what went in is what counts. That’s precisely why keeping batch numbers and choosing certified supplements are, in practice, the only real protection.
Translated by Janar Rückenberg
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