By harnessing the power of your weekly shop and with a bit of kitchen prep, you can boost your fitness by making your own performance-enhancing drugs – all completely legal and with no nasty side effects.
Anabolics.
This, of course, is what most people mean when they say ‘steroids’ — the muscle-boosting drugs used by everyone from sprinters to bodybuilders. They do boost muscle growth, but they can also cause infertility, baldness and excess body hair. As well as being illegal, of course.
The substitute Kangaroo: This super-lean meat is high in omega 3 fats — which enhance anabolic signalling after training — and energy-giving iron to get you back in the gym again. It’s also 12% richer in protein than beef, containing 22g against 19.6g per 100g — and much cheaper to buy in the supermarket.
HGH
Your body produces growth hormone naturally — but that’s not enough for some athletes, who use the synthetic version to boost muscle growth. Unfortunate side effects include unexpected facial growth, which makes it tricky for dopers to deny they’ve been using it.
The substitute Greek yoghurt and pineapple This works best as a pre-bed snack. According to research published in the Journal Of Clinical Endocrinology, pineapple boosts night-time serotonin and melatonin production, which assists the production of HGH. The yoghurt is full of L-glutamine, which many studies have linked to HGH-boosting effects.