Forever Natural: Review by Jerry Brainum, IRONMAN Nov '90

With the advent of increased drug testing in sports, more athletes are turning to drug-free training to become supreme in their fields. Others, who never took drugs in the first place, ponder the presumed handicap of competing without drugs.

Until now there was no guide for either group, but thanks to the efforts of Dave Tuttle, a cogent discourse is available for athletes hoping to excel in sports while shunning drugs.

Dave Tuttle is a familiar name to IRONMAN readers, as he writes a popular department in the magazine dealing with drugs and drug issues in bodybuilding. Both the column and his new book share the same title: Forever Natural.

Tuttle is no armchair philosopher; he practices what he preaches in Forever Natural and has competed in several natural bodybuilding events. Tuttle began training after "Santa Claus" gave him his first barbell set when he was in the sixth grade. Besides bodybuilding, Dave has also competed in swimming and wrestling. A strong believer in living a balanced life (there's a chapter about this in his book), Tuttle has a master's degree in city planning and economics from Harvard University. He now lives and trains in Venice, California.

Back to the book. Forever Natural begins with a pep talk about the long-term futility of using steroids and other drugs. Tuttle notes that much of the muscular gains acquired with the assistance of drugs is transitory. When you get off drugs, the gains vanish. He points out that refusing to use drugs and embracing the natural alternatives require a positive attitude and belief in yourself.

According to Tuttle steroid use, by negatively altering cholesterol synthesis in the body, is "one of the reasons that outwardly healthy athletes in their 20s are dropping dead of heart attacks."

Oh, really? I can't imagine why the medical literature isignoring all these fatalities. The truth is that not one case of heart attack or stroke has been directly traced to steroid use. This doesn't mean that such a scenario isn't possible, just that it's premature to make such a statement at this time.

The reason why bodybuilders who use steroids don't drop dead of cardiovascular disease is because they usually follow extremely low-fat diets that are devoid of saturated fat. Most of them also do lots of aerobic exercise nowadays, which is cardioprotective. I've seen many blood test results of champion bodybuilders, and it's very rare for a total blood cholesterol reading to be above 150 in these people. While it's true that their HDL cholesterol (a protective form of cholesterol) nose-dives when these men take steroids, they still aren't dropping dead.

The danger of making such hyperbolic statements in a book such as this is that you lose some of your credibility with more well-informed readers. Physicians found this out a few years ago when they advised athletes that "steroids don't work."

A few more minor errors exist in the book--but nothing to diminish its essential message: that natural training is the way to stay healthy. I do, however, feel that Tuttle takes too much of a hard line against food supplements. He advises not to trust manufacturers' claims of supposed "anabolic supplments." Ask for proof, such as double-blind scientific studies, says Tuttle.

The problem is that no company is willing spend millions to prove the efficacy of a product that can't be patented, as is the case with most food supplements. Because of this, no such products will ever be tested to the extent that definitive proof of efficacy is available. If you take such supplements, you take them on faith.

I'd modify Tuttle's position on supplements to warn consumers to lok carefully at the proof that is offered. For example, the proof offered about one supplement that's said to raise testosterone levels is based on one study that indeed showed elevated testosterone in tested subjects. The clincher is that the subjects were all old women. This, of course, doesn't prove a thing about whether this particular supplement will raise testosterone levels in healthy, young men, and it's the kind of mendacious claim you should watch out for.

Even with these minor errors, Forever Natural is worthwhile reading for all who are interested in staying drug-free. Tuttle offers plenty of tips that can aid you in achieving your goals.

BestSellers

Books

Maximum Calves

7-Minute Rotator Cuff