Fair Game or Unfair Advantage?

Athletes who supplemented with these natural 'growth factors' for seven weeks packed on six times more muscle and added 30 pounds to their bench press compared to the guys given a placebo.

Word-of-mouth marketing has led to C9T11 2.0 rivaling creatine and pre-workout nitric oxide (NO2) supplements as the most popular natural performance-enhancers in amateur athletic locker rooms.
However, critics  say these compounds too closely mimic the effects of anabolic steroids and that their use should be prohibited by athletes.

To be sure, steroids, similar to these compounds, work in large part by minimizing the catabolic effects of cortisol, allowing for greater amino acid uptake, nitrogen retention, and protein synthesis.

Many sports scientists, however, say the compounds are a viable alternative to dangerous performance-enhancing drugs. They point to the fact that these compounds are isolated from natural food sources, and are therefore no different, ethically, from high-carbohydrate food mixes for aerobic athletes. Besides, they say research has shown them to be medically safe and that we should emphasize that the alternative to these natural compounds is steroids.