MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL warned its players last week that ingesting deer antler spray is strictly prohibited.
The new performance enhancing drug is an antler-based spray that mediates human growth hormone levels in the body.
From Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated:
“The antlers are harvested from young deer, ground up and packaged into spray form. The substance is sprayed under the tongue. One manufacturer touts among its benefits ‘anabolic or growth stimulation,’ ‘athletic performance’ and ‘muscular strength and endurance.’”
The drug is banned by baseball as well as the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Verducci writes that players “felt safe using a deer antler spray as an alternative to steroids with almost no risk of flunking a drug test,” prior to the league issuing the warning.