FYI: What Is Deer Antler Spray, And Why Would A Football Player Use It?
Mule Deer Wikimedia CommonsNFL players have been accused of using deer antler spray, a banned performance enhancer with a bizarre name. A new report from Sports Illustrated connects Baltimore Ravens player Ray Lewis with deer antler spray, also known as deer antler velvet, one of the oddest-sounding performance enhancers we've ever heard of. (Lewis and the team, by the way, deny he did anything wrong.) So what is this stuff? Well, it's pretty close to what it sounds like: It's a spray or pill with an active ingredient, IGF-1, extracted from deer antlers. Christopher Key, one person in the two-person company SWATS (Sports With Alternatives To Steroids), which sells the spray and pills, gave this quote in the Sports Illustrated report: "You're familiar with HGH, correct?" asked Key, referring to human growth hormone. "It's converted in the liver to IGF-1." IGF-1, or -insulin-like growth factor, is a natural, anabolic hormone...