Santi Aragon continues to speak out on just how prevalent diuretic use is in bodybuilding… and how consistently dangerous they can be.
It’s no secret that diuretics can be a powerful drug when done incorrectly. It’s also well known that diuretics are used by bodybuilders during contest prep for a show. While there are very few proven incidents with diuretics in bodybuilding leading to death or hospitalization – Santi Aragon believes this is a very dangerous aspect of bodybuilding and a serious health risk for individuals in the sport. That’s why after his retirement he has dedicated himself to speaking openly about the risks many avoid discussing in bodybuilding. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Santi Aragon details the worst experience he had using diuretics and how it nearly put him into the hospital.
After a quite tragic year for bodybuilding in 2021 due to many too-soon athlete deaths, the discussion about health has been highlighted in the sport. While many of these deaths are possibly coincidental – there have been those who have started speaking out about the often unspoken dangers in the sport. Perhaps these recent deaths are unconnected – but the event has spurred a bigger openness in bodybuilding.
The discussion of diuretics in bodybuilding is one aspect that has opened up in recent years. Many big names in the sport have spoken with Generation Iron – including Victor Martinez, Milos Sarcev, and even 8x Olympia legend Ronnie Coleman – on just how dangerous these drugs can be. Now we can also add Santi Aragon to that list.
Santi Aragon made headlines late last year when he announced he would be retiring from bodybuilding at only 33 years old. His reasons were not because of any injury or current health issue – but because he wanted to leave the sport before it started damaging his health long term. Since then – he has been extremely open about the dangers he’s learned about from being a career bodybuilder.
In terms of diuretics, Santi Aragon admits that he has countess stories he’s heard and experienced himself showcasing just how frequent these drugs are used – and how often they can lead to harm. While it may be a small percentage that end up in the hospital or dead – Santi claims there are many close calls that the public never learn about.
One close call was experienced by Santi Aragon himself. He described to us the worst experience using diuretics during his bodybuilding career. He was much younger, 22 years old, and was blindly following whatever his coach directed him to do during contest prep. He removed salt completely from his diet – only boiling his food – and cut down to an incredibly peeled and conditioned physique. To help further get shredded, Santi also took a diuretic.
Santi Aragon was completely dehydrated – but still not at the weight desired for the competition. So one night before the show, his coach advised him to load with food but no water. This brought salt back into his system without hydrating himself. At the same time, he was still being dehydrated from the diuretic he took as well.
By the time Santi Aragon stepped on stage for prejudging, he was lightheaded and seeing trailing cloudy lights. He was one inch away from passing out. He made it through prejudging – but then found his body overheating. Without any water in his system, he could cool down. He had to sit with his feet in buckets of ice water to regulate his temperature.
Ultimately, Santi Aragon recovered without major issue. But looking back, he realizes that he should have certainly went to the hospital. The situation could have gone far worse. He was lucky. And Santi believes this kind of story happens all the time in bodybuilding. The near-misses that never get publicized. He believes that the issue with diuretics is actually far worse than the public even realizes at this moment. That’s why he wants to speak out about it. It’s reasons like these that made him decide to retire early.
You can watch Santi Aragon go into full detail about his experience with diuretics in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above.