What The Supplement Companies Don't Want You To Know

The supplement industry is a multi-billion dollar a year moneymaking machine. People now are spending more and more money on supplements than ever before. Pharmaceuticals and wonder drugs are taking place of natural, wholesome foods because people rely too much on supplements for health maintenance. This is clearly evident in the world of sports nutrition. You see ads for sports supplements everywhere, on TV, in magazines, on the internet, claiming to revolutionize and transform your body any way you want. "Lose X pounds in only 30 days!" just by taking this wonder-pill or, "Put on 7 pounds of muscle in one week!" These ads are plastered with some incredibly ripped guy or thin girl who have supposedly taken the supplement in question. In small print somewhere on the ad are the words, "Results not typical," meaning, you have a slim to none chance of achieving the same results. Strangely enough, you can see the same models advertising many other supplements, so it's impossible to tell what these people have taken or not taken (a smorgasbord of supplements, years of training and exercise, illegal performance enhancing drugs, etc.)

Just because these supplements make the claims they do, does not mean that they are true. Some of their claims are so outrageous and they are backed by little to no credible scientific evidence. The so called "professionals" or "university studies" that aim to support the supplement's claims have little scientific credibility behind them so take them with a grain of salt. The reason they can make these performance claims is because the Dietary Supplements and Health Education Act of 1994 allows supplement companies to make any type of health claim regarding their product as long as the product does not claim to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent specific diseases or medical conditions. Let me say that again, this act allows any product to make any claim they want, and that's why you see these sports supplements making such outrageous claims.

Another misleading notion about sports supplements are the amounts and type of ingredients included in products. Some supplements out there having ingredients included that are not even listed on the label. Others list having a Proprietary Complex/Proprietary Blend and list multiple ingredients in the blend without giving actual amounts included in the supplement. Companies may be putting the smallest amount of a touted ingredient in the product. This is another way supplement companies pull the wool over your eyes, by giving you low amounts of more expensive ingredients in complexes, and instructing you to take multiple servings daily so you run out of their product faster and have to buy more.

On the bright side, there are supplements out there that do perform as claimed. One is creatine. There are many studies out there that show how creatine is effective in repeated short bursts of high intensity activity such as sprinting and weight lifting. Caffeine is another proven supplement, and it acts as a stimulant and has been shown to be associated with a decreased perception of effort.

Sports drinks, gels, and bars are commonly used for convenience for athletes and people who need a meal on the go, but these should only be used to supplement a certain meal if real food can not be eaten, not to replace meals during the day.

Sodium bicarbonate is used as a blood buffer and prevention of fatigue.

Protein and amino acid supplements can help in gaining lean body mass, but they are no more or no less effective than real food.

If you take the chance and gamble with a lot of the sports supplements out there, you're gonna lose. Don't waste your money on putting foreign, unproven "performance enhancers" in your body. Sports supplements will never substitute hard work, years of training, and optimum nutrition from pure, wholesome food.

Eat Fit For Life

Pratik Patel