WARNING!! If you take protein powders or other “nutritional” supplements then I may offend you with this blog…STOP reading now if you don’t want to be offended. Or, if you want the truth, keep reading.
Ok, if you are still with me then great. I normally don’t judge people’s nutritional supplementation…to each their own, and really, it would be an uphill battle anyway. People like to take whatever supplement they’ve been told take by people that should know better or worse yet; they’ve got their info from Google. But in light of the recent news that the Justice Department in the United States has laid charges against 117 supplement companies, I’m just not going to stay silent anymore.
At the heart of the federal lawsuit is a company called USPlabs. They make nutritional supplements and two of their big ones are OxyElite Pro (sold as a “fat-burner”---good grief—really??) and Jack3d (a pre-workout supplement to increase your energy before a workout) USPlabs is accused of telling its retailers and wholesalers that their supplements use natural plant extracts when in reality they use a synthetic stimulant made in a Chinese chemical factory.
This amphetamine-like stimulant called Dimethylamylamine (or DMAA for short) is illegal and poses health risks. If you take any supplements, check the ingredient list for this chemical. It has also been found that OxyElite Pro led to several cases of liver damage and at least 1 death.
Also, a class action lawsuit has been settled against several manufacturers of protein powders for misrepresenting claims on their labels. In short…you may be getting less protein than what is claimed on the label as well as the use of inferior ingredients in their products. Here is a list of some of the culprits.
MusclePharm’s Arnold Schwarzenegger Series Iron Mass
Nature’s Best’s Isopure
MuscleTech’s Nitro-Tech
MuscleTech’s Phase8
How they get away with it is by a practice called protein spiking. Protein spiking occurs when a company adds cheaper ingredients with high nitrogen levels to its protein powders and shakes. Because many protein tests use nitrogen levels as an indicator for grams of protein, the products test positive for high levels of protein – even though they don't actually have this much protein in them. Protein spiking is also known as amino acid spiking or nitrogen spiking. In these cases, the actual protein content can be less than half of what is advertised on the label.
So now let’s get to the cold hard truth. Supplements are not regulated. Supplement companies can put whatever they want on the label and for the most part, whatever they want in their supplement. It’s their job to tell you what you want to hear so their sales increase (that’s kinda why they are a 7 Billion Dollar industry)…it’s my job as a fitness professional to tell you the truth and the truth is…you can STOP taking supplements because you probably don’t need them.
I get it…I really do. Life is busy and it’s easier to throw some powder in cup with some water or milk and off you go. But for the sake of sanity…for the sake of your health, don’t do it and let’s stop the madness together. Here’s how you can ditch the protein powder, ditch the fat-burning pills and ditch the pre-workout formulations and replace them all with healthy substitutes. Ready?
DITCH THE PROTEIN POWDER AND TRY THIS:
Do you eat fish, chicken or lean meats? Do you eat cheese? Do you eat eggs? Do you drink milk or eat yogurt? Do you eat beans? How about nuts and seeds? Then why-oh-why are you supplementing your diet with a protein powder…you are already getting enough protein! Just because you throw on some spandex and sweat to a HIIT class a few times a week does not mean you automatically need extra protein. The body can only use so much protein…PERIOD. After the point in which your body has used all the protein it needs to make the body function, it stores the excess as fat! Just like your body stores ALL excess calories. There is no secret hidden reservoir in the body where excess protein sits and waits to make your muscles bigger. A perfect protein range to stay in is 10-30% of your daily caloric intake and that is easily accomplished by eating natural foods.
Protein supplementation should be prescribed by your doctor or a registered dietitian and not your local gym rat. If you have a personal trainer and he is telling you to take protein powder then I need you to tell him to call me or email me right away. I need to set them straight right away so they stop putting their clients into potential harm! Recommending any specific diet or supplement is out of the scope of practice for a trainer and is usually against the Code of Conduct of their certifying agency. Personal trainers are not allowed to say “eat more bananas” or “eat more eggs”…we simply are not qualified to do so. What we can say is “bananas are a good source of potassium” or that “eggs are a good source of protein”. So, TRAINERS…stop telling people to automatically take protein supplementation without referring the individual out for a consult to a registered dietitian first! You could be doing more harm than good. FITNESS ENTHUSIESTS---Throw away the tub of chemicals and eat natural sources of protein. Trust me…you’ll be ok, you really will.
DITCH THE PRE-WORKOUT SUPPLEMENTATION AND TRY THIS:
So now that we know that an illegal chemical was used in a pre-workout supplement, how can we give up that tub of chemical goo…whatever will we replace it with?…how can we possibly have enough energy to complete a workout? The answer is simple and it’s not found in your local GNC but rather your local supermarket. That’s right…you are now going to replace your pre-workout supplement with real, whole foods.
The goal of a pre-workout supplement is to give you increased energy to blast through your workout. The fact is your body has one preferred food source that it LOVES to use as energy…CARBS. This is your body’s main source of fuel and fatigue, poor performance and lack of focus are all signs that you aren’t getting enough. If you stick to making carbs 50-65% of your total daily calories then you are a superstar!
Try to eat every few hours…if you do then you will naturally have enough energy to complete any workout. If you find you haven’t eaten within 4 hours of a workout or if you are feeling that you need some sort of a boost then grab a piece of fruit. At 45-60 minutes before exercise it’s best to stick with mostly carbs (fruit) because protein and fat are slower to digest and may make you feel sluggish but really…you aren’t training for the Olympics so any small meal will work. If you have, or know someone that has, a tub of pre-workout supplement then dump that stuff out and fill the container up with strawberries. That’s the stuff you were meant to have, not something concocted in a science lab.
DITCH THE FAT-BURNERS AND TRY THIS:
People want convenience and people want easy and they want it NOW. Almost everything you could want is right at your fingertips, from movies on demand to instant information on the internet to fast foods you can just drive up to a window to get. So, it’s no mystery why people would think you can lose weight with a pill—take a pill--lose weight--Instant satisfaction! Ditch the pills…they aren’t regulated or tested and can in some cases cause real harm and I’ll go so far as to say they don’t work. I have the real secret to fat burning. Do you want to know a real, scientifically proven fat-burner that you can take that ALSO has the added benefit of improving mood, improving poor sleep patterns, lowering blood pressure and normalizing blood sugar? (See what I did there? I referenced the PGX commercial---hehehe…you don’t need that supplement either!) It’s called a walk. Throughout the day, stand up and go for a walk…you’re burning fat. Want to double-dose on your fat burning…then walk a little faster. Do you want to go hypersonic-super ballistic-terminator mode and really ramp up your fat burning without a pill…then go for a swim, a jog, play tennis, throw a baseball with the kids, skip stones on the water or ANY other of your favorite activities that does not involve watching TV.
Don’t be a science experiment. Eat whole, natural foods most of the time (make room for treats), get in some activity, stay hydrated and get plenty of sleep. Don’t get your information from the internet and if in doubt, ask a qualified professional for advice.