Shaping The Workout Supplement Industry: How To Do Your Part
Some people realize it, and some people don’t – a big chunk of the workout supplement industry is an absolute fraud.
We believe in the importance of educating people on the best (and safest) ways to get rid of fat, build up your muscle and how to get and stay healthy.
And workout supplement companies just aren’t getting the job right. And neither are their supplements. We want to bring awareness to just how dirty this industry is.
But it doesn’t stop there. There’s a big significance in saving people’s time and money because a huge portion of people are buying completely useless supplements. It’s important to do your research on companies for example gnc weight loss supplements, vitamin shoppe and so on.
These people are most likely following unsuccessful training programs, with bogus nutrition plans. In fact, you might be one if these people. If you’ve been struggling with weight loss, building muscle or just not feeling healthy, you are probably one of them.
A majority of supplement companies put forward inexpensive, crappy products but try to astonish you with their crazy claims, as well as overpriced celeb endorsements and over-the-top packaging.
There is only one truth that these companies don’t want you to know is that their supplements aren’t going to give you a fantastic physique. Rather, the only way you’re going to get there is through a dedication to the right nutrition and training.
Their main card they like playing is called the placebo effect.
What is this?
This is basically a scientifically-backed fact that your belief in medicine and supplements is going to make it work.
This is basically a scientifically-backed fact that your belief in medicine and the best workout supplements are going to make it work.
Think about it – there have been people who have battled endless illnesses, both physical and mental, and so they turn to certain substances which they feel strongly will help. Everything from treating diabetes and cancer, to getting rid of anxiety and depression – people take substances that are completely worthless, but they feel are the perfect treatment for their problems.
Same goes for the guys that think those shiny, bright-colored bottles of pills are going to solve their muscle problem.
In fact, they might even feel like they’re working even though the ingredients list on that bottle has never been proven to work.
So with that being said, workout supplements don’t have a huge role in helping with fat loss and muscle building, which makes a ton of them completely useless. But the right ones can help for sure.
While there are crappy supplements, there are certain natural supplements that can help you with fat loss, strength and muscle growth, and endurance. But it isn’t exactly easy to get through all the bogus ones to get to the legit ones.
What To Look For In A Supplement?
There are a few things you should look for in every supplement in order to save yourself the time and money of useless products.
First, check to see if every ingredient has been backed by some kind of published scientific literature and that all dosages are at an effective clinical level. This also means there shouldn’t be any kinds of unnecessary fillers, dyes, and artificial sweeteners. There should be a good value for each serving and a good taste too.
All of these sound simple, right? You might be surprised because a lot of products don’t have them. In fact, a majority of them don’t even come close to touching these guidelines.
Even the best of the best in the workout industry can’t meet these simple terms. Instead, they use a bunch of ingredients that don’t do anywhere close to what they claim to do. Then, they under dose the ingredients that actually do work and hide behind their proprietary blend titles. Instead, they focus on the cheaper chemicals and additives. It doesn’t stop there – then they charge you out the wazoo for these products. Seems legit, right? That’s what we thought – no way in hell.
You want to get the healthy yet high-quality supplements that are sold based on honest science.
Don’t fall into the supplement industry’s evil trap. We think you can call a fraud supplement out when you see it through crappy marketing campaigns. It’s time to start questioning how effective a product can actually be when it has microscopic doses of 50 ingredients.
Don’t fall victim to those silly endorsements that include even the biggest A-list celebs. You need to not just know what is going into your body but also care what is going into your body.
Finally, it’s important to be sure that each ingredient is safe, healthy and successful in helping you meet your goals.
Here’s how you can make sure you fulfill your promise to yourself…
What To Be Aware Of When It Comes To Supplements…
Keep Away From The Proprietary Blends!
That’s right – proprietary blends do nothing but deceive and rip you off – so don’t use them. Ever.
Any kind of effective ingredient and dose will have not just have scientifically-backed evidence – it will all be available for you to see. Any kind of trade secrets is complete BS. Just about everyone is aware of what kinds of ingredients work and what dosage, and in what specific amount.
So if a company doesn’t have this type of information available for you or they don’t want to tell you exactly what you’re buying, there is a reason for this. They obviously don’t want you to know something. And it’s up to use to do something about this.
You should be able to see what is in the product and what dose
Honest, genuine use of science!
You might think, Hey! My supplement uses scientific studies to back up their claims. After all having science in your corner is going to give you a huge boost of honest.
But here’s where they go astray – they know you aren’t going to check out their citations.
If you actually decided to take a look at the reviews to the various studies they cite, you might find a couple of things to be fishy.
For example, the findings from the study might be completely blown-over-the-top or misinterpreted so that they seem a lot more important than they are. This isn’t a difficult thing to do, considering all of the technical mumbo-jumbo that comes along with scientific literature. So you might not understand that they’re twisting these words.
Some supplement companies don’t show any kind of benefits to their products – like none. Despite the fact that some of these companies ingredients include certain ones that have actually proven to be ineffective, they still cite them.
Why?
Because they assume the average user is going to see a study and stop right there – no need to look further, because if they list a study it might be true, right?
It’s always important to look into the source of the subjects behind the studies too. Some of them are studies that have been conducted in either diseased individuals or elderly. So while it might work for a sick person, that doesn’t mean it’s going to have the same exact result in your body.
Finally, what’s the point in citing a study that’s been conducted on animals? Even though we have some similar qualities to certain animals, like rats and pigs, they aren’t identical enough to connect the two together for the exact same results.
The kinds of companies that use these tricks do them because they know their users aren’t even go to look into their claims.
What’s A Common Way Supplement Companies Get You?
Get Rid Of “Label Fillers!”
A really sneaky yet used all-too-often practice in the world of supplements is using a ton of crappy, ineffective ingredients that all have one thing in common – they are cheap. While they have no scientific backing to prove their effectiveness, they’re added for one reason – and that’s to pad the entire ingredients list.
So you might think you’re getting a lot for your money but rather you are just getting a bunch of ineffective ingredients that didn’t cost the company a lot, but costs you a lot.
Stop watering down key ingredients
This is another common problem a majority of supplement companies have in common. If you want to use the kinds of ingredients that have been proven (with scientific studies) to get great results, and you want to use the same exact doses that have been cited, it’s going to get pretty expensive pretty fast.
So what does this mean?
A lot less profit per sale. Which means less money can be spent on all these fancy schmancy marketing and less sneaky ways to reel you in like a fish on a hook, including celeb endorsements.
Instead of keeping their products honest and genuine they use filler ingredients and use almost-invisible doses of the ingredients that are actually backed by science.
Take a look at other company’s doses vs. the doses that have been found effective in various kinds of clinical studies. You’re going to see a pretty big problem right off the bat. The amount these companies are putting in their products are barely even a quarter of what the scientists are using – and having successful results with.
Get Rid Of Artificial Sweeteners!
We get that some people might claim artificial sweeteners aren’t dangerous. But there are tons of studies that prove otherwise. In fact, they show the eating artificial sweeteners on a regular basis can be extremely harmful to everyone’s health.
That’s why you want to look for natural sweeteners, such as Stevia. Stevia is a natural plant that has sweet leaves – and plenty of results. There are studies that show Stevia can help cut down on oxidative stress, has anti-cancer properties, increases insulin and even keep blood glucose levels in check. Plus, it helps protect your kidneys and keeps bad cholesterol levels down.
No need to worry about any nasty tastes either – just because it says naturally sweetened doesn’t mean it tastes bad.
No More Artificial Food Dyes!
This is a big one. A lot of supplements have artificial dyes, also called “azo dyes.” This includes FD&C Yellow #5, which is also called tartrazine, among many others.
Just like with artificial sweeteners, when you consume a lot of azo dyes, there is plenty of evidence that this can have a negative effect in the body. All these do is add a crazy color to your drink. We don’t think you care what color your drink is, right? Right.
Ditch The Ridiculous Advertising!
Think about the last time you looked through a bodybuilding magazine. Odds are, you were getting smacked in the face repeatedly by LOUD, RIDICULOUS, YELLING ads.
Each ad features an obviously “roided guy” that’s claiming this one powder did it for him. We know better than this – the marketers are insulting us if they truly think we believe this.
Stop with the crazy charges and lack of delivery
There is truly nothing worse than paying $60 for a bottle and it only lasts a couple of days. It’s expensive, it’s stupid and it’s completely worthless. It’s time these supplement companies start giving us products that are actually worth it. And with all the watered down key ingredients, is it really worth it? No. It absolutely is not worth it.
The bottles are only full halfway, with huge serving sizes and several scoops for each serving. We’re lucky if this lasts 2 weeks. It’s unrealistic and it needs to end.
Conclusion
It’s time we put our foot down as a society. There’s no way these companies should be getting away with this, especially considering many of the pride themselves on being health and fitness gurus.
If we stop feeding into their bad advertising and equally bad products, we can put a stop to it. Our first step – refuse to buy their products. While they have the power, they get that power from their customers. And if we stand together to make it stop, they won’t have any other choice – they will be forced to change their ways and give us the quality products we deserve.
-Terry Asher
