Understanding Product Ingredients VS. Product Claims
To really select supplements that work you need to understand what is in them and how those ingredients work. Most consumers do one of two things; they either read magazine ads or articles (ads in disguise) or they look to a website for reviews on the product they are considering. This is what most consumers call doing “research” or “doing their homework”. Unfortunately this gives the consumer no clue as to what is actually in the product or any understanding as to whether the ingredients in the product work for their intended purpose. Magazine ads are obviously paid advertisements with the supplement company’s best interests in mind and not the consumers. What gets a little confusing is that most companies are now using what are called advertorials which are advertisements disguised as editorials or magazine content. Basically they use an article format for an ad so that what you are looking at reads as if it is an article. Even the articles in the magazine can be compromised by the manufacturer’s biases. All magazines are ad sponsored meaning they are paid for by advertisers. Don’t think for a second that these magazines will publish anything negative about their advertisers, after all without the ads the magazines would not exist. In fact most magazines help out their advertisers by publishing content that promotes the products the advertisers want to sell, so even the “unbiased” articles you are reading are likely influenced in some way, shape or form by supplement manufacturer advertising dollars. Make sure you are careful and critical of what you read.
So if we can’t trust the magazines surely we can trust unbiased product reviews from real life consumers. Maybe and maybe not, keep in mind you have no idea who is writing the review you read. Does this person have any experience with supplements? How long have they been working out? Are their goals the same as yours? On what basis are they reviewing the product? Did the product cause them any side effects (they may not be aware of them)? Does this individual have any affiliation with a supplement manufacturer or website? To take this a step further lets assume you are reading a review for BSN’s NO Xplode. Let’s say the reviewer says something like the following:
“I have been using NO Xplode for about three weeks and really love the product. It gives me awesome pumps. The workouts are great, lots of intensity. I have definitely gotten stronger and added a couple pounds. This product is a must.”
If we break down this review you will see just how hard it is to determine whether this product actually did anything for the user. First off the reviewer mentioned size and strength gains but did not tell you whether they where using any other products, they also did not mention whether they increased their calories or if they are new to lifting weights. Any of these could account for size and strength gains. The reviewer also mentioned the “pump”, this seems like a no brainer but if you talk to guys who are younger many associate pump with being pumped up as in energy. Most serious lifters associate pump with muscle pump or blood flow to the muscle however from the statement above we have no way of knowing what pump means. Hopefully you get the picture. You will have no way of determing any of these questions and many more which are all important in determining whether the review has any validity. Again be critical of what you read.
So if magazines and the web can’t be trusted how is a supplement user able to find good information? That’s a good question and there are no good answers to it. The best way is to really understand the ingredients in the products and what they are capable of. Try doing some searches in databases like pub med for information on individual ingredients. Also try spending some time in your local library reading books on supplements and nutrition. You will be surprised at what you can find once you start looking for quality information.
