Protein Supplements

Making Safe Choices

What is Protein?

Protein is a substance that contains nitrogen and is important for the maintenance of good health and vitality.

It is needed for the growth and development of tissues, and a major source of building material for muscles, blood, skin, hair, nails, and internal organs including the heart and brain (Platero, 2000).

Many bodybuilders use protein powders because in their sport they often tear down muscle tissue while training. Protein can help them to repair and rebuild the muscle back up.

However protein is needed by everyone for regular physiological processes in everyday wear and tear of the tissues in their bodies. It is just needed in smaller amounts since the average person does not tear down muscle tissue on a regular basis as a bodybuilder would.

Joe Normal

Bodybuilders

Protein Supplements

Protein supplements can be used for easy access to extra protein outside a regular diet, but not all supplements are to be treated equal. Some of the risks include the absence of active ingredients, the presence of harmful substances, toxic agents, potentially dangerous prescription only pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals. Evidence has been growing showing results of certain health risks, serious adverse events, and even death (Maughan, 2013).

Danger

Consumer Reports conducted an investigation into several popular highly processed protein powders like Myoplex, Muscle Milk, Designer Whey, and GNC brands and found they contained arsenic, cadmium, and lead (FoodBabe, 2012). These are all metals that are very harmful to health when consumers invest in them with a goal in mind to improve their health.

Greed

Corners are often cut due to corporate greed. Often it is less expensive for the manufacturer to put a dangerous, low quality product on the market. Instead of putting in quality ingredients, they put more money into fancy marketing schemes to convince consumers to buy their products, claiming to them it is almost a life or death investment for their health, or that by buying their product the consumers life will become so much better.

Hope

But that does not mean consumers should avoid protein supplements. It only means we should educate ourselves on what we should look out for when purchasing supplements. There are safe options out there that can help to improve our health. It is our responsibility to our health to not be taken in by the hype we get from fancy marketing gimmicks.

Safe Consumerism

Take a look at the list of ingredients and aim to buy supplements using protein sources from nature, not a lab. Avoid added sweeteners and caffeine. Consumerlabs.com is a company that performs unbiased testing on the safety of many supplements including protein, and offers its findings to its members (Oz, 2014). Also consumers can look for the seal of approval from USP, another company who tests the safety of supplemental products by manufactures who voluntarily offer their products for testing (USP, 2014).

Safe Consumerism Cont.

Be aware that “natural” does not always mean safe and that an herbal supplement may contain dozens of compounds and not all ingredients may be known.

Some supplements can interact with medications or current medical issues. You may need to speak to your doctor before taking new supplements.

Check for scientific research findings from free publications like NIH, NCCAM, or ODS for any information available.

Happy Consumerism

Protein supplementation can be very beneficial to our health and a wise investment when we are able to make wise investments. Doing otherwise could be simply throwing our money down the drain, or using our own hard earned money to poison ourselves while helping scammers make money from our own misfortune. We can be happy and healthy, we just have to first do our homework!

References

Platero, John CPT (2000). The Power of Personal Training. NCCPT; Newbury Park, CA.

Maughan, Ronald J. (2013). Quality Assurance Issues in the use of Dietary Supplements, with Special Reference to Protein Supplements. Retrieved from ttp://eds.b.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/detail?vid=6&sid=b1e765cc-58cd-43f6-afc0-37995b71f057%40sessionmgr112&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=aph&AN=91549397

NIH (2013). Using Dietary Supplements Wisely. Retrieved from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/supplements/wiseuse.htm

References

Oz, Mehmet MD (2014). Smart Guide to Buying and Using Protein Powders. Retrieved from http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/smart-guide-buying-and-using-protein-powders

USP (2014). USP Verified Dietary Supplements. Retrieved from http://www.usp.org/usp-verification-services/usp-verified-dietary-supplements

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