How do you know if you're getting scammed by supplement companies?
Problems you need to know about fat-burner pills, muscle-building supplements, antioxidant pills, acai, vitamins, protein bars, and more...
by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Did you ever wonder if those vitamins or supplements that you buy actually contain in the bottle what they say is in the bottle? You should! Because here's a shocker.. .
They don't have to put what they claim in the bottle! There's no regulations on supplements to assure integrity or quality.
I'm sure you've noticed from many of my writings that in general, I tend to be anti-supplements. The supplement industry is loaded with fraudulent claims, bogus products that sometimes aren't even what they claim to be, and lots of ineffective products (even when they ARE what they claim to be). The biggest problems in the supplement industry are with overhyped "fat-burner" pills, and with muscle-building supplements that have vastly inflated claims (and prices).
Despite these problems, I've always contended that there are a handful of useful products out there, and certainly some honest companies mixed in with the abundant scam artists. One company I've found that is actually honest and sells only research-proven products is http://natural.getprograde.com/
This company has been in the making for about 3 years now, and was built by a group of fitness professionals whose main goal was to try to fight against the problems in the supplement industry and offer an honest solution without the hype and without the loads of products that have no research behind them and don't work.
If you choose the right products from a reputable company, there are certainly a few winners out there that can help you acheive a higher level of health and faster results with fat loss, muscle building, energy levels, etc.
Let me show you below some of the typical problems with supplements, and how to avoid them and choose the right products that will actually get you results.
Problem #1 with supplements:
Ever since the passing of the 1994 Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act (DSHEA) in the US, supplements have been excluded from federal regulation. One of the negative aspects of this is that certain unscrupulous companies could now pretty much get away with putting anything they wanted in the bottle because it did not have to undergo quality control testing to make it to market. Their label didn't even have to match what was in the bottle, since nobody is policing them.
The only way to catch these companies was for independent testing firms to run tests on their own dime to find out which companies are honest and which are fraudulent.
The founders of http://natural.getprograde.com/ solved this problem by requiring that all of their products go through High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) testing to guarantee what they say is in the bottle is TRULY in the bottle, and delivers the desired results.
Their manufacturing plant is also a GMP certified manufacturer - "A" rated facility to assure quality.
Problem #2 with supplements:
One of the other major problems I've had with the supplement industry are falsely hyped up claims about "miraculous" results with their products giving you the false hope that your body will turn into a fitness model's within a couple weeks of using their "miracle pill".
Well, we all know by now that most of these products do very little, if anything to actually create results in the body. Even if some of them have minor positive effects, it does not address the underlying cause of the problem in the first place, and results will never last in the long run without lifestyle changes to both your exercise and nutrition habits as a whole.
In response to this, the founders of http://natural.getprograde.com/ made sure there was absolutely no hype or ridiculous claims... only a very limited line of the most effective research-backed products without any BS or confusing "stacks".
Problem #3 with supplements:
Most people overlook this problem when buying vitamins and supplements. The fact is that your body does not properly absorb nutrients from artificial vitamin sources as is common with many supplements and vitamins .
Once again, I asked the founders of http://natural.getprograde.com/ to respond to this. I was happy to find that their products are actually extracted from whole-food sources instead of artificial sources, meaning better absorption in your body.
They even purchased a 2500-acre farm in mineral rich soils in sunny Florida where all of their raw materials are grown. I must say...I'm impressed!
Problem #4 with supplements:
Another problem I have with typical supplements is this...
The normal scenario when someone buys supplements is that they may go to their local supplement/vitamin store and they are given advice by some high school kid making $7/hr who has no education whatsoever in nutrition.
Do you really want to put your health in the hands of some kid who is simply telling you that you need to get such and such supplement because he saw something about how great it was in a magazine advertisement?
Once again, the founders of http://natural.getprograde.com/ solved this problem by assuring that all of their products were designed by nutrition professionals in the industry -- dieticians and nutritionists who carefully analyzed which products actually are beneficial and which are a waste of time and money. They then narrowed their line of products down to only a handful of the most effective.
They also have dedided that their products will never be sold in stores because they don't want unqualified store clerks with no education in nutrition to recommend products for your health. That's why you can only obtain them from their website, so you know you're getting them from qualified professionals in the industry.
Problem #5 with supplements:
This problem is quite simply this... YOU DON'T NEED supplements for optimal health, IF you're eating right.
The fact is, you don't need supplements as long as you eat a well rounded diet full of unprocessed whole natural foods, lots of variety, high nutrient density... lots of fruits, veggies, whole unrefined grains, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds, organic meats, fish, etc, etc.
The problem is that most people don't have time (or think they don't have the time) or don't make enough of an effort to eat this type of optimal diet with proper balance and super-high nutrient density.
In this case, I concede that supplementation has many benefits for people who struggle to eat right all of time and may be missing many essential nutrients.
To solve this problem, the founders of http://natural.getprograde.com/ have actually formulated their men's and women's formulas with extracts of natural whole foods instead of synthetic sources. They even use whole food extracts from cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, carrot, wheat grass, alfalfa, artichoke, chorella, kale, collard greens, papaya, grapefruit, tomato, omega-3's, and dozens more.
Here are my recommendations as a Nutrition Specialist myself... The only supplements I recommend are those that replicate the benefits of real food.
For this reason, be sure to check out their EFA Icon (essential fatty acid) which uses a unique Krill oil which has been measured as having 47 times more antioxidant value than standard fish oil. I've always been a big fan of fish oil, but when I found this krill oil, I had to make the switch based on the higher quality.
Also, I highly recommend the brand new Prograde Longevity Super-Antioxidant formula .
This is my favorite product, which contains a unique blend of 6 of the most powerful antioxidants available:
1. coffee berry,
2.
Acai berry,
3.
wolf-berry,
4. pomegrante,
5. green tea,
6. Biovin grape (the same source of powerful antioxidants in red wine).
And lastly, my other recommendation is to try the Prograde Cravers , which are a delicious organic snack bar made with organic ingredients rich in antioxidants and nutrition. My favorite is the Peanut-Butter Chocolate! Mmmm.
That's it for today. Til next Lean-Body Secrets Ezine... Stay lean and healthy,
Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - TruthAboutAbs.com &
Busy Man Fitness .com
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