supplements

I have always been very skeptical of the whole supplement thing. In large part due to the "These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration" warning you find on every single one of them. The number one problem with "supplements", be they vitamins or something else, is that there is very little regulation involved and almost no monitoring of efficacy.

The FDA regulates both finished dietary supplement products and dietary ingredients. FDA regulates dietary supplements under a different set of regulations than those covering "conventional" foods and drug products. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA):

• Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations.
• FDA is responsible for taking action against any adulterated or misbranded dietary supplement product after it reaches the market.

In other words the FDA doesn't give a damn unless someone complains or gets sick and can prove it was from a supplement. The manufacturers "self regulate". Dietary supplement manufacturers and distributors are not required to obtain approval from FDA before marketing dietary supplements. Before a firm markets a dietary supplement, the firm is responsible for ensuring that the products it manufactures or distributes are safe and any claims made about the products are not false or misleading and that the products comply with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and FDA regulations in all other respects. So basically it's anything goes. And it's a multibillion dollar business. There are a huge number of stores and websites dedicated to selling you these things. There are "doctors" that push them, there's almost a cult like following around some of them. And body building and exercise is no different. 

There are "pre workout" supplements, "post workout" supplements, ones you take during a workout, ones you take every day. All kinds of crap. And every single source for bodybuilding information pushes them. If you've had bariatric surgery then you're familiar with some, specifically protein powders. There are literally thousands of brands, flavors and varieties to choose from. I have yet to find one I actually like. The search continues. 

So anyway. I keep reading about these "preworkout" drinks and all the energy they supposedly give you. They are supposed to help with focus too. Cool right? So I went and looked at some in a supplement store near my house, just out of curiosity. The warning labels on these things are enough to scare a person. "Warning! Assess tolerance!", "Warning! Do not take at full strength until you know how this product will affect you.", "Warning! May cause increased heart rate!". So what the hell is in these things? Essentially caffeine. Anywhere north of 100mg per serving. One cup of drip brewed coffee has anywhere between 90 and 200 mg of caffeine. 

This is the ingredients in what I took this morning. And imagine my surprise when I discovered it works. Wholly crap does it work. It's like a coffee buzz but without the jitters. Or like drinking several energy drinks without the heart palpitations and irritated stomach. Apparently my body likes amino acids and caffeine.

In case you're wondering; Amino acids are organic compounds that combine to form proteins. Amino acids and proteins are the building blocks of life. When proteins are digested or broken down,amino acids are left. The human body uses amino acids to make proteins to help the body.

Beta-alanine is used for improving athletic performance and exercise capacity, building lean muscle mass, and improving physical functioning in the elderly. Beta-alanine is a modified version of the amino acid alanine. Beta-alanine has been shown to enhance muscular endurance. Many people report being able to perform one or two additional reps in the gym when training in sets of 8-15 repetitions. Beta-alanine supplementation can also improve moderate- to high-intensity cardiovascular exercise performance, like rowing or sprinting.

When beta-alanine is ingested, it turns into the molecule carnosine, which acts as an acid buffer in the body. Carnosine is stored in cells and released in response to drops in pH. Increased stores of carnosine can protect against diet-induced drops in pH (which might occur from ketone production in ketosis, for example), as well as offer protection from exercise-induced lactic acid production. It's like, science, Bro. 

Arginine, also known as L-arginine, is involved in a number of different functions in the body. They include:

• Wound healing
• Helping the kidneys remove waste products from the body
• Maintaining immune and hormone function
• Dilates and relaxes the arteries
• As a natural dietary supplement, arginine has garnered particular attention for its possible heart benefits.

Am I still skeptical? Always. Was I surprised by the results? Most definitely. Will I try other supplements? Quite possibly.