Tuesday, September 04, 2007

It just might be the supplements.

Not great news that a very large percentage of OTC supplements are actually contaminated with anabolic steroids! I had a friend who had this happen to him.He was Masters lifter, lifetime drug free, in a light weight class,respected coach and official whose amino acid tablets proved to be contaminated. Didn't matter and he was suspended from his federation.
I used to be a human lab rat with supplements when I was competing in powerlifting 'clean' trying to get every natural and legal advantage I could.Owning a gym made this much easier as I got everything early and cheap.The longer I took supplements the more I realized that 1) what was on the label was usually not in the bottle. 2) the theory of why to take specific supplements was scientifically unsound and unproven. 3)what was in the bottle but NOT on the label could really mess you up.
I had been taking vioxx for my knee when one test my liver enzymes were elevated. I was also taking a tribulus product at the time( herbal testosterone enhancer) and found that it was the tribulus, NOT the vioxx that was messing with my liver! No more supps for me, just food.

Contaminated supps link

11 comments:

Royce said...

Rif there is a "nutrition" shop near my house that specialzes in knowing wich supps are contaminated and recomending them!! Crazy stuff!

Mark Reifkind said...

thats probably got to be illegal( at least unethical) as well.

Franz Snideman said...

Hmmmm....I could actually use the anabolic steroids right now...I don't think any of the supplements I am taking are making me overly strong and huge...damn!!

interesting Rif. Nowadays I am not surprised by anything I hear...

Royce said...

Yeah Rif I'm pretty sure it's illegal. this place make kick ass protien shakes, i went there for a few months before one of the guys started talking to me about it. So I think they keep it hush-hush untill they get to know you.

Shaf said...

Hot Stuff. The first version of MetRx.

Man, there were a lot of them, actually.

David Weck said...

Rif

I've heard of a strategy some of the supplement company's use - lace the product early so users feel/see the boost and popularize the product via word of mouth, then the juice is taken out once a name has been established.
I've never been a supplement taker, so I'm hardly an expert, it's just what I've heard from people who know a lot on the subject.
I've also heard this practice is rarely policed until a brand/company makes enough money to make the process worth while. By then the juice might not still be there. From your post, it sounds like there should be greater enforcement...
Hope all's well. I enjoy keeping up with your blog.

-DW

Brett Jones said...

Very scary!

Fireman Tom said...

Wow, I remember using "Hot Stuff" when it first came out in the early '90s, IIRC, and remember the awesome pump I got after drinking my post-workout shake. My "pump" would last for 4-6 hours and I would feel very wired, but not like the too-much-coffee wired, but more of a "I'm the biggest, baddest MFer around" feeling...

Then, I heard the rumors and decided not to take it anymore due to wanting to stay "clean" (gotta look in the mirror and see me, not some drug) and the fear of side-effects and problems associated with them.

Mark Reifkind said...

tom,

I have heard from a variety of people I knew in the industry that hot stuff had methyl testosterone in it.but who knows? I do know that they changed the formula one year and it was never any good again,lol.

Mark Reifkind said...

david

thanks for posting. I have heard that too. I think more often than not that they just fail to clean machines after they run a batch of pro hormone pills before they run the vitamin batch. doesnt take much to contaminate a product

Fuzz said...

great post, I will share this with my NCAA athletes.
I stopped taking "performance" supps 3 years ago, fed up with the industry.
I'm fortunate now that I have a friend/client that runs a company that distills organic herbs and sells all natural supps. Now my performance is up because I feel better day to day.

155 x 3 x 5, 160 x 3 x 5, 20 kg swings 5 x 8/8, floor pushups 40, 35

 Thought about going back to 5x5 for a hot second then my left shoulder  reminded me why I stopped doing them before. It doesn't seem to...