Nutritional supplements are not always what they are made out to be, but……………some are! Supplements can serve a purpose but the rule is the same as with superfoods, do the research. There are 10s of thousands of “Advanced Supplements” on the market and the scary part is, who is controlling the manufacture of these supplements? Guess!
Due Diligence Is A Must
You had better believe that there are people out there that are just trying to make a quick buck out of the market. This is having a detrimental effect on the market as you…the customer is developing a serious mistrust of all supplements. As a result, the supplements that are truly good and could help you are not trusted and therefore not used by you, and who could blame you?
What To Look At For Due Diligence
- What is on the Label
- Clinical evidence to back up claims
- Who developed the product, a Gym enthusiast, a retired athlete or a dance instructor?
- Who were the medical professionals involved in the development?
- How long has it been on the market?
- Where in the world is it sold?
- Who uses it…is it recognised by professional athletes and sportsmen?
- What is follow-up there with the product? Does someone follow up to see how it is working and help you achieve the results you desire?
- Is there a money-back guarantee on the product?
Nutritional Supplements – Do You Have A Need?
Nutritional supplements are not always what they are made out to be,.but……………some are! Supplements can serve a purpose but, as I said before, the rule is the same as with superfoods, do the research. Do you have a need for supplements? How do you determine if you have a need for supplements? That is the million $ question! Sorry $1 trillion question. Yes, that is what Paul Zane Pilsner predicted the Wellness industry to be worth.
Dr Paul Zane Pilsner, economist, author of five NewYork Times bestsellers list, ( The Wellness Revolution and the Next Trillion Dollar Industry) and advisor to two different presidencies says: “The wellness industry is the right place to be, with health and wellness now becoming the next trillion dollar industry. It’s being driven by the baby boomers! This is the first time everyone born from 1946 to 1964 all want the same thing at the same time. To be younger and feel better. They will pay anything to feel 40 again, 50 again, 30 again, you get the picture.”
So why is there such a Boom in Supplements?
As with the “Fast Food” Industry, we want them, and to be quite honest, there is a need for some of them. Our bodies do not get enough nutrition these days, for a number of reasons, lifestyle, food quality, the age of food, etc ( read our article on Food and Superfoods). But again, as with all things, “Do the Research”. There are a lot of supplements making “false promises”out there.
A Case For Nutritional Supplements
There is a good case to be made for Nutritional Supplements. With the deficiencies in our foods, our lifestyle demands, and our Sports interests, we need more nutrition than we get from the food we eat, often because of the cost of the “Healthy Foods”. (Have you ever noticed that natural foods/healthy foods cost more, even though you feel they should cost less? E.G. brown rice, has not been processed as much as White rice, so why the extra cost?).
Let’s just look at 1 example, Omega 3. An amazing and important oil obtained from cold water fish. The fish do not produce the oil but get it from their food. One of the most common sources of Omega 3 was from Salmon. As soon as it was discovered that salmon were high in Omega 3, Man started farming them and feeding them on grain. So now, farmed salmon is high in Omega 6, from the grain, and low in Omega 3.
What does Omega 6 do? It stimulates cell growth. A benefit, isn’t it? Remember…everything is in moderation! What do they feed our Beef on? and our chicken? and what do they “fill” our processed foods with? you got it…Grain.
Doctors Advice
Once you have selected your product of choice, cut the label off, trim it down to just the contents block and ask your doctor if there are any of the contents that you should not take. I believe in doing this as I want the doctor’s medical advice and not his personal opinion. A Doctor is human and some may have opinions about certain brands. Giving the Doctor just the list of contents, without a brand name removes opinion from the equation.
Science Behind The Supplement
Another thing that you should do a bit of research on is what science backs the product. Many products have no scientific research on the actual products themselves. There are, however, some supplements that have had a lot of research done and have in fact got medical teams that do ongoing research. Some of the medical team’s Doctors have Nobel Prizes in their fields. That is something to consider when looking at supplements.
Our Choice
We have been using supplements for over 20 years. We have tried many that make fantastic claims and make a Zero change until we learnt that we have to do the research, which we did. We found a product that has been on the market for over 30 years, has a money-back guarantee and has incredible science and quality control behind it. Best of all, many professional sportsmen and women, Like Cristiano Ronaldo, use the products.
When we started on it, I lost 38 kgs, you can too if you follow the program. Click here to check out my Supplements.
We would really value your input. please leave a comment below. If you have a question, please leave it here.
Thank-you for your well-written and informative article on supplements. I agree that there are a lot of outrageous claims out there.
Why doesn’t the FDA regulate supplements? People are getting ripped off because of all the untrue hype.
Why do you think baby boomers are so concerned about health and wellness? Is it because they want to live longer?
I hope some controls are put in place to protect consumers. Thanks again for sharing.
Hi Robert, Thanks for your comments. The Law was apparently changed so that if the FDA wants to remove a product, they have to prove that there is something wrong with it instead of the manufacturer having to prove that it is safe! Back to front if you ask me.
The baby boomers are now the Seniors in the community and are trying to improve/keep their health. Until other controls are put in place we should manage the situation ourselves and do our due diligence on the products.
I wish you well
Mariana