Unfortunately, I think this a little too late. I thank Collins for his effort (a scientific article complete with references), but I don’t forsee our congressmen and senators pulling their craniums from their buttocks long enough to read this acticle, then reverse their recent attacks on the DSHEA.
I’m no fan of andro, but it always blows me away that there’s such focus on those products by the FDA, while products containing Guanidinopropionic Acid and Glycocyamine (eg SWOLE, V12 etc.) run rampant.
People in the supplement business have no right to be complaining. The only way that laws get passed restricting products and services is when the bulk of those products and services are offered by irresponsible individuals.
When the business climate reaches this point, anything associated with it is suspect. This includes ridiculous assocaitions to whey protein and creatine. Whey protein at this point is only suspect because some supplement makers have actually doped their product to make it seem naturally better than a competitor’s.
It seems to me that products of this nature should be regulated by the businesses that create them rather than the government. If it were me, I would form a Co-Op with various universities and attempt to get them to perform studies on product efficacy and safety. This will cost money and this is unlikely to happen do to the simple fact that most supplement manufacturers will be identified as producing products that have little or no effect (or are actually harmful).
A lot of the products are also intended to circumvent existing law through some loophole; pro-hormones are one such product.
I use a lot of supplements but they tend to be less “fringe” although I do occasionally use some of these products (I have some Mag-10 that I’m waiting to use and I currently use Hot-Rox). Most of my supplements tend to be “food oriented” such as dextrose and high-grade protein powders of various types.
I’m not really sure what is going to allow companies to try to formulate products that really do assist with athletic development and performance. You have to keep everyone in check but that is pretty tough when you are talking about an industry that makes as much money as this one does.
“People in the supplement business have no right to be complaining. The only way that laws get passed restricting products and services is when the bulk of those products and services are offered by irresponsible individuals.”
Last I checked the use of the word bulk as above meant significantly more then 50%. Please explain what evidence you are basing this on?
i believe that supplements should be tested for ingredients and that what is written on the label should be what is ingested or used. I don’t agree with the ephedra or any sort of andro ban. I feel like my rights as an educated consumer have been taken away. Scamming and lying is a different story which is something the FDA should enforce. laters pk
PK, the problem is that a good number of supplement users aren’t educated. People jump from fad to fad without doing any research.
Just a couple weeks ago I had a conversation with two people about NO2. They felt it was the greatest thing on earth and talked about all the studies. When I asked if they saw any studies not published by the makers, they couldn’t cite any.
Both these individuals then started talking about the progress they were making while using the product. With further questioning, I found that they started using more protein and controlling their diet more at the same time as using the NO2. However, they claimed the gains were from the NO2 and nothing else.
A lot of laws are created to protect the uneducated.
you know what…as scott weiland said “censorship is very american”. it’s happening with the “andro ban” in our american nation and it’s happening in our very own t-nation.
[quote]lucid wrote:
“People in the supplement business have no right to be complaining.”
No right? The government steps in and capriciously bans a product with practically ZERO case histories of proven health ramifications and you think that’s okay? Have them start with liquor, tobacco, and trans-fatty acids and then work their way down the chain, then talk to me about things like ephedrine and andro. Hypocrites.
“The only way that laws get passed restricting products and services is when the bulk of those products and services are offered by irresponsible individuals.”
Oh, really? Care to show me that legislative prohibition? The reality is far different, unfortunately. Laws get passed because congressional gas-bags think they can make political points by championing “hot button” causes, even when evidence and reality is contradictive to their positions.
“A lot of the products are also intended to circumvent existing law through some loophole; pro-hormones are one such product.”
Wrong. PH are not “circumventing” any laws. They are exactly what they are, and as such–until now–weren’t specifically banned by any existing laws. Now they willed be, under the patently false premise that they pose a major health risk.
If congress has any role in regulating what the public chooses to ingest, it should be solely to ensure that manufacturers put inside the bottle exactly what’s on the label. If we knowingly buy something with potential side-effects, then we assume sole responsibility for our own health/well-being.
Unless you think those fat-ass, whiskey-swilling, cigar-smoking pols have the right to determine how you treat your own body. In which case you’ll probably sport a physique like Teddy Kennedy in no time…