FDA And Supplement Regulations

Most people that use supplements for weightlifting, bodybuilding or whatever athletic endeavor they may, knows that supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Some think this is a good thing, some think it’s bad. Some people believe that some of the supplements may contain traces of illegal performance enhancing substances and some people think that most of them are totally useless. I would like to think that they are worth the money you shovel out for them.

If you’ve ever seen the move Bigger, Stronger, Faster, then you may have seen the part where he makes his own supplements right in his own house with absolutely no regulating factor. (see video below) He showed how you can mix a product of use with rice flour for bulk, throw a label on a bottle and pretty much market it. 

If you have bought supplements in the past, whether it be protein, pre-workout drink mix or fat burners then you may notice the nutritional facts on the back rarely state specific measurements of most of the ingredients. Most are marked with a cross of some sort and a statement at the bottom says “daily value not established”.

Some of the ingredients may be derivatives of different vitamin structures or other countless products mixed together to make “The Ultimate Training Aid”. Personally, I like to know how much of what is going in to my body at one given time and what if any may be additional to another supplement that I may be taking with it. The reasoning behind the fact that they often don’t state the amount of the ingredient is to either, A) avoid other companies using the same ingredients with the same quantity or higher quantity claiming that their product is a certain percentage better than the other, or B) there is such a small trace amount in the supplement that it’s not necessarily effective but it’s said to contain that and you feel better about spending your money on it. Now those are strictly my opinion, but I feel pretty strongly about it.

I would like to see some kind of regulations on supplements by some sort of authority, whether it be some type of athletic or food and drug commission. My reason behind wishing for regulation? I want to ensure that I’m getting my monies worth of a healthy supplement with healthy ingredients.

As you can see in the pictures, some companies are good about letting you know exactly what you’re getting and some are note. MRI is good for it but Muscletech is terrible about it. Do you think there needs to be some kind of regulating authority for athletic supplements?

Images © Health and Men 2009