Label Lies

Label Lies

Does your supplement really contain what the label claims? 

The New Year is right around the corner and there are many people that will be setting resolutions and fitness goals. With that, maximizing the effectiveness of a nutrition and exercise program, will often lead us to supplementation to aid us in achieving our goals. In that pursuit, we are facing a growing challenge in today’s fitness nutrition market. There is no shortage of supplements on the market to choose from and supplements are not considered drugs but rather a subcategory of foods that are somewhat loosely regulated in the marketplace.

Many supplements are relying upon the power of placebo combined with fillers and stimulants which leads many consumers to believe that they are taking a product that is benefitting their health and wellness when the reality is that you may not even know what you are really ingesting.  Unfortunately, that loose oversight becomes a problem as shown in a study conducted by the New York State Attorney General’s Office. The investigation revealed that big name retailers including GNC Herbal Plus brand, Wal-Mart Spring Valley brand, Target Up & Up brand, and Walgreens Finest Nutrition brand were at the time, all guilty of selling supplements that did not actually contain the ingredients or quantities that were listed on the labels. All of the above listed brands were issued cease and desist letters that requested them to stop selling their numerous supplements that were misleading consumers.

How do consumers get duped into purchasing these substandard supplements and even become repeat customers? The answer is that the mind is a very powerful force and we have all heard of the placebo effect. If you take a supplement expecting a specific result, your mind can work in a way that will actually manifest a similar result within the body or make you believe what you want. The placebo effect is how many supplement companies get away with false labeling and also one of the ways that drug manufacturers test new drugs for side effects and overall effectiveness at treating conditions.

The placebo effect can be compounded when celebrities and other notable personalities are promoting the effectiveness of specific supplements. One can easily be led to believe that if my “Hero X” says that the supplement works great and I the consumer also want to be like Hero X – taking the said supplement will lead to achieving the desired result.

This begs the question, is what you’re reading on the label actually found in what you’re consuming and in the quantity that the label states, or is your label all lies? Why would these nutrition giants knowingly mislead consumers? Unfortunately, it’s because there is a lot of money to be made by incorporating cheap fillers in substitution of real herbs and nutrients. Just because you are paying a high price tag and celebrities are endorsing a brand doesn’t mean that you’re getting what you are paying for. Buyer beware…. 

Vitamin Grades

There are three grades of vitamins, that are categorized as follows:

1. Feed Grade. These ingredients are designed for animal or livestock consumption.
2. Food Grade. These supplements allow for a wide range of product variability and may only contain a small percentage what they say they contain. With that, there is a very high chance that you are not getting what we are paying for. Additionally, this grade has a relatively low bioavailability, meaning the actual amount you may be consuming most likely isn’t being absorbed within the body, because the ingredients are of such low quality.
3. Pharmaceutical Grade. This is the highest standard in the supplement world. These ingredients and the products that contain them, must meet the USP or United States Pharmacopeia standards. This grade has been verified through stringent testing, to be more than 99% of the listed ingredient potency. This grade also has the highest level of bioavailability, meaning that your body is able to extract the maximum amount of the desired ingredient into your cells. *All Wilderness Athlete Performance products contain pharmaceutical-grade ingredients. 

Third-Party Testing 

There is hope for supplement purchasers. There are several independent third-party testing organizations that are here to help ensure consumers that we are in fact getting what we pay for.  These companies actually compare the label to what has been compounded into the supplement. There are four main groups verifying supplement contents – ConsumerLab.com, the Natural Products Association, NSF International, and United States Pharmacopeia.

This independent testing comes at a fee, which is often why you’ll pay more for pharmaceutical grade, third-party-tested supplements. If your supplement is not certified by one of the above listed companies, then you do not know what you are putting into your body. Besides purity and potency, one of the main causes of concern here is allergens. If the label and product contents are unverified there may be ingredients contained in the product not listed on the label that could cause a serious allergic reaction, cause prescription drug interactions to the consumer, or even be banned by athletic regulatory organizations.  *All Wilderness Athlete Performance products are manufactured in NSF-GMP Registered laboratories. 

Private Labeling vs. Research & Formulations 

Another consideration that you should make prior to investing in a supplement is the formulation of the ingredients. Who is assembling the herbal cocktail that you are ingesting? Is your supplement manufactured and designed for the overall health and wellness of the consumer based on a platform of scientific clinical research, data, and qualified medical personnel? Buyer beware here – many supplement companies don’t truly know who is formulating their supplements; they are simply purchasing a product and private labeling it for resale. 

All Wilderness Athlete Performance products rest on the expertise of a board of experts that have over 100 years of combined clinical work at multiple prestigious universities and human performance labs around the world. Visit www.wildernessathlete.com/pages/science to learn more about the WA Research and Formulations Board.

In Good Health 

My last recommendation is that you purchase from a company that actually has something to lose and a reputation at stake. The average supplement manufacturer is only around for a couple of years before repackaging and resurfacing under a new name.

Now you all have been informed and cautioned about the lies that many supplement manufacturers are telling. It’s up to you as a consumer to do your due diligence and verify if what you’re purchasing based upon the product label is really what you’re taking. Good health to you!