Supplements: Refuting The Myths

There are some common misperceptions surrounding dietary supplements that prevent some people from allowing them to become a part of their routine, and ultimately gain the improvements they seek. This article is aimed at highlighting some of these misperceptions and to give an outlook, which can help you discover the truth. In the end however it is down to you, the individual, you need to make your mind up based on the facts you know, and I will always advise that somebody does their own research into the subject.

Myth: Supplements Are a Waste of Money

This statement is one often heard in the media, from friends who take supplements andeven from people working in the fitness industry. This may be for a number of reasons, but I believe it stems from the fact that people don’t trust supplements, and ultimately refute the belief that they work at all. I can attribute some of these views to basic ignorance. People will prefer to regurgitate what they hear, rather than do their own research and form their own opinion, and this is no different in the supplement world. However not all of these negative views are merely fabricated. Differences in opinion stem from differences in the individuals.

What I mean by this is that each individual is unique; and no two people train the same, eat the same or share the same body. It is common to find that whey protein, creatine and nitric oxide will work for one person but not another. One brand may result in massive benefits for one individual and offer nothing to the next. What I’m getting at here is that just because your friend tells you a supplement doesn’t work for them (which may be the case), it doesn’t mean that it won’t work for you.

So supplements are not a waste of your money, as long as your do your research and find which ones are right for you. It is however important to add here that not all supplements are one and alike; but whilst there are a few brands that manufacture ‘dietary garbage’, most have been validated by science in one form or another, and can act as an aid to help you reach your goals.

Myth: You don’t need a healthy diet or exercise if your taking supplements

I’ve addressed the issue of needing a healthy diet when taking supplements, or rather still needing supplements with a healthy diet previously so I won’t consider this for too long. The bottom line is that supplements are there to be added to an already healthy diet; to fill in the gaps as it were. So thinking that you won’t need a healthy diet if you are taking a few multivitamins is entirely incorrect, and could cause detrimental effects to a person who believes this. Again it comes down to educating oneself about the correct use of supplements to ensure the best strategy is applied. A common example of this would be somebody taking fat burners and thinking they don’t need to reduce fat in their diet. The negatives of this will be stressed by the manufacturer, and for good reason, not just to cover their backs. You can experience some unpleasant side effects. Some fat burners prevent your gut from absorbing some of the fat in your diet, if too much fat is digested in one meal, it flushed through leading to the person becoming bloated, and possibly worse.

A similar myth is that you supplements will take effect even if you don’t exercise. Obviously I am referring to supplements that are aimed at improving the components of fitness (strength, power, endurance, coordination etc), not dietary supplements that are aimed at improving, for instance, the immune system, that wouldn’t have needed exercise to take effect in the first place. Supplements help to amplify the effects of your training, and even the training itself. They will not make you bigger, stronger, fitter or faster if you are not working hard at the gym. Indeed in many cases supplements are even designed to make you work that little bit harder in your training sessions so you can maximise your rewards.

However this is not the only reason for needing to exercise whilst taking supplements. It can actually be harmful to take some supplements and not accompany this with a specific exercise regime. Take the example of whey protein. Designed, amongst other things, to be taken to efficiently repair muscle fibers in your body after training. A whey protein shake contains a certain amount of calories and when taken properly with an exercise regime this is perfectly ok as the calories have been burnt off during your training. However if your not training, you will not have the calorie deficit and myofibril (muscle cell) damage to replace and repair. Thus in taking the supplement without training you are actually increasing your chances of putting on unwanted weight for no apparent reason. This can only be detrimental to your fitness goals and will act as a hindrance as opposed to helping; and there are many more examples just like this to be found.

Myth: If a clinical trial says so… it has to be true

Clinical trials involve a set of procedures, normally involving medical research, that are conducted to assess the safety, possible side effects and efficacy of a product. The results of these studies, if any at all, are normally published and will contain conclusions as to whether or not the product does what it says it does (these conclusions are often dissected and sweeping statements regarding the findings of a study are sure to follow).

Clinical trials are an excellent tool for assessing the effectiveness of pharmaceutical products (drugs). A drug can be given to one group of participants and not to another, the differences observed. The patients in the trials are not already being exposed to the drug so they are either getting it in the study or not at all. However it’s different when studying supplements. Participants are already likely to be getting the nutrients present in supplements in their diets, and won’t be asked to eliminate these nutrients from their diets during a study. It therefore becomes very difficult to evaluate the effects of added amounts of nutrients.

The benefits of such nutrients are also likely to take a long time to develop, much longer than the timescale of most clinical trials. When it comes to dietary patterns and nutrient intake, observational studies that take place over a long period of time should be used, on predominantly healthy people. Everything we currently know about the benefits of high fiber diets is based on observing people and analysing the effects of such a diet. It’s not based on clinical trials showing these benefits. The same should apply for long-term supplement use to really assess whether they ‘do what they say on the tin’.

Another point to add is that the cost of most clinical trials can be sizeable and the burden is usually borne by a sponsor, which may be a governmental organization or a pharmaceutical company. This is another aspect of trials to be skeptical about. You must look at who is behind the sponsorship of a clinical trial. You can often assume that whatever is in the best interest of the sponsor will appear in the findings of the study at some point.

To Take Away: above are a few commonly heard myths surrounding dietary supplements (there are many more) and an opinion as to why they are just myths. The best advice to take from this article is don’t believe everything you hear, even if that happens to be the findings from a clinical trial. Go out, do your research and form an opinion for yourself, just like I have. I bet you formulate some interesting opinions of your own.

Sam @GBNutrition

e: sales@gbnutrition.co.uk | p: 07812030477

w: www.gbnutrition.co.uk | @GB_Nutrition

GBNutrition “Your Body… Our Design”

 .