The Best Protein Shakes

Protein label Scam!

Oh, how I wished we could believe the numbers on the label…

Shopping for nutritional supplements would be so much easier

Did you know that 45% of the supplements you buy are defective in some way?

I asked my friend Dr Richard Kones owner of the Texas Medical Center for Health Management in Houston, Tx  to send me some info on product testing and purity, and did he ever!!!  

I read it all and I'll summarize to make it simple. 

There are no labeling laws for nutritional supplements

To start with there are no laws that require the label to match what is in the bottle…45% of what you buy is defective in some way and does not contain what the label says… And 10% of what you buy doesn't even have any of the ingredient you thought you bought.  For example, if you buy a bottle of calcium there is a 10% chance that it won't have any calcium in it!

Don't give up on reading labels just yet,
you just have to know what to look for!

There are three major thins to look for in a supplement Purity, Potency and Authenticity.

Purity

• Purity measures the amount of junk in a product. 

A good example I learned from TV, is that drug dealers "cut" drugs with milk sugar.  It looks like the drug and increases the volume …..The drug dealer now has more to sell… Greed!! 

• Well, this is happening to protein supplements too.
• A lot of the raw powder for protein supplements are imported from China and India. When tested it was discovered that they had been "cut" with various other powders.

Babies died when it was discovered that the baby formula had been "cut" with the same powder used to make Melmine plastic dishes.

• And at one point they also added heavy metals to the powder.

Heavy metals are like lead, mercury and copper….( I wonder if this stuff was sold by weight???)  These metals are poisonous and can make you very sick, they can even be fatal! 

Potency

• Potency tests are to see if the product is as strong as the label says. 
• But if the label says 20 gm of protein per scoop, does it really have 20 gm of protein or was it "cut" with something like milk sugar?
  

Authenticity

• Authenticity means that it has what is says it has.  
• That the 20 gm of whey is really whey not milk sugar … to follow our prior example.
  

"Keep in mind many vitamin companies will buy boatloads of raw, untested  product at extremely low prices, simply stuff it in capsules, and market them privately to health food stores at prices ¼ or less than that of quality vitamins, minerals, and herbs." …. from Dr Kones.

So how are we supposed to know if what we buy is pure, potent and real? 

 The government has stepped in and are requiring companies to comply to a Good Manufacturing Practice or GMP that takes effect in 2009. Look for at least one of these labels to be your product.

 For more details read my article

"Does GMP Compliance mean a quality assurance process providing high quality supplements?"

Many experts agreed that this is just the start, and is only the most basic of testing.  Apparently what they want is that all our supplements be measured by the more stringent Pharmaceutical grade testing ….

"Pharmaceutical grade means that the same rigiorous standards enforced by the FDA in pharmaceutical plants are applied to the manufacture of herbs, supplements, and other nutrients." Dr Kones

The dictionary says Pharmaceutical grade means "of a standard suitable for use as a medicine"

So when you find a pharmaceutical grade product you know you can trust it, and know that it is of the highest quality! 

The effect of all this required testing and quality control is both good and bad ..

• bad, that we will pay more for the products, 
• and good, that we will get what we pay for, not milk sugar
• and very good, we not be poisoned!
  

 

Dr Kones has offered to answer questions you might have…

You can send him an email at medicalreception@sbcglobal.net,

or check out his website www.MedicalCenterHealth.com.

Thank you Dr Kones,

 

 

The products discussed on this site are not intended to treat, diagnose, or cure any disease.
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA