Essentials of Nutrition for Sports

From Quackwatch

Supplement Hype

28

Many supplement manufacturers s

uggest that their products have

characteristics that make them unique and/or better than those of their competitors. For example: •^

Nat-rul Health Products has o

ffered “all-day protection” with

timed-release vitamin-mineral formulas.

-^

RichLife has offered OrganiMins, “the uniquely chelated Organomineral complex that’s nutritionally targeted for specific organs.”

-^

Sears Shop at Home Service’s Vitamin Improvement Program, has assured “purity, freshness,

and quality” by shipping a fresh

supply every ninety days.

-^

Albion Laboratories has claimed to have discovered “a way to target specific chelated minerals

to specific areas of the body.”

-^

Makers of KAL, in a pitch to people with a busy, active lifestyle, has stated that its “high-potency

” vitamins “dissolve in minutes

instead of the hour or more that some lazy vitamins take.”

-^

MegaFood has said that it “employs nature’s unsurpassed Life Processes to actually grow Whole Food Vitamin and Mineral Concentrates” that are “up to 16 times more effective than ordinary ‘natural’ supplements.”

-^

JS&A has marketed a twice-a-day vitamin/mineral product, formulated by “a group of nutritionists, dietitians, dermatologists, biochemists, and physicians,” based on the notion that some vitamins are best taken in the morning and others at night.

-^

Ortho Molecular Nutrition Intern

ational has stated that its

vitamins and minerals are “biologically activated with nutrient carriers and absorption factors that make them superior to all other types.” (To support this claim, the company stated that, in a controlled test, baby rats given Ortho Molecular nutrients grew 2,206% faster than baby rats given conventional nutrients.”)

-^

Profitable Nutrition Distributors, Inc. has stated that its sustained-release, high-potency formula includes “trace minerals which are naturally chelated and are in the exact proportions that exist in ancient sea water from which life arose.”

-^

Country Life has offered “cellular energy activators.”

-^

NutriLogic promises that its

“ultimate blend of highly

bioavailable minerals transport to

tal nutrition to all parts of your

cells.

-^

Rainbow Light Nutritional Systems has labeled its nutrients as “food-grown.”

-^

IntraCell Nutrition, Inc. has d

escribed the nutrients in its

Foodform Manna as “protein bonded...

vitamins and minerals in

their original state.”

-^

American Health’s Total Energy

Lift has been described as a

“high-test formula” containing “over 100 ‘energy-lifting’ food source nutrients.”

-^

The makers of Sun Chlorella (a type of alga) have claimed that it is “not a substitute for vitamins or minerals, but is an ideal way to get more out of your vitamins and minerals.”

-^

Makers of KAL has claimed that its Multi-Active tablets “provide all the Designer Food Activity found in 4 pounds of fresh broccoli, apples, Brussels sprouts, potatoes and alfalfa sprouts combined.” (KAL defined Designer Food Actives as “the extraordinary health-giving compounds locked inside fruits and vegetables-that scientists have

recently linked with important

health benefits.”)

28 Written by Stephen Barrett, M.D. From Quackwatch.

http://www.quackwatch.org/index.html

Accessed

10-11-2004. Reproduced by permission.

Nutrition for Sports, Essentials of 148