Nov 26 2011, 01:24 PM, updated 15y ago
http://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/550744...ed-supplements/
Weight Gainers
The Claim: Weight gainers are typically marketed towards people who are desperate to put on muscle. The Facts: These products typically consist either a simple carbohydrate, or a complex (yet empty-calorie) carbohydrate such as maltodextrin, with protein, fat, and micronutrients rounding out the minority of the contents. People are deceived into thinking their gains in scale weight are quality pounds, but often it’s just a matter of packing on a bunch of fat along with muscle. The solution is understanding how much muscle can realistically be gained: about two to three pounds per month for beginners, one to two pounds a month in intermediate trainees, and about half a pound to a pound a month in advanced trainees.
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
The Claim: CLA is a naturally occurring fat found mainly in meat and dairy foods. After showing spectacular success in helping rodents lose fat, it was assumed that similar effects could be seen in humans. The Facts: Depending on the funding source of the study, CLA has had both positive [7] and negative reviews as a weight loss aid [8]. However, in the only study to-date examining CLA’s effects on the athletic population, it was ineffective [9]. To top things off, CLA has been seen to adversely affect glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and blood lipids [10]
L-Arginine
The Claim: Arginine is a conditionally essential amino acid touted for its ability to increase nitric oxide (NO) production, which in turn is hyped to promote training performance, muscle growth and recovery through vasodilation, better pumps, and enhanced nutrient delivery. The Facts: In a recent scientific literature review, 3 out of 5 short-term studies, and 4 out of 8 longer-term studies showed significant performance improvements from arginine supplementation [24]. That’s a pretty mediocre track record, especially considering that two other recent studies showed a lack of significant effect [25,26]
L-glutamine
The Claim: L-glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid that has the potential to improve immunity and certain diseases of the digestive tract. It has been heavily marketed toward bodybuilders and strength/power athletes for its supposed ability to enhance muscle size and performance. The Facts: In spite of the hype, glutamine has a consistent track record of failure to enhance training performance or muscle gains [27-30]
L-carnitine
The Claim: L-carnitine is a nonessential amino acid abundant in the heart and skeletal muscle. It carries long-chain fatty acids across the inner mitochondrial membrane for oxidation. In other words: your fat is hypothetically burned as energy. It’s been assumed that an increase of carnitine within muscles would increase the oxidation of fatty acids, and in turn result in weight loss. The Facts: There is no compelling evidence that muscle carnitine is the rate-limiting step for fatty acid oxidation. Even worse, L-carnitine supplementation has failed repeatedly in studies examining its effect on weight loss [17,18]
Whey & Casein Hydrolysate Protein Powder
The Claim: Protein hydrolystates (as opposed to protein isolates or concentrates) are further broken down into peptide fragments from their original intact/protein-bound state. This quality is touted to make these proteins superior for muscle recovery & anabolism due to their more rapid absorption. The Facts: There is no compelling evidence that the substantially more expensive protein hydrolysates are better than concentrates or isolates for muscle anabolism. The research thus far comparing intact proteins with hydrolysates is contradictory for both whey [42,43] and casein [44,45]. This means that spending double or triple for worse-tasting protein hydrolysates is a big leap of faith
Synephrine (Citrus Aurantium, AKA Bitter Orange Extract)
The Claim:: Synephrine is an alkaloid structurally similar to ephedrine (the powerful weight loss drug), so it’s been touted as a worthy replacement after ephedrine was pulled off the shelves. The Facts: Only one peer-reviewed study exists supporting citrus aurantium’s beneficial effect on body composition [22], but it’s impossible to tell if it caused fat loss because it was part of a supplement mixture. To quote an exhaustive literature review by researchers Fugh-Berman and Meyers [23], “Unless and until the short- and long-term safety and efficacy of C. aurantium extracts are established, consumers should be advised to avoid C. aurantium – containing weight-loss products…"
Tribulus Terrestris
The Claim: Tribulus terrestris is a plant native to warm temperate and tropical regions of Africa, Southern Europe and Asia, and Northern Australia. But more importantly, this herb has been hyped to raise testosterone, and thus aid in size & strength gains. Think steroids, without the shrunken goods. The Facts: Tribulus terrestris has consistently failed to show an increase in testosterone production [34-36]. And in tests of its impact on body composition (less fat) and training performance (more strength), it has also failed repeatedly [37,38]
Chromium
The Claim: Chromium is an essential trace mineral that showed potential in lowering fasting blood glucose and insulin levels in type 2 diabetics. The assumption was made that it could help with weight loss. The Facts: Multiple controlled studies across a wide range of populations have shown its ineffectiveness for weight loss [2-6].
ZMA (Zinc monomethionine aspartate and Magnesium Aspartate)
The Claim: ZMA is a combination of zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B6. It’s hyped for its ability to improve performance and body composition in bodybuilders and pretty much every other type of athlete under the sun. It is also commonly hyped as a testosterone booster and a way to improve sleep and recovery. The Facts: ZMA showed positive effects in a study funded by the supplement’s creator & patent holder, Victor Conte (famous for the Balco Labs steroid scandal). However, subsequent independent research showed that ZMA failed to affect testosterone levels, strength, and body composition [46, 47].
This post has been edited by darklight79: Nov 26 2011, 01:27 PM
20 Most Overrated Supplements, aka useless supplements AFAIK
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