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Bradon Liddle
Julie Roberts
English 2010
November 3, 2013
The Truth Behind Dietary Supplements
Disgraced baseball star Barry Bonds maintains to this day that he never
knowingly took steroids in his life; that the illegal substances he used while playing
for the San Francisco Giants were believed to be all natural flax seed oil
(“Memorable quotes from Barry Bonds”). While this was hotly debated among
sports fans during the scandal, the public has largely sided against Bonds’ claim that
he didn’t know he was using performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds was one of the
first athletes to make this claim, but he would hardly be the last. While these
statements should be taken at with a grain of salt, there is growing validity to them.
The sports supplement industry is growing rapidly in the United States and hardly
any of these supplements that are being sold over the counter are FDA approved.
Nearly anyone can walk into their local GNC or go online to established websites and
order the newest supplement being used by body builders and athletes to enhance
their workouts without ever really knowing what is in these products. There is very
little oversight on this nearly $30 billion-a-year industry (e.g. see chart 1) and
manufacturers are trying to stay ahead of the curve and provide the results athletes
want, at sometimes severe costs. There are numerous horror stories of teens who
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have taken these over the counter supplements and had serious health problems
and even death, mainly because they believed what were taking was safe.
History of the Supplement Industry
Some form of “supplements” have been around for hundreds of years,
whether they were labeled that or not. In the late 19th century John S. Pemberton,
the pharmacist who invented Coca-Cola, first marketed the product not as a soft
drink but as a medical treatment to help "ladies, and all those whose sedentary
employment causes nervous prostration” (Pendergrast 24). The supplement
industry as we know it today is structured the way it is largely due to Dietary
Supplement Health And Education Act of 1994. This bill allows any product
containing a vitamin, a mineral, an herb or other botanical, an amino acid, a dietary
substance for use by man to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary
intake, or a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combination of any of
the aforementioned ingredients to be labeled a “supplement” (United States
Congress). The manufacturer of the product can then include any of the previously
listed ingredients in their supplement and make the claim that the product will
deliver the result of
(weight loss, fat loss, muscle gain, weight gain, etc.) as
long as they include the disclaimer "This statement has not been evaluated by the
Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure,
or prevent any disease” as the bill exempts these supplements from federal review
of their safety or effectiveness before they go on sale (United States Congress).
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These seemingly contradictory declarations can cause confusion in the consumers of
the product. Steven Novella, a clinical neurologist at the Yale School of Medicine,
stated “the consequences are we have an effectively unregulated market for these
products, a Wild West, and people are being abused by slick marketing, and as a
result taking things that are worthless or in some cases not even safe” (Lipton).
Since the introduction of the bill the industry has ballooned. In 1994 when the bill
was passed there were about 4,000 products on the market compared to some
55,000 today (Lipman).
(Chart 1 source: “U.S. nutrition industry grows despite recession” Nutrishop. Web. 13 October 2013)
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Many critics of the industry point to the lobbying efforts and campaign
contributions made by the industry to politicians who push through laws that
benefit the industry as the reason these products are so loosely regulated. Utah
Senator Orrin Hatch (R), the chief author of the Dietary Supplement Health and
Education Act, “has been rewarded with hundreds of thousands of dollars in
campaign contributions, political loyalty and corporate sponsorship of his favorite
causes back home” from the supplement industry and his own son works as an
industry lobbyist in Washington (Lipton). Marc S. Ullman, who works as a lawyer for
several different supplement companies, calls Senator Hatch a “natural ally”
(Lipton). Hatch however counters that there are provisions in his bill to allow for
regulation of the industry, pointing out that the bill requires manufacturers to list all
the ingredients used in the product in descending order by weight (United States
Congress). Hatch also says he supports the industry so vigorously because he
believes in it, using supplements himself. Hatch does concede that sometimes
dangerous products are released to market but not because new legislation is
needed but because “the F.D.A. doesn’t have the money to really do what it should
do” (Lipton).
Dangers of Dietary Supplements
Because of the murky regulatory waters the supplement industry treads in
many dangerous products have been released to market with no safety testing done
on the product. Matt Cahill, a giant in the supplement industry, has been producing
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dietary supplements for over a decade despite serving time in federal prison for
past offenses in the supplement industry and facing more charges today (Young).
Cahill designed the best selling pre-workout “DS Craze,” which was named the 2012
“New Supplement of the Year” by bodybuilding.com. The product is aimed at
athletes to use before a workout or event and promises “endless energy.” The
product however has come under criticism as lab tests conducted by the U.S. antidoping agency has yielded results of amphetamine-like compounds in samples of
the product that claims to be “all natural” (Young). The product, which has now
been pulled from shelves at GNC and online at sites such as Amazon, Walmart, and
bodybuilding.com, has come under further scrutiny since popular fitness model Rob
Riches blamed a failed drug test on the product. Riches has built his career around
being a “drug-free” body builder and recently lost out on the British National
Championship due the failed drug test, the first of his career (Young). Riches pointed
out that nothing on the labeling or manufactures website has any banned
substances listed among the active ingredients (Young). Cahill had also previously
produced and marketed a weight loss supplement that contained DNP, a highly toxic
chemical used in pesticides, even though the substance had been banned against
human use since the 1930s (Young). The product, specifically the DNP, was listed as
the cause of death of a 17-year-old girl in 2002 when she overdosed after taking too
many of the capsules. Cahill and his partner were not charged with the death of the
teenager however as it was believed to be a suicide attempt (Young). "Any industry
is going to have some fringe players that don't always follow the rules," said Steve
Mister, president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, also pointing out that
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nearly 150 million Americans use supplements safely with few reported adverse
health effects. Federal regulators, however, claim that these are not fringe elements,
that “there are a lot of bad actors” in this industry (Young).
The danger in these supplements not only lie that they do not have to be
proven safe before going to market like drugs do but that federal regulators have
little power and resources to deal with dangerous products. The process the FDA
must go through to ban a product is very arduous and as a result the FDA has only
ever banned one ingredient used in the supplement industry…Ephedra (Lipman).
Daniel Fabricant, director of the Food and Drug Administration's dietary
supplements division states that when they believe a product to be dangerous to the
public and want to take it off the market regulators “have to show that a product is
harmful, is unsafe under all conditions of use, which is a significant scientific
burden," adding "So it doesn't happen overnight” (Young).
Are There Safe Supplements?
While there are many athletes who will gladly accept the risks of these
supplements believing that the trade off of adverse health affects is acceptable if it
helps them more effectively reach their goals the question remains, is there a way
for athletes who take supplements to do so safely? Yes there are avenues for
athletes to be safe when using supplements. Dr. Marvin Lipman, Consumer Reports
chief medical advisor, suggests using supplements from well known and established
manufactures with a positive track record and if you have any reservations about a
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manufacturer or product research them on trustworthy sites such as
Consumerreports.org, FDA.gov, MedlinePlus.Gov, and USP.org (Lipman). Also just
because a product is marketed as natural doesn’t mean its safe. Be wary of “natural”
supplements, as many have been linked kidney and liver problems and even cancer
(Lipman). And most importantly be sure to tell your own personal physician of any
supplements you are taking or considering taking, as they have a more personal
relationship with you and your medical history. Dr. Lipman also urges consumers to
report any side effect you have had with supplements to the FDA by submitting a
report online or by calling 1-800-332-1088 as it is estimated that “less than 1
percent of adverse reactions are ever reported” (Lipman).
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Works Cited
“Memorable quotes from Barry Bonds regarding steroids.” USA Today 13 April 2011.
Web. 8 October 2013
Lipman, Marvin, M.D. “The Dangers of Dietary Supplements.” Consumer Reports. June
2012. Web. 15 October 2012
Lipton, Eric. “Support Is Mutual for Senator and Utah Industry.” New York Times 20
June 2011. Web. 15 October 15, 2013
Pendergrast, Mark. For God, Country and Coca-Cola: The Unauthorized History of the
Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It. Basic Books 2013.
Print.
United States. Cong. Senate. 103rd Congress, S. 784, Dietary Supplement Health and
Education Act of 1994 [introduced in the U.S. Senate; 7 April 1993]. GPO
Access. Web. 15 October 2013.
Young, Alison. “Sports supplement designer has history of risky products.” USA
Today 27 September 2013. Web. 14 October 2013.