What are your experiences fitness supplements, meal replacement shakes

[Shef_Fitness]

I am getting increasing emails from companies who are seeing if I can act as a selling person for various products, such as fitness supplements, meal replacement items, vitamins, detoxing pills or other weight loss items.

 

Clearly I personally have a market that I can sell these items to, however what are peoples's experiences when taking these?

 

For example, how does a protein supplement compare to high quality meat from a high class butcher? is it better, and if so how?

 

With regards detoxing, does the human body not do this naturally is the form of taking a dump every day or so? ie, ejecting the nastys via the bottom. How does a detoxing pill compare to good quality fruit and veg? its clearly far more expensive to purchase detoxing pills that it is to buy some apples.

 

Looking at the prices these things sell at, there would appear to be a big profit margin. People are clearly spending there money on these things.

 

What are the side effects (if any)? how fast can someone expect to lose weight (in the case of meal replacement shakes)? if someone is doing exercise and taking these supplements, then how can it be proven that its the supplment/meal replacement item thats doing its job, and its not down to the fitness workouts?

 

Any experiences on these would be greatly appreciated.

[go4it]

I am getting increasing emails from companies who are seeing if I can act as a selling person for various products, such as fitness supplements, meal replacement items, vitamins, detoxing pills or other weight loss items.

 

Clearly I personally have a market that I can sell these items to, however what are peoples's experiences when taking these?

 

For example, how does a protein supplement compare to high quality meat from a high class butcher? is it better, and if so how?

 

With regards detoxing, does the human body not do this naturally is the form of taking a dump every day or so? ie, ejecting the nastys via the bottom. How does a detoxing pill compare to good quality fruit and veg? its clearly far more expensive to purchase detoxing pills that it is to buy some apples.

 

Looking at the prices these things sell at, there would appear to be a big profit margin. People are clearly spending there money on these things.

 

What are the side effects (if any)? how fast can someone expect to lose weight (in the case of meal replacement shakes)? if someone is doing exercise and taking these supplements, then how can it be proven that its the supplment/meal replacement item thats doing its job, and its not down to the fitness workouts?

 

Any experiences on these would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

I once had a few shakes - they are basically a protein dose without cooking, convenience.

 

Never had weight loss pills, although the science behind them shows they are just appetite suppressants - just by keeping yourself hydrated during the day you can avoid hunger cravings.

 

Personally you would have more credibility without them.

[medusa]

In biological terms detoxing as part of a standard diet is just a myth. Unless you're ill (such as with diverticulitis or with kidney failure) then your body is perfectly capable of ridding itself of the waste products of eating and drinking food. If you were to ingest a serious quantity of heavy metals then you would need some help with detoxing, but other than that it's just another way to make people believe in purging being a good thing.

 

Meal replacement shakes do nothing to help the person who is trying to lose weight learn about portion control, nutrition or making good choices with respect to their food intake, and as such are counterproductive IMO. Yes, they work, but they aren't part of 'being healthy', they're a way to get people to start on a yoyo dieting cycle.

 

Legal diet pills work by either suppressing appetite, by preventing the absorption of fat or by autosuggestion. The ones that suppress appetite usually do it by filling you up with fibre, which has some very windy consequences, and anybody who buys the ones that stop you absorbing fat needs to be warned about the anal leakage and uncontrollable diarrhoea before they buy them. Clearly the autosuggestion ones are snake oil.

 

The diet pills that 'really' work are the ones that are now illegal. They're illegal for a whole load of reasons, including the fact that they're amphetamine based to speed up your metabolism and make you burn calories faster, which is great except for the fact that amphetamines are addictive and can be pretty lethal to a huge proportion of the population. Yes they work, but the chances are you looked better overweight than dead.

 

Even protein shakes and exercise drinks have been pretty much debunked by science because they offer no advantage at all to those who do an average amount of exercise and only marginal advantage to elite athletes. If you want to talk sports nutrition, I suggest reading the book about training by Graham Obree, who broke the world record for distance covered in an hour in a velodrome repeatedly, powered by wholemeal bread jam sandwiches and water

[Bojolo]

Detox - a word used to sell products that you don't need. If you need to detox then your liver and kidneys aren't working properly! I would say see a Dr.

 

Meal replacement - may aswell blend up your food. They contain lots of protein which is for growth & repair, but they also contain other stuff e.g. flavourings and stabilizers. Just eat a reasonable diet. Eat steak om nom nom!

Supplements - eat properly. Many 'essentials' supplements are useless as they can't be absorbed in the form that they are taken. I do think there is something to be said for certain things like Cod liver oil supplements and calcium supplements but only under the advice of a GP.

Diet pills - AVOID AVOID AVOID. They usually either supress your appetite or increase your metabolism - they make you fidget, kind of like having lots of coffee on a regular basis. The idea is to make your muscles work more to burn more calories. Your heart is a muscle...beware.

 

The best evidence I've seen at the moment is the intermittent fasting programme, lots of good scientific papers written on it. No supplements, no replacements just real food.

 

I think the main issue with what you are being offered is long term effects and contraindications. Are there any clinical trials/scientific studies about them that haven't been carried out by that company or a company with financial interest in the product. You have to be very aware of who is conducting a scientific study.

 

Financially it might be a no brainer but morally I think you're already questioning it because you know they aren't really what they say they are. If they did do what they said on the tin what kind of business model would it make?

 

Hope this helps.

[Shef_Fitness]

Does anybody have any positive experiences? how did it help you improve in your sport, or if it wasn't for sport (body image reasons) what positive impact did it have?

 

I could imagine with a power lifter/body builder that some kind of supplement would help with the training, however I'd imagine the hard work thats done in the gym is the key to gaining big muscles - it has to be said I know very little about body building, so this paragraph I have wrote may not be true (not speaking from a point of strength - so apologies if the highlighted section is inaccurate).

 

---------- Post added 23-02-2013 at 18:06 ----------

 

I'd imagine the hard work thats done in the gym is the key to gaining big muscles -

 

 

 

.....and the fitness needed to do this kind of fitness training, forgot to include that bit

[Halibut]

I seem to recall the OP admitting the selling sugared water at grossly inflated prices - their concern about protein supplements touching, albeit rather false.

[Shef_Fitness]

I seem to recall the OP admitting the selling sugared water at grossly inflated prices - their concern about protein supplements touching, albeit rather false.

 

 

 

Did you take my sporty vimto drink seriously? (complete with H20 formula lol

[onewheeldave]

I seem to recall the OP admitting the selling sugared water at grossly inflated prices - their concern about protein supplements touching, albeit rather false.

 

Did you take my sporty vimto drink seriously? (complete with H20 formula lol

 

You seem to be making a habit of this-

 

We sell weight loss pills.

 

You'll certainly lose lots of pounds if you buy these, and I'll gain a few.

 

i.e. passing off some extremely dodgy sounding posts as 'jokes'.

 

I'm sure you find it very amusing, but I doubt it's going to benefit your business in the long-term.

 

Concerning your question- amongst bodybuilders and hard trainers, basic protein powder is considered a worthwhile supplement (possibly also creatine, bearing in mind that it produces only a temporary effect that ceases when you stop taking it)- pretty much anything else i.e. 'diet pills' is a scam

[Shef_Fitness]

This type of industry is very much on the up, so there has to be people out there who can share the benefits they have seen.

 

I'm going to let this thread run its course, anyone who has positive experiences and results, please post on this thread - post before the thread disapears down the pages and into oblivion.

[BarryRiley]

Protein shakes are a quick and easy way of getting protein in to the body without also having the fat/carbs from the food you would have to eat to get the same amount of protein.

 

I don't see how whey protein has been 'debunked by science'. They contain protein which is required to rebuild the cells damaged through rigorous weight-lifting. If you're not getting your protein from whole foods then getting it from a shake is another way.

 

I use whey protein to supplement the protein I get in the food I eat. When I don't have it I certainly notice a difference in my recovery.