So I awoke this morning to the flashing red light of my Blackberry. Like most young adults I felt obligated to check it. As I scanned through my emails it became clear that my inbox was full of numerous messages from GNC (General Nutrition Center). I made the mistake of joining GNC's mailing list last week (I emphasize "MISTAKE") and now I receive at least 2 emails a day notifying me of different sales on nutritional supplements (i.e. protein, multivitamins, weight gainers, weight loss pills, natural testosterone boosters (natural, HA), creatine, Nitric oxide etc). As I sat at my desk deleting the GNC emails from my phone, I realized that I had a hard time doing it. Why was this the case? I knew I wasn't going to take advantage of the 15% off sale on female tailored multivitamins, but why did I feel the need to keep this annoying piece of advertising? And then a light went off in my head, similar to the way my phone so commonly flashed. I love dietary supplements, I have maybe what some would call a "dietary supplement addiction".
"Hi my name is Trevor, and I'm a dietary supplement addict!"
**But not an addict as in I'm addicted to taking them, but as in I'm addicted to reading and learning about them!!**
So why is it that I'm so addicted to these dietary supplements and their tellings? I'm not really sure! Its just a passion that I have, and its hard to explain. Hopefully I can share some of this passion with you the readers throughout these upcoming blogs. But to start off I thought it would be good to do a brief overview of dietary supplements and their industry. What is a dietary supplement? How successful is the supplement industry? And where can I get these "magical" supplements? Get your pen and paper ready, class is in session.
First of all, a dietary supplement (or a nutritional supplement) "According to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, is a product that contains substances like vitamins, minerals, foods, botanicals, amino acids and is intended to supplement the usual intake of these substances"1. The DSHEA also states that a dietary supplement is intended for ingestion by pill, capsule, tablet, powder or liquid form. Ok, so when you go into GNC and see all of the different testosterone boosters, weight-loss pills, or creatine supplements, its important to note that under the DSHEA guidelines, I would not consider them as dietary/nutritional supplements. So what are they classified as? I would classify them as a ergogenic aids. These are loosely defined as substances or devices that aim to enhance and improve a person's performance (physically or mentally). Caffeine is an ergogenic aid for example. It stimulates a person's heart rate and cardiac output, in turn leading to mental and physical stimulation. And guess what, next time your in GNC, look at some of the creatine products and see if they contain caffeine, a good chunk of them do.
So now that we know what a dietary/nutritional supplement is, i think we can briefly touch on the "juggernaut" that is the dietary supplement industry. A recent study revealed that the dietary supplement industry this past year contributed approximately $60 billion dollars to the US national economy 2. $60 BILLION!! The supplement industry has been around for a long time, and it seems like as it's life grows, so does it's profit. The industry is governed by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the US and the Food Directorate, the Therapeutic Products Directorate and the Natural Health Products Directorate in the Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) in Canada 3. These two agency's play a vital role in the supplement market since they monitor and standardize what products can and cannot be sold. Many different stores and websites sell nutritional supplements (i.e. nutrition house, popeyes nutrition, supplements Canada, bodybuilding.com etc.) but the mecca of dietary supplements is GNC.
GNC is one of the biggest nutritional supplement sellers in North America. David Shakarian's store opened in 1935 under the name Lackzoom, before changing to General Nutrition Center (GNC). The chain now has over 6,000 stores in the US, and its spread across 49 different countries 4. It sells many different diverse products from multivitamins to "As seen on TV" ab-rollers or message chairs.
With the ongoing introduction of new and exciting products that claim to cause "skin tearing muscle pumps" or "earth shaking muscle mass gains", it seems as though people, especially young teenagers are becoming more and more reliant on nutritional supplements to enhance their athletic/training performance. Don't get me wrong, I am a pro-supplement guy, and I have taken almost everything under the sun, but it urks me to see 15 and 16 year-olds taking products designed for adults. And it is also important to note that I have never experienced "skin tearing muscle pumps" or "earth shaking muscle gains". I have learned over the years that supplements help people reach their performance/fitness goals, but thats only a small piece of the pie. Hard work and determination is a much bigger piece.
So in concluding I hope what you the reader got from this blog was not just that I have a Blackberry, or that I'm a dietary supplement addict, but I hope you gained some introductory knowledge on what dietary/nutritional supplements are and the industry itself. As the industry grows, more new (and controversial supplements) are going to be made available to the public. I believe that it is important to keep current on these supplements and their stories. So if your receiving annoying GNC "junk mail", maybe you should consider keeping it, at the very least to get in on those female tailored multivitamin deals!
Trev
References:
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_supplement
2) http://www.npicenter.com/anm/templates/newsATemp.aspx?articleid=23866&zoneid=328
3) http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_canadian_equivalent_to_the_US-FDA
4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Nutrition_Centers
