PCB Danger in Omega 3 Fish Oils

There is a recent uproar in the supplement industry. Everyone knows that fish oils or omega’s are an important supplement that should be taken on a daily basis. There are many benefits to taking omega 3’s fish oils. Omega 3’s help with pain managment and inlammatory joint issues. It also helps in brain functions and prevents cardiovascular disease.  I have always been a huge advocate of omega as a standard supplenment in everyone’s regimen.

Recently as many as 10 omega 3 manufactures including GNC & Twinlabs have been named in lawsuits in California. The lawsuit claims there are high levels of Polychlorinated Bihenyl Compounds or PCB in these manufacture’s fish oils and they have failed to properly communicate such levels on their labels. High or unsafe levels PCB have been linked to cancer and birth defects.

Omega 3 usually comes from cod liver or salmon liver. It does not matter where the fish is caught or the enviroment, all cod and salmon have some trace of PCB. What the manufacture’s are failing to do is properly purify and get rid of most of the PCB. Also, they are failing to test their batches for adequate state levels. Each test costs about $1,000 and it seems in an ill attempt to save money these manufacture’s are putting us at risk.

As this news continues to develop I urge all of you to read…read..and reread your labels. Also, search who you’re buying your omega’s from and do a simple search on Google to learn how they purify the omega 3’s. I also urge all of you to look for a blended omega. Blended omega’s contain omega 3-6-9 which gives you more benefits than just an omega 3. Usually when you take a blended omega the purifications and filtering processes are more stringent. I will blog soon about the benefits of blended omega 3-6-9.

Source: Mercury News & Fish Oil Safety

MLBPA-New Supplements Added to Banned List

Major League Baseball has taken their rightful kick in the nuts the past few years. In the media there have been story after story about players and steroids. Many of these players were potential Hall of Famers that have now questionable records. We can all thank Mr. Jose Canseco  and his book for exposing the extent of the abuse. Recently,  the MLB Players Association announced it has added a new list of banned supplements. This in an attempt to catch those players masking their real steroid use. The premise is simple, if you test positive for the banned supplement list you will more likely face further testing which may lead to suspension from the league.

MLB has definitely gotten more stringent from fines to suspensions. In the past players using supplements were blaming them for testing positive for anabolics. This can no longer be the case. It has now outlined  both steroids and supplements that are banned and prohibited.

Before there were only 21 supplements on the list. Now there are a full 104 total items called the “Dangerous Contaminated Supplements” list. You can see the entire list here. Making it public allows all athletic trainers, strength coaches, and any off-season dietitians to be closely scrutinized by everyone in and out of the organization.

Only time will tell if this is a positive move for baseball. Their image is so tarnished at this point that something seems better than nothing. My humble advice is that if you are in professional sports and are not absolutely certain that the supplements you are taking are allowed in your sport, STOP taking it all together.

Source:Natural Product Insider

Glutamine

Glutamine is the most essential amino acid in the body needed to build slabs of muscle. The body produces it in low amounts, and we who are in the fitness industry want our levels to be higher than average because of the stress we put on our bodies by lifting weights & doing cardio. This little gem of supplement has been in every bodybuilder’s cupboard for decades. Let’s examine its benefits below.

Many of us hear all sorts of fancy words being thrown around in the gym. I am sure if you are a newbie to both the gym and supplements, one of these words is Glutamine or L-Glutamine. Glutamine is an essential building block of protein, and protein is how our bodies build muscle. Glutamine helps promote muscle growth by increasing levels of Branch Chain Amino Acid or Lucein in the muscle.

We get most of the glutamine in our bodies through diet sources like plant and animal proteins. Some examples of the proteins are beef, pork and poultry, milk, yogurt, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, raw spinach, raw parsley, and cabbage.

Taking glutamine as a supplement helps prevent your muscle mass from being reduced like a prune. Taking it as a pre-workout, glutamine halts lactic acid build up preventing your muscles from getting fatigued too quickly and also promotes higher levels of GH (growth hormone) in the body making it as essential as a post workout supplement.

Glutamine is available in many forms. I prefer powder because I can just mix it in a protein shake. It also comes in capsule form usually in 500mg. If you don’t mind taking many pills then this might be the best for you. I have seen even liquid forms of glutamine pop up on the internet and supplement stores but I am not sure this would be the best option, because BCAA are bitter in taste and it is very hard to mask.

Dosing glutamine can be very confusing. Always follow the directions on the bottle regardless of what people tell you. As a standard I always go with 5-10 grams with breakfast, another 5-10 grams pre-workout and another 5-10 grams post workout, making it 15 to 30 grams per day.

Oligonol

There is a new ingredient in the market for the battling of weight loss and fat burning. Allow me to introduce you to “Oligonol”. This may just be the next best fat burner in the supplement world.

Oligonol comes from the lychee, which are the increasingly popular tiny white fruits that are often served in Martini’s. There have been studies that indicate that patients have lost significant abdominal fat due as a result of taking this little miracle extract. Additional studies need to be done before it comes to the market as a fat burner, but I’m certain someone has already patented the process of extracting the oligonol from the lychee to be used as a thermogenic.

As of the date of this post there are no fat burners from the top tier supplement companies that contain oligonol as an ingredient, but it can be found on line as an antioxidant in pill form. It is likely that will soon change as I am sure manufactures will scramble to put this in a pill and advertise it’s fat burning benefits to everyone.

Be on the look out for it as it could very well be the next big thing.

Protein For the Masses

Today I want to talk about the number one selling supplement in the world…the all mighty “Protein”.

Protein is an absolutely essential part of every person’s diet . Regardless of your physical/ health goals, your diet must consist of protein. If you want to loose weight you should frequently eat small amounts of protein throughout the day to speed up metabolism and avoid the loss of muscle mass (The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn, but this is a whole other post).  If you want to gain muscle mass you should eat a lot of protein (usually two times your body weight) For the newbie in the bodybuilding/healthy living, what exactly is protein? How do I get it? AAHHH Good questions let’s explore this in depth below.

Protein best explained is an amino acid. Our bodies need amino acids to grow and to support an active lifestyle. Whey protein is a bi-product of cheese. When the cheese is processed the left over raw material is whey. Prior to the discovery of whey protein, currently the main ingredient in protein shakes, bodybuilders had to eat ungodly amounts of food to get their daily protein intake requirements.   Thanks to the discovery, now it is easy to get in 6 meals a day with at least 30 grams of protein per meal. Ideally it is about 1.5 grams per body weight. This will vary depending on your fitness goals.  Don’t misunderstand, you should still chew most of your food -eat eggs, chicken breasts, and other lean meats such as steaks, turkey, pork and ground beef to get your required protein needs. Protein shakes are simply a convenience, and are there to supplement your diet when you are on the go. .

The market  during the last several years has shifted to RTD’s or “ready to drink”, and today you will see them everywhere. Basically they are pre-mixed protein shakes. I am not a big fan of these because they require more ingredients to keep them fresh and prevent them from getting spoiled, thus altering the health benefits as well as the taste. All major manufactures carry some sort of RTD’s.

There are three types of proteins currently in the market:


1. Whey Protein blend is usually a blend of at least 60 percent whey and 30 percent isolate. This is the most common type in the market today.


2. Isolate Protein, which is the purest form. Basically this is  at least 90% isolate protein. This type of protein is more expensive and does not taste as good as the blend.

3. Casein Protein, which is a cheaper form of protein, because it is not as pure as the others, however it does provide great benefits. This kind is a slow digestive protein, meaning it  is broken  down slower in the body creating a gel. This gel takes hours to digest and for that reason, casein is a favorite among bodybuilders for a bedtime or midnight snack as it prevents the breakdown of muscles by keeping protein in your system for a prolonged period of time.

There you have it – an elementary education on the all mighty protein. I plan to write similar articles like these but about lesser known supplements and ingredients.

Anyone heard of “Oligonol”?