Consumer Reports Magazine Takes Aim at Protein Drinks
The supplement industry is big business. According to Consumer Reports magazine sports-nutrition sales are at $2.7 billion. That’s BILLION. The July issue of Consumer Reports Magazine investigates 15 different protein drinks and their findings are misleading. They claim, “Some protein drinks can even pose health risks, including exposure to potentially harmful heavy metals, if consumed frequently. All drinks in our tests had at least one sample containing one or more of the following contaminants: arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. Those metals can have toxic effects on several organs in the body.”
You read that and you think holy crap I shouldn’t drink protein drinks. Well, not so fast. Cytosport, the maker of Muscle Milk, conducted their own third party tests and dispelled the magazine’s findings. Read their full report here.
One of the leading lawyers in the supplement industry, Rick Collins also comments about the report on his web site. Once you read these two articles you can see how results and stories can be skewed to fit the publisher’s agenda.
Optimum Nutrition responded to the findings as well. Check out their take on the story here.
Props to Cytosport & Optimum for meeting the report head on. I’d like to see other supplement companies step up and combat stories like this when they are published. Hiding and not addressing the issue only helps fuel the agenda of others against the sport-supplement industry.
Optimum Nutrition also put out a report and statement concerning the misleading statements by Consumer Reports.
Sorry,
Here is the link from Optimum Nutrition
http://www.optimumnutrition.com/news.php?article=874
Nice Ron! I was JUST going to send that out to Isaac as well
Optimum Nutrition proves AGAIN that it is highly respected and of high quality!
How exactly do you know that the findings are misleading? Because the supplement companies say so? Speaking of agendas, since you are in the industry and have ads for supplement companies on your site, it certainly wouldn’t do to bite the hand that feeds you, would it, Isaac, you sanctimonious hypocrite?
If you took the time to read how they conducted the tests and what they based their results on they are misleading.
NSF International itself is a credited independent laboratory. The ’supplement companies’ didn’t say so. Read NSF’s statement to. When pressed for where they did the tests, and why they used 110 pounds instead of an average 154 pounds, no comment.
As NSF says, It omits critical information about the laboratory that performed the test and its
accreditation qualifications. ISO 17025 accreditation is critical for any laboratory testing for heavy metals in dietary supplements and nutritional products. The article also omits the test methods used, analytical preparation, sample size, the basis of their risk assessment, detection limits, quality control data and instrumentation used for this report.
But then again, you probably also believe that the government is hiding something in Roswell too.
I actually have a client who stopped using his protein powder because of this report. This guy is well over 50% body fat, can’t walk without losing his breath – is basically dying before my eyes and he is straying from the plan that will save him because of this report! He gets a lot of his information from Consumer Reports which leads to a condition of paralysis because they often conflict from issue to issue. It’s sad becasue people who are in such dire straights are often looking for any excuse to give up and the media often provides it to them when they report on bogus, poorly structured studies. I tell all of my clients, if a study contradicts common sense – it’s probaly wrong. Of course the vast majority of protein supplements are incredibly safe, just as safe as the milk you drink and the vegetables you eat, which will also turn up traces of heavy metals.
Your client isn’t going to die because he stopped using a protein supplement.
Let’s keep it real, Shawn.
No Tre, if that’s what you took away from what I said, you’re not listening. This guy IS dying, he just doesn’t know it yet. The man can’t even tie his shoes without hackinng, wheezing and sweating, he is pre diabetic, has sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and continues to look for any motive whatsoever to blame anyting but hs obesity for his current condition. Protein supplements are a small part of the plan to get him to begin living a healthier lifestyle combining exercise and nutrition but, like many folks, he sees them as a questionable product – just one step below steroids and ties the athletic community’s credibility in with them. It took me a good deal of effort to get him to try protein powder in the first place. If Consumer Reports “proves” they are dangerous, then he might as well just go back to eating the way he was before (which he did). Now I am back to square one, trying to re-establish my credibility when it comes to supplementation with this guy (or anyone who bought into this bogus report).
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Listen, to much of anything is bad and the real issue is a lot of proteins on the market are not made right. They didn’t make up the amounts of the elements found. Another reality check is a lot of this proteins don’t don’t break down in the body right and why are people overdosing on their protein intake. Some are suggesting well over the amount the body can even absorb in a single serving.
There are standards for protein intake and even based on your activity levels there is no need to exceed those standards. Look up and read what some of the common side effects of over consumption of protein are. You will be amazed (clogging organs and intestines) AND look at what some of the effects are once you stop overdosing on it (hair and nails for example),
If you follow basic guidelines for protein intake you will be fine. But sorry MM and a host of others don’t add up for what is synergistically made for the body despite the claims of this article. Seek out real science behind any product you take and real safety and credibility. This is way professional athletes, NCAA and Olympic athletes are banned from taking supplements and you can find out which ones those are. There is a reason for this.
Sorry so long but this is a hot topic of mine.
Sorry about the typo’s everyone.