Many athletes are blissfully unaware of the importance of understanding supplement labels. Whilst most companies provide ‘full disclosure’, there are still certain area’s that you need to be aware of. Although being able to break down a supplement label is going to help, it unfortunately doesn’t prevent you falling foul to unscrupulous brands, who try to get more money for less product, with their labels actually not matching up to the specified amounts of on the label. Many of you who are active on social media, will no doubt be aware of the recent showdown between ‘Mountain Dog’ John Meadows and Prime Nutrition regarding lab tests for the ‘Intra MD EAA’ product.
Many label claims are harmless and purely marketing hype based loosely on scientific studies, however brand integrity is most certainly important when you have a tight budget for supplements and want to buy quality products. Amino spiking is a perfect example in whey protein products, majority of people are concerned with protein synthesis when buying such products, much of the Amino’s included in those circumstances will have little effect on this, but are still legal to specify as ‘protein’ content. When focusing on protein synthesis you really want to focus on BCAA content; Leucine, Valine, and Isoleucine.
Proprietary Blends
Perhaps the most difficult labels are products that contain proprietary blends. This term can often be used to mask the content of specific ingredients, for example fat burners and pre-workouts often contain significant amounts of stimulant ingredients such as caffeine. If you are sensitive to such products, it would always be safer to choose products which provide detailed information on the specific amounts of each ingredient. There are still pot-holes with products that provide such information, the average athlete doesn’t know the scientifically supported doses of many ingredients.
A fat burner may contain 20mg of an ingredient that has been proven effective in humans in gram dosages. A pre-workout with a proprietary blend containing beta alanine, may for example contain a larger dose than your specific tolerance, sending you into a red faced itching frenzy. It is not within the scope of this article to delve into the dosage requirements, rather an advisory to try and investigate the label and build knowledge, that will help you buy the best product for your needs, and avoid those that could give you un-necessary side effects and affect your workouts.
Protein Blends
Protein blends are extremely tricky to breakdown, which is why I prefer to use protein supplements that have only one protein source specified on the label. Generally the source with the greatest amount will be the first listed in, (usually within brackets for blends) with other source of lesser amounts specified in subsequent order afterwards. This will still not give you absolute amounts for each, so always remember when looking at the label, ingredients have to be listed in order by the amount of each from greatest used to the least used. In reality, this could mean that a product only actually contains minimal amounts of the most desired ingredient. Whilst on the subject of protein, protein bars are often one of the most misleading products, follow the rules I have covered above when selecting a protein bar (unless of course your only concern is taste and convenience) and be mindful that many use cheap soy protein as the main source.
Carbohydrate Content
Fibre content is an interesting subject. From a high level ‘soluble’ fibre is different from ‘insoluble’ fibre. As the names suggest ‘soluble’ fibre can dissolved in or be absorbed by water, whereas ‘insoluble’ fibre cannot. In which case when considering dietary fibre, it is safe to regard insoluble fibre as not having calories due to its inability to be broken down, and its undisturbed passage through your body. When it comes to counting calories from carbohydrates you can subtract both types of fibre from the total carbohydrate count on the labels, fibre will not have a detrimental effect on blood sugar.
Sugar alcohols have a similar chemical structure as sugar, they are able to activate the sweet taste receptors on the tongue. Unlike artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols do contain calories, but considerably less than normal sugar. Examples of sugar alcohols are Xylitol, Sorbitol, Erythritol, Maltitol. Erythritol is generally considered to be the gold standard in sugar alcohols due to its health benefits and negligible glycemic index rating (effect on blood sugar). Maltitol does have a glycemic index of 36 - which is still very low compared to normal sugar.
Sugar alcohols can be considered an excellent substitute for those with diabetes (or similar health issues) or susceptible to weight gain due to consumption of sugary products. Be wary however, as excessive consumption of sugar alcohols can lead digestive issues and bloating, this is due to the fact sugar alcohols cannot be digested fully and pass to the large intestine where they are metabolised by the gut bacteria. A final note on sugar alcohols is that for those of you with pets be mindful that Xylitol is toxic to dogs, so if your product contains it do not under any circumstances allow your dog to have any no matter how cute they look when begging!
Fillers are often a necessary evil when buying supplements, whether it be magnesium stearate to bulk ingredients or inclusion of Maltodextrin to mask the taste of the raw ingredients and also bump up the profile. The thing to be mindful of when buying powder based supplements (more often including malto fillers) is the total content, at 4 calories per gram and having a high glycemic index such as sugar this could potentially inhibit progress. For example if the product label ingredients add up to say 6 grams but the dose size states 8 grams, then potentially you could be consuming 2 grams of maltodextrin. Now this may not seem like anything bad, but if in a fasted state this is sufficient to cause an insulin response. To most athletes maltodextrin fillers don’t pose a big threat but it is worth knowing if they are included and in what amounts. Maltodextrin is a weakly bonded polysaccharide (sugars are usually monosaccharides and disaccharides) it can be classed as a complex carbohydrate despite not having the same effect in terms of blood sugar for example. Therefore it is often omitted from labels as ‘sugars’ or ‘sugar content’ of the carbohydrates listing. For reference there is a form of resistant maltodextrin which does not have an effect on blood sugar such as the standard compound, due to modification. This version is also scientifically proven to have certain health benefits.
Artificial Sweeteners
A product that states ‘No Artificial Sweeteners’ often rings alarm bells and should always lead to investigation of the carbohydrate content and ingredients panel. Often by leaving out artificial sweeteners there will be excessive sugars included. This is obviously fine if you have factored these into your daily requirements or are consuming that product around periods of activity (before or after workouts). There is often panic whenever artificial sweeteners are mentioned but unless you have allergies to specific sweeteners, it is important to note that most things are toxic at certain doses, this is the case with most artificial sweeteners. You would need to consume excessive amounts to reach the levels required to act as a catalyst to negatives effects. An analogy I like to use is that the seeds from pears and apples contain cyanide, which can be highly toxic, but NOT in the amount you would consume by swallowing the pips of an apple!
In summary try to be diligent when choosing supplements, be mindful of your tolerances and select accordingly. If you are susceptible to bloating from certain forms of protein avoid labels where those are listed first, early in a blend or listed at all. If like me you are highly responsive to stimulants be especially concerned with levels of caffeine and other CSN agonists. Caffeine may be listed under an alternative name, look for instances of methylxanthine, and guarana to name but a few. Finally for the conscientious amongst us, it is always good to ensure a sustainable source of palm oil is used where the label states its inclusion.
Hierbi Vasquez
