Exposing The Sketchy Science Behind Your Supplements

The supplements industry has exploded in growth, reaching almost $400 billion just last year. But how much of this is a scam? Today, I'm testing the most popular supplements, comparing their claims against real scientific data. I'll show you what scams to avoid and what research says you should use instead, starting with one that may be controversial. Creatine. Creatine use has blown up in popularity. Americans alone consume well over 4 million kg each year. But many companies have been taking advantage of this rising trend. Let me explain. First off, I've never seen a company actually mention this, but up to 30% of people naturally have high levels of creatine, which is why about 1 in 4 don't see any performance benefits from it. So if you don't notice any big body weight or strength changes after starting or even stop increasing, you might be naturally blessed. But that's only part of the story. Just wait until you find out the real creatine scam companies are running. So, back in 2022, a group of researchers analyzed 175 of the most expensive creatine supplements on Amazon. Shockingly, they found that 88% had either very little or absolutely no evidence supporting the wild claims they were making. Here's an example. This is a tub of creatine ethyl ester from Walmart. According to the sales copy, this is an exceptionally soluble type of creatine, resulting in advanced absorption, increased bioavailability, and increased ability to catch all that. Probably not. And that's the point. Often supplement companies use complex terms like this to impress or even confuse buyers and make their products seem a lot better than they actually are. Then they bump up the price, and people think it must be better, without question. And yep, I fell for this one, too. I used to buy the most expensive creatine I could find, thinking it would lead to better. But this one from Walmart, it goes beyond just confusing words. It's full of outright lies. They go on to say that unlike other forms of creatine, most users will notice a difference in their first dose. But this isn't even how creatine works. It takes at least one to four weeks to build up in your muscles. But they take it even further, claiming that their supplement directly penetrates the muscle, resulting in 30 to 40 times more functional creatine. Now, that is a pretty bold claim. And when I dug into the research, I found a 2008 study comparing this exact type of creatine with standard creatine monohydrate. And guess what I found it was less effective. The problem is these companies aren't legally required to conduct studies to prove any of the claims they're making. And a lot of the times they aren't tested for safety either. In fact, in that same Amazon study, only 8% of the expensive creatine supplements were tested by third party labs for quality. But what's even more alarming is another study analyzed over 3,000 supplements on the market, and a whopping 28% of them had hidden substances, including in some cases, bad substances and even steroid precursors, which are chemicals that act like steroids in the body. So what does this all mean? Should you stop taking creatine? Not necessarily. But to avoid the scams, you've got to make sure that you're picking the right kind. Now, there is a creatine precursor called GAA, which may actually be more effective than your basic form of creatine. But while the research is promising, it's still too early to tell if it really is superior. For now, research has consistently shown that just plain old creatine monohydrate is not only the safest and most effective, it's also the cheapest. Just try to get one that's been third party lab tested so you can actually be sure of what you're consuming. Now, the good news is, if you use it properly, creatine monohydrate does provide a ton of benefits. But. But the same can't be said for this next supplement on the list. In fact, this one may be one of the oldest scams in bodybuilding. Imagine this, a supplement marketed as essential for boosting muscle growth and recovery, but actually does the opposite. Well, that's exactly what some researchers found. Back in 1990, researchers wanted to find out how effective BCAAs, or branch chain amino acids, actually were. Specifically, they wanted to see whether BCAAs could enhance something called muscle protein synthesis, which is basically just a process your body uses to repair and build muscle after exercise. Crazy thing is, they found it did the opposite. See, amino acids are just a fancy word to describe the building blocks of protein. You get them naturally from eating things like meat, eggs, dairy, beans and nuts. But there's 20 different types of them. BCAAs only contain three leucine, isoleucine, and valine. So what the researchers found is that providing your body with too many BCAAs might actually block other amino acids from being used, potentially hurting muscle recovery and growth. Yet still to this day, BCAAs are advertised as supplements to increase muscle growth and prevent muscle loss. So each year, people fork out their hard earned cash to pay for what is basically just flavored water. And don't get me wrong, I was one of them. I used to take BCAAs religiously, but now I know there are much better ways to spend my money for better results in the gym. Aside from the alternative supplement I'll mention in just a second, proper nutrition and expert coaching is hands down what's made the biggest difference for me. But I know diets can be hard and not everyone can afford to work with the best coaches. And that's exactly why my team and I have worked extremely hard to build affordable science back workout and nutrition programs over@builtwithscience.com I promise if you want to take your health and fitness to the next level, you'll get so much more from our combined multi decades worth of experience than from any supplement. Promising a quick fix, but I know some of you might be wondering if the research on BCAAS is over 10 years old, then why do top brands still sell them? Well, that's exactly why. Because they sell. BCAAs have been a staple in the bodybuilding community for a long time, and if a product is selling well, there's very little incentive to change it. That said, here's a pro tip. If you do want to supplement amino acids, then EAAs, or essential amino Acids are a much better option. These include nine of the most important amino acids rather than just three, and they can be especially useful for vegetarians or those who like to work out fasted. But here's how I see it. If you eat well and you get enough protein, neither BCAAs or EAAs are very likely to help much. Which brings us to the last scam to watch out for the latest supplement craze taking over the Internet. Greens Powder so we all know we should eat our fruits and vegetables, right? But what if there was an easier way? Well, that's the idea behind green supplements. They're supposedly an easy way to get your fruits and veggies in without having to chop, blend or cook anything. But do they really work? Well, to answer that question, let's take a look at one of the most popular and expensive greens powders on the market. Athletic greens. According to the ads, one scoop a day can give you more energy, boost your immune system and improve digestion. But in reality, there's been very little to no evidence suggesting that greens powders can do any of these things. Now, I do know that Athletic Greens has run a study showing that participants who drank their product felt less bloating and more energetic. While I Applaud them for putting some funding towards research. The study had no control group and the results were all from subjective survey responses. Basically, people reported feeling better after drinking a green liquid they were told would make them feel better. That said, if you take a look at their nutrition label, you will find a pretty impressive list of antioxidants, digestive enzymes and even superfoods. Sounds nice, but not only is superfoods an unregulated made up term, most of these ingredients have very little to no actual research supporting their benefits. And there's another deceptive trick I notice about their label. Notice how they list a bunch of ingredients together with the total amount at the top. This is common practice amongst most greens powders and it's a sneaky way of cutting costs and hiding the truth. You see, by labeling the ingredients in this way, you can't actually tell how much of each ingredient is included, meaning you have no way of telling if you're getting the clinically effective dose of that ingredient in order for it to actually be effective. Chances are you're not. That said, if we shift focus and look over at their vitamins and minerals list, they do actually list out how much of each you're getting and some of them actually seem quite impressive. For example, you get 467% of the daily recommended value of vitamin C and over a thousand percent of vitamin B7s. Thing is, both of these vitamins are water soluble, consume more than your body needs and you just pee them out, giving you no benefit aside from increasing the financial value of your urine. So far, this isn't looking too promising. However, one of the big selling points of greens powders like athletic greens is they're apparently more effective than a multivitamin. But is this really the case? Well, here's a vitamin and mineral breakdown of a $5 per month multivitamin I found on Amazon. And here's the vitamin and mineral breakdown from athletic greens. Now, while athletic greens does score much higher on certain vitamins, it also falls short on several important ones, such as calcium and magnesium. The multivitamin also contains several important ingredients not found in athletic greens at all. So for a lot less money, a standard multivitamin gives you a more balanced mix of nutrients. But I know some of you might be thinking green supplements are better because they're sourced from whole foods. And while that is true, research has yet to show this makes any difference. And even if you extract the nutrients from whole foods, you still lose a lot of what makes them so good for you in the first place. In fact, because of this, as of 2018, the public health of England declared that greens powders do not count towards your five servings a day of fruits and veggies. And that's part of the problem. Because of how greens powders are marketed, many people think they can rely on these supplements instead of eating real food. Whereas eating enough servings of fruits and vegetables a day has tons of strong evidence showing it improves health, body composition, gut health, digestion, longevity, and pretty much everything else you can think of. So while it's possible a greens powder may provide a small benefit for those who eat very little fruits and vegetables, it's not a replacement, and it's definitely a lot more pricey than a simple multivitamin. That said, a common complaint I hear is that it's either too expensive or too difficult to eat healthy. That's exactly why I've created an easy healthy fat loss meal plan that'll cost you just $5 a day and another budget friendly one. But focus on building muscle and you can click here to give any one of those videos a watch next. And for more help, check out builtwithscience.com for an all in one training and nutrition program that'll guide you every week to the best shape of your life. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.