Commercially Marketed Supplements for Bodybuilding Athletes

Commercially Marketed Supplements for Bodybuilding Athletes

by Katharine K. Grunewald and Robert S. Bailey

1. Survey of Commercially Available Supplements

1.1 Methodology

We contacted 37 companies that had advertised dietary supplements in the November 1990 to January 1991 issues of 5 popular bodybuilding magazines. (We used the November and December 1990 issues of Flex, Ironman, Muscle & Fitness and Muscular Development, and the January/February 1991 issue of WBF: Bodybuilding Lifestyles. Advertisements in these magazines do not imply endorsement of the supplements by the magazines or their editorial boards.) The magazines were chosen because they featured articles, photos, advertisements, editorials, contest announcements and training programmes targeted primarily towards bodybuilders, and had an international readership. Of the 37 companies contacted, 35 (95%) responded with literature describing their supplements. We eliminated 2 of the 35 companies because they were distributors of products sold by other companies.

The literature provided by the remaining 33 companies was used to compile information for this review. It does not include data from product labels. Supplements from other sources (e.g. health food stores, gymnasiums) also were not specifically evaluated, although the supplements in our study may also be sold in those settings.

The supplement companies provided us with an enormous pool of information. One of our most difficult tasks was to develop a classification system for the large array of supplements advertised. Many supplements contained more than 1 ingredient; others were sold as part of packs containing several supplements.

Also presented here are advertised performance claims for the products. They included enhancements in (a) weight or muscle gain, (b) anabolic or growthpromoting effects, (c) strength, (d) energy, (e) recuperation, (f) endurance or (g) reduction in body fat. Other frequently appearing claims recorded were growth hormone releaser, insulin enhancer, testosterone booster, source of natural testosterone and comparisons with anabolic steroids. We did not include other nonperformance claims, such as effects on mental function, sexual vigor, blood pressure, cancer risk, serum cholesterol or antioxidant ability.

1.2 Number and Classification

Literature from the 33 companies listed a total of 624 supplements which were considered in this study. Onethird of all supplements were represented by only 3 categories: amino acid tablets or capsules (n = 87); vitamin and/or mineral multiple supplements or packs (n = 70); and protein powders for weight, muscle or strength gain (n = 62). Each company sold an average of 2.6 different amino acid mixtures; about 2 different powders for weight, muscle or strength; and a similar number of multiple vitamin/mineral supplements or packs.

Other popular supplements, each comprising between 5 and 7% of the total, were those containing arginine and/or ornithine (n = 41); carnitine and/or choline (n = 34); and powders for energy, endurance and/or recuperation (n = 31). Less popular supplements, each representing between I and 4% of the total number, included ferulic acid, y-oryzanol, individual vitamins, individual amino acids, Smilax compounds, glandulars, liver (desiccated), dibencozide, inosine, chromium compounds, yohimbine, boron compounds, medium chain triglycerides and weight loss powders. A miscellaneous group contained a variety of 84 supplements, none numerous enough to warrant individual listings.

1.3 Advertised Performance Claims

Many products were accompanied by more than one claim and a summary of performance claims for each category of supplements is presented in table 1. The 33 companies in our survey collectively made over 800 performance claims for the 624 products. Some performance claims were documented by references. A review of scientific literature was conducted for each supplement category by accessing 3 computerized databases: Sport (Sport Information Resource Center, Gloucester), Medline (Compact Cambridge, Bethesda) and Agricola (Silver Platter, Boston).

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Originally appearing in Sports Medicine 15(2) 90-103. 1993.