Fancy, colorful labels?! Amazing claims of “instant strength” or “extreme physique enhancement”?!  What about provocative images of bulging muscles and sexy women…?!?!

What’s to keep a young weight lifter or gym rat from grabbing the “latest & greatest” product that’s being passed around at the gym BUT which may have harmful effects to their health or often turns out to NOT be all it’s cracked up to be?   These are REAL concerns and for college or professional athletes, these products (that may contain banned substances) could have some serious risks for their careers.

The following bullet points are taken from an article we posted back in August of 2009 entitled “Just Say ‘No’ to Steroids” – How to avoid purchasing sports supplements with hidden banned substances.  We have decided to re-post this list on its own because the sports supplement industry continues to be flooded with products that contain questionable ingredients, many of which are listed with “proprietary matrix” descriptions that leave the consumer confused and unclear as to the possible medical or doping control dangers of these “hyped” products.  What is the consumer supposed to believe about such labels? And how does the consumer make the right choice with thousands of sports supplements from which to choose? Here is a simple guideline to help you with your decision:

  • Do not use sports enhancement or body building products marketed as containing pro-hormones, steroid-like substances, or that claim to alter the hormone (testosterone) profile of the consumer.  They can cause serious and permanent health damage.  Altering the Endocrine (hormone) Profile is VERY dangerous.  The body attempts to keep hormones in a careful balance and disrupting that balance can cause cancer, heart disease, liver damage, high blood pressure, and can even result in death.  Other serious health risks also include jaundice, increase in cholesterol and blood sugars, enlarged heart, heart attacks, strokes, and unstable mood swings (”roid rage”)infertility, impotency, severe acne, and baldness.  And of course, the ramifications for the collegiate, professional or amateur athlete who tests positive because of having taken products with illegal substances could mean partial suspension to complete termination of their competitive career.
  •  Avoid products where companies have made claims or statements “to good to be true.”  Simply use logic and trust your instincts on hyped claims.  Supplement companies are not currently as closely regulated by FDA as some would like and therefore some companies make claims without effective scientific testing or safety data.  The only time the FDA gets involved is when there is a serious adverse reaction/death or evidence of the presence of a controlled substance – then the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) is called in.  But because there is little testing and regulation involved, little is known about the long-term health effects of some of these products. 
  • Make sure claims made are backed by real science from recognized universities and institutions that have legitimacy in sports nutrition science. A product that promises to be an “extreme muscle mass volumizer” should have a legitimate (non-hyped) scientific explanation about how the compound is assisting your body and how you can obtain these results.    The science should be able to stand up to scrutiny by credentialed 3rd parties.
  • Read labels carefully!  TheAmerican diet usually gets plenty of sugars, additives, and stimulants (caffeine, etc.) so you probably don’t need them in your supplements.   Some of the ingredients being put into products claim to effect a person’s insulin levels — like hormones, insulin levels are NOT something to disturb.  Altered blood sugar or insulin manipulation can result in diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and a variety of other very dangerous medical conditions.
  • Companies do not always disclose all the ingredients on their labels.  Beware!  If the label makes claims that cannot be traced to listed ingredients, it can mean other additives or drugs are present or that there may be high levels of legal substances that are deemed illegal for competition above certain thresholds.
  • Don’t ignore WARNINGS on labels.  Many companies will have a small description on the bottom of the label warning the consumer of possible dangers from taking their product.  This is to cover themselves from legal allegations should problems occur for the consumer.  These should not be ignored!  For instance, if the product reads: “Athletes or anyone subject to banned substance testing should check with your governing body before using this product,” that’s a pretty good indication that the product may have unlisted banned substances or excessive levels of restricted substances.   Additionally, products should not have adverse effects to any pre-existing medical conditions. 
  • Make sure the products you are taking comply with all drug and supplement standards issued by professional and amateur athletic organizations.  Check and see if the company has performed Doping Control testing on the product and/or on athletes taking the product.
  • Make sure the products were manufactured according to cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) and have QC / QA processes for safety and purity.  Does the company have a reports of QC / QA analysis performed?

CON-CRET’s pure concentrated creatine is safe and natural.  It contains only ONE ingredient.  And it offers both athletes and work-out enthusiasts dramatic results in strength, endurance. and recovery.  There are no illegal substances in CON-CRET.  As a matter of fact, no other legal supplement has proven to be as effective in increasing athletic performance (strength, endurance and recovery) as CON-CRET. 

CON-CRET is backed by real science from two major universities, with study designs and results displayed on our website.  Because CON-CRET offers dramatic results backed by outstanding science, CON-CRET users can feel good about what they’re taking.  Good luck with your decision!

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