When Sports Supplements Go Wrong

[Guest guest]

,

Here's an article substantiating adulterated supplements and their effect on

some professional athletes:

When Sports Supplements Go Wrong

12/12/2008 22:22

It would appear that for once, athletes have correctly pinned the blame of

failed drug tests on an adulterated supplement. So often they accuse a sports

supplement, but rarely do they publicly name the manufacturer or brand and show

the adulteration via independent testing.

The five pro football athletes recently suspended for four games by NFL

officials after testing positive for the banned diuretic bumetanide, which has

been known to mask steroids in drug testing. The athletes countered they had

taken StarCaps, an over-the-counter (OTC) weight-loss supplement that must have

been tainted. So we go to the old advice: professional athletes should know what

they put into their bodies. Well, the situation clouds a bit here, because it

appears the product might actually have contained the banned substance without

labeling it amongst the product's ingredients.

More than a year ago, a third-party lab in Tennessee, Aegis Sciences Corp,

confirmed the presence of bumetanide in StarCaps and advised pro athletes risked

not just failed drug tests but also future health problems based on potential

dehydration (from unknowingly taking a diuretic).

A study report published in a late 2007 issue of the Journal of Analytical

Toxicology also confirmed the presence of bumetanide in StarCaps. The

investigation was initiated by the World Doping Agency.

There is also speculation the NFL knew a positive test for one player in 2006

was connected to bumetanide in StarCaps.

So, how then did players a year later get popped for taking this supplement? I

still think players are a bit responsible here. Adulterated supplements

certainly reflect poorly on the supplement market, but there are some

supplements approved for use by NFL players. The NSF International partnership

with the NFL and its players' association has approved certified-safe

supplements from EAS. Other companies like Pharmanex have had products certified

for athletes (including the Salt Lake Olympic Games).

Can more be done? Yes, more should be done. More products and brands should be

approved by partnerships such as NSF-NFL. It's appalling that players have to

choose between one or two brands, while there are surely many other companies

out there that produce unadulterated products.

Maybe they feel the limited number of world class athletes doesn't merit the

effort to get approved by the NFL, Olympics or various sporting authorities, but

I argue cases such as the StarCaps-NFL fiasco do major damage to the supplement

industry's reputation. The NFL is a big deal in the United States, and news like

this has an accordingly big impact. Even the cases in which failed tests are

erroneously blamed on supplements hurt, as a case like StarCaps makes people

wonder if other players aren't victims of adulterated supplements.

That said, it still amazes me that millionaire athletes don't spring a few

thousand to have everything they consume tested, especially supplements. The

rapid-weight-loss products that hit the market every other day, especially

internet-only products, may be desirable to bigger athletes, especially the

large linemen involved in the latest NFL ban, but it pays to have products

tested. This is especially important for any products in the weight management

market—StarCaps was marketed to " metabolize protein, eliminate bloat, and

detoxify your system. "

As for StarCaps, the company behind the product, Balanced Health Products, New

York, faces lawsuits from some of the players involved and has recently recalled

its product, under the eyes of FDA. The company's Web site has only its home

page available, on which it says it is investigating the problem and has

suspended shipments until further notice. In a press release, the company said

only certain lots of the product were being voluntarily recalled due to possible

contamination it believes occurred in its raw material production facility in

Lima, Peru.

I anxiously await further developments of this case. Will StarCaps prove the

adulteration was an extraordinary accident company execs knew nothing about, or

will this prove to be a case of another weight-loss product purposefully tainted

with a drug?

From Coach :

Unfortunately for those who use potential adulteration as an excuse to avoid

using supplements, a major sports supplement manufacturer, EAS, is NFL approved.

So the fear of adulteration is no longer an excuse not to supplement.

In order to be NFL approved EAS has to maintain a stringent testing program.

Since the program's inception no NFL player using EAS has failed a drug test.

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.

- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Change your thoughts and you change your world.

- Norman Peale

The character of a man is known from his conversations.

- Menander

W.G.

Ubermensch Sports Consultancy

San Diego, CA