Kids Take Supplements
December 18, 2008
According to a recent government study, 4% of all kids are taking supplements! The most popular supplements taken by kids were:
- Echinacea
- Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)
- Combination herb pills (whatever that includes!)
- Flaxseed Oil
- Prebiotics/Probiotics
The conditions cited for children included back or neck pain, head or chest colds, anxiety or stress, other musculoskeletal problems, and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). I’m very surprised that multivitamins didn’t top this list?
SOURCE: Nutraingredients
Echinacea Increase EPO
August 14, 2008
By Scott Welch
Fuck bodybuilding, we’re now into Bloodbuilding baby! Well at least endurance athletes at this year’s Olympics are. Artificially increasing the amount of red blood cells in the body will drastically increase endurance because of the extra oxygen carrying capacity provided by the increase in red blood cells. In our bodies, a hormone called EPO (Erythropoietin) is naturally produced by our liver and kidneys and it is used to tell our cells to produce more red blood cells. In the past, athletes increased levels of EPO by getting blood transfusions but now they’re doing this by taking the drug "EPOGEN" (pictured above). Unfortunatelyfor these athletes, exogenous EPO can now be detected when top drug-testing protocols are used. But help may be on the way for natural athletes or cheats looking to jack EPO levels up without getting busted!
Echinacea Increases EPO:
According to a recent study published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism , the herb Echinacea may actually elevate levels of EPO. In fact, statistically significant increases of EPO were found at days 7, 14, and 21 reflecting 44%, 63%, and 36% increases! Now the part that supplement companies will not want to here: The dose of Echinacea that was used in this particular study was 8,000 mg (that’s actually 8 grams) per day!
Feasability:
The cost of Echinacea if you bought directly from the factories that processes the herb is roughly $50 per kilogram. This translates to about 40 cents per day if you used the correct dose of 8 grams. Now this is affordable for many of us but unfortunately you cannot buy directly from the factories you must by from a retail store like GNC , Vitamin Shoppe , Vitamin World or online from companies with aggressive pricing like Bodybuilding.com in the U.S. or SupplementsCanada.com in Canada or Tropicana if you’re in the U.K.
Supplement Scam
So here’s what some unscrupulous supplement companies will do when they see this research or read this Blog:
- Decide to come out with an EPO boosting supplement. Just for fun let’s call this bullshit product "SUPER-EPO ".
They will then add an "affordable" dose of Echinacea (likely 1000 mg) to SUPER-EPO and put all kinds of "other ingredients" in with it so that when you read the Supplement Facts you think you’re buying more than just Echinacea!- They will then add in some B Vitamins and key Minerals like Iron to assist with making red blood cells and transferring oxygen in the body (vitamins and minerals cost only pennies to add also).
- Lastly, even though they aren’t giving you the needed 8 grams per day, they will still refer to the same research study above on their label, website and maybe even in their ads!
Don’t believe them. If you’re going to try using Echinacea to increase levels of EPO make sure you use 8 grams per day. And of course, always consult a physician before "experimenting" with supplements.
SOURCE For Echinacea Study: Dr. J. Marrow’s Supplement Research Updates