Manufacturers don’t leave a stone unturned in order to sell you their products be it the hulk-of-a-guy posing on the container or that cute and fit blonde inviting you to pick it from the rack and take it home. There are few sneaky ways in which the try to take you for a ride. Read on and attain enlightenment!
“Proprietary Blends” and “Protein
blend”
Speaking
of the word proprietary, pre-workout drinks provide more examples of this
potentially misleading label claim. The most important thing to be aware of is
the word “proprietary blend.” Most people believe this is a secret formula or
special sauce the company doesn’t want to reveal. In actuality, when companies
use this wording, it is a way to hide the exact amounts of key ingredients that
actually exist in the product.
Also, you might see the words “protein blend” followed by
ingredients listed in parentheses, for example: "(whey protein
concentrate, milk protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, soy protein
isolate)." There may be, and most likely is, less than a gram of the
highest quality ingredient, whey isolate, in this product. To know more about
different types of protein and jargon involved read this
article.
Serving Size
Manufacturers
manipulate the serving size to tell you how much more protein there is in every
single scoop you take. But what you should calculate is protein content/gram in
the supplement to save yourself from getting duped. It doesn't take a rocket
scientist to figure out that if you increase the serving size, the protein
content per serving would increase!
Source and Type of Protein
23g of
protein doesn’t mean the 23 gram of the best quality protein. Protein can be an
Isolate (90%+ pure), Concentrate (70-80% pure), Blend ( a
mixture of Isolate and concentrate) or just the plain inexpensive soy protein.
Next time, try to find out source of your protein.
No Artificial flavor
It is
written in bold on all packages. What they didn’t tell you there is they use
artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose or perhaps they
simply used more sugar than anyone can put in a cup of coffee.
It is
always best to find products with straightforward ingredient panels. Find a
company you trust and don’t be afraid to ask them the tough questions, like how
much whey protein isolate really exists in a serving? A reputable company will
take the time to explain their products if they are not hiding anything. One
final note: it is always a bonus to purchase products that are actually
manufactured by the company itself.
