GNC - Women's Ultra Mega Active Vitapak

OK - so I went to GNC looking for something to help with weight loss.  The guy there suggested these daily vitamin packs.   It includes the following:

• Women's Ultra Mega Active without iron (whole bunch of stuff)
• Energy enhancer (guarana seed extract,grape skin & seed extract, ginger root extract, gold grape seed extract, dill weed extract)
• Calcium 600 (600 mg)
• L-Carnitine (500 mg)
• CLA 1000 (1000 mg)

As far as weight loss help what do you think??

how is the calcium supposed to help you lose weight?

Calcium helps with your bones that keeps you strong to exercise???   I don't know.  Don't work at GNC. 

hmmmm just becareful what you put into your body in your bid for quick fix weightloss which may or may not work. Goodluck.

Along with working out, I've actually been taking these for about a year, and I've lost 50+ lbs. The vitamins give you a lot of energy, and I've seen that I've lost more fat taking them. I don't want to sound like an ad for GNC, but I am happy with the results.

Original Post by chichi26:

As far as weight loss help what do you think??

I think the guy gets comission for selling GNC brand products and was going to tell you whatever he thought would convince you to buy it.

Original Post by owlmartini:

Along with working out, I've actually been taking these for about a year, and I've lost 50+ lbs. The vitamins give you a lot of energy, and I've seen that I've lost more fat taking them. I don't want to sound like an ad for GNC, but I am happy with the results.

owlmartini, that doesnt even sound educated, maybe because l have had a long day at work and l am tired, but you dont burn fat because you are taking vitamins. Vitamins are supplements. SUPPLEMENTS!!

Hey Chichi!

I don't think that these supplements will aid in your weight loss efforts too much.  There has been research that showed that calcium intake has been related to weight loss, but I'm pretty sure these studies were investigating calcium intake through food, not supplements.  The main thing they're trying to sell you regarding weight loss is the CLA (conjugated linoleic acid).  CLA is marketed as a weight-loss aid, but research has been inconclusive, showing some mild weight loss in a few populations and none in others.  However, the main thing that you need to know is that CLA has not been studied long-term, and there is no data on effects of long-term use. 

Many people don't know that supplements are not controlled like pharmeceuticals.  Supplements don't have to go through any sort of quality checks like food and medicine to make sure that they contain what they are supposed to.  In addition, the companies that sell them don't have to prove that they work or that they are safe.  As a rule of thumb, I avoid supplements unless they have been quality-checked by an independent agency.  If you want to know about some of these agencies, you can just google them.

Hope this helped a little!

Supplements don't have to go through any sort of quality checks like food and medicine to make sure that they contain what they are supposed to.  In addition, the companies that sell them don't have to prove that they work or that they are safe. 

 That's not true.  While they do not have to be approved for a specific use by the FDA, they cannot make outrageous claims without scientific proof.  If they do (like those pills that promise to increase male organ size for example) the FDA and FTC goes after the manufaturers.  Also, they do have to go through quality checks, just like food does.  Supplements in the US are regulated similar to how foods are regulated.  Here's a link to the FDA webpage that explains how they're regulated.  http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/supplmnt.html

Also, CLA comes from sunflower seeds.  It's not dangerous.  I would be more worried about the guarana- which contains caffiene naturally.  Caffiene causes water retention.

I worked for two different supplement manufacturers in the quality control department, so I would know.

Also as a quick note- I would carefully research the company you buy supplements from (as tastytreats suggested) as well as each ingredient's use and recommended amounts.  Don't rely on the store clerks as they may or may not know what they're talking about.  Also choose your books and websites carefully.  Many of them just have marketing info meant to sell you products.  Here are a couple good references for that.

http://www.pdrhealth.com/home/home.aspx (physician's desk reference, type ingredients in search box)

Book: Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (www.naturaldatabase.com)  You'd have to get this one from the library or buy their online service, but it's really really complete, unbiased, and good info.

Thanks for your input Rainjoules!

You're absolutely right about the claims.  I always have a hard time picking apart the DSHEA.

I'm not familiar with CLA originiating in sunflower seeds.  In my research I've found that the best sources are ruminant meats and dairy products.  Perhaps there are less significant amounts in sunflower seeds and supplement manufacturers use this source for all sorts of reasons (money, food safety, etc)?  Eating sunflower seeds is definitely safe, I don't argue that.  My concern just lies in consuming an amount of CLA that you would not normally get from eating a relatively normal amount of sunflower seeds.  The fact is, there isn't any research to show long-term safety of CLA.  That was my ultimate point.  That and be wary of supplements in general.  A good thing to do is do your research ahead of time.  There's also a seal on supplements that have been quality checked by an independent agency, but I can't bring the agency or the seal to mind.  Do you have an insight on this Rainjoules?

I work in Nutrition research, so I'm coming at this topic from an academia point of view.  I think topics like this are really interesting.  If we were sitting in the same room, I would love to pick your brain, Rain. :)

I was searching around, and it looks like in 1 gram (1000mg) of sunflower oil, there are 400 mg of CLA.  You can also get it from safflower oil which has 800mg CLA per one gram of the oil.  This info is not from a scientific source, however, so I'm not sure how accurate it is :) http://www.powersupplements.com/cla-supplemen ts.html

About the seal- maybe you're thinking of USP (US Pharmacopeia)http://www.usp.org/aboutUSP/

If a product has this seal, it means that they have the same standards as a pharmaceutical company (that makes prescription and over-the-counter medicine), with regards to their manufacturing standards.   Supplement companies do have to pay for using this seal on their packaging.

The website says "These [USP] programs involve independent testing and review to verify ingredient and product integrity, purity, and potency for manufacturers who choose to participate."

Original Post by fabnina:

Original Post by owlmartini:

Along with working out, I've actually been taking these for about a year, and I've lost 50+ lbs. The vitamins give you a lot of energy, and I've seen that I've lost more fat taking them. I don't want to sound like an ad for GNC, but I am happy with the results.

owlmartini, that doesnt even sound educated, maybe because l have had a long day at work and l am tired, but you dont burn fat because you are taking vitamins. Vitamins are supplements. SUPPLEMENTS!!

 Fabnina: You probably were just tired from work when you posted the slightly rude comment; you may not have been aware but vitamins have many differant uses and it is possible to "burn fat" using a vitamin. It is not exactly "burning fat" instead it is a conversion of fat into energy which is then released. Through physical activity the same concept is carried out. Some vitamins simply increase the fat conversion. Now I am not sure If any of the vitamins being discussed are actually this type but before you go yelling out definitions to peole make sure you know your facts.

Owlmartini: congrats on the weight lose

All: Have a great weekend