In recent years, there has been an increase in dietary and nutritional supplements. These supplements are typically not FDA approved, so what exactly is in these drinks? Skibola (2017), investigated the levels of metals in various supplements. In 56% of the products that were tested, one serving of the product exceeded metal recommendations of arsenic, chromium, lead, and cadmium. These recommendations have been established by regulatory agencies and the study found that rice-based shakes exceeded the recommendations. With a rise in consumption of protein shakes and dietary supplements in society, it must be acknowledged that they are not regulated by the FDA, so it is unknown what exactly is in these drinks. Possible harm can come from consuming and more rigorous regulation should be implemented. Autonomy plays a big role because companies exclaim you can gain muscle or loss fat from their supplements, but there is little education and knowledge of what these supplements are composed of. So next time you go to make a protein shake, consider eating food to receive all your nutrients instead.
Skibola, C. F., Jianqing Zhang, & Riby, J. E. (2017). Heavy Metal Contamination of Powdered Protein and Botanical Shake Mixes. Journal of Environmental Health, 80(4), 8–14. Retrieved from http://dml.regis.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=8gh&AN=125885891&site=ehost-live&scope=site
It may interest you to know that the deregulation of supplements began in 1994, with a bill, DSHEA, sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, who, very coincidentally, happens to have family members who run supplement companies. Since then "the Food and Drug Administration cannot block a supplement from reaching market; the agency can only take action if it learned of health and safety problems with the product after the fact." (source: http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-hatch-20180105-story.html . Also re: family members in the supplement industry: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/us/politics/21hatch.html)
ReplyDelete