In the US, a 4.5kg box of Dymatize Elite Whey Protein will cost you $61. In Australia, for the same product, you're lucky if you get change from $160! The ever popular NO Xplod costs just $33 in the US - $90 in Aus. Bad Ass Mass: $28 vs $120 here. Etc etc etc.
$30 doesnt buy much these days. Its $30 just for 2 people to go to a movie! But $100 is different. You CAN buy things for $100. And when you spend $100 on something you probably had to consciously give up something else you would've liked.
So when it comes to supplements, spending $30 for a months worth of crazy tasting, crazy looking pre-workout caffeine hits is OK. Its a toy. Its throwaway money for some recreational fun. You are getting your moneys worth even when you are intelligent enough to realise that supplements don't 'do' anything. (NOTE: the hype about supplements growing muscle or burning fat is just an outright ludicrous lie! Saying a supplement will grow your muscles is like saying a tyre will transport you somewhere by itself. Its just silliness. Don't be fooled)!
But in Australia its different. For whatever reason, a $30 supplement will cost $100-$150 here. All of a sudden the value proposition is changed. Its gone from throw-away, recreational money to a serious spend. You wouldn't pay $120 to go to a regular movie in a regular cinema. You wouldnt pay $120 for a regular CD. You wouldn't pay $120 for a regular pasta meal in a pub. So why would you spend $120 on the latest American $30 supplement?
I run a supplement shop and yet I've always maintained that supplements are mostly a total waste of money! I've said 1000 times that supplements DON'T build muscle or burn fat. And they don't! Overseas the use of supplements can make sense - its a bit of fun for play money. You get very little out of the supps but you lose very little money so its OK. But here in Australia its not OK; its not fun and its not play money! Don't waste your money!
POSTSCRIPT: Ironically, the supplements that offer the most value in Australia are almost as cheap here as overseas. Phosphatidylserine, zinc, Vitamin D and C are all between $5 and $45 and will do more for your training and health than any 'hormone booster'!
Tuesday 13 October 2009
Anti-Depressants = Pro-Fatteners
With only one exception, every woman who has come into Biologic Labs weighing over 120kg was using anti-depressants (SSRI's, specifically). And EVERY one of those women had gained 20-60kg AFTER starting the anti-depressants. None were using anti-depressants BECAUSE of their weight!
In most cases, the prescribing doctor chastised the ladies for even suggesting the drugs were making them fat! They told the women to not blame the drugs for their own bad eating habits. Yet, in most cases, the women had reduced their previous food intake after seeing the anti-depressant induced weight gain!
So, like alcohol, anti-depressants drug you fat! REALLY fat! For some reason, it is particularly bad in women.
But the very worst news is, once you've gotten fat from anti-depressants, the weight doesn't ever seem to return to 'normal'; even after long-term cessation of the drugs.
Certainly in the short term, our anti-depressant using clients have lost a huge amount of fat and gained a lot of muscle. But they seem to stall out and get 'stuck' at a point that is much fatter and heavier than people who just ate themselves fat. Most notably, anti-depressant users just don't lose much WEIGHT!
I have no idea why anti-depressants so fundamentally wreck human metabolism. But neither do the Psychiatrists who prescribe them nor the drug companies who make them. I have a weak theory that it relates to a disruption in Leptin (the "anti-obesity hormone") function. Leptin 'works' (in simple terms) through brain dopamine receptor activity. An interesting study recently showed that SSRI's cause serotonin to be taken up by dopamine vesicles; theoretically reducing dopamine activity and exacerbating the SSRI induced serotonin/dopamine imbalance.
Dieting with the help of a dopamine agonist (such as bromocriptine or dostinex) is probably the only solution for people who have gotten fat from anti-depressants. (Dopamine agonists help to maintain the effectiveness of any diet for an extended period without continual reductions in calories). Good luck getting your GP to prescribe one. But a good anti-ageing doctor will be more open minded. And I am more than happy to discuss dopamine-agonist use in dieting with anyone (including doctors).
Doctors, Psychiatrists and drug companies flat-out deny that anti-depressants cause weight gain. Well, as a Body Recompositioning Specialist, I'm telling you that they most absolutely certainly DO!!! SSRI's will break your metabolism for life!
In most cases, the prescribing doctor chastised the ladies for even suggesting the drugs were making them fat! They told the women to not blame the drugs for their own bad eating habits. Yet, in most cases, the women had reduced their previous food intake after seeing the anti-depressant induced weight gain!
So, like alcohol, anti-depressants drug you fat! REALLY fat! For some reason, it is particularly bad in women.
But the very worst news is, once you've gotten fat from anti-depressants, the weight doesn't ever seem to return to 'normal'; even after long-term cessation of the drugs.
Certainly in the short term, our anti-depressant using clients have lost a huge amount of fat and gained a lot of muscle. But they seem to stall out and get 'stuck' at a point that is much fatter and heavier than people who just ate themselves fat. Most notably, anti-depressant users just don't lose much WEIGHT!
I have no idea why anti-depressants so fundamentally wreck human metabolism. But neither do the Psychiatrists who prescribe them nor the drug companies who make them. I have a weak theory that it relates to a disruption in Leptin (the "anti-obesity hormone") function. Leptin 'works' (in simple terms) through brain dopamine receptor activity. An interesting study recently showed that SSRI's cause serotonin to be taken up by dopamine vesicles; theoretically reducing dopamine activity and exacerbating the SSRI induced serotonin/dopamine imbalance.
Dieting with the help of a dopamine agonist (such as bromocriptine or dostinex) is probably the only solution for people who have gotten fat from anti-depressants. (Dopamine agonists help to maintain the effectiveness of any diet for an extended period without continual reductions in calories). Good luck getting your GP to prescribe one. But a good anti-ageing doctor will be more open minded. And I am more than happy to discuss dopamine-agonist use in dieting with anyone (including doctors).
Doctors, Psychiatrists and drug companies flat-out deny that anti-depressants cause weight gain. Well, as a Body Recompositioning Specialist, I'm telling you that they most absolutely certainly DO!!! SSRI's will break your metabolism for life!
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