I confiscated these samples that were dropped off by a sales rep.
I’d like to warn you ahead of time. I have a lot to say about this topic so I decided to break this post into three segments. Now that I got that out of the way, the exact date was July 7, 2013 at approximately 2:13 pm.
I was at the gym, I just got done chillin in the hot tub and came out to the lobby to draw up workout plans for my next day’s class. As soon as I sat down and got comfy, my friend Mikey, who works behind the desk, came walking over.
I noticed he was holding a clear cup with bright red liquid in it, and as coincidence would have it, that was the reason for his journey across the floor. He looked me in the eye and said, “K/Rail. What do you think of this “stuff?” Well I can tell you this much, the fake fruity aroma of that toxic-looking, discolored water lit up the room like a potpourri hand grenade, so immediately I was a bit guarded.
I asked if I could have a sip and he excitedly handed me the cup. As soon as that substance hit the back of my throat it felt like I was drinking formaldehyde! I looked Mikey right back in the eye and said, “What is this crap?!”
As it turns out, a supplement rep had dropped off a bag of goodies for the desk help and powers that be to try, so he whipped up a batch and followed suit. The specific one he was imbibing was called OxyELITE Pro Super Thermo Powder. Yes I’m naming names, because I want to make sure you do not make the same mistake Mikey did and buy in to this nonsense.
I got my hands on that big bag of BS and rooted through to find the perpetrating sample. The front of the packet listed very little in the way of useful information, other than a note about it having an “Advanced Carnitine Transport System.” Well that’s great news! Do you know what an advanced carnitine transport system is? That’s what I thought.
I flipped the packet over and found what I was in search of… the truth. Not only did this “fat burner” contain the infamous fake sugar acesulfame potassium, but it was also laced with sucralose (another fake sugar), artificial flavors AND sodium dioxide. Oh, where are my manners? In case you’re wondering, sodium dioxide is an oxidizing agent used in the production of glass and ceramics. Yeah, you might want to think twice the next time you buy some bunk product from GNC that has this substance. Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just giving you the straight dope. Refer to the ingredient labels yourself and you’ll see what I’m talking about. To top it all off, this teeny tiny packet of OxyELITEPro contained 125 mg of caffeine, which is equivalent to about 1 1/2 c of coffee.
At this point you can probably imagine my blood was beginning to boil, but I still haven’t gotten to the main course. On the right side of the packet was a warning label printed in all capital letters, but they were by no means large. In fact, if you weren’t specifically looking for them, you may not see them at all.
Just for the record folks, it’s always a dead giveaway that a product is likely BS when you need a microscope to read the fine print. A simple rule of thumb is, the smaller the writing, the more they’re trying to hide from you. To be continued in Part II!
