How To Avoid Supplement Side Effects

Side effects and the second mouse

By Bryan Kernan

Ever hear of the old saying "the second mouse gets the cheese?" The second mouse gets the cheese because the first mouse gets wiped out by the trap. The same caution that the second mouse showed should be applied to the supplements you put in your body. Just because something is new and highly hyped doesn't mean it is healthy. First movers are the most vulnerable when it comes to supplementation.

Pharmaceuticals go through rigorous testing before they come to the market (various phases of clinical trials) and then still often have to be pulled from the market due to bad side effects. Supplements have nowhere near the testing process, which means the first users are often the guinea pigs for those supplements. Admittedly supplements are usually safer than pharmaceuticals in general.

When it comes to both supplements (and pharmaceuticals, for that matter) there is also the issue of latent complications. That is, side effects sometimes don't show up for a period of time. Or the factors that make the side effects appear may be cumulative. Taking a couple of doses of an element may not be harmful, but taking it for a few months allows the accumulation. The long term factor is what young bulls rushing to build big muscle often overlook or marginalize.

The short term issues, such as toxicity, become apparent fairly quickly. It is the long term effect that causes the most concern because it often goes undetected for years. Some companies have no idea what the long term effects of their supplements might be simply because that particular supplement hasn't been consumed by the human body before. Yes, there may be some upside, but there may also be some downside as well. Do you want to be missing a kidney by the time you are 40? Or go blind a couple of decades down the road?

New supplements carry heightened risk and it is wise to let a new product hit the market and stay on the market for awhile before jumping aboard. Too often people buy up the latest and greatest far too soon, and sometimes pay a price more than just money for doing so. The downside of not being the first to try a new supplement is small but the potential downside of taking something that may harm you is large.

There is a caveat that goes with all purchases - buyer beware - and that is especially true when you deal with supplements. The bottom line for most companies is their bottom line - profit. And when profit and health don't mix, profit often wins out. So when it comes to supplements, caveat emptor, and aim at being the second mouse, not the first, to try and get that cheese.

Note: Bryan Kernan is the author of "Bodybuilding Supplement Secrets Revealed!" This book contains advanced supplment secrets and shows you how you can gain up to 15 lbs. in the next 6 weeks by discovering how to turn the supplements you buy at your local health food store into super powerful anabolic compounds!