Supplements and Supplements’ Magazines

Last Updated on Sunday, 25 July 2010 08:27 Written by Yasar Shahzad Saturday, 17 July 2010 21:00

Here’s why you should view almost all nutritional supplements with a skeptical eye:

Most people read information about supplements from supplements magazines because magazines are normally considered one of the most trustworthy sources for information. But that's not always the case - you can't believe everything you read.

Most bodybuilding and fitness magazine publishers have their own supplement companies and they use their magazines to promote their products. By writing information about "new supplement breakthroughs" into editorial format, they appear much more believable. That makes magazines the perfect tools for selling supplements and weight loss products. As a result, many magazines have turned into nothing more than thinly disguised "supplement catalogs" with the single purpose of brainwashing masses of easily-influenced consumers.

The “magazine supplement company” business plan is nothing new. Certain “well known” publications have been doing it for decades. One day, it dawned on the rest of the publishers that more money could be made selling supplements than selling advertising or subscriptions. Soon, almost everyone had jumped on the bandwagon. This is just as true for online magazines as it is for paper and ink magazines.

Even if a magazine doesn't have a vested interest in a particular line of supplements, you still can't count on them to reveal the whole truth to you because publishers don't want to offend the deep-pocketed companies that are spending big money to advertise. Publishing is a tough business. Magazine owners depend on advertising revenue to keep themselves afloat.

A full-page ad in a high circulation national magazine can cost tens of thousands of dollars. With this kind of money at stake, do you think any magazine will print an article about how supplements don't work and run an ad on the next page for the same supplements they are criticizing? Not likely! And do you think they’ll turn down advertising dollars just because the effectiveness of the product being advertised is questionable? Also not likely – scarce few human beings have that much integrity.