I do NOT recommend ZMA, it’s a scam.
I’d like to make one point on why you can’t TRUST ANYONE when it comes to sports nutrition. If you Google ZMA supplement, you’ll find a bunch of stores selling ZMA. Now, why would these stores continue to sell it is a scam? The proof is CLEAR. It’s useless. Read on, if you want my reasons..
Its is a mineral supplement that supposedly supports testosterone and lean muscle mass. This is a complete scam and it will do absolutely nothing for you. If you don’t believe me, read the book “Game of Shadows” and it will give you the truth about ZMA. ZMA does not raise testosterone levels. Pretty much all major supplement companies sell ZMA, which is a worthless supplement. There is so much factual proof that ZMA does not work it’s not even funny.
The truth about ZMA
Here is an article I found from the website www.ergo-log.com/ZMA.
ZMA is totally ineffective, according German sports scientists in an article published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The researchers tested a couple of bottles of SNAC System’s ZMA from the bodybuilding.com webshop. SNAC is Victor Conte’s company, the genius behind the BALCO scheme and the inventor of ZMA. The team of researchers, led by Wilhelm Schaenzer, gave seven fitness fanatics the recommended dose of ZMA – three capsules per day, providing a total of thirty milligrams of zinc, 450 milligrams of magnesium and 11 milligrams of vitamin B6. The researchers made sure the athletes followed the advice of the manufacturer. The participants were asked to swallow the capsules with water between dinner and bedtime at minimum 1 h after the last food intake. Seven other athletes were given a placebo. Effect: nada. When the researchers measured the concentrations of a series of natural androgens in the test subjects’ urine, the story was pretty much the same. The concentrations are listed in the table, but not in straightforward milligrams, as the figures have undergone statistical processing. But the message is clear. ZMA does not raise the androgen level. If anything, it appears to lower it a little. The researchers measured the zinc intake of the athletes before starting the experiment. Their levels were between 12 and 23 milligrams per day, more than the daily requirement. Recent trials have shown that athletes make more testosterone if they take zinc supplements. [Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2006 Feb-Apr;27(1-2):247-52.] But these athletes probably had a zinc deficiency, the Germans reason. ZMA has been tested a couple of times. In the first case ZMA came out tops, and the abstract of the study was distributed to much acclaim. Supplements manufacturer himself did that research. The manufacturer first claimed that the study had been published in the prestigious Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, [www. bodyandfitness.com] but this was not the case. A few years later, Richard Kreider studied the effectiveness of a supplement containing ZMA and L-Dopa. It did nothing. Almost nothing. [J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2004 Dec 31;1(2):12-20.] The Germans do have some good news about ZMA as well, though. The supplement scarcely raises zinc levels in the body. The athletes excreted nearly all the extra zinc in their urine. ZMA users also urinated more – which explains why some ZMA users think that the stuff makes them ‘drier’. They dehydrate. The rapid disappearance of extra zinc from the body is good news for all those bodybuilders who were duped into using ZMA. Researchers suspect that high levels of zinc intake can increase the risk of prostate cancer [J Natl Cancer Inst. 2003 Jul 2;95(13):1004-7.] in the long run.
TAKING IT A STEP FURTHER WITH MY REVIEWS BY RECOMMENDING A BRAND!
Remember I’m a supplement expert with over 15 years experience in buying and manufacturing supplements. Anyone can recommend a supplement but isn’t the next question always, “What BRAND is the best?”. Well that is the problem. You have sites like examine.com that tell you about the ingredients but stop there. That is pretty much worthless because you have no clue what to BRAND to BUY after that. So you’re left with searching forums and asking self-proclaimed experts or looking at reviews that most of the time are biased. The real answer is to ask an expert like myself. Asking questions on a forums only gets you amateur consumer responses which is quite frankly a ridiculous way to take a recommendation with something you’re putting into your body. But you’re in luck because I am a REAL supplement expert. I have over 10 years dealing with FDA lawyers, manufacturing consultants, employing dietary supplement experts, knowledge of the Code of Federal Regulations 111’s for dietary supplements, and much more! I am a qualified supplement expert manufacturer, not just a science guy. I am the real deal when it comes to recommending quality supplements because I take it a step further and recommend a brand and give you the reason(s) why!
I hope you enjoy reading the truth about this supplement and shedding some light on this supplement that nobody should be using. If you wish to buy a great testosterone supplement check out this.
Alex Rogers is a supplement manufacturing expert. He has been formulating, consulting, & manufacturing dietary supplements since 1998. Alex invented protein customization in 1998 & was the first company to allow consumers to create their own protein blends. He helped create the first supplement to contain natural follistatin, invented whey protein with egg lecithin, & recently imported the world’s first 100% hydrolyzed whey.