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Do Your Supplements Give You A Kick Of Caffeine?
Secret Caffeine in Dietary Supplements
Half of us are taking dietary supplements on a daily basis but what you may not know is that some of them come with a kick of caffeine - and it may not even be listed on the label.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists analyzed a number of caffeine-containing products including supplements. You see, caffeine is a natural alkaloid in more than 60 plants (including tea and coffee) and in plant derivatives known as "botanicals." These botanicals, such as guarana, yerba mate, kola nut and green tea extract, are common dietary-supplement ingredients and are printed on the label's ingredient list - although you might not see any amount of caffeine listed on the label. According to the Agricultural Research Service online report on Caffeine In Selected Dietary Supplements, there is no requirement to state the amount of caffeine present in a food, beverage or supplement on the product's label. If caffeine in its pure form is added to a product, however, there is a requirement to add the word "caffeine" to the label's ingredient listing, the report explains.
Dietary supplements - predominantly weight-loss and sports-nutrition products containing at least one caffeine-containing ingredient - were chosen for the ARS analysis. Here's what they found:
[Agricultural Research Magazine, April 2009, "Caffeine-containing Botanicals in Dietary Supplements."]
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Half of us are taking dietary supplements on a daily basis but what you may not know is that some of them come with a kick of caffeine - and it may not even be listed on the label.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists analyzed a number of caffeine-containing products including supplements. You see, caffeine is a natural alkaloid in more than 60 plants (including tea and coffee) and in plant derivatives known as "botanicals." These botanicals, such as guarana, yerba mate, kola nut and green tea extract, are common dietary-supplement ingredients and are printed on the label's ingredient list - although you might not see any amount of caffeine listed on the label. According to the Agricultural Research Service online report on Caffeine In Selected Dietary Supplements, there is no requirement to state the amount of caffeine present in a food, beverage or supplement on the product's label. If caffeine in its pure form is added to a product, however, there is a requirement to add the word "caffeine" to the label's ingredient listing, the report explains.
Dietary supplements - predominantly weight-loss and sports-nutrition products containing at least one caffeine-containing ingredient - were chosen for the ARS analysis. Here's what they found:
[Note: According to the Nutrient Data Laboratory, one 8-ounce cup of coffee (240 milliliters) contains about 95 milligrams of caffeine.]
- Of the 53 products analyzed, 27 products provided - by way of a daily serving defined on the label - the caffeine equivalent of about 1 to 2 cups of coffee.
- 11 products had caffeine equivalents ranging from 2 to 4 cups of coffee.
- 11 more products had equivalents ranging from 4 to 6 cups of coffee.
- 4 products provided an amount of caffeine ranging from 7 to 8 cups of coffee.
- Of the 28 analyzed products that voluntarily listed a caffeine amount on the label, 25 were found to contain caffeine levels within 20 percent of the label amount.
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[Agricultural Research Magazine, April 2009, "Caffeine-containing Botanicals in Dietary Supplements."]
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Labels: caffeine, supplements
1 Comments:
Do you think this is to offset the protein/lag or is this for all supplements, protein and otherwise?
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