We Basically Sell Poison: 6 Realities Of 'Supplement' Stores

Even if we did know what the products were for, it's not like we could legally tell you. We're not licensed trainers or dietitians, just a bunch of reasonably fit guys and girls who applied for a retail job. As a 20-something with a broad chest, I got hired on the spot, because no one wants to buy fat-burning pills from a fat guy -- even if that fat guy is a nutrition encyclopedia. (Hey, those who can't, teach.)

For example, you've heard of "detoxing," right? We have a plethora of supplements that people think will eliminate toxins from your body, which makes about as much sense as eliminating the ram from your rama-lama ding-dong. Your liver is very good at eliminating toxins, and anything you take will be gone from your body in a few days. The companies know this, so some of them even formulate their products to make you poop out plastic and turn your sweat brown, just to make it seem like the "toxins are coming out." Turns out they know how to squeeze more from you than just money.

And why? Because the manager had told us that we needed to sell a certain number by the end of the day, and because we get commission. You can easily make up to $100 in one shift, provided that you have no soul and will sell a supplement that makes women lactate to unsuspecting male customers trying to gain muscle. Those of you who did Google "fenugreek" know that's not a joke. Fenugreek is given to women to promote lactation, but, oddly enough, it's also added to products called "testosterone boosters," which are primarily sold to bodybuilders. Don't believe me? Here's one, and this one, and this one, too!

Even when tested in a lab setting, this product was found not to increase testosterone levels in human subjects. On the contrary, they found that fenugreek leads to a drop in DHT serum levels, which is a chemical important for the prostate. What's more, this herb has also been shown to cause infertility in fucking rabbits to the point that fenugreek had, " ... more of a toxicity effect in the male rabbits. In males, testis weight was reduced, with evident damage to the seminiferous tubules and interstitial tissues ... In addition, the plasma concentration of the androgen hormone and sperm concentrations were halved in the treated animals."

Oh, and about St. John's Wort? It's sold primarily as a natural herb to help with depression and anxiety, but it's also been shown to cause liver and kidney damage in rat fetuses and newborns. And, no, that shit is not on the label.

Then, there's human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This is a hormone produced in the placental tissue of pregnant women that suppresses appetite. It was all the rage with fad dieters for a few minutes before receiving the ban-hammer in 2011. But, "banned" doesn't mean stores won't sell it. In 2012, an undercover reporter in the Quad City area in Illinois went to a local Complete Nutrition store to ask for hCG, where she was told, "Technically, we're not supposed to sell it, but I'll still sell it to you ... Actually, I got to go in the back and grab it."

And at a local GNC:

"'Do you guys have hCG?' asks our photographer. 'Yeah, we do, we have the drops right here,' said the GNC employee."

Before shiftily looking around and opening his trench coat.

On my first day on the job, I found four boxes of pills stacked in the back. My manager insisted, even without me asking, that I not, under any circumstances, sell those to customers. I figured out later that it was a recalled product. It happened again less than a month later. There was a popular fat-burner called Shredz -- we sold a standard as well as a special women's formula. One day, I came in and found them in back of the store. I asked my coworker what happened, and he told me there were reports of people taking them and getting seizures. Of course, it's off the shelves, so it shouldn't be a problem, right? Well, then I noticed that we were still selling the women's formula, which has the same damn ingredients.

Then, there's a group of products called "preworkout." They're basically the closest you can legally get to meth. This one, called Methyl Drive, has ingredients that mimic both amphetamines and adrenaline. We can sell that to anyone as long as they're over 18. The ingredient that mimics amphetamine is r-beta-methyl-tea (otherwise known as B-methylphenylethylamine) and the one that mimics adrenaline is isopropyl-norsynephrine. If you take enough of this, you will die. And you can buy as much of it as you want! Because ...

And sometimes even after. Take for example, DMAA, a banned substance used in many workout supplements. It has contributed to at least five deaths and 86 reports of adverse effects. In 2013, the supplements Jack3d and OxyElite Pro were still sold in stores like GNC. It took a civil complaint for seizure from the U.S. Attorney for western Pennsylvania to finally back down. Even then, GNC spokesman Greg Miller still said, "GNC believes that DMAA is a safe, legal dietary ingredient." A lot of supplements today still have DMAA or DMAA-like ingredients.

But, hey, it's all worth it to get pumped without eating a bunch of carrots and shit, right?

Turns out we're pretty oblivious to what goes on behind-the-scenes in every profession. Want to save money by not eating out anymore? Just read 5 Disgusting Truths About Every Restaurant (From A Chef). Also, maybe be a little more discreet about what you throw away. See why in 5 Horrifying Things Only Garbagemen Know About Your Town.

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