Review: USP Labs Prime – The Ultimate Muscle Pill?

Posted By elissa on Jul 15, 2010 | 2 comments

“…You see, there are tens of thousands of natural herbs found around the world…

And, wouldn’t it make sense that some of these herbs would work with your body – not against it – to help your efforts in the gym? Of course it would…

While many companies have tried in the past and failed, USPlabs has quickly garnered a reputation for producing effective products that are based off herbs, not harsh, synthetic pro-hormones.

To show you the power of the right extract, over 50% of all drugs used clinically are either natural products (i.e. obtained from plants, microorganisms and some animal sources) or are derivatives thereof !”

Actually, no, it wouldn’t make sense. While it’s quite true that a large number of pharmaceuticals are natural products (or are derived from natural products); it’s also true that those drugs are… well, drugs. And—natural or no—drugs can have adverse effects… sometimes serious ones. “Natural” does not mean “safe” by any means.

If an orally-available compound (or combination of compounds) is capable of exerting profound, drug-like effects on skeletal muscle (like those nassssssty prohormones, my precious), then it’s extremely likely that—yes—there will be side effects… particularly when the doses are not tightly regulated (as with prescription drugs), but are merely “recommended.”

In other words, 100% safe n’ “natural” + effects on a par with prohormones = pipe dream.

So—as a marketing pitch—the above is a nice try, but it’s logic FAIL, I’m afraid. Beyond that, this account raises a few questions. For example, with all those “tens of thousands of natural herbs” out there, what led USP Labs to this particular combination? What’s special about the ingredients in Prime, anyway?

The Ingredients in Prime

We can take a stab at answering these questions by examining the label:

PrimeBlend (Proprietary Blend) 800mg
Tribulus Aquaticus), (Stem And Leaf), Chebula Myrobalan (Bean))

Now before we continue, there’s one thing about Prime that I like, and want to draw attention to: it’s simple. There are only two ingredients, vs. a “kitchen sink-full”, like so many other popular commercial formulations. This holds true for other USP Labs products too, such as Jacked, P-Slin, Anabolic Pump and the company’s latest, “Pink Magic.” So props to USP Labs for bucking a pernicious marketing trend… and (apparently) experiencing success.

That being said, however, USP Labs appears to be falling prey to another trend: novelty for the sake of novelty.

While earlier supps (such as P-Slin and Anabolic Pump) had plausible mechanisms and some research behind them, Prime rests on shakier ground.

For example, let’s start with the primary ingredient: Tribulus aquaticus.

Exactly what is it? What sort of science is behind it?

I searched for information but found next to nothing—so I put the question to Dr. Warren L. Wagner, the Chair and Curator of Pacific Botany with the Smithsonian Institute. Dr. Wagner was kind enough to send me the following response:

“Tribulus aquaticus is apparently an invalid name (means never validly published into scientific literature). I don’t know if it is known what the names applies too, but one of our research databases indicates it applies to Tribulus terristris…”

Obviously, neither I nor Dr. Wagner can make any sort of definitive ID on this ingredient, in the absence of actually testing the source material. Thus it’s destined to remain a mystery—at least for the present. While wholesalers are clearly marketing something by this name, it appears that there’s no such thing as “Tribulus aquaticus” in any formal, scientific sense.

Make of it what you will. If “Tribulus aquaticus” really is Tribulus terrestris, however, then I’m not too hopeful “Trib” may improve libido, but time has demonstrated that there’s just not a whole lot more to it. I’d be willing to go out on a limb and suggest that it—like other adaptogenic plant extracts—may have something to offer w/respect to recovery from physical stress. But there’s precious little (reliable) evidence that Trib is a major muscle builder.

What about the second ingredient?

Terminalia chebula (aka Myrobalan; Harakiri) is an Asian tree that produces small, nut-like fruits that are used for both food and medicine. The fruits have antibacterial activity, and are an integral part of an Ayurvedic blend (Triphala) used to treat a range of diseases, from constipation to tuberculosis. T. chebula itself has been shown to have anti-diabetic, renoprotective and hepatoprotecitve effects in animal experiments, although controlled human clinical trials are lacking.

The Bottom Line

So there you have it. For the record, I’m having a tough time seeing any justification for Prime’s claimed effects on muscle growth or strength. I suppose it miiiiiiiight help with stress and recovery… maybe… but as far as the science goes, there’s no “there” there.

Ok, to be fair, when it comes to supplement compounds—particularly those derived from traditional medicinal plants—the science isn’t always complete. And Prime certainly has its fans: while the feedback is mixed, the overall trend is positive.

So to help me arrive at a verdict, I bought two bottles, and decided to give it a try myself. After all, if it’s non-hormonal and non-androgenic, there was no reason to think—if it worked at all—that it wouldn’t work for me, too.

Except it didn’t.

I took the full, recommended dose of 6 caps/day (which should have been quite sufficient for a lightweight like me) but felt nada: no unusual strength increases, no noticeable improvement in recovery time, no obvious boost in stamina… nothing.

On the flip side, there were no side effects either—although I might have welcomed some, if for no other reason than to convince me that Prime was more than just an herbal placebo.

So what’s my final word?

Either I’m a “non-responder” (to use the term being bandied around on the boards), or else there wasn’t much there for me to respond to, to begin with.

I report, you decide.

It’s safe to say that I’m pretty unimpressed with Prime—at least as a standalone supplement. But then again, that’s pretty much what I would say about most of the herbal concoctions currently pushed as T-boosters or muscle-builders.

Sure, there are a few herbals that appear to be useful adjuncts to a supplement stack, such as Cissus for injuries, Rhodiola for stress, Horny Goat Weed for libido, etc., but I’ve yet to find an herbal blend that produces solid, documented mass or strength gains; and Prime is apparently no exception.