Dumb and Unnecessary

Posted By elissa on May 8, 2009 | 1 comment

Sometimes even I get surprised at how sloppy some supp makers can be, when it comes to designing and marketing their products.

A case in point arrived in my inbox this morning from a bud – pointing me to a product called “2 Methyl 13-C” from Iron Tek.  It’s a pre-workout/NO-booster-type product containing creatine.

It was the creatine component that caught my eye: Creatine Methyl Ester.

Ok, it’s an obvious spinoff on creatine ethyl ester…So what?

Beyond the fact that I think creatine ethyl ester is junk, it was the methyl substitution that blew my mind. WTF were they thinking???

Here’s the deal: ideally, creatine ethyl ester is supposed to breakdown into creatine and ethanol.  Ethanol, of course, is the alcohol you drink in wine and beer.  It’s not exactly safe, per se, but your body handles it pretty well.

Ok, if creatine ETHYL ester breaks down to creatine and ethanol, what do you think creatine METHYL ester will release?

Although I’ve never seen any data (there’s none that I know of), logically, I expect the answer is methanol.  Methanol is otherwise known as “wood alcohol”.  Needless to state, it’s rather nasty stuff.

Now, while I imagine the body can handle the methanol in a serving of this product, given the myriad other creatine forms on the market, there’s just NO good reason to use this one… at least from a functional perspective.

Then why use it?  My guess is that it was done for marketing reasons.  A clue is provided by the accompanying spiel:

More Creatine Benefits
2 Methyl 13-C™ utilizes steroid beta 2 adrengenic receptors for better creatine uptake, promotes creatine utilization and insulin release, increases creatine stores, reduces creatine inhibitors.

Steroid beta 2 adrenergic receptors???

I’ve never heard of such a thing…it’s completely fakey, made up stuff.  But it looks like the point of using creatine methyl ester – beyond capitalizing on the resemblance to creatine ethyl ester – is to push the “methyl” theme.  Oral AAS and “designer steroids” are typically methylated, so it implies some sort of kinship.  Why else insert the word “steroid” in front of “beta 2 adrenergic receptors”?

Of course, there’s no relationship between creatine methyl ester and steroids at all.  While some people mistakenly assume creatine is a steroid, it ain’t even close.

Ok, this is trivial stuff, perhaps, but I still find it depressing. While I seriously doubt that 2 Methyl 13-C  represents a health threat, it’s simply not right to put questionable compounds in supplements – especially when there are better alternatives.  Likewise, it’s not right to invent “facts” to bamboozle customers.  It’s not only shabby, it’s dumb and unnecessary.  It’s not like this stuff is that hard to get right, after all.