Update
Note:
In the last update I discussed
my plans for 2002 and received hundreds of phone calls and
e-mails regarding my new supplement releases and my plans
to release a new book. This month I want to discuss something
else that's been drawing calls and e-mails. Drugs being sold
on the internet. Since there were so many questions regarding
the supplements and upcoming book release, I posted some information
that should help you better understand the benefit oriented
supplements I produced. You can find it by visiting "Phil's
New-Trition." I've also posted a few introductory
paragraphs from my soon to be released "Best
You've Ever Been."
OK
. . . on to drugs and the 'net . . .
August 1, 2001
The Internet, Leptin, Eating,
Steroids, and Common Sense
 The
Internet has proven quite a vehicle, not only for disseminating
information, but also for promoting and in some cases selling
drugs. It is simple today for people to click a button and
order anything from the Weight Loss Drug Xenical to the hair
loss drug Propecia . . as the ads and e-mails promise - without
a prescription! These are drugs that are supposed to be sold
by prescription, yet select South American, Mexican, and European
Pharmacies have found the on-line collection of U.S. Dollars
a simple way to generate money.
 Some
U.S. Pharmacies loosely toy with the laws by providing "online
consultations with doctors" in which the customer answers
a few questions and supposedly a doctor reviews the answers
to allow for a prescription. I can understand those who suffer
maladies and challenges wanting a simple, non-embarrassing,
perhaps lower cost method of purchasing pharmaceuticals, and
in such cases all I can suggest is "let the buyer beware."
My concern is primarily in two areas. The first, those who
feel desperate in failed attempts to lose weight. The second,
teens who are open to the purchase of hormone affecting drugs.
Steroids. Let me address each group individually.
 Weight
Loss Wanters - I know how these pharmaceutical promises
toy with your emotions, but to date, there hasn't been even
a single pharmaceutical release that brought the weight loss
population the long term result they hope for. In my soon
to be released book, "The Best
You've Ever Been," I'll share a pretty in depth
review of how the pharmaceutical industry has continually
capitalized by bringing products to the market that were not
effective and put a great many at risk. The pattern of a new
drug being released, people becoming ill or worse, and the
drug being pulled and replaced by a new offering has been
going on since dexadrine made its big splash in the 60's and
70's. It's time to summon up some common sense.
 If
the promises have been made for over 50 years, and you still
haven't found the solution in a pill, you have to realize
that just because a new pill is now being offered on the internet
with the same old promises, doesn't mean the solution will
ever arrive in a bottle. Dexadrine starved people and created
speed freaks who flocked into the Betty Ford clinic to get
clean. Phen-Fen brought a disease called PPH to the attention
of the general public. PPH is pretty close to a death sentence.
Redux toyed with heart valves, Meridia proved an overhyped
Phen-Fen knock off, and the newest offerings such as Xenical
result in excessive bouts of expensive diarrhea. Does it appear
as if the solution is coming? Keep your eyes open for the
next wave of drugs. The leptin drugs. My prediction: doctors
will cash in, drug company stocks will soar, millions will
buy it on the gray market via the internet, people will screw
up their insulin production, blood sugar, circulation, some
will die, and few if any will find the weight loss they'd
hoped for.
 Leptin
is a hormonal protein that affects appetite. It is manufactured
in fat cells and it seems to be an indirect trigger to appetite.
As leptin production goes up, appetite goes down. Leptin signals
the hypothalmus in the brain that it's time to stop eating
and thus appetite is reduced. In the mid-90's, scientists
and drug companies grew very excited by a research study where
mice with a genetic disorder that prevented them from making
leptin received leptin injections. The study brought amazing
results . . . in genetically flawed mice! So far the research
on humans has proved disappointing, but that hasn't stopped
the pharmaceutical giants. They're exploring "leptin
resistance" and looking into other endocrine signals
that might interplay in the chain between leptin and appetite.
They're not going to change their direction. History dictates
that if they can get a product to market, and get FDA approval,
whether or not the product "works" they stand to
reap massive financial reward! History proves that repeatedly.
And if some people die in the process . . . so be it. It's
simply a cost of doing business.
For those desperately in search
of weight loss, please, before you attempt making some chemical
change by swallowing pills, before you enter into gray market
business by buying weight loss drugs on the internet, try
eating! For near 20 years now I've been teaching people to
take control of their metabolisms, not by starving, not by
chemical alteration, but by finally opening up to the importance
of food as fuel. I won't go into depth here as nutritional
information is available all through my website, but if
you can simply adopt the mindset that food, at some level
equals fuel, you'll understand that in order to fuel the metabolic
machine (your body), you have to eat! So many drug offerings
are concentrating on appetite, or on depriving the body of
food, which is an absolute guarantee that failure will result.
My mission, as I expressed in the last update, is to help
hundreds of thousands to find their way through the maze of
confusing information, and to become "the Best They've Ever
Been." I am determined to help people walk away from the victimization
that makes them feel like failures and turn their bodies over
to medicine, chemically or surgically, while they're still
alive!
And . . . as far as the teens .
.
Steroids on the 'net?
 The
first thing you should know is anabolic steroids are illegal.
In 1994, the "Hatch" law allowed an opening for
supplement sellers to sell products that might have previously
been classifed as illegal drugs. Hormonal products. With the
news that Mark McGwire was using "Andro," teens
nationwide ran to GNC to get their supply and in days you
couldn't find Andro anywhere. Amazingly, nobody even knew
what andro was. They just heard it had something to do with
steroids and a great athlete was using it . . . thus it must
be safe and effective.
I've met with many teens who were
caught up either in the desire or the activity of using steroids,
and I do understand the lure.
 Firstly,
there are the cheerleaders. No, they don't want you to use
steroids, but they seem to like the guys with muscle.
 Then
there's the desire for better athletic performance, and if
your competitors in football or wrestling are "all juiced
up," how can you compete? As soon as one guy breaks out
a bottle of "andro," it's a sure bet the whole team
is going to jump on board. The scariest part of all, is when
I do have opportunity to speak with these guys, they haven't
a clue what the stuff in the bottle is, they just heard it'll
make them bigger.
 On
a side note, I know bodybuilders who weigh and measure all
of their food, they won't eat anything cooked in a restaurant,
and they're obsessive about the soaps and lotions they use,
yet they're willing to inject something they bought in a locker
room into their bloodstream without knowing what it is! Just
as weight loss wanters are victimized by the lure for drugs,
so are teens in quest of muscle. OK . . . . so what is this
"andro" stuff and how does it relate to steroids?
Androstenedione is actually a link
in the hormonal chain that helps the raw material cholesterol
convert into testosterone and other hormones. Anabolic steroid
drugs, which are various forms of testosterone, are considered
"Class 3" substances (which means you can get arrested
for possession), but the hormonal precursors were legally
being sold in capsule form in health food and sports nutrition
stores. The thinking was, if you can get a precursor, a link
in the chain, into the body, your body would convert the precursor
into testosterone bringing a steroid like effect. The popularity
of "andro" died down after people found that they
didn't turn into home run hitters, but the supplement companies,
just as the pharmaceutical companies, are driven by profit,
so they tried to bring the legal offerings closer to the actual
drugs. While bodybuilding enthusiasts gobble up capsules and
pills, they fail to realize the simple truth behind the steroid
situation. If you mess with your hormonal production, the
side effects can prove quite serious. That means, if you use
the illegal steroid drugs, you run the risk of testicular
atrophy, impotence, hair loss, severe acne, cholesterol increases,
high blood pressure, kidney and liver problems, and maybe
worst of all, a subsequent dependence upon these drugs to
maintain the strength and muscle you want for. If the supplemental
offerings ever do reach a point that they do in fact "work,"
you can count on the same risks!
So here's the reality in a steroidal
nutshell: If the supplements act as the drugs, and alter your
hormonal production, you're entering into a realm where you're
messing with your glands and hormonal responses in a manner
that is random at best. If they don't act as drugs, you're
wasting your money.
 Now,
unscrupulous internet marketers are cashing in big time by
capitalizing on this want for muscle. They're selling illegal
steroids on the black market. The risk is pretty much the
buyers since many operate outside of U.S. law. As a customer
of these companies, that appear quite "friendly"
on the 'net, you risk a stiff fine and prison sentence if
you're caught importing Class 3 drugs. The sellers don't care.
They already have your money and they're not going anywhere.
Other 'net outfits cash in by selling ounterfeit steroids
for big $$ (since you're not about to call the cops and report
that you bought bad steroids). Probably the greatest opportunity
now lies in selling worthless supplements being hyped up as
drugs since consumers will buy them, they're 100% legal, and
who cares if they work anyway.
I know that among both the weight
loss wanters and the teen muscle wanters there is a compulsion
to want to believe in a simple road. Unfortunately, the road
that appears simple is treacherous. The frustrating part from
where I sit is, teens can build muscle healthfully, efficiently,
and with phenomenal benefit, by learning to combine eating
and training. In fact, most who use chemical enhancement to
build muscle have a difficult time maintaining muscle when
they go "off," which creates a "damned if you
do" and "damned if you don't" scenario where
muscle and health conflict.
Those in search of weight loss
. . . well . . . you already know by now. Forget the drugs.
You have to learn to eat supportively, do some aerobic exercise,
and challenge the muscles. If in this coming year 2002, I
can send out that message as loud and as powerfully as the
drug companies have sent out their clouded promises, millions
of people will continue to move away from trickery, away from
victimization, and forward along a path toward physical excellence.
While you're here, be sure to
check out the excerpts from my new book, The
Best You've Ever Been and the newly posted information
about my new supplement releases.
And teenager or otherwise, if
you're looking for muscle and growth, look into my TRANSFORM
program. It's drug free! Those looking for weight loss who
are not accustomed with exercise and supportive eating should
consider my ANSWER
program and EAT! recipe guide, all available at the Online
Superstore.
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Previous
Updates:
Update
7/9 - The New Supplements
Update 6/14 - Seminar
offerings and clarity on "Brownies"
Update 5/29 - Lose
Weight, Eat Brownies?!?!?
Update 5/1/01 - Pizza, Beer, and Fitness
Update 4/7/01 - "Phil-osophies"
and Rip-Off Realities!
Update 4/1/01 - Gourmet Recipes!
Update 3/15/01 - Research Has
Proven?
Update 3/1/01 - Preparing for
The New Infomercial
Update 2/1/01 - Time, Space,
Matter, and Energy
Update 1/15/01 - Atkins hits
the UK
Update 10/7/00 - Supplements,
Additional Clarity
Update 7/27/00 - The Experts
Round Table, Almada, Colgan, Parillo
Update 7/3/00 - Core Training
& Metabolism Boosters
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Phil Kaplan's Fitness Associates
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