Topic Of The Month

The Vitamin Racket

by Joseph Weider
President, Weider Publications and Associates, Inc.

I have always believed that Bodybuilders are entitled to a square deal. And I am just as firm in my opinion that they very seldom get it. Since the first issue of my first magazine, I have always striven to maintain one unswerving course . . . SINCERITY. Even at the risk of making enemies or losing friends, I have had to tell the truth, I have had to give you the exact FACTS about every phase of bodybuilding and weightlifting. And now I intend to pursue this course even further and bring to you the truth about a heartless unscrupulous racket, run by cynical money-greedy men . . . THE VITAMIN AND PROTEIN RACKET, despite the fact that Weider Publications and Associates themselves are engaged in the marketing of these products, and advise their use to their students.

Last night I stayed home trying to find guidance, a sign post that would point out the path I should take in this matter. I found one in a book I had been reading . . . "This above all, to thine own self be true." If I am true to myself, I cannot be false to any man, and that is the reason why I am writing this article.

This great sport of ours is in danger of getting into the hands of a bunch of "medicine men" and "witch doctors". It is in danger of losing every advance it has made during the past twenty years, merely for the sake of a get-rich-quick scheme, a scheme that requires you only to purchase certain pills, pop them into your mouth at regular intervals and get muscles and strength fast. More and more is weight training being played down as a producer of health, power and muscularity in favor of a wild theory, a theory that has absolutely no basis in practice.

As shown by concrete results, our courses, products, routines, specialization bulletins, are founded on honest and sincere information and the desire to give all our pupils and readers the best possible value for money. We have always been in the forefront, exposing fraud, rackets and lies, and we will continue to do so even though we are abused, attacked and are the victims of mudslinging! We are secure in the knowledge that any bodybuilder or weightlifter can pick up our magazines and be sure that what he reads and what he buys, is based on facts backed by medical authorities and the finest staff, in the realm of physical culture!

It is with sorrow and regret that I have watched the growth of a new and utterly vicious racket in our great sport. Its purpose is to cynically and improperly exploit valuable Nutritional items in a fraudulent manner in order to make quick profits. There is no attempt to give honest information. No attempt to place these Nutritional aids in their proper place; only an all out effort by the "medicine men" and "witch-doctors" to cheat bodybuilders of their hard earned money.

If you think I am using strong and unwarranted words, let me quote you a letter from a reader. This letter is on file.

(The above regime consists of a grand total of 615 pills and drops EACH DAY! Ed.)

The "Prince of Pills and Potions" who markets the above preparations, makes claims that are fantastic by ANY standard. Among other things he claims inches increase in arm size in a matter of TWO DAYS! Before witnesses he claimed to be able to cure certain diseases that have baffled the medical profession for years! He was seen to place his hand on a young bodybuilder's head, and inform him he had more female hormones in him than male! He offered to make another prominent New York bodybuilder Mr. America in two years. . . merely for a fee of five thousand dollars, reducing his price to one thousand dollars in the face of determined sales resistance. When reproached with his own remarkable lack of muscularity and skinny frame, built up by a suit with a pair of well padded shoulders, when asked why, if he could make others into Mr. Americas he didn't do the same for himself he calmly and unblushingly volunteered the information that he had been much too busy working on the inventions of pills and potions!

How can any sensible man contemplate taking over 600 pills a day? But, even more important, exactly what effects do they have on the health? First it is necessary to understand the needs of the body for these food supplements There are two requirements. 1. Supplementary. 2. Therapeutic. The first is the need of the body for a food supplement to augment daily requirements, that are not entirely obtained in the day-to-day diet! The second, the therapeutic requirement is the amount necessary to COMBAT DISEASE, or in other words for MEDICAL TREATMENT. Thus a bodybuilder engaged in a strenuous barbell routine, needs a food supplement to provide him with the necessary proteins and vitamin mineral substances, in order to take care of the tissue breakdown and repair, caused by his greater than average activity. And a man who has been severely injured or wounded, or who is suffering from anemia etc., etc., needs food supplements to bring, or help bring him back to health.

But it should always be remembered that there is a wall or barrier over which the actual needs of the body cannot climb. In other words, the body can only use so much and no more. Suppose, for the sake of illustration, the need is for 100,000 units of a certain substance, and 200,000 units are taken. The excess will be thrown off by the body as waste. Take for instance our HI PROTEIN in the thirty days supply If you took all that in one day, that does not mean to imply you grow strong thirty times faster, or that your body could utilize that amount of protein all at once. And it doesn't mean that the substance in 600 pills will be utilized by the body either.

Any continued use of a greater than normal requirement of Vitamins and Proteins, is not only a waste of time, energy, and money, but it can also lead to serious disturbances. Gastric upsets are the most common. Irritation of the digestive tract and a toxic condition known as "hyper-vitaminosis"' can also occur. The amount of sugars involved could possibly lead to a diabetic condition if a tendency already existed. There would be a definite loss of physical and nervous energy, caused by taking of the pills and the attention they required. The pills and drops could also lead to a tremendous loss of appetite, constipation or Diarrhea and consequent skin trouble such as acne. If the pills or drops contained large doses of Vitamin D, this could cause capillary and venous infection, kidney disturbances and nausea. Because some bodybuilders find it hard to swallow pills without water, this extra liquid would bloat the tissues thus presenting a worthless gain in bodyweight, while at the same time decreasing the appetite and making it almost impossible to engage in a barbell routine. Perhaps the greatest harm that can be done is the creation of a hypochondriac condition, whereby the individual comes to rely on these pills. Needless to say this is a distinctly unhealthy condition MENTALLY, as well as physically!

When my organization first conceived the idea of marketing food supplements it spaced the research over a period of years, refusing to put a cheap and inferior product on the market. We wanted to be sure that bodybuilders got the best for their money. In contrast to this policy, one of our rivals, frantically rushing into the Food Supplement fray, increased the size of his magazine amid a blare of publicity. A glance at the new 64 page product will show that in the extra pages, there was but ONE additional article with almost all the rest of the extra space devoted to FOOD SUPPLEMENT ADVERTISING. First this organization sold a protein food supplement. Now they are selling tablets to help you assimilate the protein. We can certainly expect additional tablets that will help the tablets that help the tablets that help the protein. It's the only way to get big and strong. . take pills, for pills, for other pills all day!

Now consider the stand we have always taken. We say that NOTHING but NOTHING can take the place of good wholesome food and barbell training. You can build yourself up only with good nourishing food and a proper barbell course such as we have always advocated. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY. But if a reader is underweight, and constantly tired, he can follow our courses and take our WEIGHT GAINING SUPPLEMENT to help him along. If he needs HI PROTEIN, this will help him too, as will our VITAMIN MINERAL FOOD SUPPLEMENT. However these must only be taken if needed, as a SUPPLEMENTARY AID and NEVER at the expense of correct diet and exercise. You MUST eat good food and use our supplements to further the gains. Our supplements are never taken except as per instructions on the label and whatever we offer is medically acceptable and prepared with HONESTY and SINCERITY.

All the High Protein in the world will NEVER take the place of a good barbell schedule and solid, nourishing food, such as meat, eggs, milk, cheese, fresh fruits and vegetables and salads. I DARE anyone to prove that a food supplement, on its own, can give you strength, muscular size, and a more proportionate development. Anyone who says it can is a LiAR!

We are now preparing a list of various chemicals which make up the bulk of these food supplements, such as are sold to bodybuilders and lifters, and we'll further expose this heartless racket. We CAUTION ALL BODYBUILDERS to be on their guard against unethical, fraudulent claims in Protein and Vitamin advertising. Don't be misled. Don't be taken in by high powered phrases and endorsements. Stick to a tried and tested training system such as the WEIDER SYSTEM. Keep eating nourishing foods and use Food supplements only AS food supplements, to help remedy deficiencies in your daily diet. In this way and in NO OTHER will you reach your goal of powerful muscles and outstanding development. Along one path, the "600 pill path", lies impairment of health and strength for life! Along the other, the path of the Champions, as advocated by the WEIDER RESEARCH CLINIC lies only vitality, outstanding musculature and abounding health. Yours is the path to choose!