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Written by Bruce Kneller
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Sunday, 08 April 2007 |
Nobody seems to have an answer to the question: What's going to happen to prohormones? It looks like precious few people seem to really care that prohormones might go the way of the Edsel and the dodo bird. Who knows, by the time you read this column, prohormones, or at least a good many of them, might be outright banned.
We really need to address the issue of prohormones and there's no better time than the present to do so. And when I write "we," I mean everyone, from the wealthiest supplement company owner to the little guy out there reading my column for the first time. We have to band together and fight those who want to take away our right to choose what naturally occurring supplements we can put in our bodies, those who want to make the choice for us in "the interest of public good."
I have mentioned the tireless work that fellow MD writer and attorney, Rick Collins, is doing to help stop an all-out ban on prohormones. And I'm not writing off prohormones yet, either. Heck, I'm still discovering, developing and patenting a bunch of them. And so are a few others in the industry. But unless we do something now, today, then a year from now we'll be reminiscing about "the good old days when you could buy andro" and whatnot. Don't you guys want bigger, better prohormones?
I asked some people in the industry about the current/pending legislation that would effectively ban virtually all hormone-related food supplements and categorize them as anabolic steroids. (This legislation absurdly includes such hormonal supplements as DHEA, 7-keto-DHEA and pregnenolone). Unfortunately, those I spoke with were conclusively pessimistic about the future of prohormones. One said we "have a year, maybe 18 months tops, before laws go into effect" that would ban all these useful and naturally occurring supplements. Another said, "Very soon, six months to a year. It's just about a done deal." A third said, "If we're lucky we might be able to keep 4-androstenediol and 1-androstenediol and maybe stuff like DHEA and 7-keto-DHEA." He had already written off stuff like 1-testosterone and bolandione.
I was aggravated by the pessimism I encountered and responded, "It doesn't have to happen if we don't want it to, right?" But, unfortunately, there just isn't enough backing or interest to save prohormones. In fact, there may be a handful of people and companies truly interested in saving prohormones. Those few are supporting the United Supplement Freedom Association with technical expertise and/or funding to educate legislators and lobbyists. I, for one, am not going to give up without a fight. I don't personally like many of the people who are involved in developing, marketing and selling prohormones, but I'm willing to set aside my personal beefs in order to help save these compounds. However, I can't... no, I refuse to believe others are resigning themselves to the "fact" that prohormones will be banned "really soon."
Some of these guys are merely trying to squeeze every last buck out of the prohormone market before it "dies." I look at some of the advertisements for some prohormone products and I am sickened, literally. These vultures are making an extra buck at the expense of you and me. Two years from now when prohormones are banned, they'll have a fat wad of cash to sit back and live on from the sales of some sketchy products that helped hasten the death of this sector of the supplement market.
I don't like to ask for help. I've prided myself on being independent and able to take care of things myself for many years now. But I am asking each of you for your help and your support even if you don't use prohormones. Please, please, please! When you have a minute today, not tomorrow, today, get on the Internet and go to www.usfa.biz (United Supplement Freedom Association website) and take a look around. Use the templates found at this website to write a letter to your congressmen. Tell them you won't vote to re-elect them if they support the legislation outlawing prohormones. Send it to them in the mail, by fax, by e-mail. Inundate your representatives with letters that support your right to choose what you put in your body. Do it today! It can't wait.
And more importantly, if you're going to buy any supplements, buy them from companies that have taken on the burden of supporting the USFA financially. Companies like Nutrex, Avant Labs, 1fast400.com and ErgoPharm.
As a group, you're powerful and your dollars add up. Heck, supplement companies listen to your needs and buying habits. Don't support companies that are making "supplements" that clearly are illegal and certainly not covered under DSHEA as food supplements. This includes supplements like "injectable prohormones." These products might work, but so do the truly legal ones and these companies, the ones selling the "illegal" stuff, are also selling out the entire industry and it's future just to make a quick buck. And they're selling out your future right to choose. Contact these companies and tell them you won't support any of their products until they stop selling these illegal products and start contributing to USFA and pull their own weight.
We can make a difference! We have to, because if we don't, it's back to desicated liver tablets, boron and smilax for all of us.
Quality Vet Fakes?
One of the biggest problems I have with Mexican veterinary steroids is that most of the stuff that makes its way into the United States is garbage. That is to say, it's fake, counterfeit and contains zero active ingredients (unless you consider bacteria an active ingredient). Fellow Muscular Development columnist John Romano is lucky enough to live deep enough in Mexico that he can actually get legit, real Mexican veterinary gear. John has pointed out that many of the "pharmacies and graneros" in border towns and vacation spots inside Mexico actually sell bogus gear. And I am about to prove that Romano is indeed correct.
Below you will see photos of two bottles of Testosterone Enanthate 250mg/ml "made" by Quality Vet of Mexico. The thing is, only one of them is really made by QV (although both bottles were purchased in Mexico in the same granero on different days during a recent trip a "friend of mine" made to Tijuana). The bottle on the left is the real deal and the bottle on the right is a counterfeit version (which was later analyzed and shown to contain no active steroidal compounds). Let's take a look at these and discuss this further so you guys can identify the fakes and not get burned by purchasing them in the gym or elsewhere.
PICTURE 1
As you can clearly see in Picture 1, the bottle on the left (real stuff) has rounded labels and the label has been put on the bottle evenly. The bottle on the right (fake stuff) has squared off corners on the label and the label is crooked.
Picture 2
Look at Picture 2. Both bottles came in boxes with a hologram on it. Now, holograms have long been the "hallmark" of real stuff, as counterfeiters have been loathe to spend the money duplicating them since they're quite expensive. The box on the left is the real box as made and packaged by QV. The box on the right is from the fake, counterfeit stuff. There isn't a whole lot of difference and telling one from the other is somewhat difficult. The only real way to do so is to examine the holograms themselves. The "QV" interlocked logo on the real stuff is somewhat smaller than the length of the word "seguridad" on the hologram. This is not the case on the counterfeit box. The fake stuff has the "QV" logo sized to the same length as the word "seguridad." This is a subtle difference, but it is a way you can spot the fake stuff.
PICTURE 3
Picture 3 shows perhaps the most evident giveaway as to the real versus the fake issue. The real QV stuff has the lot number and the expiration date imprinted onto the label with a dot matrix printer using black indelible ink as seen on the left side. The fake stuff doesn't have this. Instead, it has a lot number "QVE-004" printed in the same type of ink, font, size and color as the wording of the rest of the label, as seen on the right side.
There are a number of other fake QV products floating around and I intend to make these known to all of you as I become aware of them (and of course, any other fakes by any other companies).
New Trenbolone Product?
Everyone seems to love trenbolone acetate- and not because it's readily available to virtually everyone in the form of those handy, cattle implant pellets. John Romano and Dave Palumbo have told me on many occasions that trenbolone is their favorite steroid. It certainly ranks as one of my top two or three, for sure. While getting real trenbolone has not been difficult for anyone with an Internet connection and a credit card, getting real trenbolone that is "ready to use as is" is not quite as easy. Bootleggers such as ProLINE, Red Star of China, Supra Laboratories and Blue Diamond Laboratories have, or have had, their own iterations of trenbolone products. The most common complaint I've heard about these products is not that they do not work or that they do not contain trenbolone. (On the contrary, most of these are the best products these underground labs make).
The biggest complaint is that some folks don't want to "use anything from an underground laboratory." I won't debate the merits of that argument and I realize some people won't use anything unless it is made in a "real drug company production facility." If you're one of those persnickety people, there finally is a trenbolone product for you. A company in Thailand called British Dragon Pharmaceuticals, best known for making those tasty "pink Thai pentagon" Dianabol clones in the handy dandy tubs of 1,000 tablets, has come out with their own trenbolone acetate product called "Trenbol®" (see photo) in a 75mg/ml x 10ml bottle. First impressions are that this is a first-rate, quality product although it's a tad on the pricey side. More information is forthcoming and I will report it to you as it becomes available.
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Performance Nutrition 
