If you make decisions based on solid scientific evidence, not weak, opinion-based claims, you already know that the majority of supplements do not meet the manufacturers' claims and will not make you grow bigger, faster, and stronger. Why do coaches recommend them and athletes take them? Was the science wrong? NO!

Research from Chicago State University says "The gains are all in your head." Here's a fact: whatever you put in your body will have an effect. This holds true for food, liquids, drugs, and nutritional supplements. The question is, are the results real or imagined? You might take a nutritional supplement for the advertising promises being made, and due to this "promise" you expect certain results, even when good research has proven there are no physiological gains associated with this supplement. The effect is psychological and is termed the "placebo effect," often defined as creating an expectation or belief for a given effect; an expectation that produces that effect.

Ironically, the placebo effect is not entirely in your head. Psychological research has demonstrated that what you expect to happen, can happen even though the "supplement" or "drug" was nothing more than a placebo. If this is true, are sports supplements really worth the expense? NO! And beyond that, what is the placebo effect when it comes to strength gain?

The study I refer to: "The Effect of Placebo-Induced Changes in Expectancies on Maximal Force Production in College Students," Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 19:116-124, 2007, set out to investigate whether a bogus supplement consisting of milk-sugar would increase strength.

The results said "yes," it did just that. Not only did the placebo group increase strength, but once these subjects were told the supplement did not work, their performance decreased to almost the same level as the control group which did not receive a supplement.

What does this mean? It means even the suggestion that whatever you ingest may increase your strength can significantly increase your strength. This is why so many athletes take supplements even though the research on that supplement clearly shows it provides no ergogenic (physical performance-enhancing) benefits. The increases are not due to the supplements' ingredients.

It's important to note this study was set up in a manner in which strength gains in response to actual training did not occur; in other words, whatever strength gains the subjects experienced were solely do to psychological reasons.

What science has been able to determine is that positive expectations can increase dopamine release in the brain and in turn affect changes in motor function and performance.

When the research on most nutritional supplements shows they have no ergogenic benefits, yet athletes and coaches believe they do, the effect is psychological and not due to the supplements' ingredients.

Conclusion: It's not worth your time and money investing in any supplement, dietary or otherwise, with nothing but hype and testimonials to substantiate claims being made. Use only products which have peer-reviewed published research on performance enhancement or health benefits.

What you believe, you can achieve. But it's much better to take a supplement that really benefits your body, then you will receive both the "real" benefits and your "belief" benefits as well!