I’m running out of my glutamine I picked up from GNC (okay stop snickering). The only kind that they had was the Weider Brand (again, no snickering…heeheh). I know that there HAS to be much better quality glutamine out there, so I’m posting a “what-is-better” message here. Which brands have you people found to be more effective (I realize a lot of it is personal taste, but there COULD be some commonality here)…
Also, I was wondering what the effectiveness of taking desicated liver pills was. Would they help at all, or are we talking pure snake-oil here??
Erik, try Champion’s glutamine. It’s the brand I most often purchase; easy to mix into shakes, doesn’t dry up in the can, and Champion has a great reputation for quality throughout their line. That being said, I don’t know whether glutamine is glutamine is glutamine, but like any other supp, it’d be nice to know you’re at least purchasing it from a company who puts time and energy into making sure their product is good.
Dessicated liver tabs: we used to consume a hundred per day, back when Vince Gironda told us too. Of course, he told us not to squat, too! They’re relatively inexpensive protein, but so smelly, and with today’s quality protein powders, in my mind unnecessary. Won’t hurt you, though, if that’s what you’re worried about, but surely don’t depends upon liver pills as your primary source of protein, ok?
No no no…I’d never give up my protein stack for liver pills…hehehe. I was merely thinking about the “extra” vitamins that are supposedly beneficial to lifters inside liver. ie. iron, vitamin d, etc…since I’d rather try to swallow my testicles while belching “Rollin”, than eat real liver this was what I thought about…
Just curious about 'em for the most part…but thanks for the Glutamine suggestion…
Okay, I just gotta put this on the table. What does the liver do? It’s a filter for all the crap floating around the body. Unless you go through a liver detox cycle, that stuff just stays in there (think cyrrosis of the liver). So you have a cow that’s filtering all that engineered stuff they put in the cattle feed into their liver, then butchered. Any detox cycle? I doubt it. Does the further processing of the liver take that crap out of it? Again, I doubt it. Don’t know if that stuff will really hurt, but is it really worth the chance? Just my view of things, maybe tainted by my parents serving liver and onions on a regular basis (is there anything more vile?).
Erik, watch your iron intake. If you eat red meat and/or take a multi-vitamin, you probably don’t need to supplement with it. Men have no way to rid their bodies of excess iron, and, over time, iron buildup can be toxic. I’m not sure about the liver pills, but they have always sounded like snake oil to me. Most of the supplements that have been used for any appreciable amount of time have stuck around because they work (protein powder, creatine, ephedrine/caffiene stacks), and the stuff that doesn’t work appropriately falls by the wayside (HMB and, probably in the future, oral andro). With that in mind, how many guys do you see still chowing down on the liver tabs?
we’ve had this discussion many times before regarding liver tabs. well i’ve been getting ready for a show this saturday (june 23rd) using huge amounts of liver tabs to help maintain mass. i will post the pics soon after and someone will finally put their photos where their mouth is. they work. i’ve gone from 240 and 12%bf, now to 210 at 5% bf in 6 months, and the last 2 months or so have been way hypo caloric for my needs, but i’ve lost very little strength. before any one jumps on the juice bandwagon, i’m 6’3" so 210 is not huge for mmy height, and this is an ioc tested show. results to follow but i intend to kick ass.
anyone who’s familiar with Beverly International knows that Ultra 40 liver tabs are one of their longest and best selling supplements. Beverly has been in the business since 1967 and caters to mostly competitive natural bodybuilders. I have been using their liver tabs for about two yrs now with no ill effects. Most if not all of their champion clients use them. Like any supplement, if you buy a cheap low quality product, you get low quality results. Most companies liver tabs contain virtually no liver extract at all. Beverly’s contain pure Argentinian beef liver extract. Argentinian beef cattle are free range with no hormones. As far as the liver being toxic, and filtering the waste,etc. Througout history organ meats have been delicacies. Plains Indians would feast on the organ meat of the bison. Remember the scene in “Dances with Wolves” where they cut out the buff’s heart and take a bite? I trust Beverly. They put out quality stuff, and for a lot longer than Biotest has. If you want to try liver tabs, use only theirs.
Okay…what exactly are Liver tabs supposed to do? What is the physiologic connection between ground up beef liver and whatever that action is? (I’m really ignorant on this one…)
Holy crap, I never knew this post would attract so much attention…LOL.
From my understanding, I think dessicated liver pills contain an abundance of vitamin b’s and d’s…correct? I used to take some WAYY back when I started lifting and it gave me some corpse-rotting-gym-clearing-female-avoiding gas…My only valuable words of advice on liver pills (at that time) was to avoid taking them before Squats. Unless you want to clear out an area around you to feel safer doing them…
But, granted, it could’ve been due to the brand. Once my system was used to them, the gas disappeared (thank f-ing god!) so perhaps it was just an “adjustment” cycle…
But I’m a bit ignorant as well as to what’s in them, other than saying “good stuff”…so if someone wouldn’t mind sticking their thoughts down as to what IS actually in them, we’d be ever so gratefull…
Okay, every time the issue of dessicated liver comes up, I try to stay away from it, but I end up having to chime in. 1. Yes, Vince Gironda recommended them, and yes, he had some weird ideas about what exercises to do/avoid, but you know what? One doesn’t have much to do with the other. Vince was decades ahead of his time with his nutritional stuff, and he rated DL as the best supp, period. 2. DL has been around for a long time, so a lot of people view it as an “old” supplement, and therefore not worth the time anymore. Well, as posted above, there’s a reason for longevity. Think about it. 3. To answer Mufasa’s question, in addition to the iron and Vitamin D benefits given above, DL has an awesome amino acid profile - one far better than any other protein supp that I’ve seen. 4. Anyone out there remember Don Howorth? If you haven’t seen his picture, you’ve never seen what IMHO is the best natural physique of all time. And he was on 150 DL tabs a day before contests. 'nuff said. So, to sum up, you may not like the smell, but since the taste is non-existent, so what? Just don’t breathe through your nose for a moment or two and take the stuff. DL works for me. Whether it works for you is something that only your trying it will answer, but I have never had someone take DL and NOT experience positive results. And yes, you should get Argentinian stuff if possible.