A widely sold sports supplement both in the United States and abroad has been found to have been spiked with a chemical substance that’s akin to methamphetamine — speed — and is based on an illegal designer drug that’s used for recreation, scientists in South Korea and America found, USA Today reported.
The supplement, Craze, is a pre-workout powder from the New York company, Driven Sports. It’s marketed as a natural supplement, containing only natural ingredients, USA Today reported. And it’s also advertised as providing “unrelenting energy and focus” in workouts. The supplement was named “New Supplement of the Year” in a 2012 Bodybuilding.com survey.
But recent tests say the supplement is a possible health hazard — and that it contains the same methamphetamine-type chemical that’s used in another supplement called Detonate, USA Today reported. Detonate is a weight loss pill sold by Gaspari Nutrition.
“These are basically brand-new drugs that are being designed in clandestine laboratories where there’s absolutely no guarantee of quality control,” said Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School who also co-authored the study on the Craze samples, USA Today reported.
He continued: “It has never been studied in the human body. Yes, it might make you feel better or have you more pumped up in your workout, but the risks you might be putting your body under of heart attack and stroke are completely unknown.”
Walmart.com has stopped selling Craze, but it’s still available at other online outlets and in GNC stores. Detonate, meanwhile, is also sold by a variety of online stores.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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