Supplement retailers such as GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, and Vitamin World make enough money to veritably buy small countries and finance their wars for independence. Astonishing is the word that immediately comes to mind when you really stop and think about how many of these stores are actually out there. Couple the geographic presence with the fact that products being sold (and bought at an incredible rate) generally sell for around $20 or $30 dollars, and it becomes quite clear that this is not a business as much as it is a financial empire.

Problem is, half the stuff that these stores are selling is worth less than what it's being sold for. Or, in some cases, just plain worthless. I'm not even going to go down the road you think I may be heading -- which is the whole "Supplements aren't approved by the FDA...blah, blah, blah." It's true, almost all supplements are not FDA approved, but that's not the issue to which I refer. Instead, it's the unsubstantiated claims that so many supplements make, with little or no R & D available to back them up.

A little while back, I mentioned 5 worthwhile supplements. This is not to say that there aren't any others worth taking, but it bears repeating that not all supplements are created equal. Caveat emptor - buyer beware (don't ask me why I felt it was necessary to first say that in Latin) is a pretty safe mantra to live by when it comes to finding which supplements work to improve your health and fitness, versus those that merely work to make you lighter in the wallet.