A colleague of mine has been getting seriously into the gym recently and has sessions with a personal trainer three days a week. This trainer is a bit of a muscle-brained creatine addict from the sound of it, and has got my colleague necking protein shakes and cutting out all carbohydrates from his diet, which I've tried to explain in a tactful way is not exactly sound nutritional advice. But because said colleague perceives this trainer to be in a position of authority, he treats his word as gospel. Even if he's actually not as strict as he likes to fool himself about his diet - let's just say he finds it hard to resist the lure of chips and sausages.
So far, colleague is losing weight steadily, which - considering his frequent dietary lapses - must be mostly due to the fact that he's gone from doing no exercise to doing three strenuous gym sessions a week. But try telling him that! No, as far as he's concerned, it's all down to the diet.
Anyway, this is all by way of background to the bit that's really bothering me.
Colleague arrives in the office this morning carrying a jar of some unknown "supplement" that his trainer has given him. Apparently, the trainer has told him that "his hormones are imbalanced" and he needs to do something about it.
I enquired as to how the trainer had made this diagnosis? "Oh, he knows about these things," was the reply. "So he's a trained medic?" "No." "He did blood tests on you?" "No." "Then he's bullshitting you," say I. "Is that your professional opinion?" asks colleague, clearly upset that I've basically accused him of being a credulous fool.
Now, I don't know what these supplements are. I rather hope they're just some form of snake oil. But given the trainer's sales pitch, I have a horrible hunch they're something else altogether, and I'm more than slightly concerned.
What does the panel think?
d.