Xtend (by Scivation)- BCAA's

One of the BCAA products I have been taking for a few years is Scivation Xtend. I usually buy the orange, it has great flavor!  I am no longer buying or using Xtend due to the dangerous dyes that are added to the product.


I fell into the same trap that many other people do, listen to what others say and read what the supplement companies want you to read. I know BCAA's are good for you, and this product won several awards as "supplement of the year", but what I didn't pay attention to were the nasty, deadly dyes in the product. That is until Roy started telling me about it.


If I didn't care about my health, or what dangerous drugs or supplements can do to my body, I would just be taking steroids and growth hormone and get it all over with a lot faster! It sure would make it easier to achieve my goals. But I do care, I care quite a bit, so I don't take dangerous or illegal drugs and I don't (knowingly) ingest things like this.


I have found a much better and safer product with no additives what so ever. I am also experimenting with natural flavorings and should have a report in a week or so.


It's really a shame that a supplement company would put poisons in their product, but they do and unfortunately, they are not alone. 


So just what is in Scivation Xtend beside BCAA's? 

FD&C Yellow #5

FD&C Red Lake #40

They "reformulated" Xtend recently and the taste is not the same, not as tart. Why did they reformulate it? To reduce the two dyes Yellow #5 and Red Lake #40, but they didn't eliminate them.


What do these two dyes do? 


FD&C Yellow #5, also known as Tartrazine:

A variety of immunologic responses have been attributed to tartrazine ingestion, including anxiety, migraines, clinical depression, blurred vision, itching, general weakness, heatwaves, feeling of suffocation, purple skin patches, and sleep disturbance.

Certain people who are exposed to the dye experience symptoms of tartrazine sensitivity even at extremely small doses, some for periods up to 72 hours after exposure. In children, asthma attacks and hives have been claimed, as well as supposed links to thyroid tumors, chromosomal damage, and hyperactivity.

Because of the problem of tartrazine intolerance, the United States requires the presence of tartrazine to be declared on food and drug products and also the color batch used to be preapproved by the FDA. The FDA regularly seizes products if found to be containing undeclared tartrazine, declared but not tested by them, or if labeled other than FD&C yellow 5 or Yellow 5. 

The use of tartrazine was banned in Norway, and was also banned in Austria and Germany until the ban was overturned by a European Union directive.The United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency in April 2008 called for a voluntary phase-out of tartrazine, along with five other colorings, due to a reported link with hyperactivity in children.


FD&C Red Lake #40 also known as Allura Red AC.


It is one of many High Production Volume Chemicals. Red AC was originally manufactured from coal tar, but is now mostly made from petroleum. 


It is banned in Denmark, Belgium, France and Switzerland, and was also banned in Sweden until the country joined the European Union in 1994. The European Union approves Allura Red AC as a food colorant, but EU countries' local laws banning food colorants are preserved. In Norway, it was banned between 1978 and 2001, a period in which azo dyes were only legally used in alcoholic beverages and some fish products.


On April 10, 2008, the Food Standards Agency called for a voluntary removal of the colors by 2009.

In addition, it recommended that there should be action to phase them out in food and drink in the European Union (EU) over a specified period.


UK ministers had agreed that the six colorings would be phased out by 2009.

On June 30, 2010, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) called for the FDA to ban Yellow 5 and Red 40. Executive Director Michael Jacobson said, "These synthetic chemicals do absolutely nothing to improve the nutritional quality or safety of foods, but trigger behavior problems in children and, possibly, cancer in anybody. 


***Now, I have been looking at all of my supplements and am discontinuing anything with the dyes in it. I plan to contact the companies and tell them why also. One product I am able to switch from a lemon lime flavor to a chocolate and that way eliminate the dyes, but this may not be the case with all products.


I think that it is important to review everything you are ingesting, you may find that you have many products that each contain dyes, so they are compounding in your body.