Thinking about the first supplement I ever used as a bodybuilder always gives me goosebumps as it brings me back to the good old days. For me, that product is a protein powder called Casilan 90. I was 14 years old and the year was 1997.
Casilan 90 was a very popular protein powder sold in grocery stores in my native Mauritius island. Like most products in the Mauritian-stye grocery store, the Casilan 90 boxes were displayed on the shelves behind the counter, accessible only to the shopkeeper.
The packaging had (and still has) a muscleman cartoon. This was all the motivation I needed as I was aspiring to build a physique of cartoonish proportions. Interestingly, the company hasn’t changed their packaging in more than 3 decades.
Before buying the first box, several times a week I would ask the shopkeeper to let me look at it. My eyes would always be on Casilan even though I was sent to buy rice at the store. Finally, with saved pocket money, I purchased my first box. I proceeded to examine as if it was an object that was brought to earth from Mars.
Back in the day, the back label had the full list of amino acids in the product. That’s how I memorised the names of amino acids although we a long time away from learning about amino acids at school. My interest in supplements gave me a clear headstart.
Decoding Calcium Caseinate
I found that the active ingredient was calcium caseinate. I had no idea what it was and wondered why it wasn’t simply listed as protein. Off to the Port Louis Munipal Library I went. I retrieved Pharmacology books and went straight to the glossary section to look for calcium caseinate. The librarian thought I was nuts to be digging into pharmacology books at such an age. The closest to calcium caseinate I could come across was casein and that’s how I learned about casein being a protein found in milk, with interesting properties.
However, most attractive to me was the fact that “Muscle Builder” was written on the main panel. This underscores the importance in supplement marketing of stating the benefit(s) of a product and what it would do for the consumer, first and foremost, before delving into technical details like nutritional content. This detail is often overlooked by supplement marketers. More important than fancy names of scientific information, write WHAT THE PRODUCT DOES (without exaggerating claims of course, and staying within legal frameworks).
That’s how my love story with this product started. Soon I wondered why the product didn’t have anything more, like vitamins and why it was not flavoured. I even addressed a letter to the manufacturer, HJ Heinz, to give them some suggestions and while waiting for their answer, which of course never came, I began making my own concoctions. My career as a supplement scientist was launched in my parents’ kitchen, 27 years ago!
But that’s another story for another day
I have always been that mad about supplements.
Casilan was big in the UK.
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