This supplement failed when tested on humans...
Published: Fri, 08/09/13
"What supplements should I buy?" is an extremely common question.
While it seems simple, the reality is that there is no one-size-fits-all
answer. Depending on your situation (young, old, athletic, inactive),
your health goals (general health, diabetic), and other attributes,
each person's supplementation approach should be individualized to
their needs.
My friend Elliott introduced me to a gentleman named Sol Orwell from
Examine.com that has spent the last 2.5 years of his life researching
supplements and creating a supplement reference guide.
While it seems simple, the reality is that there is no one-size-fits-all
answer. Depending on your situation (young, old, athletic, inactive),
your health goals (general health, diabetic), and other attributes,
each person's supplementation approach should be individualized to
their needs.
My friend Elliott introduced me to a gentleman named Sol Orwell from
Examine.com that has spent the last 2.5 years of his life researching
supplements and creating a supplement reference guide.
Before you read any further I want you to know Sol does not sell
any supplements and has no affiliation with any supplement company.
His reference guide is very individualized and what I really like about
it is that you can search it based on the supplement or you can look
up a health goal to find related supplements.
Example 1 - Vitamin D (Supplement -> Health Goals)
This reference guide lets you quickly and easily scan supplements
and what they can do for you.
So you've heard that Vitamin D is great for you. And you're
wondering: what does it do? Looking at the reference table, you
will see a whole host of positive effects that vitamin D has. It helps
slightly decrease cardiovascular disease, it notably decreases the
risk of colorectal cancer, it has a notable effect in decreasing risk
of falls, and so forth.
Example 2 - Blood Glucose (Health Goal -> Supplements)
This is where the Supplement-Goals Reference Guide really shines.
It lets you find which supplements you should consider taking,
based on your goals.
Let's say you are diabetic - a big concern for you would be your
blood glucose levels. Looking at the reference table for blood glucose,
you can see that quite a few supplements (panax ginseng, psyllium,
stevia, and more) can slightly decrease your blood glucose.
You can also see that caffeine can slightly increase your blood
glucose levels, and that berberine has a strong effect in decreasing
your blood glucose level! Thus, it may be prudent for you to
supplement with berberine.
With almost 200 different health goals listed, you can quickly see
which supplements are effective (and which aren't) at achieving
whatever your goals are.
This reference guide lets you quickly and easily scan supplements
and what they can do for you.
So you've heard that Vitamin D is great for you. And you're
wondering: what does it do? Looking at the reference table, you
will see a whole host of positive effects that vitamin D has. It helps
slightly decrease cardiovascular disease, it notably decreases the
risk of colorectal cancer, it has a notable effect in decreasing risk
of falls, and so forth.
Example 2 - Blood Glucose (Health Goal -> Supplements)
This is where the Supplement-Goals Reference Guide really shines.
It lets you find which supplements you should consider taking,
based on your goals.
Let's say you are diabetic - a big concern for you would be your
blood glucose levels. Looking at the reference table for blood glucose,
you can see that quite a few supplements (panax ginseng, psyllium,
stevia, and more) can slightly decrease your blood glucose.
You can also see that caffeine can slightly increase your blood
glucose levels, and that berberine has a strong effect in decreasing
your blood glucose level! Thus, it may be prudent for you to
supplement with berberine.
With almost 200 different health goals listed, you can quickly see
which supplements are effective (and which aren't) at achieving
whatever your goals are.
How the Data is Accrued for the Guide
Let's take a step back and see how scientific research progresses.
Please note this will be a simplification of the actual process, meant
to clarify important issues.
Studies are usually first conducted on research animals, often rats
(although other rodents and sometimes fruit flies are used, depending
on what is being researched). Research animals are cheap, easier
than humans to control, have fewer ethical issues, and allow
researchers to see the effect of any supplement over multiple
generations very quickly.
Roughly around the same time, studies are performed in vitro.
These are animal cells isolated from the living organism.
The classical way of looking is to place specific human cells
(e.g., muscle tissue) in a petri dish, and then applying supplements
directly to those cells. While these studies have their complications
if used by themselves, they allow research to fine-tune the knowledge
of the supplement on a cellular level, and greatly help with completing
the full picture.
After sufficient testing in animals and in vitro comes human testing.
This is when supplements are ingested by humans, and we get to see
how the supplement works in your body. It is not rare to find some
supplement that is very promising in either rat or in vitro studies, but
nearly useless in humans.
A great example of this problem is glutamine. In vitro testing
showed glutamine to be amazing for building muscle.
Yet when glutamine is ingested by a healthy adult, the small intestines
basically keep all the glutamine for themselves. Very little of that
glutamine gets to your muscles. So while glutamine was very promising
in vitro,it was a failure in human testing.
All of the scientific research presented in the Supplement-Goals
Reference Guide (over 2000 references) is human studies.
While they factor in animal studies and in vitro studies while building
up their knowledge on topics, they do not include them in their conclusions.
Please note this will be a simplification of the actual process, meant
to clarify important issues.
Studies are usually first conducted on research animals, often rats
(although other rodents and sometimes fruit flies are used, depending
on what is being researched). Research animals are cheap, easier
than humans to control, have fewer ethical issues, and allow
researchers to see the effect of any supplement over multiple
generations very quickly.
Roughly around the same time, studies are performed in vitro.
These are animal cells isolated from the living organism.
The classical way of looking is to place specific human cells
(e.g., muscle tissue) in a petri dish, and then applying supplements
directly to those cells. While these studies have their complications
if used by themselves, they allow research to fine-tune the knowledge
of the supplement on a cellular level, and greatly help with completing
the full picture.
After sufficient testing in animals and in vitro comes human testing.
This is when supplements are ingested by humans, and we get to see
how the supplement works in your body. It is not rare to find some
supplement that is very promising in either rat or in vitro studies, but
nearly useless in humans.
A great example of this problem is glutamine. In vitro testing
showed glutamine to be amazing for building muscle.
Yet when glutamine is ingested by a healthy adult, the small intestines
basically keep all the glutamine for themselves. Very little of that
glutamine gets to your muscles. So while glutamine was very promising
in vitro,it was a failure in human testing.
All of the scientific research presented in the Supplement-Goals
Reference Guide (over 2000 references) is human studies.
While they factor in animal studies and in vitro studies while building
up their knowledge on topics, they do not include them in their conclusions.
Supplementation is interesting field. Some people rely too much on
supplements while others totally dismiss them as useless. This non-biased
guide will help you decide for yourself.
I bought a copy for everyone on my staff to reference.
Keep training hard,
Mike Westerdal
CriticalBench.com