At the moment, the Acai berry is probably the most hyped “superfruit” on the market. Over the last few years, several others have had their turn – Goji, Noni, Mangosteen – and there’s no doubt we’ll see plenty more of the next couple of years.

The majority of claims regarding these fruits are outlandish and have little or no evidence to support them. They are, in large part, being hawked via various MLM and pyramid schemes – where every product user is also a promoter, and stands to benefit financially from any sales s/he makes. Hardly a business model conducive to criticism of any sort, right?

It’s this financial conflict of interest that is one the main reasons why I’m immediately suspicious of any product marketed in this manner.

With that in mind, I just came across a great article by Brian Dunning over at Skeptoid .com. Here’s what he has to say…

“Superfruit juices are a business model first; a salable product second; and a well-evidenced health product a distant third.”

Amen to that, Brian.

When we last heard from “Dr. Suzanne” Gudakunst, she was offering to be our very bestest friend and promising to protect us from the perils of thunder thighs, icky parasites and medical/food industry/government conspiracies…all for the low, low price of $37. As I recently discovered (h/t to Paul and commenter “Fee“) she’s hawking her own supplement products too! Her line, “Lotus Purity” is billed as “The Most Effective Colon and Parasite Cleansing Program on the Internet!”

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If you’re new to the blogosphere, the term “troll” may be confusing, so here’s the Wikipedia definition:

An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the intention of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that trolls exist to be destructive, not constructive.

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Tis the season when people start (or return to) a strict workout schedule. It also happens to be cold and flu season. So – no surprise – the question of working out with a cold is one I get periodically on the forums.

As it turns out, exercising with a cold doesn’t seem to affect either exercise performance or severity/duration of symptoms.

For what it’s worth: as long as I don’t have a fever, I’ve found working out to be generally beneficial…especially when I have a thtuffy nothe. It may not be the best time to strive for a personal best, perhaps, but there’s no doubt that I actually feel better for doing a workout, vs. just sitting around feeling rotten.

So, to make a long story short: go for it…don’t let a minor upper respiratory illness throw you off schedule, if it can be avoided.

I was moderating comments over at Real-Customer-Comments.com the other day, when I came upon one with a familiar theme. It went something like this…

“Hey… how come the “feds” (the Federal Trade Commission) have targeted this company, and not any of the zillions of others out there that make equally outrageous and unsubstantiated claims?

After all, the stores are filled with hundreds of products that don’t work, and none of those products have been targeted. There must be something going on. This product must be effective if the “feds” are shutting it down.”

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Because it’s a 24-hour facility and the members can let themselves in with key cards. So we were able to get a work out in on Xmas – which was great. Good food and company notwithstanding, I hate just sitting around all day.

Hot off the presses…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting consumers nationwide not to purchase or consume more than 25 different products marketed for weight loss because they contain undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients that may put consumers’ health at risk.

…An FDA analysis found that the undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in some of these products include sibutramine (a controlled substance), rimonabant (a drug not approved for marketing in the United States), phenytoin (an anti-seizure medication), and phenolphthalein (a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer causing agent). Some of the amounts of active pharmaceutical ingredients far exceeded the FDA-recommended levels, putting consumers’ health at risk.

While they don’t mention it in the FDA warning, phenolphthalein used to be the main ingredient in Ex Lax – as it has laxative effects.  And phenytoin is a known teratogen (i.e., it can affect fetal development) – not good.

These are the products:

Christmas is nearly here, with the New Year’s celebrations to follow. And on Jan 1, will come the inevitable belt tightening, and resolutions to eat right and exercise.

Problem is, there’s always the temptation to try for fast results, using extremely low cal and/or fad diets.  This is a dumb idea, as – in the long run – weight maintenance is the goal.  Lots of people lose lots of weight…but very few keep it off.  The ones who do, are the ones who change their eating and activity habits – permanently.  This is a process that takes time and patience.

So forget the fad diets, and look for sensible, science-based approaches… Like the ones suggested in this article by respected science and nutrition writer, Jean Brody.  The books she reviews are:

1. The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan: Feel Full on Fewer Calories,” by Barbara J. Rolls and Robert A. Barnett (HarperCollins).
2. The Beck Diet Solution” and “The Beck Diet Weight Loss Workbook” (Oxmoor House)
3. You On a Diet: The Owner’s Manual for Waist Management,” by Dr. Michael F. Roizen of the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Mehmet C. Oz of Columbia University (Free Press)
4. The Instinct Diet: Use Your Five Food Instincts to Lose Weight and Keep It Off,” by Susan B. Roberts and Betty Kelly Sargent
5. Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Children to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Not interested in a hard-copy book?  There are some very good e-books out there too.  Check out Paul’s reviews of “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” by Tom Venuto or “Fat Loss Revealed” by Will Brink.  And – if you’re willing to be a little extra-patient, a revised and updated version of Paul’s own book, “The Ultimate Fat Burning Diet Primer” will be making its debut early in 2009.

So forget gimmicky or unhealthy diets – there are better options available.

Two stevia-based, zero-calorie sweeteners, “Truvia” (Cargill/Coca Cola) and “PureVia” (Whole Earth/PepsiCo) have received GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status from the FDA for use in food products.

Naturally, there are products already in the pipeline: PepsiCo will be adding it to its SoBe Lifewater line; while Coke is using it in Sprite Green.

OMG…Burger King body spray.

Still can’t think what to get him for Christmas? Socks don’t seem to cut it any more? Fret no longer because Burger King is here to help.

The mass purveyor of grilled meat is offering, for a limited time, something even better than their usual piles of beef patties. This week, American men were given the chance to smell like their favourite meat snack with the launch of Flame, Burger King’s contribution to the perfume market.

The company describes Flame as “the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat”.

The sales site has to be seen to be believed (keep clicking on the container – lol).

This is truly the ultimate gag gift…with an emphasis on the “gag” part.

I’m sure you’ve seen them before…all those “before and after” pics and testimonials in ads for weight loss supplements, touting dramatic results. Sure, there may be some fine print that says “results not typical” or “results may vary” – but, let’s face it, that’s not the thing that sticks in your mind, is it?

That could change soon, as the Federal Trade Commission is proposing changes to the guidelines on the use of testimonials and endorsements in product advertisements.

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Anyone remember this YouTube video Paul made a while back?

Evidently, the FTC is starting to crack down on some of this stuff…

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Thinking about what to get your kids for Xmas? How about a cookbook?
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…so many Acai products are either taken in caps, or else diluted with other fruits/fruit juices.

I’m currently working my way through an order of 28 x 100 g packets of pure, unsweetened acai puree – frozen fresh, and shipped to my door on dry ice. It’s about as unprocessed as it’s possible to get, short of a trek to Brazil.

Know what? It really doesn’t taste very good.

Mind you, it looks lovely: it’s a deep, deep reddish-purple color. It’s thick too: about the consistency of Hershey’s syrup when thawed. But it doesn’t taste like anything much out of the package – it’s very flat stuff. Once sweetened (I toss in a packet of Truvia and some plain yogurt), some fruitiness can be discerned, but that’s about it. I’m munching them down at a rate of 1 – 2 packets a day.

And, no – I’m not springing out of the bed in the morning, trilling happy tunes while I work, glowing in the dark or feeling more vibrant/energetic. It’s same ol’, same ol’…and I’m not complaining, since “same ol’” = “just ducky.” I don’t doubt it makes a contribution to my phytonutrient intake, but I already eat stuff like spinach, broccoli, blueberries, green tea, raw cocoa, etc. – so my antioxidant intake is already pretty decent. Thus, the early polls indicate acai is “nothin’ special.”

But it’s true that I’ve still got a fair number of packets to suck down, so who knows? If I add 15 pounds to my bench before I’m done, I might change my mind.

I’m currently writing a review of LG Sciences pSARM.  Evidently, the company is doing its best to convince would-be customers that the primary ingredient, osthol, binds to androgen receptors.  So one of their reps posted a drawing superimposing osthole over testosterone on a bbing board to ”prove” it “fits” androgen receptors.*

There’s just (ahem!) a few problems with this argument…

1. Ligands – and their binding sites – are THREE-DIMENSIONAL – not two.  What LG Sciences has done is a bit like looking up at the night sky at a constellation, and assuming all the stars in a particular formation lie in the same plane, simply because that’s what it looks like from Earth.  2-D chemical formulas are simply a shorthand way of representing molecules, but like a painting or photograph, have no depth. Seemingly mall differences in structure can add up to large differences in shape – where it matters. And despite the alleged similarity, there are some pretty significant differences between the two.

2. If 2-D structural similarity is all that matters, there are plenty of other compounds that are a much closer match for testosterone than osthol is. Like estradiol (estrogen), for example.

3. If 2-D structural similarity is all that matters, then perhaps the brain trust at LG Sciences would care to explain why many of the SARM drugs currently being researched have even less structural overlap w/testosterone than osthol does.

In short, it’s just marketing, and a rather weak attempt at that.  You “prove” androgen receptor binding capacity by – surprise!!! – conducting receptor binding studies (scroll down to “In Vitro and In Vivo Models for Evaluation of AR Ligands”) You ”prove” a compound acts like a SARM by demonstrating it has tissue-selective effects. 

If you’re going to play “scientist,” then you need to play by the “rules.”  It’s that simple.

Pathetic.

*This drawing is referred to in the pSARM write up on their web site, but does not actually appear there. Maybe they finally realized just how thick it made them look.

I got a message this morning from a trainer buddy of mine.  Here’s what he wrote:

“Hey Elissa,

I’m in a debate about negative calorie foods. I think you wrote an article about it but couldn’t find it on the forum.

I know Celery is claimed to be negative calorie but is the cost of digestion really 146 calories to it’s 5 calorie content?!?”

146 calories to digest a stalk of celery????

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Because I sorta miss the “good old daze” when prohormones were legal.

No – I’m not really “for” anabolics (or against them, for that matter…). But prior to the ban, at least there were reputable companies in the business, with decent quality control and cycle information.  Potential users could make choices with eyes wide open. After the ban, “designer steroids” – which were even more poorly characterized – briefly took their place. Then – between the Washington Post (here and here) and the FDA – the larger companies discontinued even those products…leaving the field to various, fly-by-night internet companies, who charge rip-off prices against the day they get shut down.

The trouble is when people get their hands on this stuff, and don’t have a clue about what they just bought… “4-chloro-17a-methyl-androst-1,4-diene-3-17b-diol” might as well be Greek. Ok, it’s identifiable stuff…but is that REALLY what it is? Likewise, is it pure and uncontaminated? Is the dosage accurate? After all, we’re talking about companies selling illegal and/or “gray area” stuff – so it’s not likely that quality control is a high priority.  All you* can do is offer some basic advice, based on what it’s supposed to be, and tell ‘em “caveat emptor”.

So – I’m annoyed by:

1. People who will put damn near ANYTHING in their mouths as long as they think it will help them get bigger…
2. So-called “supplement” companies who don’t give a rusty-rat’s-ass about their customers…AND
3. The “powers-that-be” who created this situation.  If it’s gonna be illegal, then they should either clamp down on the vendors or their suppliers…or give it up.

*meaning ME (grrrr….)

Only in Southern California…

You know you’re not in the North Pole anymore when you come face to face with Santa Claus . . . and he’s a ripped hunk.

You’re probably in Los Angeles — at the Beverly Center, to be precise. For six years, the upscale mall near West Hollywood has wooed shoppers with the prospect of getting up close and personal with Hunky Santa, in which Santa is a young, muscled dude with bulging biceps and abs as flat as a gingerbread cookie. (Hunky’s stints are Friday through Sunday evenings, when he performs hourly with the Candy Cane Dancers, plus greets and has photos taken with shoppers. “Classic” Santa — bearded and tubby — is there during the week).

This year, Eli Wilhide was chosen to depict the jolly guy. The 31-year-old, 6-foot-1, 185-pound Angeleno sports a shaved chest and flawless tan, and on a recent busy weekend, he was practically mobbed by men, women and children who wanted to kiss him, shake his hand, have their picture taken with him or all of the above. His attire is Kris Kringle-meets-Chippendales: red velvet pants, black boots, a red velvet hat and a long, open, fur-trimmed red velvet coat — sleeveless, of course, the better to show off those biceps.

Personally, I think “Santa” could stand to add a little more mass to his arms and shoulders – but I gotta admit, he’s got great abs.

I was perusing the LÄRABAR website today, as part of a review I’m writing for the Functional Food section.  They’re high quality, high fiber, whole food energy bars that taste pretty good, so I’m giving them a nice write up, for the most part.  But – like so many health/fitness-oriented supplement companies – they make specific claims for their products that they don’t back up with any hard data.  So, just for the hell of it, I sent off the following e-mail:

As a former Food Science major and current consultant/author on foods/nutrition, I am curious about the following statement that appears on your web site:

“The essential enzymes, which are necessary for the digestion and utilization of nutrients, remain completely intact in their most natural, powerful state.”

This, of course, implies that Larabars a) contain significant amounts of digestive enzymes (i.e., carbohydrases, proteases, lipases); and b) these enzymes actually enhance the digestion and utilization of the macronutrients present in the bar.

Do you have any supporting research? I would be very interested to know the activities that have been measured for the various digestive enzymes per bar (any one flavor will do); as well as any data that demonstrates that the measured enzymes are a) present in sufficient amounts to significantly affect digestion of the macronutrients in the bar; and b) active under the conditions present in the stomach and intestines.

Kind Regards,

Elissa Pratt-Lowe

I’m genuinely curious to see a) if I get a response at all; and b) what it will be. Personally, I think it’s soft-focus marketing hype, but I’m willing to entertain the idea that I could be wrong. Enzymes are quite identifiable, after all, and their activities are measureable. And now that General Mills owns the company, it’s not like they don’t have the resources available to do the appropriate tests. So we’ll see.

I picked up on this report from the BBC this morning: Antioxidants ‘cannot slow ageing’.

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