Gaspasi Nutrition Viridex XT (*study)
Posted by Anthony Roberts in Nutritional Companies & Supplements
0 comments
Apr 7, 2011
Gaspari Nutrition continues to lead the way in sports nutrition by funding clinical studies on their products…unfortunately, this last effort wasn’t their best. In reality, to my mind, this study is one of the worst I’ve ever seen, and makes Viridex XTTM look completely uncredible. They hired a doctor who got his PhD from one of the worst ranked universities in the country (not surprising, since they are a correspondence college), and who has been criticized in the past by the New England Journal of Medicine, as well as The NY Times, for manipulating data to make it appear that his client’s products were actually more safe and effective than they really were.
Furthermore, the lead doctor on the paper has quite a reputation for producing studies that prove the efficacy of his client’s products, while independent research typically proves the opposite. Given the fact that Gaspari Nutrition knows this researcher quite well, and knows his reputation, it’s very telling that they used him for their latest study. His reputation alone ought to have scared off any company interested in an unbiased study. Are there other, HUGE, problems with their data on this product (especially compared with their ad-copy)? Sure. But to my mind, I barely need to read this study past the first researcher to know something’s up.
A Clinical Trial to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of a Dietary Supplement Purported to Increase Plasma Sex Hormones
Douglas Kalman, Samantha Feldman, Sharon Oxford and Diane Krieger
Nutrition and Endocrinology Division, Miami Research Associates, Miami, FL
The objective of this open label, dose finding exploratory trial was to investigate the efficacy and safety of 3 doses of Viridex XTTM in healthy males. Ten subjects (28.4 ± 8.1 years) were randomly assigned in a 3:3:3:1 ratio (2, 4, 6/day product or placebo). Subjects were evaluated every 2 weeks over a 30-day period with a final evaluation 10 days post product cessation. Levels of total and free testosterone (TT), estradiol, and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured and changes in lean body mass (LBM) determined via Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry. Observations of interest included total TT increased by 256±179ng/dl (64%) at Day 15 and 227±152 (57%) at Day 31 for the 4/day dose and 127±63 (20%) at Day 15 and 83±148 (13%) at Day 31 for the 6/day dose. Free TT increased by 144 pg/dl (166%) for the 2/day dose (in the 1 subject that had baseline free TT data) and 65±44 (83%) for the 4/day with no change for the 6/day at Day 31. Estradiol showed an inverse dose-response relationship (2/day increase, 4/day no change, 6/day decrease) and LH increased more for product than placebo. LBM increased by about 0.5 kg for the 4/and 6/day (and placebo) and decreased by about 0.5 kg for the 2/day dose. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL decreased with the 6/day dose. In order to assess the magnitude and duration of these efficacy and safety changes, a longer study with a larger sample size is needed. This study was funded by Gaspari Nutrition, Inc.
I’m left wondering what they were thinking when they funded this study, and this isn’t about who I’m friends with, who I’m not (I don’t personally dislike the guy who conducted this study) and I’ve- always been complimentary of – Gaspari’s entire staff – this is just a matter of my reading a study and finding problems with it…problems that ought to not be there for me to take the research seriously. And yes, I’m talking about the study itself with regards to both its findings and design, not just the author. And yes, I understand that Gaspari is achieving something that most other companies can’t – i.e. having yet another study published – but as much as this is an achievement, they purposely chose to associate themselves with a scientist whose very involvement in the project casts doubt on its legitimacy.
http://www.anthonyroberts.info/2011/04/gaspasi-nutrition-viridex-xt/
Posted by Anthony Roberts in Nutritional Companies & Supplements
0 comments
Apr 7, 2011
Gaspari Nutrition continues to lead the way in sports nutrition by funding clinical studies on their products…unfortunately, this last effort wasn’t their best. In reality, to my mind, this study is one of the worst I’ve ever seen, and makes Viridex XTTM look completely uncredible. They hired a doctor who got his PhD from one of the worst ranked universities in the country (not surprising, since they are a correspondence college), and who has been criticized in the past by the New England Journal of Medicine, as well as The NY Times, for manipulating data to make it appear that his client’s products were actually more safe and effective than they really were.
Furthermore, the lead doctor on the paper has quite a reputation for producing studies that prove the efficacy of his client’s products, while independent research typically proves the opposite. Given the fact that Gaspari Nutrition knows this researcher quite well, and knows his reputation, it’s very telling that they used him for their latest study. His reputation alone ought to have scared off any company interested in an unbiased study. Are there other, HUGE, problems with their data on this product (especially compared with their ad-copy)? Sure. But to my mind, I barely need to read this study past the first researcher to know something’s up.
A Clinical Trial to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of a Dietary Supplement Purported to Increase Plasma Sex Hormones
Douglas Kalman, Samantha Feldman, Sharon Oxford and Diane Krieger
Nutrition and Endocrinology Division, Miami Research Associates, Miami, FL
The objective of this open label, dose finding exploratory trial was to investigate the efficacy and safety of 3 doses of Viridex XTTM in healthy males. Ten subjects (28.4 ± 8.1 years) were randomly assigned in a 3:3:3:1 ratio (2, 4, 6/day product or placebo). Subjects were evaluated every 2 weeks over a 30-day period with a final evaluation 10 days post product cessation. Levels of total and free testosterone (TT), estradiol, and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured and changes in lean body mass (LBM) determined via Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry. Observations of interest included total TT increased by 256±179ng/dl (64%) at Day 15 and 227±152 (57%) at Day 31 for the 4/day dose and 127±63 (20%) at Day 15 and 83±148 (13%) at Day 31 for the 6/day dose. Free TT increased by 144 pg/dl (166%) for the 2/day dose (in the 1 subject that had baseline free TT data) and 65±44 (83%) for the 4/day with no change for the 6/day at Day 31. Estradiol showed an inverse dose-response relationship (2/day increase, 4/day no change, 6/day decrease) and LH increased more for product than placebo. LBM increased by about 0.5 kg for the 4/and 6/day (and placebo) and decreased by about 0.5 kg for the 2/day dose. Hemoglobin, hematocrit, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL decreased with the 6/day dose. In order to assess the magnitude and duration of these efficacy and safety changes, a longer study with a larger sample size is needed. This study was funded by Gaspari Nutrition, Inc.
I’m left wondering what they were thinking when they funded this study, and this isn’t about who I’m friends with, who I’m not (I don’t personally dislike the guy who conducted this study) and I’ve- always been complimentary of – Gaspari’s entire staff – this is just a matter of my reading a study and finding problems with it…problems that ought to not be there for me to take the research seriously. And yes, I’m talking about the study itself with regards to both its findings and design, not just the author. And yes, I understand that Gaspari is achieving something that most other companies can’t – i.e. having yet another study published – but as much as this is an achievement, they purposely chose to associate themselves with a scientist whose very involvement in the project casts doubt on its legitimacy.
http://www.anthonyroberts.info/2011/04/gaspasi-nutrition-viridex-xt/
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