I am not a proponent of many supplements; the fact is that human trials with adequate subject numbers is lacking in most cases. Too often supplements are justified with in vitro, animal, and observational evidence which then fail when they enter interventional trials. It is difficult to explain this to lay people effectively, who prefer generalized, simple advice.
So I am excited to see that the latest data visualization from InformationIsBeautiful is on the scientific evidence on a number of supplements from only randomized, placebo-controlled human studies. An interactive chart is available here, or a static image is below:
According to the website, the researchers looked at over 1500 abstracts on pubmed.org and cochrane.org for their data, then put all of the information into a Google Spreadsheet here, where all of the sources are available. The bubbles are created from data on the spreadsheet, so changes are easy to make. Several have been already based on comments on the site.
Clearly many of these are very debatable, and just examining abstracts isn’t very reliable. Dose, context, and other study design features are also difficult to consider in a visual form like this without over-cluttering. But I think it is a great start, and it gives people a quick and simple guide, better the majority of supplement sources on the web.
Here are some of the interesting things I read last week.
Nutrition Related
A new study finds that nursing home residents with advanced dementia are much more likely to have a feeding tube inserted if the hospital is for-profit, larger, and has a greater ICU use. Quoted in the NYTimes, one of the authors suggests that more needs to be in place to respect patient choice. Read more »
Comment: though he needs to check his facts on the life expectancy of the latest generation, he is an emotionally passionate speaker and hopefully his message reaches more who haven’t considered the ideas he discusses. The way we have things setup now for children is truly atrocious. Let me know what you think in the comments.
It is quite clear that for athletes, consuming protein and carbohydrate after a workout is crucial to recovery for subsequent sessions (replenish glycogen) and performance improvement. The doses of each macronutrient, as well as the inclusion of fat (which according to preliminary evidence, certain types of fat may further increase protein synthesis, and fat for endurance athletes may increase total energy intake and increase performance) is debatable for endurance exercise versus resistance training, of which will be explored in future posts.
But, should similar post-workout recommendations for athletes be adopted by casual exercisers, where the goal is health instead of maximizing performance? More importantly, should people with metabolic problems be chugging gatorade and the like after their workouts to replenish their glycogen?
A recent study by Newsom et al. (1) suggests that one marker of metabolic health, insulin sensitivity, is influenced by carbohydrate content that is consumed after exercise, and not total energy intake, and perhaps carbohydrate consumption should be kept low to maintain insulin sensitivity into the next day.
Here are some of the interesting things I read this week.
Nutrition Related
A new rapamycin study in Drosophilia suggests that the (m)TORC1 inhibition may have longevity promoting effects independent of those related to calorie restriction, since it was able to further increase lifespan in calorie restricted specimens.
A few of the blogs I follow aggregate interesting links each week with short summaries. So, idea credit and shout-outs go to Weighty Matters, Obesity Panacea, and Summer Tomato. I highly recommend subscribing to these blogs.
I realize that not all readers here will follow me on twitter, where I share and pass on interesting new research and articles that I encounter. I also realize that not everyone wants to read in as much detail as I tend to summarize studies in (based on the short amount of time visitors tend to spend here so far, thanks Google Analytics). Additionally, I tend to focus on reviewing more than one paper when posting, so with shorter weekly summaries I can pass along research more quickly and it will likely be reviewed in detail down the road. Finally, there are great nutrition related articles about issues not necessarily about research that should be shared to develop an encompassing perspective on the different angles of nutrition. And of course, many people are able to cover certain topics much better than I, and should be highlighted.
Please feel free to add in the comments interesting studies or articles that you have encountered recently.
So here is the first iteration of the Weekly Summaries segment.
As 2009 comes to an end, it is time to reflect on some of this year’s scientific advancements.
Please comment here, by email, or twitter on how I am doing with the blog so far. Though I only started it a few months ago in September, I hope it has been a benefit to at least a few people. I am very detail oriented, so posts will roll out slowly, and with over 40 topics already in draft, 2010 will be a busy year!
Happy new year!
Here are short comments on some of my favorite studies of this year.
Oxidative stress has been implicated implicated in insulin resistance, and a new study by Hoehn et al. (1) adds some convincing evidence that one specific radical, superoxide generated in the mitochondria, may be a unifying cause. But the findings suggest that we may need to reconsider how we treat it.
I am humbled to been named a finalist in the 2010 Research Blogging awards for the "Best Health Blog" category. Please support quality blogging by checking out the list of nominations by clicking the following image:
