Researching Sport Science.

Many manufacturers provide data that they have collected themselves - in house research.

However if research is to be objective, data should never be collected by individuals that have a financial interest in the product(s) being researched. Independent research means that a researcher has absolutely no financial interest in the outcome of the research has collected the data.

Would you trust the outcomes of a research study if the person that collected the data stood to make large sums of money from the findings?

If a company promotes a "breakthrough finding" or "revolutionary discovery" the research should be published.

Publishing research generally involves submitting the research to a scientific conference or scientific journal. Other scientists that are deemed to be experts in the relevant field will then review the research. If it is deemed to be of high quality it will be accepted for publication. If the research has been published it will generally be accompanied by a scientific reference such as the example below (for the Body Science® Myocytin ® research):

Rogerson, S, Weatherby, R.P. and Nicholson, V. A comparison of two commercially available creatine supplements on Performance, Anthropometric and Morphological Measures. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 6(4);S39. 2003.

Very few companies are able to back up their marketing claims with published scientific research. The fact is that talk is cheap, yet scientific research is expensive and published data can take years.

Therefore a company must be VERY confident in their product to be prepared to have it independently tested. Consequently, many companies consider independent scientific research too risky in case their product(s) don't live up to their hyped marketing campaigns.

Therefore, when you purchase supplements you need to be confident that the claims being made are backed by published independent scientific research.

Our small company, established 4 years ago Body Science has been heavily involved in scientific research. Body Science has funded/supported 5 clinical studies that are currently in review by numerous international peer reviewed journals. However this takes time.

The studies Body Science ® has been involved in are as follows:

MYOCYTIN

Independent scientific research has shown Myocytinä to be superior to standard creatine (Rogerson and co-workers, 2003). In fact after only six days of supplementation with Myocytinä athletes increased their performance on a strength based performance test significantly more that regular creatine. Likewise, athletes using Myocytinä gained over twice as much body mass as standard creatine and increased their upper arm girth by over 200% more than standard creatine. These findings were recently presented at the prestigious 2003 Australian Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport.

Rogerson, S, Weatherby, R.P. and Nicholson, V. A comparison of two commercially available creatine supplements on Performance, Anthropometric and Morphological Measures. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 6(4);S39. 2003.

TRIANDROBOL

The effect of the phytosterol extract Triandrobolä on mood states and selected blood chemistries during 14 days of supplementation. Independent university research conducted on Triandrobolä has recently been completed and was presented at the 2004 Australian Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport (Rogerson and co-workers, 2004). The research was specifically focussed on determining what effect Triandrobolä mood states and selected blood chemistries.

Rogerson, S. Weatherby, S. Marshall-Gradisnik, (2004). The effect of phytosterol extract Triandrobolä on mood states and selected blood chemistries during 14 days of supplementation. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 6(4);S39

TRIANDROBOL

The effect of Triandrobolä on blood steroid hormone concentrations and urinary drug screenings. Independent university research conducted on Triandrobolä has recently been completed and was presented at the 2004 Australian Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport (Rogerson and co-workers, 2004). The research was specifically focussed on determining what effect Triandrobolä had on blood steroid hormone concentrations. A further aim was to determine if Triandrobolä would cause a positive drug test according to the World Anti Doping Agencies (WADA) urinary testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio.

Rogerson, S. Marshall-Gradisnik, S. Weatherby, R.P. Cawley, A. and Noble-Jerks, J. (2004). The effect of a Tribulus terrestris extract on plasma steroid hormone concentrations and the urinary testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 7(4);S50

TRIBULUS TERRESTRIS

In association with one of our NRL clubs we recently looked at the effect of Tribulus terrestris on urinary steroid profiles and the physiological and psychological adaptations to pre-season training. As this study is presently in review, no data is availible for public appraisal.

TESTOSTERONE STUDY: HIGH PERFORMANCE

Body Science over the past months provided supplements for use within a university research study on drugs in sport. The study looking at the effect of short-term use of testosterone enanthate on muscular strength and power in healthy young males was made into a world wide documentary titled High Performance (aired in Australia on FOX 8, UK Channel 3 including several current affair's programs) and was designed to further the scientific and medical knowledge of what effects testosterone has in humans. The decision to support this research was based on our commitment to funding research that may be of benefit to the sporting community. While we promote clean sport through the use of legal nutritional supplementation and healthy training practices, we will always support research that may provide useful information to help science and medicine.

COLOSTRUM

This study looked at the effect of Bovine colostrum supplementation in aged volunteers. Bovine colostrum has been shown in some studies to facilitate recovery and enhance athletic performance. These studies have generally been conducted on healthy young athletes. As we age, muscle strength and lean body mass tend to decline. Therefore this study investigated the effect of bovine colostrum supplementation on body composition and performance in the elderly

Sample, R., O’leary, L., Myers, S., Rogerson, S., Marshall-Gradisnik, S., Zhou, S. and Weatherby, R. Bovine colostrum supplementation and its effect on muscle histology, strength, performance and body composition in the elderly. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 2004, 7:S16.

TRIBULUS STUDY

This study specifically investigated the effect of a high dose of Tribulus terrestris on blood concentrations of testosterone, LH and estradiol in healthy young males.

As this study is presently in review, no data is availible for public appraisal.

TESTOSTERONE STUDY: HIGH PERFORMANCE

Drug scandals are nothing new in today's sport and unfortunately many experts claim that drugs will always be a part of sport. Due to the proximity of the Olympics there has been increasing media attention dedicated to drug use in sport. We recently provided protein and a number of other supplements for use within a university research study on drugs in sport. The study that was made into a documentary (High Performance) was designed to further the scientific and medical knowledge of what effects testosterone has in humans. A group of athletes were injected with testosterone (which is a banned substance) while a number of other athletes consumed several nutritional supplements such as creatine (which is not banned) as a comparison.

The purpose of the study was not to promote drug use, in fact it was quite the opposite. By gaining a greater understanding of what effects testosterone has in the human body the study stood to have a number of benefits including:

• Developing superior drug testing methods so as to reduce drug use in sport
• Understanding how testosterone may be able to be used more effectively to treat medical conditions
• Increasing our understanding of the side effects of testosterone

While it may seem at first glance to be unethical to administer steroids to healthy humans, a team of doctors and scientists carefully supervised the research. In addition, the universities human research ethics committee approved the research. In order for an ethics committee to allow a study to proceed they must establish that the risk to the volunteers is low and that there is large potential for beneficial information to be generated from the research.

Consequently the decision to support this research was based on our commitment to funding research that may be of benefit to the sporting community. While we promote clean sport through the use of legal nutritional supplementation and healthy training practices, we are also happy to support research that may provide useful information to help scientists catch drug cheats.

While it may take several months for the findings to be published in peer reviewed journals, the study has already surprised many viewers around the world by demonstrating that even a relatively low dose of testosterone can offer the athlete an unfair advantage. As stated in a recent publication in New Scientist “the finding will reinforce calls for drug testing regimes to be radically stepped up”(1).

At Body Science our decision to support this project was based on our belief that scientific research into drug use should be encouraged so that the findings can be utilised to promote clean sport. Based on the overwhelmingly positive publicity that this documentary has generated, it seems that many people share our view. An article published in the British Medical Journal stated that “Traditionalists who feel scientific experiments should be out of the public eye, buried in anonymous laboratories, clothed in secrecy, and published only in dusty journals may have found this program difficult viewing, but it was well done and science benefits from this exposure”(2). We agree and will continue to support future scientific studies that discourage drug cheats and facilitate the quest for a level playing field.

1. Cohen, D. Cheating is easier than you think. New Scientist. August 2004, 2460: 6-7.
2. MacAuley, D. Cheating at Athens: Is it worth it? British Medical Journal. 2004 329:407.

Tribulus Terrestris research findings?

It (Tribulus) makes me start to think that maybe research on Tribulus needs to drop the focus on testosterone and start just looking at different aspect of athletic performance. Maybe Tribulus does enhance certain aspects of performance but it is just an old myth that it is due to testosterone. Some of the early research on creatine suggested that it didn't work because they were looking in the wrong areas. Maybe it is the same for Tribulus? Sure our studies didn't find a beneficial effect, but maybe it is more of an acute benefit eg recover more quickly between sessions etc. I do not think research that does not support Tribulus is having an detrimental effect on sales as the very first peer reviewed study on Tribulus was unfavourable and that was over 5 years ago , prior to our company existing . Since then there have been several others but its popularity has not suffered. What annoys me is when people without a scientific background or involvement quote scientific research on an internet forum without understanding the limitations of the research. Science has been searching for a cure for cancer for many years and will likely one day find one. If one paper was published on a proposed cure for cancer and we did not cure it should we conclude that we will never cure it? One paper is a piece of the puzzle and sometimes it is the papers that fail to find anything that ultimately provide the direction for the studies that lead to a breakthrough.