Supplements

These are doing the rounds again. Promoted by celebrities and influencers as a miracle cure when it comes to weight loss. Time to set the record straight.

What are they?

Ketone supplements tell you they will put your body into ketosis without you having to restrict carbohydrate intake to get there. You ingest the supplement and they provide the ketone bodies rather than your body actually producing them. (As an FYI – ketones are produced by your body to use as energy when it is in the absence of carbohydrates. The body’s preferred method of energy is carbs, when you don’t have them it has to convert fat into ketones to then use them for energy instead).

I’ve covered the keto diet itself in sundayshutdown40 so check that out for further explanation. And the same principle really applies here. The ketones don’t make you lose body fat. You lose body fat because you are in an calorie deficit. If you consume these ketones and don’t adopt a calorie deficit you will not lose weight and there are no scientific studies to demonstrate this not to be the case.

Ketone supplements are expensive. One brand is retailing at £95 for 20 servings with a recommendation of 2 per day. That’s around £300 a month. They not only claim to make you lose fat but also give you extra energy and clearer thinking and put you into ketosis in 1 hour.

Claims

They also claim that to burn body fat you first have to burn through all the carbs and then all the protein within your body. If that was the case you’d have nothing left, no muscles, no bones just a ball of fat. Basic biology 101.

To top it off they apparently rapidly repair DNA, support healthy immune function and elevate essential amino acids. I mean it seems this drink is the be all and end all to living your best ever life with no challenges. No wonder vulnerable women (and probably men) are spending their hard earned cash for false promises that will leave them feeling worse off than they were before.

There are no scientific research papers showing any of this. Why? Firstly because it’s bloody difficult to measure any of these functions and secondly you’d be hard pressed to conduct a study demonstrating these and being able to state it was the supplement causing the effect. I mean if there was a drink that did all of this surely it would be promoted by the worlds leading health authorities, wouldn’t you think?

To conclude…

…these supplements are advised to be taken in conjunction with a calorie controlled diet and for the best results to reduce your carbohydrate intake. I’ll let you in to a little secret, you will lose body weight by doing these things without the supplement.

SUNDAY SHUTDOWN #34 MUSHROOM SUPPLEMENTS have hit the headlines and I’ve been asked about them a few times recently. Last year, there was even a mushroom latte released from a London coffee chain claiming to improve immunity. I mean please.

There is no doubt that mushrooms themselves have great dietary properties, they are a brilliant food, low in calories, a source of fibre and a plant. Something the majority of us should be including more of in our diets.

The back story

Mushrooms have been used in traditional herbal medicine for centuries. And that’s about as far as it goes. Herbal medicine, which isn’t based on science but moreso on the natural elements of plants and traditions doesn’t have much if any clinical evidence to support its claims. One of the main issues is that many herbal remedies aren’t regulated, you don’t need a licence to sell or produce them yet some can have the same side effects as regulated drugs and medicines. But you never hear those stories, do you? Just about the miracle cures. Would you buy conventional medicine from Jane who lives down the road rather than your pharmacist or doctor?

Claims include supporting the immune system, enhancing mood, being anti-aging, increasing endurance and more scarily helping to fight cancer growth.

Supplements

Supplement forms are available as powders, tablets, broths, teas, coffee and even shower gels. Yet there is no evidence to supports any of these claims being true in humans. The majority of evidence for immune support exists in rodents where high doses have been used. You cannot compare injecting mushroom supplements into mice with drinking a herbal tea or orally taking a capsule.

Any effect you see is likely to be a placebo, which if that helps your symptoms then great. But also think about if you made any other changes at the same time you started taking these and could that have been the reason you feel better?

SUNDAY SHUTDOWN #32 Collagen

Collagen supplements are relatively new to the market and claims about health include maintaining a healthy gut, glowing skin, improved mood as well as promoting healthy hair, nails and skin. It comes in the form of tablets, drinks, topical creams, bars and powders.

With our skin starting to age from our mid 20’s onwards, many are actively freaking out about lines and wrinkles and will do anything to stop it.

Studies…

There are many studies showing collagen works in a laboratory environment but move away from there and into the real world and there is pretty much no evidence for its positive use in humans on any of the health claims listed above. Once you consume collagen, it has to survive being digested (the stomach is very acidic) get into your blood and then be transfused into your skin before it can be used. Collagen is once again cleverly used to pray on our insecurities.

However, the good news is taking collagen supplements is unlikely to be harmful due to the minimal doses being consumed within these supplements. Personally I wouldn’t recommend spending your hard earned cash on something that’s not proven to work. However, that’s up to you. Some of the best things you can do to protect your skin is stay hydrated, wear sunscreen, eat lots of fruit and veg, exercise regularly and don’t smoke or consume alcohol excessively.

There is a little bit of research into the positive effects of collagen hydrolysate supplementation on bone density and joint health, however you ain’t gonna get this from a drink with collagen added to it. Yet again these studies were a mix of animal, lab and human studies with doses of up to 12g per day and the effects were short term. For perspective, in a tablet you’ll get about 1 gram. (Porfirio, E 2016 and Liu et al 2018)

What do the the experts say?

Whilst on the topic of skincare and the effect ingesting collagen can have on your skin, I’d recommend taking a look at Anjali Mahto on Instagram. Clear cut evidence for your skin who also supports that the science here is sketchy at best.