Essentials of Nutrition for Sports

PhDs and MDs. A few review their earlier efforts and restudy whether Maxxta works. A couple of them report their negative findings at the next poster session of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Runner’s World

and

Bicycling

get hold of the negative studies.

Now they are interested, because now

that everyone thinks Maxxta

works, a negative study is news. By now, four years have passed.

Maxxta does not really work. Nine out of the 10 original

researchers found no effect. The one who found a little effect and sold the product might have been

an honest researcher, but honestly

came up with fluky results. (Or not. Read more about product promotion on page

142

.) The magazines did their job and published

the original positive information because it

was

news.

So what? Somebody made a prof

it. Some new product will come

along to replace Maxxta.

The bottom line is that you do n

eed good scientific research to

establish whether something works.

However, you also need to be

cautious. Understand that selection bias in reporting and publishing means what works is published, and what doesn’t isn’t—until it is news to say otherwise.

What Makes a Good

Study?

(^) The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate,
contrived and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.
John F. Kennedy^ Claims may be made with no evidence for financial or other
gain. Claims may be based on a theory, animal studies, or poor-quality human studies.
Let us dismiss claims based on theory or animal studies as being
unlikely to be useful for athletes.
Q: If claims are made based on human studies, how can we
evaluate them?
A: Look at the group studied, identify and evaluate the methods
used in order to understand how the study was done, locate potential study limitations, place the study within the context of already known or published information,
and draw your conclusions.
The study of populations, the use of mathematics to evaluate
results, and reasoning are helpful in evaluating studies. If you are seriously interested in developing an expertise in evaluating studies, consider courses in epidemiology, statistics, and logic.
Why do you need logic? Consider: Consumption of fruits and
vegetables is associated with a decrease in the incidence of cancer. Fruits and vegetables have antioxidants. Therefore taking antioxidants will reduce cancer. Don’t see the problem? (It is that there might be other substances othe
r than antioxidants in fruits and
vegetables that account for their cancer-reducing association.)
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