FDA/FTC Crack Down on "Zombie Science"

 

When you walk down the supplement aisle in your supermarket or pharmacy, past the sea of bottles competing for your attention, how can you find one that works better than a sugar pill? You might assume it's reasonable to start with products labeled with words like "clinically proven" or "scientifically shown." But before handing over your money you need to look a little deeper.

According to Dr. Jeff Chen, MD, co-founder and CEO of Radicle Science, which runs some of history's largest crowdsourced clinical trials on supplements, "A majority of so-called 'clinical trials' on supplements are not rigorous and can't determine if the product is better than placebo." In other words, the claims are marketing, not science. But now, these supplement and vitamin companies will have to come up with more proof if they want to make claims on their packaging.

Misleading and unsupported claims had gotten so bad that the Federal Trade Commission, in an effort to protect consumers, released new guidance in December 2022 on the ways health claims by supplement manufacturers are regulated. All manufacturers of "health-related products" must now support their efficacy claims with gold-standard double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials. In April 2022, the FTC sent an unprecedented 760 notices to companies (mostly supplement companies), warning them to "avoid deceiving consumers with advertisements that make product claims that cannot be backed up."

Personally, as someone who does sell nutrition, wellness and healthy aging products, I welcome this new aggressiveness from the regulatory agencies, which is long overdue. In the meanwhile, until companies adjust to the new, more stringent reality (or the bribe congress to overturn the FTC) here are some things you can do right now to avoid being a victim of misinformation or outright fraud.

Action vs Outcomes

 

If you Google this topic you will get a long list of hits, and just about all of them will insist that you should set "results-based" goals for yourself rather than goals based on your activity. Activity, they will say, does not equal results. It seems to me that what they are suggesting is that simply being "busy" will not achieve the results you want. This is hard to argue with, since doing the wrong things will rarely produce the right results.

But I want to suggest that they are 100% incorrect in suggesting that activity does not equal results. In fact, other than pure, dumb luck, nothing else does. Whatever it is you want to accomplish, being it to lose some weight and keep it off, to start a new relationship, to add new customers to your business or anything else, those outcomes are not under your control. What you DO control are whether or not you actually perform the activities that will (eventually) lead you to the result you want.

Suppose, for example, you want to lose 20 pounds by St Patrick's day and then keep it off. Setting THAT as your goal is not going to get you there. What actions will you take that will inevitably produce the desired result if you keep doing them? Will you find and use an App to track your calorie deficit? Will you go for a 30 minute walk every day? Will you start making your own meals 4 days a week instead of eating out? If you really do those things, you will likely achieve your goal. Maybe not by March 17th, but eventually you will. Simply saying you will lose weight based on good intentions most likely won't make you successful.

Of course there are a couple of caveats here.

You have to set the right activity goals based on what you want to achieve, and then you have to actually accomplish them. Either way the activities needed to reach your goal are under your control. They produce the desired result.

I'm not saying that activity goals are easy. Around 75% of Americans make New Year's Resolutions every year, usually results that they want to achieve. By far most of these relate in some way to health and fitness. Despite the fact that over half of those who did set goals claimed to be "very confident" that they would have success, less than 10% of them actually succeed. 

Clearly there is more to it than simply renewing your annual pledge to "go to the gym more often".

Tony Robbins preaches that to have real success you must alter your habits and routines to include the activities that you want to carry out, otherwise your existing routines will simply prevent you from doing so. This can be hard work.

But difficult or not, setting realistic activity goals that will, if carried on long enough, make your desired results inevitable is the way to go. Despite what you may hear from Mr Google.

What is your BMI? Should you even care?

 

Although it was not called Body Mass Index (BMI) at the time, the concept has been in use since about 1850. The name BMI was coined in 1970 and is a number derived from an individuals height and weight. A convenient and simple way of classifying a person from underweight to obese, it has come under fire recently for its shortcomings as a predictor of a person's present and future health. BMI provides a simple (many now say simplistic) numeric measure of a person's thickness or thinness, allowing health professionals to discuss weight problems more objectively with their patients. BMI was designed to be used as a simple means of classifying average sedentary (physically inactive) populations, with an average body composition (muscle to fat ratio).

A study published by The Lancet in 2009 involving 900,000 adults showed that overweight and underweight people both had a mortality rate higher than normal weight people as defined by BMI. But in an analysis of 40 studies involving 250,000 people, patients with coronary artery disease with normal BMIs were at higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease than people whose BMIs put them in the overweight range (BMI 25–29.9). One study found that BMI had a good general correlation with body fat percentage, and noted that obesity has overtaken smoking as the world's number one cause of death. But it also notes that in the study 50% of men and 62% of women were obese according to body fat defined obesity, while only 21% of men and 31% of women were obese according to BMI, meaning that BMI was found to underestimate the number of obese subjects. A 2010 study that followed 11,000 subjects for up to eight years concluded that BMI is not a good measure for the risk of heart attack, stroke or death. A better measure was found to be the waist-to-height ratio. A 2011 study that followed 60,000 participants for up to 13 years found that waist-to-hip ratio was a better predictor of heart disease mortality.

Recently both the medical establishment and statistical community have highlighted the limitations of BMI. The BMI was always designed as a metric for European men. For women, and people of non-European origin, the scale is often biased. As noted by sociologist Sabrina Strings, the BMI is largely inaccurate for black people especially, disproportionately labeling them as overweight even for healthy individuals.

It is very simple to compute your BMI if you know your height and weight. There are easy to use BMI Calculators. But should you bother?

It is worth knowing your BMI as it gives you a quick "drive by" snapshot of your weight/health status. But you should not rely on it overmuch, or be too concerned if you are in an other than "normal" category. It is a good starting point for a conversation with your primary healthcare provider but not a very accurate forecaster of your health.

To read more about BMI, its limitations, and the alternatives you might consider, click here.

 

3 Simple Steps to Reducing Your Risk of Congnitive Decline

 

There are lots of scary health issues for us to worry about as we get older. Cancer, heart disease, stroke, joint replacements, hearing and vision loss are probably on everybody's list. But for me, the #1 fear is cognitive decline. I have a family history of Alzheimer's so every time I misplace my car keys it is grist for a minor panic. Some memory issues are just a part of growing older. But what can we do to at least reduce our risk of something much more serious?

As it turns out there are several things we can do. Unfortunately none of them are the pill that most people seem to want.

 

Here are three really simple lifestyle factors that researchers agree will reduce your personal risk of Alzheimer's and other age related cognitive problems. None of them are complicated, you don't have to buy anything. But they will take some effort on your part. (Sorry.) And the sooner you start the better.

Aging Well at Any Age

 

The seeds of a happy, healthy, successful old age are sown long before that threshold is reached. And, as the immutable "law of the farm" states, you will reap what you sow. Only about 30% of how you age can be attributed to your genetic heritage, according to Julius B. Richmond Professor of Health Policy and Aging at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health Dr. John Rowe, MD. The other 70% is the harvest of what you have sown.

But it is also true that it is never too late to adopt changes and new habits that can improve your personal aging process.

Click here to learn the steps you can take, decade by decade, to have the best senior years possible.

Aging Will Have a Huge Impact on Societies

 

Since 1900, the percentage of Americans age 65 and older nearly quadrupled (from 4.1% in 1900 to 16% in 2019), and the number increased more than 17 times (from 3.1 million to 54.1 million). At the same time, the older population itself became increasingly older. The population is projected to reach 80.8 million by 2040 and 94.7 million by 2060. All but a tiny percentage of them will live in non-institutional settings. Older Americans are one of the fastest-growing demographics in the country. Is this a huge problem or a great opportunity? The answer will depend upon how societies choose to respond to this changing reality.

The increasing burden of providing healthcare to older people, who consume on average far more of it that younger people, will strain personal and government finances. National health spending will climb to 19.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2027, reaching $6 trillion, according to new estimates from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That is up from about $4 trillion in 2020. Most older Americans will receive Social Security payments that rise with inflation, driving up the cost of providing benefits at the same time that fewer young people will be working and paying into the system. Housing will continue to strain personal and government budgets.

But it is not all bad news. Baby boomers in the US are projected to have 70% of all disposable income over the next five years and to control over $15 trillion of wealth. Reimagining housing, social safety networks, travel and producing products targeted at an older population represents a vast economic opportunity. Yet today less than 10 cents of every marketing dollar is targeted at seniors (and nearly all of that is selling pharmaceuticals and insurance). Rethinking stereotypical beliefs about ageing and changing the discourse around older adults could positively transform society into one where everyone can age with purpose and contribute well into their later years.

Click here to read more about the profound effect of an aging population.

Know Your Numbers

 

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is often called the silent killer. And for good reason. Most people with high blood pressure have no symptoms, even if blood pressure readings reach dangerously high levels and even though high blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack, stroke and other serious health problems. If you have high blood pressure, the force of the blood pushing against the artery walls is consistently too high. The heart has to work harder to pump blood.

If there is any upside to this, it would be that hypertension is easily treated once it is diagnosed. Lifestyle changes such as adopting a low-sodium diet and regular exercise can help control high blood pressure. When lifestyle modifications aren't enough doctors may also prescribe effective medications like diuretics or ACE inhibitors.

But before anything can address the problem, a person must realize that they have it. Things that increase the risk of having high blood pressure include: older age, genetics, being overweight or obese, not being physically active, a high-salt diet and drinking too much alcohol. In the US, nearly half of adults already have hypertension but only 1 in 4 of them have it under control. A great many of them do not even realize that they already have the condition.

Finding out where you stand is as simple as having your blood pressure taken. Your doctor can do it at your annual checkup (and probably already is), although the "white coat factor" can make the readings a little higher than normal. Or (better) you can check it yourself at home.

Go ahead and read this to learn about how to properly take your blood pressure and what the readings mean for you. Then do it. It pays to know your numbers.