Results for: Protandim

I Was Wrong about Protandim

A seriously flawed Protandim study seemed to show that side effects were no more common than with placebo. Actually, they were almost twice as common. The researchers were looking at the wrong numbers and didn't even add correctly.

/ December 5, 2017

Update on ASEA, Protandim, and dōTERRA

Multilevel marketing distributors of dietary supplements and essential oils point to studies that they think constitute evidence that their products work. They don't understand why those studies are inadequate.

/ November 7, 2017

Protandim Update: New Studies and an FDA Warning Letter

Multilevel distributors of the dietary supplement Protandim think that evidence from scientific studies supports their claims for their product. The FDA disagrees.

/ May 9, 2017

Brief Update: Protandim

I’ve already devoted more time to Protandim than it deserves. I’ve written about it twice on SBM: here  and here . But I can’t resist covering a new Protandim study that not only serves as a bad example but that made me laugh. Protandim is a mixture of 5 herbal supplements intended to upregulate the body’s own production of antioxidants. Its patent...

/ March 13, 2012

Pursued by Protandim Proselytizers

I’m fed up! In August 2009 I wrote about Protandim, pointing out that it’s not supported by good evidence. I thought I had made myself clear; but apparently I had only made myself a target. True believers have deluged the Internet with attacks on my article, calling it mere “opinion,” ignoring its main points, and denigrating me personally. I have ignored the Internet...

/ October 11, 2011

Protandim: Another Kind of Antioxidant

Four years ago I received an e-mail inquiry about Protandim. I had never heard of it; but I looked it up and wrote a quick, informal, somewhat snarky answer that got posted on the Internet. It got a lot of attention. Googling for Protandim now brings up my critique right after the Protandim website itself: that can’t be good for sales. Over...

/ August 25, 2009

For Discussion: Should I Only Write About Fake Stuff If It Is Well-Known?

Does writing about questionable topics that are not well-known do more harm or good? There are arguments on both sides.

/ March 19, 2019

The THRIVE Experience: Masterful Marketing, Short on Substance

My daughter told me about the latest health fad among her group of acquaintances. She knows people who are spending $300 a month on the THRIVE program and claiming miraculous results. With a skeptic for a mother, my daughter knew enough to question the claims and do her own research; she was not impressed. She concluded that THRIVE was essentially selling caffeine...

/ June 28, 2016

Product B: Here We Go Again

New health products are constantly appearing on the market in such numbers that I can’t hope to keep up. Product B was new to me. I was introduced to it by a doctor who said a family member was “quite enthusiastic” about its potential to “lengthen telomeres and thereby address a myriad of health issues.” Of course, I immediately asked “What exactly...

/ November 25, 2014

Answering Our Critics, Part 1 of 2

Some people don’t like what we have to say on Science-Based Medicine. Some attack specific points while others attack our whole approach. Every mention of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) elicits protests in the Comments section from “true believer” users and practitioners of CAM. Every mention of a treatment that has been disproven or has not been properly tested elicits testimonials from...

/ September 24, 2013