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October
20, 2000 |
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Supplementing
the Extreme Question:
I read Jason’s article,
Dietary Cholesterol:
Friend or Foe,
and I have to admit that I am thoroughly
shocked that any company would blatantly put the public at risk just
to sell a little more product.
I like to get several people’s opinion on controversial
subjects so I wanted to ask your opinion on whether dietary
cholesterol is really that big of a deal. Answer:
I wish I could tell you that dietary cholesterol is a
beneficial chemical compound as there would be a lot less disease
states in the world; however, time and time again, dietary
cholesterol has been shown to be an extremely harmful product to
consume. There is just
no two ways of putting it…avoid large amounts of dietary
cholesterol—it kills! I
personally checked Jason’s references as well as accomplishing my
own literature review and it has been proven over and over that
daily dosages of cholesterol above 300mg cause significant
cardiovascular damage and other disease states.
The product that Jason refers to contains a whopping 1000mg
of cholesterol per day IF you follow the recommended daily dosages.
Unfortunately, I have talked to several supplement stores who
have told me that they had been recommending twice that dose! People, 2000mg of cholesterol is SEVEN times the dosage
proven to cause substantial cardiovascular risk.
My one bit of advice is to stay away from this product and
any other product with significant amounts of dietary cholesterol.
I am not one to cry wolf.
If something is safe, I will not call it dangerous.
Likewise, if something is dangerous, I will not call it safe.
I recommend that you check for yourself on Medline and
confirm what is in Jason’s article. Question:
I am a personal trainer in Southern California and I have
been following your work now for about 2 years.
I can only say that I listen to you more than anyone else in
the industry when it comes to supplementation.
Your cutting edge approach without holding back any punches
has made me a true believer in your work.
It seems that you are always developing and innovating new,
effective compounds which the rest of the industry just knocks off.
A few months ago, you brought another new supplement to the
market called forskolin. I
now see this compound in a lot of fat burners on the market.
I tried to do some research on this product but could not
find much in humans. What
do you really know about forskolin and is it effective at reducing
fat or increasing muscle? Have you received any feedback yet? Answer:
I developed forskolin based upon the in vitro research that
has been accomplished. I
also talked to many doctors, ethnobotanists and pharmacologists
about this product to get a clear picture of what dosages and what
results to expect. The
research shows this compound to have potent stimulatory effects upon
adenylate cyclase. This
enzyme in the body is responsible for cyclic adenosine monophosphate
(cAMP) formation which is an important second messenger that
activates a host of biological and biochemical processes.
Cyclic AMP is perhaps the most important cell-regulating
compound. Once formed it activates many other enzymes involved in
diverse cellular functions. Under normal situations cAMP is formed
when a stimulatory hormone (e.g., epinephrine) binds to a receptor
site on the cell membrane and stimulates the activation of adenylate
cyclase. This enzyme is incorporated into all cellular membranes and
only the specificity of the receptor determines which hormone will
activate it in a particular cell.
Let me give you an example of the importance of what I just
said. Ephedrine and
related alkaloids, for instance, bind to what is called a beta-adrenergic
receptor. Now, this
receptor is one of the most important adrenergic receptors for fat
loss. When this receptor is activated, it stimulates adenylate
cyclase activity which then stimulates the production of cAMP which
potently regulates lipolysis (fat catabolism).
Forskolin is so interesting because it doesn’t need to bind
to any receptor. This
amazing compound
appears to bypass the need for direct hormonal
activation of adenylate cyclase via transmembrane activation.
As a result of this activation of adenylate cyclase,
intracellular cAMP levels rise.
With increased cAMP levels, lipolysis is stimulated and fat
stores decrease…all of this without hormonal stimulation! What is even more interesting is that the adrenergic receptor
is not the only hormonal receptor that performs it functions through
the stimulation of adenylate cyclase.
Because of this, forskolin has the ability to regulate many
hormones in the body including thyroid and insulin.
We began our work on forskolin several years ago and had extremely high hopes of it being a potent fat burner. We tested over two dozen people in a fairly controlled environment and noticed some very interesting things indeed. First, all groups lost weight but the ones that exercised did considerably better. There are some obvious reasons for this but I am not sure exactly why this is happening. Most subjects noticed an intense hot, sweaty condition when they increased their heart rate or exerted themselves in any way. Only a few noticed this condition when they weren’t exercising, but it seemed to be a common phenomenon upon exertion. Somehow, forskolin must act synergistically with exercise in stimulating fat catabolism in the body. The second thing we noticed was that those on forskolin lost considerable body fat without losing much lean body mass. What is going here seems somewhat obvious but the exact mechanisms still aren’t known. I imagine that just as forskolin increases fat catabolism, it increases anabolic processes which preserves lean body mass. This is a significant discovery as weight loss has always taken a great toll on lean tissues of the body such as muscle. Much of the anecdotal evidence that has come in on forskolin mimics the results that we saw in our study. We also now know that forskolin works well with adrenergic stimulators such as ephedrine based alkaloids. In terms of dosage, make sure you are consuming at least 60mg per day or you probably won’t see the desired response. The dosage is not the same for everyone. Some people did well on 60mg and others had to go as high as 120mg to see good results. I imagine this has to do with different amounts absorbed in the gut by different individuals. I hope this helps! Question:
I don’t think you know what your are talking about.
You are the only one who says that maltodextrin is bad for
you. Everyone that I
know consumes large amounts of this complex carb. and feels just
fine. Plus, I looked
through all of my magazines and they all support the consumption of
maltodextrin. What’s
your problem, man! Get
a life and learn a little before you spout off. Answer:
Hmmm…how do I go about answering this?
Well, I agree with you that it is used in a ton of products
on the market. I also
agree that every magazine vastly supports its use.
However, and this is a big however, maltodextrin is seriously
harmful to consume. I
am sorry to say that everyone else doing it doesn’t make it
necessarily right or good for you. All of the magazines (and the supplement companies that own
them) have a vested interest in hyping and selling you things that
are dirt cheap and convenient.
In this case it is maltodextrin.
Technically, maltodextrin is a complex carbohydrate, but it
behaves much like (actually worse than) a simple sugar.
I wish it wasn’t true but maltodextrin is 80% worse than
sucrose or table sugar. I
have counseled many fitness competitors who were consuming 2-3 meal
replacements per day and had subcutaneous fat stores that they just
couldn’t get rid of. Basically,
these people were desperate. As
soon as I reviewed their diet, I knew what the culprit was.
They were consuming a large portion of their calories as
maltodextrin which was spiking their sugar and insulin levels.
The insulin was activating fat-increasing enzymes which were
making them “fat”. In
fact, another name for subcutaneous fat is insulin fat. Many
times I take the “road less traveled”.
While my colleagues and the rest of the industry are saying
one thing, I will voice something different…something I believe
in…something that is the truth.
In this case, there is plenty of evidence to implicate
maltodextrin as a product to stay away from.
Look on the back of your meal replacement, sports bar, or any
other macronutrient product and look for the words maltodextrin.
Even if the product is sugar free, if
it contains maltodextrin, it is a terrible product. STAY AWAY FROM IT!!!! Lastly,
I want to comment that fructose is another carbohydrate to stay away
from. Although it has a
low glycemic index, it initiates a host of other biological
processes that are very unhealthy and which will make you look fat
and out of shape. I
will be doing a full-length article on these carbohydrates in the
near future. Derek
Cornelius is a leading researcher in the field of nutraceuticals.
With his vast experience in pharmacology and biochemistry, he
has developed some of the leading dietary ingredients in the
industry. He is now
working on over 30 R&D projects with some of the largest
companies in the world. |
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