{"id":1739,"date":"2009-05-06T02:25:34","date_gmt":"2009-05-06T00:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.ultimatefatburner.com\/?p=1739"},"modified":"2015-02-13T08:35:52","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T13:35:52","slug":"more-on-hydroxycut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/more-on-hydroxycut\/","title":{"rendered":"More on Hydroxycut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iovate just released a consumer\u00a0Q & A\u00a0on the Hydroxycut recall<\/a>, which is posted on a special site: HydroxycutInformation.com<\/a>.\u00a0 I instinctively rolled my eyes at this para:<\/p>\n

We conduct internal analyses of individual ingredients, and undertake extensive medical, scientific and toxicological literature reviews on the safety of the ingredients during the development stage of each product. Additionally, third-party experts from the leading independent scientific firm specializing in ingredient assessment, toxicology and product safety for the nutritional and pharmaceutical industry review the safety of Iovate\u2019s ingredients and formulas before products are introduced in the marketplace. Only after this external review is completed does Iovate release a formula.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Translation: we went to the library and collected information on our ingredients; then had someone else\u00a0double-check\u00a0our work.<\/p>\n

In other words, it’s your typical Iovate\/Muscletech bafflegab.\u00a0 Nowhere do they state what they mean by “internal analyses” (lab tests?), nor is there any mention of actual safety testing.\u00a0 Doing a “toxicological literature review” sounds great in theory…but what if there isn’t much literature to review in the first place?\u00a0 The\u00a0sad truth\u00a0is that the\u00a0research on many herbal\u00a0compounds is incomplete and\u00a0of debatable quality.<\/p>\n

In the end, however, the\u00a0review process\u00a0is less critical than\u00a0the decisions\u00a0that flow from\u00a0it.\u00a0 This is what’s missing from their so-called information page.\u00a0 What criteria were used to judge the relative safety of\u00a0each ingredient?<\/p>\n

I think it’s\u00a0an interesting question, since – as it turns out – there’s at least one\u00a0hepatotoxic ingredient in Hydroxycut Max: Aralia mandshurica<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The hepatotoxic effect of a dried root extract of Aralia mandshurica<\/em> over a period of 60 days (0.16\u00a0g\/kg, 1.5\u00a0g\/kg and 3\u00a0g\/kg) was studied in Landrace pigs of both sexes. The toxic effect of Aralia mandshurica<\/em> was evaluated by measuring serum alanine amino transferase (ALT), gamma glutamil transpeptidase (gGT) and serum alkaline phosphatase (SAP). Blood samples were obtained by venopuncture on days 0, 7, 30, and 60 after the administration of Aralia mandshurica<\/em> and the body weight was registered weekly. At the end of the experiment the liver was examined histologically. The levels of ALT and gGT were increased significantly with all the concentrations of Aralia mandshurica<\/em> at day 60. A subclinical hepatitis characterized by the presence of lymphocytes and polymorphonuclears in the portal and periportal region was observed. A hepatobiliary toxic effect of Aralia mandshurica<\/em> dried root extract after chronic administration in pigs is concluded.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Emphasis mine.<\/p>\n

Now I just grabbed\u00a0Aralia at random from the list of ingredients\u00a0and googled it…I put all of 3 minutes into the search.\u00a0\u00a0But it’s enough to make me wonder: did the Iovate folks\u00a0miss this?\u00a0 Or did they think this study was worthless?<\/p>\n

So how\u00a0did Iovate account for this?\u00a0Inquiring minds want to know…<\/p>\n

Now, don’t get me wrong…I don’t believe\u00a0Aralia’s the problem (such as it\u00a0is)\u00a0at all.\u00a0 It’s the 5th ingredient in a blend that’s only 274 mg…Personally, I think it’s label decoration, and pretty much irrelevant.\u00a0 It’ s just a quick\u00a0example that illustrates why the company’s explanation of the review process\u00a0is an EPIC FAIL.\u00a0 The words are meant to reassure, but they’re\u00a0largely empty.\u00a0 The process is nothing, unless the decision making process is sound…and they tell us NADA about that.<\/p>\n

It’s par for the course, though.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe I’m just cranky from\u00a0deconstructing too many Iovate\/Muscletech sales pitches, but – just this once – I wish they’d cut the crap, and give consumers some straightforward, honest information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iovate just released a consumer\u00a0Q & A\u00a0on the Hydroxycut recall, which is posted on a special site: HydroxycutInformation.com.\u00a0 I instinctively rolled my eyes at this para: We conduct […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,27,28,29],"tags":[900,903,939],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1739"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8479,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739\/revisions\/8479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}