[Caligula]

I'm a sucker for supplements. I came across this one: http://www.elysiumhealth.com

It claims to have anti ageing effects, regulate inflammation and to boost energy levels. It's backed by a bunch of top level scientists and the team looks legitimate. However, that doesn't necessarily mean much, just look at what happened at Theranos.

It contains two active ingredients, both of which are available separately in cheaper supplements. One is Nicotinamide Riboside which supposedly helps with cell repair and energy metabolism, the other is Pterostilbene which is just an antioxidant.

Has anyone been taking these? Any thoughts?

[storm]

I looked at the research papers briefly. They seem all over, like someone just dumped their CV. The way it was put together on the webpage... it was not designed to help someone understand why it works, which is not a good sign.

I will also point out: they didn't even buy hosting rights for those research papers (there are only a few dozen). This means you must to be at a university / med school / doc's office to read them at all. So their interest in providing research to justify their work extends just shy of putting money where their mouth is. Bad!

While we are at it...I would not trust someone based on their research unless I was also an expert (or at least somewhat familiar) in that field and have looked at their work personally. Even then. Too much shadiness in medicine. Awards, appointments, papers, these mean much less than we might expect because these systems are pretty corrupt (nobody likes to talk about it, though).

But of course, there are excuses for such things. It could be good despite this. They could just have a terrible web guy, for example, or be totally uninterested in the website. That would be pretty typical.

Probably the best thing would be to A-B test it. What are the effects people report?

Caligula, are you going to try it?

[Caligula]

I agree, it's easy to dazzle with titles, research, etc. but as a layman I have no real way of assessing this stuff without spending a long time and talking to some medical doctors for their views.

I just ordered some, I'll give it a shot. But it's nearly impossible to really know how good it is based on trying it for a little bit. Will report back.

[storm]

Actually you know...medical journals are the most accessible, that is you can probably read them with only a little patience. The learning curve is as forgiving as it gets: you just need to look up words in the dictionary. And it is always straightforward. We did X. Y happened. Here are the stats. Sections which can be skipped over are easy to identify. And most of the words make sense, meaning they are latin or Greek words just like we have in English (as opposed to dead men). So you save time once you see the pattern. I think that you can definitely read medical journals if you are a layman.

If you find one you want to read and can't get it elsewhere send me a PM.

[The Beast1]

(04-15-2016 01:06 AM)storm Wrote:  

I will also point out: they didn't even buy hosting rights for those research papers (there are only a few dozen). This means you must to be at a university / med school / doc's office to read them at all. So their interest in providing research to justify their work extends just shy of putting money where their mouth is. Bad!

Your local public library pays money to these journals so the general public can have access to these resources. I should go to my library more.

[mikeymike]

I have not used this particular supplement, nor Nicotinamide but do have experience with injectable Pterostilbene and I gave up on it. It's a weird compound and I didn't like it personally. Lots of nerve stimulation, leading to spasms. In theory it was supposed to raise igf as well but in the end I found it a pain in the ass and an unnecessary addition to my health longevity stacks.