High Performance Fitness

written by Regina Throop

There are so many supplements on the shelves these days, it's hard to know which ones work and what you should use them for. On top of that, I'm always careful with supplements in pill form; studies show that your body only absorbs 10 to 20 percent of the nutrients. That's why I'm a big believer in liquid supplements; I like knowing that my body absorbs almost all of it.

A few years ago, I started taking 1st Step for Energy Multivitamin, a liquid supplement. Now, it's the only multivitamin I take. The makers, High Performance Fitness, recently came out with a Vitamin B-12 supplement, and I knew right away I wanted to try it.

"The energy drink market is going through the roof right now," says Mike McGinnis, president and co-owner of High Performance Fitness. "We wanted to add B-12 to our family of supplements so people would have an alternative to the energy drinks that are high in sugar, caffeine and synthetic stimulants."

Now, I have to say that I love Red Bull. It's the one thing that can wake me up when I'm in my afternoon slump. I know it's not healthy. Not to mention the "crash" I get about an hour after I take it. Vitamin B-12 is known as the "energy vitamin," but I never really found one I liked. Until now.

I started taking 1st Step for Energy Vitamin B-12 about a month ago. At first, I would take it at 2 p.m., the time of day that I typically start yawning and find it hard to concentrate on my work. Instantly, I found that I had more energy; but even more importantly, I found I had no more afternoon brain fog. I could concentrate again, and I found I was getting more done at work. It also tastes great!

Then, McGinnis suggested I take it 20 minutes before my workout, saying that the many athletes who take this supplement report they can push through their workouts without becoming fatigued. I tried it, and it worked. I found I could work out longer and a little harder

Vitamin B-12 isn't just for energy, though. It's also good for:

• Formation of red blood cells
• Maintenance of the central nervous system
• Formation of DNA
• Regulating metabolic pathways
• Supporting healthy heart function and
• Combating chronic fatigue

Vitamin B-12 is found naturally in meat, eggs and milk. So for you vegans out there, as well as those predisposed to anemia, this supplement is for you.

Each bottle of 1st Step for Energy Vitamin B-12 contains a one-month supply. It retails for $19.99, and the label suggests taking one-half ounce per day.

NIH Study: Glucosamine/Chondroitin Combo "Effective"

Initial findings of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), long awaited by the dietary supplement industry, conclude that the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin "is effective in treating moderate to severe knee pain due to osteoarthritis (OA)."

Study results were presented at last month's annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in San Diego. Based at the University of Utah, the six-month GAIT trial tested whether glucosamine and chondroitin used separately or in combination, and in comparison to placebo and celecoxib, are effective in reducing pain and improving functional ability in patients with knee OA. It recruited nearly 1,600 OA patients ages 40 to 80.

The best results were reported in patients with moderate to severe pain who took the glucosamine/chondroitin combo. Almost 80 percent reported experiencing about 20 percent less pain.

"The supplements glucosamine and chondroitin offer effective treatment to the millions of Americans who suffer from [OA]," said Jason Theodosakis, M.D., a member of the steering committee for the $14 million NIH study. "One very significant finding of GAIT is that the supplements actually outperformed the prescription drug for those with moderate to severe knee pain thus offering relief for those who need it most."

"This study offers us another alternative, and that's what it's really all about - alternatives in treatment," Crystal S. Wright, vice president of Leiner Health Products of Carson, Ca, told reporters. Leiner supplies 43 percent of the nation's glucosamine/chondroitin store brands.

"This gold-standard NIH-sponsored study adds to the strong body of human clinical trials that supports the use of glucosamine and chondroitin for significant and long-lasting relief of joint pain and improvements in mobility," said Dr. Andre Shao, vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, based in Washington, DC. "The body of science demonstrates that these supplements are both safe and beneficial for joint health."

Amid the enthusiastic response, industry attorney Marc Ullman of the New York City-based law firm Ullman, Shapiro & Ullman sounded a note of caution: "Please remember that these results will not change FDA's [the Food and Drug Administration's] position that claims concerning joint pain will cause a supplement to be considered an unapproved new drug," he said. FDA has declined to authorize a qualified health claim for glucosamine, chondroitin, or a combination of the two [The Efficacy of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate in Patients with Painful Knee Osteoarthritis (OA): The Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT) Abstract, October 1005.]

Failure to properly absorb vitamin B12, found in meat, milk and eggs, has been implicated in various neurological disorders. Now a British study suggests that low levels of the vitamin in older people may cause the brain to shrink.

The study, published Tuesday in Neurology, included 107 men and women, average age 73, who had no mental impairments. Researchers used M.R.I. scans to measure brain volume and blood tests to record vitamin B12 levels. They divided the subjects into three groups, based on their level of the vitamin, and followed them for five years with annual scans and physical and mental examinations.

The group with the lowest levels of vitamin B12 lost twice as much brain volume as those with the highest levels. The difference was significant even after controlling for initial brain size, age, sex, education, cognitive test scores and various measures of blood chemistry.

David Smith, an emeritus professor of pharmacology at Oxford and the lead author of the study, said the work established an association, but not a causal connection.

“This doesn’t mean you should go out and buy vitamin B12 tablets tomorrow,” he said. “We need to know the results of a clinical trial in which we’re testing whether B12 does actually prevent brain shrinkage.”