"The truth about sports products"

245

Comments

  • Didn't watch the program but I am pretty sure what the content was....

    All I can say is I choose my brand of ASICS - new pair every year from a lot of use - because they support my feet, make them comfortable but most of all make me feel good when I'm running.  I like Lucozade Sport - because it tastes good especially after an hour plus working out and it makes me feel good

    I make no apologies for spending my money on my running habit.  I don't smoke.  I eat well.  I don't binge drink.  I do it because I like it. 

    I will watch the program though on iplayer, it'll be interesting either way....

  • it is very interesting, but its very biased and considering they bash people like puma for not backing up their claims, they really are quite hypocritical in not really backing up their own with much more than oppinion and very diluted facts, 

    its all good information but its just a little too biased and half information, well worth a watch though.

  • http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/4/e001702.full?ga=w_bmjj_bmj-com

    A useful link to a/the supporting article in the BMJ. 

    Won't stop me buying sports drinks though - I buy for the placebo effect! image

    Actually that's not totally a joke - I noticed when I started running that I felt better when I ran with water+a small amount of Robinsons rather than just water in my bottle. The amount of Robinsons wasn't enough to make any difference and I wasn't running that far then anyway but it just helped me grit out those tough bits when 10k was a struggle.

  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭
    Sheeyut wrote (see)

     

    Actually that's not totally a joke - I noticed when I started running that I felt better when I ran with water+a small amount of Robinsons rather than just water in my bottle. The amount of Robinsons wasn't enough to make any difference and I wasn't running that far then anyway but it just helped me grit out those tough bits when 10k was a struggle.


    There have been studies into the effects of merely rinsing the mouth with carb-rich liquids, the idea being (I think??) that you're tricking the body into thinking it's receiving the energy it needs.  I'm not sure whether this goes beyond the placebo effect but I'm sure it's tied in there somewhere.  I know that when I'm flagging towards the end of a long bike ride, a quick swig of Lucozade* really does hit the spot instantaneously even though it clearly can't have done anything to stock up/spare my glycogen stores yet.

    *Other sugary drinks are available.

  • I thought the programme was pretty good. The point is not that it was biased (maybe it was), but that the companies that make all these claims for their products rarely have much scienctific evidence to back them up - and they should. The fairest point the programme made was that you should search out running shoes that feel comfortable when you run. That's always been my feeling. I've never particularly believed in sports drinks, and the point about simply having a decent diet has always been my opinion. Ok, so it matched my opinions, which is why I thought it fair, I guess!!image True enough, Graham Obree could probably take more food out on his bike than a runner can carry, but his point about refuelling after training or racing carried a lot of weight.

  • Panther Hunter wrote (see)

    Its a typical Hatchet Job by Panarama.

    They did the same thing about Racism in Poland before the Euros. There were no problems at all.

    They make their mind up before they do the research.

    Tabloid TV.

    But at least the reporter got a few jollies to exotic places.  Which was nice.

  • Tim R2-T2Tim R2-T2 ✭✭✭

    What worried me more was that parents are giving their kids these drinks!

    Poison yourselves fine but really?

  • Not sure I agree with the panning of sports drinks- I see that they aren't necessary for most of the public that will do 20 minutes on the treadmill in the gym, but they are shown to have benefits for runs of over an hour, where some sort of refuelling is necessary.

    As for the downer on stability shoes, that's a bit irish- most runners have shoes fitted to their gaits and this helps- I know when I started in the wrong shoes I was in a whole world of knee pain, but since being fitted for shoes to control my over-pronation I've not had a whisper from my knee!

  • I think is was very good. When it comes to products in general, not just sports products, a lot of people are not able to use their common sense and want to believe in miracles. People who think that eating a yoghurt will make them super healthy will also believe that drinking Powerade will make them into mega athletes. I hope it can reach the dummies who buy into all the hype but the very part of me that protects me from it seriously doubts that it will.
  • Tabloid journalism tends to put up big headlines and then very little evidence to back up the claims. I think they backed up every bit of what they said with plenty of evidence. Not tabloid jounalism at all.
  • Curly45Curly45 ✭✭✭
    Sussex Runner (NLR) wrote (see)
    I think is was very good. When it comes to products in general, not just sports products, a lot of people are not able to use their common sense and want to believe in miracles. People who think that eating a yoghurt will make them super healthy will also believe that drinking Powerade will make them into mega athletes. I hope it can reach the dummies who buy into all the hype but the very part of me that protects me from it seriously doubts that it will.

    instead of drinking that sports drink I think most people could do with a swig from the healthy dose of scepticisim bottle...

     

    sarah marsbar wrote (see)

    Not sure I agree with the panning of sports drinks- I see that they aren't necessary for most of the public that will do 20 minutes on the treadmill in the gym, but they are shown to have benefits for runs of over an hour, where some sort of refuelling is necessary.

     

    If someone could point me to randomised, large scale trial, on non-elites that demonstrates this conclusion then I would be happy with that statement, otherwise, no they havent been shown to.

    They may have been shown to have a minimally small effect on small groups of elite athletes where there are no placebo options, whether that translates to an effect on normal peeps, whether it was statisically important and whether a non industry study can replicate the findings easily is all unanswered. Oh and how many negative studies did they not publish before this one was submitted for publication? And what is the reputation of the journal they published in and the authors? Was the study ghost written by the manufactuer?

    These sort of unanswered questions were the exact point of the programme.

  • Hypothetical situation; Beginner runner starts to run. He gets shin splints because he's a beginner. Someone suggests that they should get some fancy trainers. Beginners recovers and gets used to running and they shin splints go away. Beginners conclusion " wow these fancy trainers really work"

  • sarah marsbar wrote (see)

    Not sure I agree with the panning of sports drinks- I see that they aren't necessary for most of the public that will do 20 minutes on the treadmill in the gym, but they are shown to have benefits for runs of over an hour, where some sort of refuelling is necessary.

     

    If someone could point me to randomised, large scale trial, on non-elites that demonstrates this conclusion then I would be happy with that statement, otherwise, no they havent been shown to.

    They may have been shown to have a minimally small effect on small groups of elite athletes where there are no placebo options, whether that translates to an effect on normal peeps, whether it was statisically important and whether a non industry study can replicate the findings easily is all unanswered. Oh and how many negative studies did they not publish before this one was submitted for publication? And what is the reputation of the journal they published in and the authors? Was the study ghost written by the manufactuer?

    These sort of unanswered questions were the exact point of the programme.

    Maybe my use of 'shown' was a poor choice, given the context. What I meant was, during longer runs, it's useful to be able to easily refuel without having to stop and eat, and for a lot of people, a sports drink is the most convenient way to do so.

  • Like probably many of us on here research plays an important part in our jobs, whether you lead research projects, have to make changes because of research or simply have to read it.  The truth is it is extremely difficult for there not to be some bias.  For researchers to carry out a project they have to acquire knowledge of the subject and that will form some kind of opinion.  Most research will have positive and negative conclusions.  Panorama and Lucozade research will be no different.  It’s how you present those outcomes that give the bias and actually the same research will be presented in different ways for different audiences, so publicly some aspects will be highlighted, to the board and management staff of a company other aspects may be the drivers.  Most people do not read the detail in a report, they read the conclusions and/or recommendations.  In a previous job I have written some technical reports where the format expected for reports was that it started with an Executive Summary and I know that was all some people read, not the 50+ pages of research that followed it.

    Last night did not really include anecdotal evidence.  Although this carries little evidential weight, when you are dealing with consumers it does provide important perspective.  Anecdotally I would say most experienced runners on here know they don’t need to worry too much about hydration and nutrition for runs under 10 miles, but do like the comfort of a gel or sports drink when running long.  I think most know the benefit of good shoes, though may be highly sceptical of the claims made in some of the adverts.

    So probably the programme left as many questions as we would all have had before.

    And they still didn’t tell you how many jelly babies to eat on a 2 hour run?

  • Tim R2-T2Tim R2-T2 ✭✭✭
    NLR. It's a bit more complex than that but you're not far off. I would suggest that the cushioning effect of a new pair of trainers over an old pair has far more benefit.



    However, I would suggest that a pair of motion control shoes is very much like a support on any injury. Provides additional support until the injury heals or the body addapts. Once this happens I would guess in the majority of cases you can move to neutral shoes. Hence the video during gait analysis is pretty useful.



    Whether you need to spend ??130 on shies to go down the gym is another discussion.
  • Tim R2-T2Tim R2-T2 ✭✭✭
    JF50. It's one every 5minutes after the first 90minutes.
  • Or sooner if you're diabetic.

  • Curly45Curly45 ✭✭✭

    Or none in my case.

    No liquids and no fuel on runs up to 25 miles.

    I do sometimes drink in races or if it is really hot. A mouthful of water though. Not enough to rehydrate, just to swill my mouth out.

    I doubt I will fuel my marathon in April either. I may do if I am persuaded that I get some benefit from it on a couple of test runs over 22 miles (which of course I will be comparing against the same length runs without any fueling).

  • TenjisoTenjiso ✭✭✭

    I wish they had told us more about the products which do have good evidence to back them up.  They mentioned Creatine and Caffeine, but with no context.  No mention of gels.

    In general I didn't think that there were major surprises in the programme.  They didn't say that sports drinks were no use, just that they were no use unless you're taking part in endurance sports.

    If the Oxford University study and changes in the law (from next January) encourage claims to be evidence-based, this can only be a good thing for us all.  However, I suspect it probably won't take long for the industry to find a way to flout any new regulations.

  • I thought it was really well done, agreed with most of it. The only thing I thought they could have mentioned is the convenience of a sports drink compared to a jam sandwich for carbs on the go. Same with protein shakes, you COULD eat a tuna sandwich but a sweaty, squashed sandwich that's been in my bag for 3 hours is less appealing than a milkshake.



    I loved that the South African professor just cracked up when they asked him about low calorie sports drinks image
  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭
    Curly45 wrote (see)

    Thats Noakes:
    The Lore of Running book link

    image

    I wish I could pretend to have read this tome cover to cover.  In truth, the best use I've got out of it recently is as a tofu press.

    image

  • A few comments about last night's programme (my conflict of interest here is that I worked on it).

    There's been some really interersting chat and feedback on this forum. The problem is there's just a lack of high quality evidence for much is what is sold. For example, we tried to find the evidence that having your feet examined for pronation on a treadmill and then being prescribed a certain kind of trainer was going to reduce injury - it just wasn't there. The main issue is if you want to say something is based on years of scientific research, you really should be able to demonstrate it and reproduce it in follow up studies. That's essential to scientific process. We asked lots companies for their data on all sorts of products (compression garments are included) and there was just an absence of quality evidence (as judged by well defined scientific criteria). Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence - and it might well be personal preferences and trial and error are the best way to judge what works for you.

  • legend777legend777 ✭✭✭

    I enjoyed the program - especially as it suggested things I already do. I drink very little during runs. I only have sports drinks for long runs - normally only half marathon distance or more. I buy trainers that are comfortable - never spent more than £30 on a pair although I usually go for something that is 'last season' so they were probably expensive at some point. Never used gels or supplements, although I do like a Jelly Babie or two on a long run.

    As others have said, would have liked them to look into compression clothing (another thing I don't use), and although I like the idea of barefoot running - is a really option for most of us?

  • Without wanting to shamlessly plug the journal I work for, we've made all the content open access so people other than doctors and researchers can read it. There's some stuff on compression garments in this article:

    http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e4848

    There's lots of other content that's relevant too (much of it is written in academic speak but it looks as though there are plenty of scientists on this forum)

  • Tenjiso - good point. According to EFSA there were two claims on caffeine (increased attention and increased alertness) considered "proven" for people in general (not specifically people engaged in sports).

    The three claims considered "proven" for people engaged in sports were
    increased endurance performance, increased endurance capacity, and
    reduction in the rated perceived exertion/effort during exercise.

    However, the European Commission have not sanctioned the latter claim as yet because of the harms of caffeine and the effect on kids.

    It's worth pointing out that Oxford would dispute the quality of the science. You can read what they found about caffiene here:

    http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e4848

  • TenjisoTenjiso ✭✭✭

    Thanks for the reply Deb.  I'm printing the report for a leisurely read.

  • To be honest I'm glad I watched this last night . I didn't realise how much I'm stressing ( to strong a word perhaps) over shoes / drinks etc etc ..

    Although I felt they were extremely biased , I feel it's given me the chance to look at things different . Go back to basics perhaps , and see how I get on .. As for the shoes the jury ,for me, is out .. By coincidence I have been reading 'running with the Kenyans ' there is a a lot of emphasis on bare foot running and that it's a natural way of running causing less injuries , and that trainers are adding to the problem . Also do Kenyans worry about sports drink , special trainers , food supplements ? Maybe the top athletes do theses days but I'm pretty sure the general local runners don't ... And they seem to be light years ahead with pace etc ...
  • GraemeKGraemeK ✭✭✭

    Whilst I don't doubt the value of the Oxford lead research, in my own area of research I see published data supporting claims that are occasionally, at best, open to question .  I do feel however that Panorama has been dumbed down over the years to the level of Tonight on ITV and this episode showed that. For me, it didn't show that Sports products don't work, it showed that there is no conclusive evidence that they do.  Just as on swallow doesn't make a spring, one bloke in Calgary saying buy whichever shoes you like doesn't make a fact.

    It appeared to me that BBC had decided that they wanted to prove that Product X was rubbish and then demonstrated it. I didn't see a balanced arguement with the researcher's peers arguing the opposite point. IMO without a double blind RCT with a suitable sample size, it would be difficult to conclusively prove that Product X works. Or not as the case may be. Until then, IMO, the jury has to remain out.

    Loved Tim Noakes laughing about Diet energy drinks, I've always wondered about them. Then again, if the placebo effect works, all power to it. I personally prefer water.

    Deb, red or green racing flats? Which is faster?

Sign In or Register to comment.