Spring 07 front cover - United States Special Operations Command

OBSERVATIONSFigures 2 depicts the amount of bulk product thatis necessary to materially support even this simple profileof basic supplements. In total this requires the ingestionof over 20 capsules, pills, or tablets every 24 hours. Severalof the substances have timing considerations andspecific complements to maximize their half life or releaseconsiderations. The fiscal outlay for Figure 1 (picturedbulk stocks) which sustains approximately 40 daysof usage would total over $1200.00 per year. My vendorchoices are analogous to a mid-tier automobile so thisprice point could certainly be higher if I elected to patronizesome of the custom companies that are availableon the commercial market. A battery of performancesupplements designed on similar criteria would price atalmost double the outlay of the basic panel.I feel no different today than I did 90 days ago.While I have no unusual expectations from this trial, Iam surprised that there is not even the slightest up tick inany of the subjective benefits ascribed to several of theseproducts. The barometer for me is recovery time betweenworkouts and in that regard, recovery times havenot narrowed.Objectively, there are no changes in any of mylabs that are available to the military member in a preventativehealth capacity. While I believe that if someof the more specific tests that measure endocrine andblood chemistry were available my objective metricswould have some sort of measurable improvement.SOME BULLET POINTS FOR OUR READERS• There is an unusual amount of contradictory, authoritativedata about the “right” dosages. It is most contrarianin the .org versus .com websites.• If you take the exact manufacturers recommended doseyou will need to replace stocks 33% sooner.• I encountered the word toxicity far too many times inmy research. I encountered the phrase “highly recommended”even more.• If you experience side-effects I believe it would be nearimpossible to figure out the singular source of those effects.Many elements have the ability to attain synergywith others and in fact many are co-dependant on specificratios of related elements to release correctly andbe effective at the cellular level.• Taking 20 capsules per day and complying with the“with food” - “without food”– “with specific foods”directions is an absolute pain. If you paid as much attentionto your food intake as you do complying withthese restrictions, I would submit that you probablydon’t require the supplements.• If you have an opinion about your supplements it willtake you minimal time on the internet to discover literaturethat can reinforce or corrupt that opinion.There are an exceptional amount of castles out therethat both defend and advocate depending on their commercialpositioning.It is my intent to follow this through a six-monthterm and evaluate for efficacy at that time. While manyof the research investigators that have championed eachof the substances make substantial health / wellness argumentsand observations, I feel that without centralizedguidance similar to what is found in the Nutrition Manualit is near impossible to locate definitive supplementprotocols. At an elementary level many of these supplementswork because you believe or decide that they do.Evidence-based and laboratory level assessments thatwould be needed to substantiate the benefits are simplynot available to the Operator and therefore, rationale forusage must be an extrapolated thought process, if not abelief that because it was established in a relevant peerstudy I must need it, and it is safe for me to use.REFERENCES1. Webster’s New World College Dictionary2. Dorland’s Medical Dictionary (27th)3. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, noun4. Research Papers and Documents posted to SOCOM HP website• Using the common sense to the common man principleI believe that most of the inertia to supplementationcomes from convincing the population that they are nutritionallydeficient in some form. I read five books,from five different authors and all of them prefacedtheir arguments with this postulate. Selection decisionsbased on the creation of anxiety regarding personalhealth will seldom be objective.Human Ferformance Forum 119