Makers of sports drinks and other performance enhancing products such as supplements and clothing regularly make performance claims that are presented as firm evidence. A new analysis reveals that the evidence is usually weak or entirely absent.I'm not really surprised by this. People want to believe a sugary, tasty Gatorade is better for them than water or Coke even when there's no solid reason to think that's true. Market these products right --by showing professional athletes relying on them, for example-- and you're all set. I'm not a strong proponent of regulating such claims, but it's worthwhile to encourage consumers to think critically and not take such claims for granted.To me, the situation is a cautionary tale for those who would have the FDA reduce its oversight of drugs and devices. Imagine if pharmaceutical makers could put out such flimsy claims. I bet many would do it.Here are some of the key takeaways:
- Fewer than half of products making performance enhancement claims had references to studies backing them up
- When there were studies, 84 percent had a "high risk" of bias
- Only 74 of the studies referred to in 431 claims were appropriate for such claims
- Only 3 of the 74 studies were judged "high quality and at low risk of bias" and none at all had undergone systematic review