I’ve found that I can learn quite a bit about the food and dietary supplement industries by reading the business section of the New York Times. The article I found to be most interesting today, “Breaking the Seal on Drug Research” by Katie Thomas (6-30-13), wasn’t about either industry but its message could easily be applied to both.
Thomas’ article focuses on the work of Dr. Peter Doschi, a post-doctorate fellow at Johns Hopkins University, who has been instrumental in getting drug companies to allow access to their data from drug tests. Why is this important? Because doctors prescribe drugs based on medical evidence as determined through published research. But the system has long been known to be flawed, as it is much more likely that research supporting a drug (or dietary supplement) will be published than research which finds no benefit, or even a potential harm. Also, the merits of a particular study depend on the research design, methods and statistical analysis used. Journal articles can only publish a summary of this information, and the statistics used are not always the most appropriate. Only by having access to the raw data can we really know if the conclusions of the researchers are valid.
The dietary supplement industry often refers to published research in their promotions. This is a very powerful tool as most will assume that the research cited supports the product. A case in point is raspberry ketone, sales of which have soared since Dr. Oz touted it as a “miracle fat burner” on national TV. Promotional sites such as “Flawless Raspberry Ketone” trumpet its effectiveness for weight loss but no research has ever tested this. In fact, what little research has been done used cells in test tubes or mice. In one example, a Korean study was cited in support of raspberry ketone for weight loss (http://flawlessraspberryketone.com/article/gs/ accessed 6-30-13). The subjects in this study were mice, 6 of which gained less weight on a high fat diet when accompanied by raspberry ketones then mice eating the diet without raspberry ketones. The difference? Approximately 5 grams in weight. Not much even for a mouse, considering that 1 pound is equivalent to 454 grams.
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More transparency is needed whether the research subject is drugs, nutrition, or dietary substances. Allowing access to all data will help physicians, nutritionists, and others guide their patients more effectively by differentiating between strong and weak research.