BBC Panorama: The Truth About Sports Products (2 Comments)
BBC1 broadcast an very interesting episode of Panorama last night...
The Truth About Sports Products
As many of us try to get fitter in this Olympic summer, Panorama investigates the sports products that promise to boost your performance. Are those pricey trainers worth the money? Can sports drinks really help you work out for longer? Are protein shakes any more effective at honing the physique than ordinary food?
With exclusive access to the findings from a unique study by the British Medical Journal and Oxford University, reporter Shelley Jofre tests the science behind the bold advertising claims made by some of sport's biggest brands.
— The Truth About Sports Products
A very interesting programme that concentrated on the marketing claims sports supplement, drink and shoe manufacturers make about how wonderful and amazing their products are and how they'll make you so much better at your sport, and the scientific evidence to support these claims.
As you can expect, pretty much everything lacked any relevant scientific backing to go with the sensational claims with some companies using very dubious studies to try and back their claims. Essentially the programme revealed that these companies have come up with very clever ways to make you, the average Joe Schmoe, pay a lot of money for sugar, salt and water and who knows what else without any real good reason. These supplements and drinks have very little impact on the average person's performance and recovery.
They also covered the injury prevention claims made by running shoe manufacturers and, as a barefoot running fan, you'll know they came up with nothing. To try and make a balanced argument, they mentioned barefoot running and even illustrated how running barefoot reduces impact and thus acknowledged Daniel Lieberman's research