ASAE: The wonder of water?

Water, water, everywhere, what type should I drink? 

I was passed along an e-mail this morning about this new and revolutionary product called ASEA (you can check out the mumbo-jumbo here).

They have even produced an inspiring YouTube video meant to evoke some upwelling feeling of accomplishment.

ASEA is a diet supplement described as a “life-changing” health aid that can benefit everyone. "Every human being has three basic needs: to believe, to belong, and to become." Hold the phone. Isn't this supposed to be the next great nutritional supplement? It claims to act by creating 16 new chemical particles formed from salt and water which act as redox signaling molecules in your body.

Redox stands for reduction and oxidation- a process by which you body transfers electrons from one particle to the next, changing it in a way to illicit some sort of signal, be it a release of a hormone, an electrical stimulus generation, or chemical production to call immune cells. It acts as a signalling pathway within the body. As ASEA puts it,

“ASEA is trillions of stable, perfectly balanced Redox Signaling Molecules suspended in a pristine saline solution—the same molecules that exist in the cells of the human body. Redox signaling is a function that is central to all life. Signaling molecules are created within every cell in the body. After the age of 12, our cells make fewer and fewer of these molecules. ASEA is the world’s only source for replenishing them.”

 Now, behind all that is what they are really trying to get at, and what a lot of these products are trying to get at; the concept of reactive oxygen species, or ROS for short. These ROS, as you've probably read in just about every health and nutrition article in any form of media, are what cause cellular damage- aging, cell death, and ultimately- cancer. The damaging inflammatory effects of ROS have long been known to the scientific community- why obese people are unhealthy is because they are in a constant inflamed state due to ROS production- and with the advent of all the anti-oxidant products being marketed today, most people are getting some sense of the types of things ROS can do. 

 And that is what ASEA is ultimately trying to do, be something of the ultimate antioxidant. It allegedly promotes enhanced immune function, supports vital cellular function, provides superior "support" for athletes, boosts efficiency of the body’s own antioxidants by 500%, and protects against free radical damage. Vague claims from a products claiming to be revolutionary and the only source for replenishing these signalling molecules that we lose at the age of twelve (we don't). They can't legally claim to be effective against any disease, but because there lies the association between free radical damage, immune function and illness, they can make these purposefully vague claims about their product so long as they say the claims haven't been evaluated by the FDA and the product shouldn't be used to treat every illness. They instead turn to testimonials about how ASEA has helped everything from curing sleep problems and minor aches and pains right up to curing cancer.

But, perhaps they have something here. Let's take a closer look at what they actually have going on shall we?

Oh, wait, what's this? Their product label just has two ingredients; water and salt. But they explain ,

"ASEA is a mixture of 16 chemically recombined products of salt and water with completely new chemical properties. It is no longer salt or water just like table salt is no longer chlorine gas or sodium metal." 
 

But what are these mysterious 16 new chemicals? ASEA has been quite coy about what exactly these miracle chemicals are,

"ASEA is made in Utah from municipal water that is highly purified using both reverse osmosis and distillation. The pure water is then combined with pure salt and allowed to cure, before undergoing a patented process that oxidizes and reduces the saline solution into the final product. During processing most of the chloride ions are integrated into redox molecules. Sodium ions are not effected [sic] and help to maintain electrical neutrality. Hydrogen and oxygen also contribute to the formation of redox molecules, but most of the water forms a matrix of clusters around the active redox molecules and ions. This micro-clustering further contributes to the stability and electrical neutrality of the product. The final product is no longer a saline solution. It is not salt and water. It is a balanced buffet of redox molecules. The raw materials have been transformed into a new product. Ingredients: Some people ask why redox Molecules are not listed as an ingredient on each bottle of ASEA. By comparison, when we look at the ingredients on a loaf of bread, we find flour, water, eggs, sugar, oil, yeast, etc. Nowhere on the list does it say “bread”. The raw ingredients have been blended and heated and forever transformed. You can no longer locate the eggs or oil that we know went into the process. It’s the same with ASEA."

It sounds all scientific and they do try to compare it so something more laymen like baking a cake. And yet, this isn't science. The chemistry of what they are trying to describe doesn't exist. The chemical and physical nature of the individual elements (Sodium, Chlorine, Hydrogen, Oxygen) are slaves the the physical properties that dictate the laws of nature. Essentially they have created an expensive saline solution from tap water.

"But wait!" you cry, "surely they must have backed up a product with science!" Surely they must have right? Well, the science that they have done is what you consider poor science. They have claimed that they were able to determine the solution contained an equilibrium of several known compounds stabilized within ASEA. Yet they failed to state the compounds. They then performed a VO2 max (rate of maximal oxygen uptake) test on 17 athletes and found a 3% increase in VO2 max. Yet the data is pretty meaningless as there was no placebo control group. Then a small study of cyclists was done with a crossover control but with no placebo control. It measured a number of changes in metabolites that “may represent effects on inflammation, oxidative stress, and physiologic stress.” But again, this study was no placebo controlled, rendering the data relatively meaningless in any sort of context. What's more is that these studies were done "in-house" by the company and were never published in any scientific peer reviewed journals. Without being peer reviewed and published, there is a lack of credibility to ASEA's claims. Extraordinary claims require ordinary evidence, which they don't have. 

Bottom Line: ASEA is salt water. Who knows, maybe its something you want to try, maybe you want to spend a dollar an ounce for filtered Utah tap water. Maybe time will show that they've created something magnificent. Or maybe you can just find enjoyment reading through their website.

Any thoughts? Let us know in the comments section! We at Runner's Mark  are always trying to keep you informed and up to date on the latest happenings!

What's The Deal with Protein

If you've frequented the gym any time in the past little while you'll have noticed, or perhaps heard, the little wire sphere bouncing around in plastic bottle, shook by "hardcore-look gym rats" (as is often the term muttered by some of the more slight runners I've bumped into at the gym). Amongst groups of these inverted triangles you may hear utterances of "whey", "casein", "alanine" or something along those lines. What does it all mean? And why should you care too?

Protein is an essential part of your diet. It is needed to keep your body functioning, be it from building and regenerating muscles, down to the intricate nature of how your body works- enzymes and cellular signaling functions. In terms of training and running, protein supplementation has been studied time and time again and proven effective when trying to build or maintain muscle strength and improve regeneration post exercise. Yet, what protein source is the best? When should you take it? Before you work out? During? After? When's the best time to take it? In today's blog we're going to look at some of the science behind protein supplementation.

The Basics

Protein- The basics

Proteins are chains of 20 (or 22 if you add the two additional created by genetic code) Amino Acids, 10 of which are considered essential to human adults. Essential Amino Acids (EAA) are ones that humans cannot create ourselves, we must take them in from external sources in order for us to be able to create some of our own enzymes and proteins. When our body is starved of proteins, we call this being in a state of negative nitrogen balance. Nitrogen Balance = Nitrogen intake - Nitrogen loss. Being in a negative nitrogen balance means you are losing more nitrogen through urea than you are taking in via diet. This creates a whole host of  problems, least of which includes muscle wasting and degradation.

Nitrogen Balance and Amino Acids- Phillips 2004- Nutrition

Thus, to build muscle we want muscle to be in positive energy balance- the reason why protein supplementation post exercise is so important. If you resistance train or work your muscles to the point of exhaustion (any kind of exercise really) you can go into negative protein balance. By eating food loaded with protein or supplementing with amino acids, you can decrease the breakdown of muscle protein and maintain a positive balance needed to gain muscle mass and maintain muscle growth- especially important for those shorter-end running events or recovering after long runs for distance athletes.

Protein Balance and degradation- Phillips 2004-Nutrition

But what's the optimal dose? How much protein supplement do I have to take to get the maximum effects? is it just the one scoop that they give me? or do I need two? What's the deal? Much research has shown that the perfect dose is right around 20g of protein post workout. You're more than welcome to take more, but the relationship between the fractional biosynthesis rate (FSR) and protein intake is asymptotic, not linear. This of course varies person to person based on individual physiology, but the fact remains that the process is saturable, there are only so many amino acid transporters that we have to be able to move amino acids into our body. 

The leveling off of Protein Synthesis Rate with increase supplementation- Moore 2009- Am J Clin Nutr.

So, if protein supplementation is good, all amino acids must be good right? Not so, Essential Amino Acids are just that, essential (Emphasis). 18g/day of EAA has the same benefits as taking 40g/day of whole source/mixed sources of amino acids. There seems to be something about EAA, specifically one in particular- Leucine, which is playing the role of muscle bio synthesis. 

So, you've looked around for the best source of protein but wait! You've hit a snag! You've come across sites that claim their protein source is the best! 

Whey- Milk derived protein source

"Why protein (the highest quality and the best form of protein) is incredible stuff. It provides the body with the necessary building blocks to produce amino acids that are used for building muscle tissue. Whoa! Nearly every bodybuilder know the importance of protein supplementation. Studies have been conducted that compare whey whey protein to other sources. They have found that whey protein contains the perfect combination of overall amino acid makeup... and in just the right concentrations for optimal performance in the body." ~bodybuilding.com/store/whey

Casein- Beef derived protein source

"Beef protein is specifically designed to allow the recycling of amino acids back toward the muscle-building pathway and prevents and prevents the build-up of debilitating toxic scavengers such as ammonia. This amazing product is the only protein with this technology that is capable of recycling aminos back into the anabolic muscle building pathways for increased nitrogen retention and improves muscle growth and performance." 

~fabmuscles.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=230

Two hilariously written product descriptions about two different protein sources. Odd that Soy protein didn't have such a hilariously macho write up...

Regardless of the hilarity of the body building sites, the question still remains, which protein source is the best? 

Whey vs Casein vs Soy

Most supplements on the market today are made of whey-derived sources of protein. Whey is considered a "fast" source of protein, casein a "slow" source, and soy falls somewhere in between as an intermediate source. Ingestion of whey, when compared to casein, results in rapid gastric emptying and quick amino acid spike within the blood (why it is referred to as a "fast" source- it is digested and enters the blood faster than casein). However, because it enters the blood so quickly, it also results in a larger insulin spike- likely due to the higher Leucine content in whey than in casein.

Whey Insulin Spike vs Soy & Casein In Blood- Tang et al 2009-J Appl Physiol

Leucine blood concentrations Whey vs Soy vs Casein- Tang at al 2009-J Appl Physiol

Each group was matched for essential amino acid content, 10g total, yet the big differences were because of Leucine content and the insulin spike. And while some may scoff at such a high insulin spike, challenging that it damages your body and increases your chance of type II diabetes, this suggest that the spike of insulin is required to increase biogenesis of the muscle.

But what about a functional measurement of muscle synthesis? Well, it would appear that Whey has the highest fractional synthesis rate of the three protein sources. 

FSR Whey vs Casein vs Soy- tang et al 2009-J appl Physiol 

*However, casein is called a slow reactor for a reason. The time scale of the previous data MAY have been to short and it didn't last long enough. Unlikely, but perhaps a flaw in the previous study to consider.*

Importance of Timing

So you've selected Whey protein as your choice for a recovery supplement. Now what? When should you take it in relation to working out for best results? Well, depending on the length of your planned workout, ingesting before may be more beneficial. Protein takes time to be broken down into usable amino acid fractions (~45min). By ingesting before your workout, you are "priming" the system and setting it up for immediate use post exercise. It may be worth splitting your 20g protein dose into two doses- 10g before and 10g after. Protein synthesis is still highest post meal/exercise, but you can prime the system to speed the process along.

Recommendations

So how much do we actually need? 

-Sedentary people need need about 0.8g/kg body weight/day of protein

-Strength athletes needs about 1.4  to 1.7g/kg body weight/day

-Endurance Athletes: 1.2-1.4g/kg body weight/day

Protein use can seriously improve performance because o the gains seen through faster recovery. It is important to keep this in mind while training and looking to get the most out of your athletic performance. 

Check out our the Runner's Mark website for more info and be sure to check out some of our protein supplements in our shop section.

Keep checking back for more running news and cool blogs!