One of the things the BJJ Cavewife makes fun of me the most about is how gullible I am. I’m pretty much a marketers dream because I fall for all of their tricks.
For example, when Taco Bell releases a new product (I have a soft spot in my heart for Taco Bell), I immediately want it. Even though it’s all pretty much the same formula: some sort of hard or soft tortilla with some sort of indeterminate meat product in the middle. And still, whenever I see their commercials and posters, I think to myself, I NEED THAT IN MY LIFE NOW!
Then on the rare occasions I actually do make it out to Taco Bell, I make it a point to try out whatever hot new product they’re advertising and am invariably disappointed. Yet I never learn.
The whole reason I bring this up is that this gullibility also follows me into the supplement and health world. A lot of times I’ll hear about something and think, hmmm that’s interesting, why don’t I give it a try? That’s pretty much how this blog started.
I heard about nutritional ketosis did some light research and then went ahead and tried it out.
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Sometimes I’ll do a lot of research before I try something. Sometimes I won’t do much at all. Sometimes I’ll do research AFTER I’ve been trying something for a while.
If it doesn’t seem like there’s a chance of physical harm, I’ll go ahead and give it a shot. My thinking is, if something works like it’s markteted to, great, if not, then all I lose is a couple bucks.
At the very least, it’ll give me something to write about which can help save you from spending your hard earned dollars.
One of the podcasts I listen to regularly is the Ben Greenfield podcast, and this one in particular episode caught my attention. He interviews someone named Shawn Stevenson and the focus of their discussion is on stem cells.
Shawn drinks a supplement concoction that he claims can stimulate production of stem cells which can optimize recovery and healing. He also claims that there is a lot of research out there supporting this that hasn’t hit the mainstream yet (a claim that many shamsters in the health and wellness field also make).
This was one of those times when my BS detector went off… but the gullible side of me was also curious. I took some notes and it turns out that his concoction is a combination of:
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The only item above that I have any familiarity with is curcumin, for which there is plenty of reliable data available espousing its many benefits. It’s something I take regularly now. (Here are two papers examining the benefits of curcumin on osteoarthritis and tendon healing)
I don’t know much about the other stuff. I just checked and saw the chlorella is a component of the Amazing Grass Raw Reserve green powder I took as part of Grace Liu’s bionic fiber, so I’ve been inadvertently taking it in the past.
I know there’s colostrum in Dave Asprey’s Bulletproof Whey, which I’ve used in the past.
I’ve haven’t had any experience with using phytoplankton or aloe vera gel before.
Before I go any deeper into this and devote more time researching this OR spending dollars trying this out, I figure I’d ask what you folks thought.
Am I being too gullible? Is this all BS? Is it worth trying out?
*Image found here
See your point. In my experience, you can’t always be too patient waiting for the research but in this case it seems a bit too early (for me at least) to buy in to phytoplankton etc., power of anecdote and placebo too great and my budget for expensive pee has already been used up.
Trust me… my pee is also pretty expensive… as is my poop.