U of M study shows that dietary supplements may offset effects of overeating

Long workouts may feel like an accomplishment, but new research at The University of Memphis suggests that to keep a healthy body, students will have to incorporate a careful diet that's more than mother approved.

Sports and health science graduate student Robert Canale said the Cardiorespiratory-Metabolic Laboratory hopes to learn how to minimize oxidative tissue damage caused by exercising and over-eating. To do this, lab workers are using human subjects to study how dietary supplements can cause and prevent these effects when used in combination with diet and exercise.

Oxidative stress is caused when highly reactive molecules, called "free radicals," form as oxygen is used by the body, allowing cells to produce energy. The free radicals interact with other molecules within the cells, sometimes causing damage to proteins, membranes and genes. Foods rich in antioxidants like tomatoes, citrus fruits, tea and carrots can counteract the process, but Canale said he knows students' diets aren't known for their nutritionally sound dietary sources.

"In our western society, there is so much oxidative damage from over-consumption," Canale said. "People will go to the gym and burn about 300 calories and come back and reward themselves with a meal that exceeds what they've burned."

There are more than 1,000 calories in a typical fast food meal, Canale explained.

"People need to recognize what they're doing to their bodies," he said.

Now in his second year on the project, Canale said experiments of this type are always ongoing.

"You learn about it and want to inform the public," he said. "We can help other universities by making people aware the harm you're doing to your body by overeating."

The effects of sport and dietary supplements are studied separately from the research of oxidative stress. Before studying a certain supplement, one of the graduate students contacts the company and tells them they are testing it for a certain ingredient.

"We take the ingredients from one supplement and compare it to another one similar to it," said graduate student Tyler Farney.

For now, he said, the lab is focusing on antioxidant supplements, and studying the effect it has on weight loss and health.  As the studies progress, students in the lab said they hope to publish their findings in review journals like International Journal of Sport Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism.

Lab director and associate professor of health sports sciences Richard Bloomer designs and oversees all data collection in the lab while students investigate specific effects on the cardiorespiratory system and metabolism.

"We collectively work on these projects and associated manuscripts for publication as a team," he said. "The graduate students, along with undergraduate interns in exercise science, perform all subject recruitment, screening and data collection associated with our work."

Subjects for the experiments can include untrained, trained, healthy and athletic people over the age of 18, Bloomer said.

Before recruitment in the lab, potential researchers must submit an application about their project to The U of M Institutional Review Board anytime human subjects are to be used. The lab recruits subjects by posting on Craigslist.com, classifieds, finding people on campus and requests from volunteers.

"Subjects can benefit from being involved in the lab, because they can earn $25 to $250 and also receive metabolic reports about themselves," Canale said. "However, there are risks too, as we have to draw blood from them."

Mike Bledsoe, owner of Crossfit Memphis, a core strength and conditioning program on Summer Avenue and North Perkins Road, has been a subject in the lab and has sent interested members of his gym to the lab as well.

"The lab assistants asked me to cut out exercise a few days before testing," he said. "I would eat a meal the night before so that there was better control when I was being tested. I was on a supplement diet and it involved a lot of blood work."

And though he no longer participates in the study, Bledsoe said that he still gets most of his research from The U of M metabolic lab before referring his gym member to supplements.

"I use Beta-Alanine which increases carnosine and it has been heavily researched, "he said. "When I was younger I would try a lot of supplements because the market does a really good job of selling supplements to people who do not know much about them. In this case, you basically have to trust the company, and some guys will think they are getting pumped up but really they are taking a supplement that has 200 mL of caffeine in it."

Bledsoe said that people who take supplements should adopt a healthy diet and not try to replace food with the pills.

"There are a lot of guys that go to the recreation center and will go and chug beers on the weekend, and then take these supplements and think they are on a good diet," he said. "I tell people that when they are on a supplement diet they need to fill the gap with eating good food or else they are just on a bad diet."

Bloomer said he's excited to see where the project takes the students.

"These students do an outstanding job, one that parallels or exceeds that of most full time laboratory technicians," Bloomer said. "Without the students, our ability to publish multiple manuscripts per year in high quality journals would be severely hampered. This is why it is so crucial to maintain funding opportunities for graduate research assistants across the University of Memphis."