This is a brand new review paper written by Dr. Kyle Hoedebecke (out of Fort Bragg NC) and yours Truly. It’s currently in peer review process (approved by one reviewer so far) and may change slightly as the peer review process dictates, but can be read now as an open source doc. We hope this paper will make more within the mil and mil med community aware of nutritional supplements and possible benefits to mil populations:
Review
Military-specific application of nutritional supplements: A Brief Overview
Kyle Hoedebecke, Will Brink
Abstract
The Soldiers of America’s military endure numerous physical and mental challenges that demand strict physical fitness regimens, extreme mental agility, and a perpetual readiness to deploy at a moment’s notice. The chronicity of these stressors has the potential to dramatically reduce performance - both directly and indirectly.
Because of this risk, many Soldiers turn to nutritional supplements with hopes of optimizing performance. Increasing amounts of research have demonstrated that various supplements may enhance overall physical prowess, health, and offer quicker recovery in the face of corporal or psychological extremes. Most individuals, including many medical and nutrition professionals, possess only an elementary comprehension of nutritional supplements and their effect on Soldiers in training or combat environments. Nevertheless, a grasp of these details is required for safety and optimal benefits. Various compounds have been evaluated - to include evidence within the military setting - and found to augment endurance, increase cognitive function, decrease knee pain, or offer hearing or lung protection in the face of high-energy impulses.
These efficacious outcomes may serve to augment the health and longevity of these Soldiers; however, continued research is needed for efficacy and long-term safety within specific environments.
Interesting. I only read a few paragraphs but it was kind of cool to compare to a new supplement I started taking that is supposed to improve joint health.
Her telling comment was that if they had done this before I was in, I might still have my hearing as they found magnesium supplements to help preserve hearing.
Hopefully, the paper will get read perhaps Mag and other nutrients may get the attention they deserve for the ability to potentially help first line troops.
Oh yeah I read through it. Already taking magnesium, beta alanine, a multivitamin, I drink coffee (Must Have Caffeine!) and I take protein shakes …But I find it mildly funny that they wanted to study caffeine as a stimulant. Sort of studying the obvious, eh?
Fish oil and glucosamine most definitely work. Lift heavy and dont take those pills. See how you feel. I dont know about multi vitamins but i rarely get sick and i take my.multis!
I think he means that if you were to lift heavy and not take your pills, you’d feel like shit.
Regardless, the paper - apart from its incomplete data - seems to verify what the athlete community has known for a long time now, which is that strenuous activity over long periods can cause or extrapolate deficiencies, which can be largely mitigated and corrected with proper nutrition and supplementation. The .mil community is, however - and unsurprisingly - bureaucratic and thus slow to adapt. If they were smart, they’d hire someone who’s managed a professional sports program and knows how to protect their investment, which I suppose would be asinine when you can lose however many millions of dollars every year without a thought.
The fact is that .mil demands largely mimic those of power sports, and it would make sense that the findings re. supplementation would as well. Perhaps I’m wrong.
There are indeed some stressors from sports/athletics that would have cross over to mil, and some unique to mil even unique to different groups within mil and so on down the line. The paper attempts to make the mil et al community as large aware of the data that exists, and addresses some of the additional issues that need to be looked at.
The bottom line is, the appropriate and targeted use of some supplements could save a huge amount of $$$ and reduce drop out rates and down time.
From the Conclusion, first paragraph: “The authors suggest that much of this dispute stems from the continued need for additional data…” I read it in some haste so maybe I fudged that. Doesn’t matter.
I wholly agree with you on this, though I don’t envision the onus moving away from the individual soldier save for the select, Tier 1 programs - which is to imagine a group of guys already given to better caring for themselves than the average grunt. See my previous comment about protecting investments.
I’d thought you meant the authors (myself and Dr. H) had supplied insufficient data to support the position vs. there being a lack of overall data to support their use in the mil. The bold text is correct, but I’m a tad biased.
The SOF guys are, as you’d expect, much more switched on a a group to training, supplements, etc (use patterns cited in the paper for SOF) but as a rule are still left to their own devices when it comes to understanding supplements. See also our shortLTE to JSOMon similar discussions if interested.
Mmonesix had it correct. I just forgot a comma and truth be told its the only way that sentence made sense.
As for the comment of military hiring professsionals. Im fairly certain they do, just the dissemination down to the lower ranks is lacking and integating it into doctrine gets it all jumbled.
I was also thinking about how stupid the army is, i played sports and knew the basics of working out. Things like warming up before an exercise. I realized all my aches and pains are from the army, i now have tendonitis in my achilles, probably because they would start out all out sprinting with no warm up on runs. This results from ignorance but also again, stupid army placing people in charge of workouts who have never done sporta. They say if youre not puking, youre not getting a good workout. Dumbest people ever.
If youre army there is something called army wellness center. EXCELLENT resource.
Some additional support for the paper I co authored linked in the OP:
Oral Antioxidant Vitamins and Magnesium Limit Noise-induced Hearing Loss by Promoting Sensory Hair Cell Survival: Role of Antioxidant Enzymes and Apoptosis Genes
Abstract
Noise induces oxidative stress in the cochlea followed by sensory cell death and hearing loss. The proof of principle that injections of antioxidant vitamins and Mg2+ prevent noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) has been established. However, effectiveness of oral administration remains controversial and otoprotection mechanisms unclear.
Using auditory evoked potentials, quantitative PCR and immunocytochemistry, we explored effects of oral administration of vitamins A, C, E and Mg2+ (ACEMg) on auditory function and sensory cell survival following NIHL in rats. Oral ACEMg reduced auditory thresholds shifts after NIHL. Improved auditory function correlated with increased survival of sensory outer hair cells. In parallel, oral ACEMg modulated the expression timeline of antioxidant enzymes in the cochlea after NIHL. There was increased expression of Glutathione peroxidase-1 and Catalase at 1 and 10 days, respectively. Also, pro-apoptotic Caspase-3 and Bax levels were diminished in ACEMg-treated rats, at 10 and 30 days, respectively, following noise overstimulation, whereas, at day 10 after noise exposure, the levels of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, were significantly increased.
Therefore, oral ACEMg improves auditory function by limiting sensory hair cell death in the auditory receptor following NIHL. Regulation of the expression of antioxidant enzymes and apoptosis-related proteins in cochlear structures is involved in such otoprotective mechanism.
Good read. I got on the beta alanine train early. I read a couple studies in college back in 2004-06 timeframe and started using it. It really helps with endurance and i have come to enjoy the tingles you get from taking it. It has been a while since i read anything on it, but from my understanding it delays lactic acid build up therefore increasing endurance and as an affect strength.
Creatine is another good, proven supplement i use as well as the basics like fish oil and vit d
I have recently started reading about magnesium and the various types. What are your thoughts on Magnesium glyconate?
I think you combined two forms into one. Did you mean gluconate or glycinate? Citrate seems to have most of the data and costs less, but they all show good bioavailability. You can also get mixed mag formulas too.
