Sunday 15 July 2012

PomeGreat PurePlus antioxidant effects


Read an article in the Daily Mail back in November 2011 about the alleged health benefits of a PomeGreat PurePlus capsule supplement derived from Pomegranates.

NSB was a little nervous about this report as there have been a number of cases where food supplement manufacturers have published marketing material that deliberately distorts science.

The article states that a capsule containing "an extract of the whole fruit" was given to 60 people every day for a month (and that other people were given a placebo).

and goes on to say that. . .
"Researchers monitored the activity of chemicals in their bodies compared with those who took a placebo. They found a significant decrease in a marker associated with cell damage"

NSB wanted to find out more about the reseach, so sent PomeGreat this :

I've just read about the fascinating research that PurePlus has undertaken on the anti-oxidative effects of PomeGreat PurePlus. I'm hoping that you will be kind enough to clarify a couple of points to relieve some concerns that I have. . .

a) Was the research undertaken in a randomised double blind study?
b) Was the PurePlus capsule and the placebo capsule identical in appearance?
c) What was the level of statistical significance ("p" value) shown in the results?

Also, is it possible to send me a copy of the research paper?

UPDATE: 17 Nov 2011
A reply arivved from PomeGreat the very next day. It said that they would let me know as soon as the report was published and that "the details featured in the newspapers today are an accurate reflection of their findings."

UPDATE: 29 Feb 2012
Sent an email to ask whether the report has been published yet and received a (very quick) response saying that that had checked with ProbelteBio and that the study has not yet been published, and that they had asked to be informed when it was.

UPDATE: 10 Apr 2012
Sent another email to ask whether the report has been published yet.

UPDATE: 25 Jun 2012
Sent another email to ask whether the report has been published yet.

UPDATE: 19 Jul2012
Received a response from Pomegreat saying that "The reason there has been a delay in publishing this study is that ProbelteBio have decided to expand the research into the effects of pomegranate and cardiovascular health. The previous study conducted showed such positive results that ProbelteBio are now researching deeper into why this happens. When the findings from these continued studies are published we will be happy to send you a copy of the published research." and also provided these responses to NSB's specific questions:

Q1) Was the research undertaken in a randomised double blind study?
A1) The study was A randomized, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial.

Q2) Was the PurePlus capsule and the placebo capsule identical in appearance?
A2) Yes, they were the same.

Q3) What was the level of statistical significance ("p" value) shown in the results?
A3) Depends on the parameter measured, but we cannot free this information now. We measured some parameters related to cardiovascular health and others, like prebiotic-like effect, anti-inflammatory (general and specifics), etc.

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