[pct-l] re: Elite on the trail

[matt_ripperton at yahoo.com (Matt Ripperton)]

A response to Mountain Goat's Oasis Products post...
   
  I have a bit of a background in this sort of thing and it looks like crap to me.  Granted, I did not read the entire website, but my comments here are based on what I did see.
   
  First of all, this is NOT a food, it looks to me like these products are herbs/extracts/vitamins, etc etc, which are intended as supplements.  Don't get excited thinking that we've stumbled upon a ultralight ultra-nutritious food supply here.
  
Second, the website has loads of fancy words and indications that this stuff will make you feel better in all sorts of ways (all of which are quite subjective and hard to measure).  In reality these are nutritional supplements are not regulated by the FDA, which means they do not have to provide data that supports their claims in any way.
   
  They do mention that they have done clinical studies, but one of the studies mentioned had 144 subjects, and another had 31 EMPLOYEES of Oasis.  This is far below the "pharmaceutical level," where thousands of patients are often involved.  They make no mention of whether these studies were conducted according to current industry clinical standards.
   
  This stuff may work just as well as other nutritional supplements, or even better, I don't know.  I would be willing to bet that a healthy diet and lifestyle without supplements like this would work at least as well also.  Thru-hikers get relatively little in the way of fruits & vegetables, so this sort of thing may help in that area.  I just saw the claims & wanted the buyer to beware.
   
  And one other bone to pick, I hope we don't see solicitations of this kind on the list again.
   
  Ajax
   

		
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