The company sites studies showing that the active ingredient, quercetin, improves athletic performance.
Some scientists say quercetin holds promise for fighting fatigue and even infection.
The net effect made quercetin look worse, but Goulet also protested that very few substances can claim to help the performance of even experienced athletes.
FORBES: Lance Armstrong's Other Performance Enhancer: A Look At Supplement FRS Energy
Researchers who believe in the supplement argue that although studies of it are small, they are reliable because each patient was studied on quercetin and off.
Some studies indicate that quercetin improves athletic performance, and Armstrong was a big believer, an investor in FRS, and a member of its board of directors.
FORBES: Lance Armstrong's Other Performance Enhancer: A Look At Supplement FRS Energy
Small molecules in nature, mostly what are called polyphenols (resveratrol, quercetin, catechin, curcumin, others), as found in concentrated form in red wine, can cross the cell wall and enter the cell and influence genetic machinery.
One study of 11 elite cyclists found that those who took quercetin for six months were able to complete a time trial 3.1% faster than before, though the difference compared with a placebo was not significant.
Kohler says Armstrong first found out about quercetin when it was being explored as a treatment for cancer patients and the cyclist was being treated for testicular cancer that had spread to his brain and lungs.
FORBES: Lance Armstrong's Other Performance Enhancer: A Look At Supplement FRS Energy
But apples contain high levels of an antioxidant flavonoid called quercetin which is also found abundantly in onions, tea and red wine, and may be important in protecting the lungs from the harmful effects of atmospheric pollutants and cigarette smoke.
But last year researchers at the University of Georgia found no benefit from the supplement in 30 healthy volunteers tested on seven different performance measures. (The study was funded by Coca-Cola, which apparently was thinking of launching its own quercetin supplement.) Lead researcher Kirk Cureton has tested 60 more patients since then, with the same null result.
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