Is Juvenon bollocks?
OK, it’s been a while since my days in a molecular biology lab–and I’m not going to spend the hours or days that it would take to evaluate their claims thoroughly–but here’s my impressions. My biggest concern, looking at the scientific articles they cite, as well as their “Energy Study,” is that there aren’t any published, peer-reviewed studies in humans. The papers listed in the “Scientific Articles” section are all either animal or cellular studies. And most of the animal studies do not seem to cite results which could directly translate to improved quality of life. (The exceptions being ambulatory activity and reversal of memory loss, but the others–improved mitochondrial function? Well, it seems like that might result in higher energy levels–or it might not.) Meanwhile, the “Energy Study” does not appear to have been published outside of the website, so it’s not peer-reviewed, and worse they only present the conclusions, not the raw data which would be published in a reviewed j
DA is correct – there appear to be no convincing clinical trials to show that Juvenon improves quality of life or health. Indeed, of the claims of improvements that they’ve found at the cellular level, they add a disclaimer: “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.” Maybe it does improve health to some degree (yet we don’t know that), but it’s certainly not a magic bullet. There are plenty of easier and proven ways to improve your health and put off ageing, by having a balanced diet and exercising properly.
DA and adrainhon’s reponse seems about right. Additionally, Juvenon is a pill. Even if it contains these proteins that help mitochondrial activity, once they hit your stomach acid and digestive enzymes, they will be denatured and cleaved to their substituent amino acids. Then, the cells one machinery (DNA–>mRNA–>etc) will form the AAs it needs. Basically, this pill won’t do a thing. If you want to feel younger, eat well and exercise daily. That’s the only protection against aging.
ruwan: I don’t believe the (allegedly) active ingredients in the pill are proteins. Now, the website never quite comes out and says exactly what the two compounds are–just gives descriptions of their effects–but the scientific literature they cite talks about acetyl-L-carnitine and lipoic acid, which fit the description of the compounds in Juvenon. Neither acetyl-L-carnitine nor lipoic acid are proteins.
By the way, Juvenon is the company that’s producing the acetyl-L-carnitine and alpha-lipoic acid cocktail discovered/invented by Dr. Bruce Ames, the man who emitted the “rats doing the macarena” quote.
