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MOSH brain bar, a
product of
the Huel company started by two non-scientists, Maria Shriver and
Patrick
Schwarzenegger, is one of the newer attempts to relieve you of your
money with
promises of eradicating cognitive decline in aging.
It joins a large club of products, with
benefits not yet proven, which mash together nutrients and foods.
A major assumption
behind
most of their (and other similar companies’) products is that
people don’t eat
their own healthy food, instead eating fast, nutrient-deficient foods.
That may
be true to some extent, but how hard is it to make a peanut butter
sandwich or
a bowl of enriched, whole-grain cereal?
These brain-claim companies make a bar or shake, purporting to
be meal
alternatives, by adding micronutrients that you can obtain from regular
food to
some plant protein. They provide
insufficient calories to supply enough energy for life.
They don’t contain enough sugar or carbs for
nerve and brain health. They also
don’t
supply sufficient non-protein calories to support life without breaking
down
our organs’ and muscles’ protein.
(Normal metabolism switches to ‘burning’
protein’s amino acids for
energy if there isn’t enough fat and carbohydrate to supply the
energy
requirements of the major organs. An
analogous situation is a body builder who eats massive amounts of meat,
instead
of carbs, to build muscle. The extra
protein is just broken down (stressing the kidneys with protein
break-down
products) to provide energy to maintain upright posture,
movement and
organ function.
As far as the
“special”
micronutrients go, I’m not convinced that we need their expensive
bar to
consume adequate nutrition. Here’s a
list of what they say they add to pea protein in Mosh bars:
B12: B12 deficiency can cause memory loss, but
taking
extra in a supplement doesn’t make memory limitless or stop
normal aging.
B1, thiamine; The same is true for thiamine (B1), which
is an
essential vitamin obtained in many foods, including whole grains. Adequate intake prevents neurologic symptoms
of deficiency but won’t magnify feats of intellectual prowess.
Collagen &
vitamin D3:
Neither of these has ever
been proven
to improve memory or reverse senility.
Collagen is made in the body, adds structural integrity to
tissues and
forms the bulk of scar tissue. Vitamin
D3 is important for bone and immune, not brain, health and is made in
our skin
from
sunlight and a by-product of cholesterol.
Omega3 fatty
acids are normal components
of the brain nervous system,
but extra consumption does not ward off senile memory loss. Large doses act like a kind of “blood
thinner”, making bleeding into the brain or elsewhere more likely.
Mosh bars also
contain MCT
(medium chain triglycerides) from coconut oil, a readily absorbed
type of
fat. It may be used for energy in the
absence of carbohydrate or sugar, but dying brain cells can’t be
rehabilitated
by MCTs and we don’t need them for life.
One could just eat an energy food, like bread, potato or
avocado, to
achieve the same goal. If used as meal
and snack replacements, there are not enough protein and calories to
sustain
life in normal-sized people.
Product claims
include unidentified
‘bioflavonoids”. There are myriads of bioflavonoids in
plants, some of
which are antioxidant and/or anti-inflammatory, but no single
plant’s
bioflavonoids improve brain function.
People eating a variety of fruits, berries and vegetables every
day are
less likely to have cognitive problems.
Ashwagandha can be calming, anxiety-reducing and immune
stimulating, but isn’t a memory aid.
Lion’s mane mushrooms supposedly reduce anxiety and
stimulate
nerve growth factor, but there is no scientific evidence for any health
or
memory benefits.
Citicoline: is a brand name for cytidine
5’-diphosphocholine
(CDP-choline). Huel promises, without
proof, that the addition of this proprietary form of choline works
better than
the natural choline in foods like dried fruit, animal products
(especially
liver and eggs), cruciferous vegetables and legumes (peanuts), or the
small
amount made in our livers from amino acids (methionine and serine)
found in
meat and poultry. Choline is necessary
for cellular integrity and normal brain signaling.
Deficiency of it causes fatigue and cognitive
impairment but taking it as a supplement does not make one super smart
or
reverse senility in someone who is not deficient.
In summary: MOSH
bars aren’t
cheap (about $40 for twelve bars) and the company makes unjustified
claims for
their use. They lack data or even logic
to justify buying them instead of food.
It’s not hard or expensive to eat sufficient food to
prevent nutrient
deficiencies requiring this or any bar.
If in doubt, it’s cheaper to go for a long walk daily,
which improves
blood circulation to the brain, take a multivitamin, and eat turkey,
dried
fruit & nut trail mix, eggs and broccoli. ╣