Looking for the complete story about LifeVantage Protandim? Read Lazy Man and Money's post about Protandim.

Putting the Protandim-Navy Rumor to Rest

A lot of the Protandim distributors have been making conflicting claims about the US Navy and or the Navy Seals allegedly studying Protandim for some purpose. I spent a lot of time performing what I believe to be an exhaustive search to find out if this indeed true or if this another one of those false rumors that get passed along the MLM industry like the lie that Harvard Business School teaches MLM. My research didn't come up with any official company press releases, SEC filings, or anything from the Navy substantiating any connection between LifeVantage Protandim and the Navy.

It seems like there's a video in a recent "Science Update" from LifeVantage that explains the Protandim-Navy rumor:

At the 2:44 mark, the video splices in a segment from McCord from back in April 2011 about the US Navy and a study they are conducting:

"There’s a human exercise trial funded by the US Navy underway, and the Armed Forces of course are very interested in performance of soldiers under battle conditions, and recovery times, and, you know, how much damage is done if you have to just exert yourself over the top for, let’s say, 15 minutes of intense exercise. So they’re interested not only in recovery to damage but this one is looking at mitochodriogenesis. So there are things you can do to help yourselves build more mitochondria, which means they can perform aerobically for longer period of time. So that’s an interesting study."

[Note that this video also appears on LFVNs official website, but we've used the easier to embed version on YouTube.]

Look at what the video is saying closely. Notice that McCord merely says that "a" trial is being "funded" by the "US Navy" (not Navy Seals as some distributors have claimed) and, more importantly, he didn’t say that Protandim was involved in the study at all. In the context of the video, the person watching it make infer that, but the company is clearly making the claim. This the companies way of dropping bait for the distributor to pick up and run with. And the distributors have picked it up and ran! What are they saying about this alleged study funded by the Navy; the one that McCord didn’t say had anything to do with Protandim or with him? The answer should disappoint anyone who is affiliated with this company. These quote are from the top Google hits for ‘Protandim + Navy’.

"The U. S. Navy is studying the effects of Protandim on endurance. Are we talking Navy Seals here? Maybe!"

"US Navy Seals are currently studying the effects of Protandim to reduce recovery time for their sailors."

"Protandim has the support of the AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION, The Navy Seals, Louisiana State University, Vanderbilt University, Ohio State University, and 20 other medical universities and hospitals worldwide."

"It is now being used by The United States Navy Seal Team and Our Marines are now using Protandim for altitude sickness in Afghanistan."

"I've heard company executives talk about 2 studies. One is the US Navy Seals, doing a human double blind placebo with Protandim on altitude sickness, and another special forces on physical recovery and Protandim."

"David (Perlmutter) also stated the US Navy has recently commissioned Dr. Joe McCord to study the effect of Protandim’s ability to reduce the recovery time of exercise bouts on its sailors."

"The elite US Navy Seals and the US Department of Defense also currently are using Portandim (sic) for combat fatigue and altitude sickness."

"The US Government is studying Protandim for the Navy Seals" (these sites even quote McCord’s April 2011 talk verbatim, and the words "Navy Seals" and "Protandim" don't appear anywhere in the quote)

This is an amazing example of the Telephone Game:

McCord's seemingly innocent and innocuous discussion about a single study that he:
(1) said was merely funded by (not conducted by) the Navy (not the Navy Seals)
(2) said the "Armed Forces" would probably be interested in
(3) did not say he involved Protandim
(3) did not say involved him in any way...

…suddenly becomes, essentially, this:

"Not only is Protandim being tested in two human double blind placebo trials by the US government, elite Navy Seals, Department of Defense, Marines, and special forces, in a study they commissioned Joe McCord to conduct, it is now also being used by the Seals and Marines in Afghanistan to cure altitude sickness, and the Seals support the product — and I know that all of this is true because Joe McCord and David Perlmutter said so (and it’s unthinkable that they would lie or distort the truth)."

This is exactly the same thing that happens when McCord lectures about Protandim and cancer; never actually saying that Protandim has any real therapeutic effect on cancer, but making every effort, indirectly, to make the distributor think that it does. And that's the message they all walk away with and relay to the public - "Protandim cures cancer... Joe McCord said so, and he won an Eliot Cresson medal for co-discovering superoxide dismutase 45 years ago, so it must be true."

It's true enough to satisfy someone blinded by gullibility and/or greed anyway. Fortunately if you are reading this, you likely already know Dr. Joe McCord's Role at LifeVantage.

[Notes:
1. I want to thank Vogel for much of this find.
2. I'm categorizing this under "LifeVantage Lies" until we have official announcement from both sides LifeVantage and Navy confirming the research being done.]

Originally posted 2011-09-29 01:19:27.

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