TSR Muscle Building Society For Men V6!

Vit C is ****ing pointless. Vit D, maybe, especially if you get no sun (which is everyone now). Zinc, probably decent - take zinc.

A lot of vit C tabs have zinc in them. Well the ones I buy.

Forget those, get the zinc. How much zinc is in your mixed ones?

Actually, scratch what I said about Vit C (sort of). Vit C in general population is useless. HOWEVER, in people under extreme physical stress (military, athletes etc), then Vit C has a small benefit in immune function (slightly better colds etc).

But zinc is much better in everyone. Take dedicated zinc if there's not much in your mixed tabs.

Forget those, get the zinc. How much zinc is in your mixed ones?

Actually, scratch what I said about Vit C (sort of). Vit C in general population is useless. HOWEVER, in people under extreme physical stress (military, athletes etc), then Vit C has a small benefit in immune function (slightly better colds etc).

But zinc is much better in everyone. Take dedicated zinc if there's not much in your mixed tabs.

How do you guys deal with failure while at the gym? I was squatting today and my form was so **** by lower back felt like it wanted to depart from my body. I don't know why but after 8 sessions I would of thought I was getting a bit better.

Feels bad man

Fuuuuuu-

What do I do about a sharp pain in my neck/upper traps? If I move my neck to look down it really begins to hurt.

Forget those, get the zinc. How much zinc is in your mixed ones?

Actually, scratch what I said about Vit C (sort of). Vit C in general population is useless. HOWEVER, in people under extreme physical stress (military, athletes etc), then Vit C has a small benefit in immune function (slightly better colds etc).

But zinc is much better in everyone. Take dedicated zinc if there's not much in your mixed tabs.

Whats wrong with vit C? A lot of people have recommended it to me, especially to offset colds etc. To be fair it seems to make a difference, everyone in my small office has had a bad cold and I've been taking two vit C's a day and still going strong, usually I get colds very easily.

Also read a lot of places its a great sup, and my dad who has been in the medical profession all his life always makes me take it as soon as an illness is coming.


Who knows though, but it seems to be helping me.

Got vit d3 on its way too

The thing is, it's impossible to know if a medication is working by thinking "it seems to be helping me." It's impossible to know whether a cold would've gone anyway had you not taken the Vitamin C. We're just not wired up to be able to distinguish if something like vitamin C is having the effect we think it's having. Impossible for many reasons. Probably two of the biggest effects are the Placebo Effect and Regression Towards the Mean.

The really shouldn't be anything new to you guys - simply the act of doing something for an illness/ailment will improve it, even with no actual physiological effect. The placebo effect is very real. The more involved or intense the placebo treatment, the more effect it has. By "effect" it is generally seen as subjective effect - you'll feel better, but very little in the way of objective measurements.

Regression to the mean goes something like this: you've got a cold, it's been going on for days. It get's to the worst point and you feel so crappy that you finally take some vitamin c, and shortly after you start feeling better. You then associate taking the vitamin c with getting better. Except that your cold has already been going for days and was about to let up and improve anyway. It was going to regress back to normal (the mean). This is a very common phenomenon - look up the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx Myth.


And it's not like "Well, science doesn't know everything and it hasn't been investigated" etc (and I'm not accusing any of you of saying something like this), it's that science has exhaustively investigated the effects of Vitamin C under all manners of conditions for decades. It's one of the most investigated supplements in existence. It doesn't do what they claim it does with regards to immune function. I think a few studies showed it decreased duration by, on average, a couple of hours. Wow.

They've had to effectively make a call for institutions to stop wasting resources investigating Vitamin C for colds.

They've had to effectively make a call for institutions to stop wasting resources investigating Vitamin C for colds.

Your post sounds exactly like the book "Bad Science" By Ben Goldacre.

If you've read it then it's an awesome book ad everyone should read it and if not then go read it.

I have read Bad Science relatively recently, but have known about quackademia for some time.

I have read Bad Science relatively recently, but have known about quackademia for some time.

^

Like when people go to self-help seminars and feel better. They're feeling really bad now so, like you say, they'll probably feel better anyway.

However, smart-ass, what the **** do I take so I have a better immune system/don't get colds/generally feel more awesome?

SMed I'm impressed with your understanding of science at its core, and statistics in scientific studies. Before this sounds patronising hear me out. You might be shocked if you feel the things you describe are simply rudimentary but in a few odd posts on here you've probably demonstrated a better understanding of the scientific method than the majority of medical students I've ever met put together (no offence. Same goes for vets and dentists). Most are absolutely ignorant to the processes that inform their learning.