Snippets From the Research Front by Jerry Brainum 9/20

 

In past issues of Applied Metabolics I've discussed new studies that were presented in abstract form at various science conferences related to exercise, nutrition, and fitness. I've attended these conferences myself in the past with the hope of learning new and useful information related to diet and exercise. But I have been largely disappointed with these conferences. In most cases, they turn out to be just people regurgitating information that had already been published in various science journals. The conferences seemed just an excuse to travel to often pleasurable vacation spots and tell fellow researchers how great they were. Indeed, this was the precise way that such conferences were described to me over 4o years ago by Fred Hatfield. Fred was then the editor-in-chief of a short-lived Weider magazine called Sports Fitness that was dedicated to providing practical information for use by athletes related to exercise and nutrition. Fred was qualified to edit this publication because he was a world-class powerlifting champion best known for his record lifts in the squat that earned him the sobriquet of "Dr.Squat." Fred had earned a doctorate in sports psychology at Temple University, hence the "doctor" name. I was writing for Sports Fitness, and asked Fred about whether I should attend one of the various sports conferences. That's when Fred told me not to waste my time attending them. Despite his admonition, I attended a few out of curiosity more than anything else. But I found Fred's words to be true. They all turned out to be an utter waste of time, at least for me.

But what I did find was that new studies were presented at the conferences, usually in a large room with various boards scattered around the room that had abstracts of new studies that hadn't yet been published pasted in the boards. These abstracts turned out to be the most useful aspect of the conferences and I got a lot more benefit from reading them than from attending the various talks about already published studies, most of which I already knew from reading the journals they were published in. Every year, these conferences publish the abstracts presented at the conference, and I've written about a few of them in past issues of this publication. In this issue of Applied Metabolics, I will discuss what I consider the most interesting and practical studies presented at the 16th Annual meeting of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), held in Las Vegas in June, 2019. They take a year to publish these abstracts likely because if they published them in advance of the conference, fewer people will probably attend since the abstracts are the best information presented at the conference.

The problem with many of the abstracts presented at the conference, especially the ISSN conference, is that they tend to be thinly disguised . . .