In the world of marketing, consumers are bombarded with an endless array of commercials on the new must- have product. The media has made this means of marketing more and more convenient. So, for the average person, it becomes more and more difficult to resist making the phone calls as prompted to order these products because of the colorful claims that are made during the commercials. It is therefore important to always listen, watch or read these commercials with a more critical ear and eye in order to separate what is real from what is not. This critique is aimed at breaking down the Ageless male natural supplement commercial to examine if it’s claims are based on some truth or not.
According to the commercial, Ageless male is a natural supplement that has been formulated to help men, forty and above, to restore the free testosterone they have lost as a result of aging. Men with a decline in their testosterone levels experience an array of symptoms like fatigue, loss in libido, loss of muscle mass, development of fat, just to name a few. These symptoms are associated with such conditions as sarcopenia and andropause. Ageless Male therefore claims to be able to restore all these functions with the essential boost of free testosterone levels.
Ageless Male, like most or all of its supplement relatives, has very limited or no research done to shed more light on the safety and on the effects of interactions with other compounds. However, they do provide results of a study done to test their main ingredient, testofen. Ageless Male is derived from a standardized extract named Testofen and according to the makers of the product, this extract was clinically tested in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled human clinical study. The aim of this study was to see the effect of testofen on free testosterone levels in men. The study did show a boost in free testosterone levels in men. If science has proven to us over and over again, what the hormone testosterone is responsible for in both males and females, it makes sense to conclude that there is some truth to the claims that Ageless Male makes. According to a clinical study conducted in the University of Yaounde 1, in Cameroon by Angwafor and Anderson, maintaining free testosterone levels in blood as the male ages may slow the symptoms of sarcopenia and andropause. This study appeared in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. In this study, they used a dietary supplement, Alphastat, in doses of 800mg/day or 2000 mg/day in two groups of 21 males aged 37-70 years of age for fourteen days total. Pre and post study blood work indicated an increase in serum testosterone levels among other variables they were investigating. They concluded therefore, that taking alphastat could increase free testosterone levels and inadvertently alleviate clinical symptoms of sarcopenia and andropause. The problem with this study however, is the lack of a control group. It can be argued that the results could have been a placebo effect. The question over Ageless Male therefore lies in the fact that studies on the supplement itself need to be done to prove that the pills are broken down in the body and absorbed in such a way that can significantly increase levels enough to cause the changes that Ageless Male claim. Testosterone treatments have been part of the medical world for males born with hypogonadism and so on. These treatments take the form of injections and gels and medically supervised. With injections and gels, these hormones are directly incorporated in the blood stream. With the supplements, however, the pills have to go through the GI system and it is unclear how it is metabolized and absorbed and in what quantities.
Ageless Male seems to be the most affordable and convenient alternative for this line of treatment. Other testosterone treatment options (injections and gels) are available by prescription only and tend to cost more. The only difference, however, is