It appears that the "brains" behind this nonsense is one "Dr" Ann de Wees Allen. Who? Well, Boresha crows that she is "Chief of Biomedical Research at the Glycemic Research Institute in Washington, D.C." (where?), "Named the World’s Leading L-Arginine Researcher" (by whom? Boresha?), "Received the first Glycemic Patent ever awarded" (see below), and so forth. Who is this person?
Well, first of all she isn't a physician.
She's a "board certified doctor of naturopathy". That's something akin to a "board certified doctor of roots", conferred by the "American Board of Rootsology" which I created five minutes ago. While some states do license naturopaths, health insurance (both private and public) do not cover their "treatments". From the HEW report recommending that Medicare not cover it: "Naturopathic theory and practice are not based on the body of basic knowledge related to health, disease, and health care which has been widely accepted by the scientific community. Moreover, irrespective of its theory, the scope and quality of naturopathic education do not prepare the practitioner to make an adequate diagnosis and provide appropriate treatment." That about sums it up. I would take health advice from "Dr" Gudakunst before "Dr" Allen.
As for the "glycemic patent" - "Dr" Allen has two patents. One is entitled "Composition comprising L-arginine as a muscle growth stimulant and use thereof"; I don't think that's it. The other is "
Composition comprising caffeine chromium and fructose for weight control and use thereof"; that looks more likely.
First, a word about patents: The fact that something is patented does not mean that it works. Years ago, the USPTO got tired of granting patents for perpetual motion machines, and instituted a rule: no patent for perpetual motion will be considered unless the inventor provides a model of the machine which functions as advertised for a year. None have been granted since. However, the Patent Office is a busy place, and there are plenty of patents granted for things just as ridiculous as perpetual motion. Here, take a look at
this one. It's for an anti-gravity spaceship, granted in 2005. I don't think it works. Maybe some MLM will pick up on it.
Anyway, "Dr" Allen describes her patent as "A composition for the prevention or treatment of weight gain, e.g., obesity, said composition comprising caffeine, fructose and chromium". Now, all coffee contains caffeine, so that can't be what allegedly makes "Boresha" special. Fructose is a component (along with glucose) of sucrose, or table sugar. Fructose is in fact an isomer of glucose (a compound with the same chemical composition but different structure). While there are some differences in fructose and glucose/sucrose metabolism, it is hard to say that one is better (less bad, actually) for you than the other. In fact, while all cells can metabolize glucose, only the liver metabolizes fructose, meaning that high fructose consumption contributes to cirrhotic (fatty) liver. At least
one recent study concludes that fructose consumption
contributes to obesity.
So that leaves chromium. Problem is that chromium has been shown to be ineffective in treating weight. See
here and
here, for example. There are more, including
this one from one month ago.
Proofreading my post leads to the inescapable conclusion that I overanalyzed. After all, it's obvious bullshit.
