However, the jury is still out on the effectiveness value of FRS healthy energy. The most conservative critics say much more research is needed. Others say the research that has been done raises many questions.The basis for FRS Energy products is quercetin, an antioxidant found naturally in the skins of fruits, berries and leafy vegetables as well as in black tea, red wine and fruit juices.
The claim that quercetin boosts athletic performance was put to the test last year by a team of researchers led by Kirk Cureton, head of the Department of Kinesiology in the UGA College of Education at the University of Georgia. Quercetin was measured against a variety of markers and criteria, including the ability of muscles to synthesize energy, cycling performance, perceived exertion and strength loss following exercise.
No performance-enhancing effect was seen.
The lack of quercetin benefits was actually surprising, given that researchers had done previous research on mice and were initially buoyed by promising results.
"To a certain extent that was disappointing because our hypothesis, based on previous studies in mice, was that we would see positive effects," said Cureton in comments published last year by Asian News International. "But our findings are important because they suggest that results from the animal studies shouldn't be generalized to humans."
Cureton noted that previous studies had also found no performance-enhancing effect, suggesting that the athletes who participated in previous studies may not have benefitted from quercetin, having already maxed out their mitochondrial density through intense aerobic training.
Healthy energy, or FRS energy scam?
In one study published online by the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 12 healthy but untrained subjects increased their time-to-fatigue in a cycling test by 13.2 percent, and saw a 3.9 percent increase in VO2 max after seven days of quercetin supplementation, despite no change to their physical activity level.
"These data suggest that as little as seven days of quercetin supplementation can increase endurance without exercise training in untrained participants," stated Dr Mark Davis in comments published on 11/18/10 in the Observer.
A study that appeared in Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise zeroed in on the FRS energy drink and found that quercetin successfully reduced the level of post-exercise inflammation. Another study showed that quercetin supplementation resulted in a significantly lower incidence of upper respiratory tract infections in the weeks following heavy exertion—a time when athletes are normally highly susceptible to colds and infections.
Thus it may be possible that products containing quercetin, such as FRS chews, aid in recovery after intense physical exertion. But does it help the weekend warrior perform better—or so one can assume from the advertisements featuring the famous cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong.
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The experimental group consumed a sports drink containing 250 milligrams of quercetin four times a day for up to 16 days, a dose and duration similar to previous human studies and comparable to studies in mice. The placebo group received the same sports drink without quercetin.
"We did not see any performance enhancing effect of quercetin," said Cureton. He added had there been performance-enhancing effects of quercetin, a sample size of 30 would have been sufficient to detect it.
The study was published last year in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Lance Armstrong, who shills for FRS healthy energy, was also reported to hold a seat with the company's Board of Directors.