ConsumerLab.com Reports Breast-Enhancing Supplements Lack Science

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--On April 16, ConsumerLab.com released a review article reporting that dietary supplements for enhancing breast size have no scientific evidence backing these claims. After receiving numerous inquiries from consumers regarding the efficacy of these supplements, ConsumerLab.com reviewed the scientific literature and product information for these products. However, it found that either there were no published, double blind studies for natural breast-enhancement products, or else companies did not wish to share study results. Because of the lack of science for these supplements, ConsumerLab.com did not submit any products for laboratory testing and instead released a review article on the efficacy and safety behind these supplements.

"Whenever we do a product review, we do a literature review for general efficacy and safety," said Tod Cooperman, M.D., president of ConsumerLab.com, adding that the company did not tell product manufacturers and distributors about this product review. "In this one, we stopped in our tracks. There was just no strong evidence for these products. There wasn't even a good theoretical basis for these products to work. Once we concluded there was no basis for testing, we decided to do a review article."

ConsumerLab.com (www.consumerlab.com) reported that there were four main categories of "breast-enhancing" ingredients used in these products: 1) phytoestrogens (e.g., soy); 2) aphrodisiacs (e.g., oat straw); 3) "women's" herbs (e.g., black cohosh); and 4) generic herbs (e.g., saw palmetto). Of these categories, ConsumerLab.com stated that phytoestrogens were the only plausible ingredient that could be linked to bust size due to its similarities to estrogen.

However, the company reported that although the hormone estrogen can increase breast size, it is dangerous to use this drug for this purpose; estrogen causes the glands and ducts in breasts to grow, which may also increase the risk for breast cancer. Nonetheless, certain breast-enhancement supplement manufacturers claim that phytoestrogens, with their weakened effects, can enlarge breasts safely. ConsumerLab.com found this claim to be dubious, and cited two recent studies on breast-enlargement products that proved otherwise.

The first study, led by researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, indicated that a breast-enhancement supplement containing hops, buckwheat, fennel, rye and L-ornitine did not have significant estrogenic activity (J Nutr, 131:1362S-75S, 2001) (www.nutrition.org). This led the authors to conclude these findings raise concerns about the marketing of isoflavone supplements and "speak to the need of more rigorous policing of these products along the guidelines for pharmaceutical agents."

The second study, conducted by researchers at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Surrey, England, corroborated these results with their finding that a breast-enhancement product with hop phytoestrogens also lacked estrogenic activity (Food Chem Toxicol, 39, 12:1211-24, 2001) (www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchemtox).

ConsumerLab.com stated that many of the Web sites promoting these breast-enhancement products reported anecdotal evidence as the science behind these products. "Human nature being what it is, people observe what they want to observe," ConsumerLab.com stated. "In order to meaningfully evaluate the effectiveness of a proposed treatment for any condition, studies must be designed in such a way as to eliminate the power of suggestion."

Martha Christy, chief executive officer of Tempe, Ariz.-based Trimedica International Inc., the manufacturer of the breast-enhancer GroBust, said this was the wrong attitude to take when evaluating breast-enhancing supplements. "The majority of herbal and vitamin supplements available to consumers today were first marketed on the basis of anecdotal evidence supplied by decades--and in the case of herbs, centuries--of usage," she said. "Many pharmaceutical drugs, such as Ritalin(R), are prescribed on the basis of anecdotal evidence. Researchers are not always certain of the precise mechanism behind the effect of particular drugs, but they are marketed for use based on observation of effectiveness. Therefore, to simply discount the anecdotal evidence in the case of herbal supplements to augment bust fullness is absurd."

The company (www.trimedica.com) reported it has begun a double blind, placebo-controlled study that is being led by a University of Miami affiliate researcher. The study will cover the supplement's effects on breast size, body weight, mood states, PMS-related symptoms and adverse events.

Christy said that ConsumerLab.com should not disseminate biased and inaccurate reports on herbal products when the alternative--augmentative surgery--can be dangerous.