#093: Shawn Baier - HMB Supplements: Everything You Need to Know

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/shawn-baier-hmb-093 We’ve lately seen a lot of buzz about β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate, otherwise known as HMB. After diving deep into the ingredient — which has been with us since the 1980s but wasn’t fully understood or marketed correctly in those early decades — we’re glad to see it making a comeback with supplement formulators who are using it correctly. In fact, we recently published our ultimate guide to HMB titled “HMB (β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate): Performance-Driven Muscle Supplement“, explaining when and how the leucine metabolite is used best. In the above article, we review the history of HMB and go over some of the methodological flaws that led to inconsistent results in HMB studies — including one “HMB study” that didn’t even contain any HMB at all! As you’ll see in today’s podcast, this ingredient has been through quite a saga – which is why we’re very excited about our PricePlow podcast guest today! To give us the real story, we had Shawn Baier, a sports nutrition scientist and former competitive powerlifter who’s been working with HMB since the very beginning of its rise in the late 80s and early 90s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_INxdWytv5A Detailed Show Notes with Shawn Baier: The Resurgence of HMB (0:00) – Why Are We Talking About HMB? (0:50) – Shawn Baier Introduction (3:10) – Trends In the Supplement Industry (3:30) – History of HMB (4:45) – History of Powerlifting (8:15) – Some PricePlow History (8:45) – Introduction to HMB (10:00) – Synchronicity in Research (10:45) – BCAA Metabolites Research in the 1980s (12:00) – How HMB Became A Human Supplement (15:45) – HMB In Context (16:00) – Dual Effect of HMB (17:15) – Partnership With TSI Group, Ltd. (17:45) – The Medical Importance of Muscle Health (18:05) – The Inevitability of Muscle Loss (18:45) – The Importance of Prevention (19:15) – Economies of Scale in HMB for Agriculture (20:45) – Why Arginine and Glutamine in early HMB research? (22:30) – Why Is Lysine Important? (27:18) – Why Muscle Growth Signaling Molecules Like HMB Matter (31:15) – HMB’s Role In Tissue Remodeling (33:00) – Protein Quality (34:45) – Eat Quality Food! (36:00) – The Problem With Some HMB Studies (38:00) – Great research bringing other great ingredients (40:30) – Does HMB Matter, Practically Speaking? (42:31) – More Methodological Problems With HMB Studies (46:00) – Specific Examples of HMB-Beneficial Settings (49:25) – There Has To Be A Stressor! (53:00) – The Negative HMB Study… That Used an Adulterated Supplement WITH NO HMB! (57:00) – Funding Studies and Efficacy Testing (1:00:00) – Getting More Specific (1:05:00) – Vitamin D Levels, Another Confounding Variable (1:13:00) – Diet and HMB (1:17:30) – Muscle Damage, Not Just For Athletes! (1:18:45) – Does HMB Help A Good Diet? (1:23:30) – Sales Pitch? No – The Science Speaks For Itself (1:26:30) – Vitamin D Deficiency a Bigger Problem Than You Think (1:32:15) – Protein Requireme… Read more on the PricePlow Blog