My experience with Asea

After my first post on Asea (see this link), my friend asked me to try four bottles with a money-back guarantee if I didn't see significant gains in my cycling performance. She asked me to try all four bottles and keep track of my wattage and performance to see if it made any difference. I could then decide if I saw any improvement and pay her cost of $30 per bottle if I did.

I decided that I needed to be fair to her and see if it would result in the amazing performance gains that she and the company were making. If it did, I reasoned, I would surely notice them in my wattage and other bicycle performance data as I trained and raced my bike. After all, the claims are that the product would change my performance enough to make me perform like a pro cyclist. I reasoned that I owed it to her to at least try it since I had little to lose. I also thought I should know about this amazing product in case my competitors started dropping me at the races.

After finishing the four bottles and following her and the company's instructions, I can now say with a surety that the data on my performance is no better than it has been over the past several years and may actually be a little lower. I have no concerns that my competitors may be using this product!

As for my data, I know, for example, how many watts / kg I can put out my favorite climbs--both training rides and races. I have data on this for several years. Although I set personal records the last few years on all my favorite climbs, I have not set a PR this year and, more often, my performance has been down slightly. For example, I raced the Snowbird Hill Climb last weekend and was about 90 seconds slower than a guy that I beat in a local hill climb early last September. I was 9th overall this year, 6th overall last year and 9th overall the year before. My average wattage was roughly the same and I believe my weight was also roughly the same, although my bike is probably 1/2 pound lighter this year. I have at least a dozen similar data points since I've been using Asea this summer.

Since this wasn't a double-blind study on numerous people, I can't conclude that Asea doesn't work. However, I can say that I'm glad I didn't pay for this product! I'm still waiting for scientific data to support its claims but I seriously doubt I will see any. Even so, my experience is really only one observation and carries no more weight than the individual who claims he experienced major improvements. Either or both of us may be experiencing an artificial effect. For example, it's possible that I am too skeptical or that I may be 20% slower if I wasn't using Asea. Alternatively, the person who is claiming major improvements may be experiencing a placebo effect or may be having his training efforts bear fruit at the same time he is trying Asea.

In either case, I won't ever use this product again and if I were you, I would hold out for a double-blind study that is published (and reviewed by other scientists) in a respected journal before I would buy into this or any other miracle health or nutrition product!

This is doubly true for any product sold through an MLM--especially a vitamin or nutritional supplement. My advice is to hold on to your money until you see solid data! The placebo effect is real and money is a strong incentive for some people to believe they are seeing miracles.