Tiny Gains and Big Claims from TruHeight

Research Brief

If there were a singular universal quality shared among all good parents, it would probably be the desire to see their children succeed. We raise our children in circles of love, instruction, and protection, yearning for a future in which each one can make their own way, overcome their own challenges, and build their own families in joy.

Of course, this desire for success can sometimes take a more focused and archetypal form, like the father who dreams of his children growing up to become professional athletes. This long-standing tradition has many cultural manifestations, but one of my favorites is a story meant more as a joke:

A father signs his kid up to participate in every sport possible, from the beginning to the end of the school year. Whether its football in fall, baseball in the spring, golf in summer, and karate in between, the child’s life revolves around a sport. “You never know which one he’ll go pro in,” chimes the dad. But by high school, the child has become a prodigy—not in athletics, but in productivity. His insight becomes the topic of TED Talks and consultant meetings. Everyone wants to hear from the kid who mastered the concept of “time management under duress.”

It may not be true, but it’s a funny story, and I thought of it when a friend asked me about a supplement I’d never heard of. The seller of this supplement was the company TruHeight, and its products are uniquely focused on youth. Specifically, the supplements they promote are labeled as “growth capsules” and their proprietary “growth protein shake”. All of this was fairly run-of-the-mill for supplements, except for some fairly bold and assertive claims about the product’s ability to promote and accelerate growth in children. Then, I saw that their product had been the subject of a peer-reviewed, randomized clinical trial that allegedly supported these claims.

According to the website

In our study, children who took TruHeight® experienced a remarkable 43.91% higher level of Collagen X. Collagen X is more than just a marker; it plays a central role in the growth process, reflecting real-time bone growth rates.

First, I will say that it is commendable anytime an organization subjects their specially-formulated products to peer-reviewed clinical research. That does not mean the product is automatically validated, but it does merit an investigation into the research.