Researchers Bonnie Kaplan and Julia Rucklidge recently published an article on Mad in America regarding a double-blind study Dr. Rucklidge published earlier this year that showed EMPowerplus is “better than placebo at improving ADHD and mood symptoms in adults.”
When Dr. Rucklidge published her first open-label trial on EMPowerplus, someone emailed her asking if EMPowerplus was worth a try or if it was a waste of time.
Four years later, we can finally and confidently say, they are not a waste of time. Over 20 studies using other experimental designs (within-subject crossover, etc.) had provided extensive preliminary evidence of that, but now Julia’s group has finally completed the type of trial that scientists and physicians pay attention to, which hopefully might filter down to the consumer.
The two researchers have collectively received over 3000 people interested in EMPowerplus and its possibilities.
The research Dr. Rucklidge conducted brought to light eight important findings.
- Overall, those taking micronutrients did better than those taking a placebo.
- There were no adverse effects associated with taking the nutrients.
- There were significant group differences favouring micronutrient treatment on self-ratings and observer ratings of symptoms, but not based on clinician observation.
- Clinician ratings favoured micronutrient treatment over placebo in terms of overall improvement in psychiatric functioning over the 8-week trial.
- Clinicians rated 48% of those taking the micronutrients as “much” or “very much” improved as compared with 21% of those taking the placebo.
- Based on an average across raters, micronutrients normalized hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms.
- Those who entered the trial with a moderately to severely low mood saw greater improvement in mood if taking the micronutrients as compared with the placebo.
- Six months after the trial was completed, those who stayed on the EMPowerplus were doing better than those who chose to come off.
- Those who stayed on EMPowerplus continued improving over time, suggesting that the benefit of micronutrients takes time to reach its full potential.
This is a ground breaking study. We cannot emphasize this enough. Sure, we are excited that EMPowerplus received this type of validation, but it’s more than that.
[This] study is the first placebo-controlled RCT to investigate the efficacy and safety of a broad-based vitamin/mineral formula in the treatment of ADHD in adults. We demonstrated that micronutrient treatment induced robust improvements in several areas, from ADHD symptoms, to depression, to global assessment of functioning, compared to placebo.
There is still more work to do. We need to replicate these results in other studies. We need to study the effect of EMPowerplus on other mental health issues, and we need to somehow find a way to compare EMPowerplus to conventional medicine.
While this study has dampened the criticisms we’ve received, it has far from extinguished them. We’ll keep moving forward though, bringing happiness, healing, and hope to tens of thousands more.