ZMA or Zinc monomethionine aspartate and Magnesium Aspartate, is a supplement that was created in the late 90’s by Victor Conte (the same Victor convicted in 2005 of money laundering and distributing steroids) for his company BALCO Laboratories.
However, before I go into detail on the research into ZMA, first we need to examine the importance of the vitamins and minerals which are being discussed. Zinc has been linked to slowing down the aging of cells [1] (including muscle cells) as well as decreasing the healing time from an injury [1]. Unfortunately in high amount zinc stops the absorption of copper and iron, furthermore in extreme cases zinc is poisonous [2].
Magnesium however is one of the most important minerals in the human body, since the 1970’s magnesium has been linked to over 300 biological reactions in the body including the synthesis of fat, protein, and nucleic acids, neurological activity, muscular contraction and relaxation, cardiac activity and bone metabolism. For an athlete all of those processes are important, none more so than its role in both anaerobic and aerobic energy production, particularly in the metabolism of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the ‘energy currency’ of the body. (I will discuss ATP in another blog, however for those who take creatine works by increasing your ATP level.)
Vitamin B6 plays a role in gluconeogenesis (stops blood glucose levels from dropping too low), further to this it is involved amino acid, glucose and lipid metabolism. If you do not have enough B6 in your system your body will slow down the growth of muscle cells.
Now that we understand the important of these minerals and vitamins we can evaluate the two many studies into ZMA. The first study was conducted by SNAC Systems Inc (a company Victor Conte has equity in)[3], this study concluded that by taking these tablets the athletes had increased muscle strength. It is important to note that this study was never accepted and has not been peer reviewed. Since this study two further studies the first by Cytodyne[4] and a second[5] conducted by a group of German scientists (in 2006) found that the was no significant effects on total and free testosterone between the control group and test group.
Since these studies it is slowly becoming accepted that ZMA was not a wonder supplement as initially advertised. The reason why? Everyone involved in athletics, bodybuilding or who eats a healthy diet can easily get enough Zinc, Magnesium and Vitamin B6. Those who don’t should go back to the drawing board and re-work their daily diet rather than wasting money on another supplement.
1 Milbury, Paul E.; Richer, Alice C. (2008), Understanding the Antioxidant Controversy: Scrutinizing the "fountain of Youth", Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 99, ISBN 0275993760
2 Fosmire, G. J. (1 February 1990). "Zinc toxicity". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 51 (2): 225–227.
3 L. R. Brilla, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, and V. Conte, BALCO Laboratories, Burlingame, CA 94010. A Novel Zinc and Magnesium Formulation (ZMA®) Increases Anabolic Hormones and Strength in Athletes. Sports Medicine, Training and Rehabilitation Journal, November 1998 (in press).
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