Germ oils contain powerful substances for body growth and strength. Rheo Blair made the most of these substances in two products: Formula 6 Ribro and Soybro.
In Part One of two, we consider briefly the background of these products.
The NUMBER ONE KEY to unlocking Rheo Blair's ideas and methods is to understand and understand clearly his all-consuming focus on enhancing the function, balance and output of the endocrine organs. While exercise played a small role, it was this endocrine balance and efficiency -- hormonal output and optimization -- that was the secret to his success and that made possible his dramatic photographic before and after cases. And yes, protein was front and center in his work and the right quality and quantity of protein contributed to endocrine function.
BUT, good endocrine function played a huge role in the proper and efficient utilization by the body of the protein in the first place. And so his program employed several different but complementary approaches to achieving endocrine balance and efficiency. One of these was the use of hormone precursors, natural substances that aided in hormone production and therefore body growth and strength. "Soybro" was his flagship product along these lines. Soybro was a highly concentrated germ oil which, in his words: "contains the micro-nutrients so important in muscle growth". Soybro was originally a derivative of soy bran oil hence its name, Soybro; SOY BRan Oil. It later became a combination of soy, rice and what germ (bran) derivatives.
Before Soybro there existed another product of this nature, an apparent forerunner to Soybro which he named Formula 6 Ribro. This was a rice bran oil derivative which again explains the name "Ribro"; RIce BRan Oil. I cannot but speculate on the meaning and origin of the term "Formula 6". Of all his early products, this is perhaps the most obscure in that it was an early product that seemed to be taken off the shelf not long after he launched Soybro.
Ribro is never mentioned in Tomorrow's Man, his magazine from 12/52 through 7/55 although his other products were heavily advertised in the magazine. Ribro is mentioned earlier in his newlsetter which predates Tomorrow's Man. It is also mentioned in his Scientific Bodybuilding and Nutrition Course (both the 1951 and 1953 versions, incidentally) and finally it appears in a brochure about his work called "A Successful Approach to Body Building" which is undated but on the back of which is a full page advertisement for Tomorrow's Man. The brochure describes Ribro like this: Contains the Girard Fraction of ketasteroids as found naturally in rice germ oil. Comes either in liquid or capsule form. 500 capsules: only $22.50. Directly beneath this information is found "Johnson's Soybro" described as One of Johnson's newest food supplements to help you in your better health and bodybuilding program. Each tablet contains the ketasteroids, phosphalipids, and other nutritional factors as found in a Girard concentration from the soy bean germ. 500 tablets, only $5.00.
Did you notice the price difference? $22.50 for the Ribro but only $5.00 for the Soybro. Perhaps this is a clue; soy was less expensive than rice germ and arguably equally effective. Or perhaps not since the Soybro product eventually came to include three germ oils -- soy, rice and wheat. Soybro also ceased to be a tablet and was produced as a capsule. You can glimpse Soybro capsules in this YouTube video.
He referred to both products as "strength pills" because they seemed to aid in building strength and muscle tone. He also suggested that the Ribro seemed to aid in protein metabolism.
In Part Two, we will explain such terms as "Girard Fraction" and "ketasteroid" in order to come to a better understanding of just what these products were and how they worked.
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Copyright © 2008 Charles Welling
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Information found on Rheo H. Blair: The Book is meant for educational and informational purposes only, and to motivate you to make your own health care and dietary decisions based upon your own research and in partnership with your health care provider. It should not be relied upon to determine dietary changes, a medical diagnosis or courses of treatment.
