My last post  Nutritional Supplements – Going Going GONE  contained a article by Byron Richards which sums up perfectly the shocking plans of the FDA to destroy the supplement industry.

I hope all Americans who read it let their voices be heard by using the link at the end of that article to visit the ‘Take Action’ page on the wellness resources site and follow the instruction there.

It’s important to keep all American supplement consumers informed and up to date with this story and keep encouraging more and more people to contact both the FDA and their senators and voice their strong disapproval.

Today I’m reprinting an article from the Mercola.com website which discusses this story in further detail and also contains a link to another ‘Take Action’ site put up by the Alliance for Natural Health

FDA Set To Ban Your Supplements

Tuesday, September 13, 2011  -  Dr. Mercola

The FDA has issued a proposed mandate that represents the greatest threat to dietary supplements since 1994. Back in the early 1990s, consumers were so alarmed by FDA bullying that they staged a massive revolt. The result was that Congress passed a law prohibiting the FDA from banning popular nutrients (as the agency had threatened to do).

There was, however, a loophole in the 1994 law. The FDA was given authority to regulate ingredients introduced after October 15, 1994.

It has been 17 years, but the FDA just issued draconian proposals as to how it intends to regulate what it now calls “new dietary ingredients”. You can find the FDA Draft Guidance on New Dietary Ingredients (NDI’s) here. If implemented, some of the most effective nutrients you are taking will be removed from the market. This includes many fish oil formulas and natural plant extracts. A detailed analysis of the FDA Draft Guidance is available here.

These oppressive rules are exactly what the 1994 law (DSHEA) sought to prevent. The FDA is using its authority in direct violation of Congressional intent.

In order for these ingredients you are using today to return to the market, the FDA will require manufacturers to conduct outrageously expensive studies using absurdly high doses, in some situations multiplied by a “safety factor” up to 2,000-times the recommended dosage on a per product basis.

The FDA defines dietary supplements as being “new” if they were introduced after October 15, 1994. That means that even certain nutrients that have been safely used over the course of three decades will be subject to the FDA’s oppressive policies that mandate costly animal testing.

The FDA Views Supplements in Same Light as Synthetic Food Preservatives

According to the new guidelines, the FDA believes that “new dietary supplements” must be regulated similarly to synthetic food preservatives. The FDA guidelines have modeled the outrageous safety thresholds after those in place for food additives. This appears to be in direct violation of DSHEA, the law enacted in 1994 to protect consumer access to dietary supplements, which classifies dietary supplements as foods, not food additives.

The FDA proposes that new dietary supplement ingredients should adhere to aggressive safety margins, which are typically reserved for chemical compounds known to be dangerous in all but the most miniscule concentrations.

Since food additives or preservatives such as aspartame, monosodium glutamate, and sodium nitrate are known to cause cancer or other severe health problems, the FDA has implemented safety guidelines which limit allowable concentrations of these food additives to levels that are supposed to be physiologically inert.

The fact that the FDA is trying to impose the same limits upon dietary supplements seems to be arbitrary and completely unfounded. In fact, when someone takes a dietary supplement, their intent is to positively affect the structure or function of their bodies in some way – limiting dosages of dietary supplements to physiologically inert levels defeats the entire purpose of supplementation with health-sustaining nutrients.

The FDA’s new guidelines are so flawed that even nutrients shown to be completely safe in hundreds of human clinical studies would fail to accommodate the unreasonable safety margins.

To give you an example, each manufacturer of certain fish oils would have to conduct a one year study where animals would have to consume the human equivalent of 240,000 milligrams each day of fish oil.

Another option under the FDA’s proposed mandates is to conduct a 90-day, 1,000 – fold safety margin study in which two species of animals, one being non-rodent – likely young beagle dogs, will theoretically consume the equivalent of 2.4 million milligrams of fish oil daily. We know of virtually no species can tolerate this high dose, so by default, FDA guidelines will make it impossible for certain omega-3 supplements to be sold. (Note typical dose of EPA/DHA people take each day is around 2,400 mg—100 times less than what the FDA proposes must be tested.)

Since these are not patented drugs, no supplement maker will be able to afford these “safety” studies, which means that many of the nutrients you now purchase at low prices will convert into high-priced drugs.

Pharmaceutical Industry Profit Threatened By Low Cost Supplements

It appears that the FDA is claiming that dietary supplements are unsafe, and in order to “protect consumers” the agency must place a stranglehold on the dietary supplement industry by requesting exorbitant safety testing. These ludicrous safety thresholds are in excess of those required by pharmaceutical drugs despite studies showing supplements are far safer than drugs.

According to the 2001 report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), of the substances implicated in fatal poisonings in 2001, 84.6 percent were pharmaceutical drugs, with analgesics being implicated as the primary cause of death in 32 percent of fatalities or 341 deaths. This compares with 0.8 percent for all dietary supplements combined, even including substances such as dinitrophenol, a dangerous (and illegal) substance banned in 1938, as well as the central nervous system stimulant Ma Huang (Ephedra). Interestingly, the anti-asthma drug theophylline alone was responsible for 15 deaths, 66 percent more than all the available dietary supplements combined.

There is, however, a massive economic benefit for the drug industry if the proposed guidelines are enforced by the FDA. Health conscious Americans who properly supplement slash their risk of degenerative disease. The FDA’s new rules, if enacted, will force the price of many supplements to surge upwards, while removing many effective ones altogether. That means that more aging people will have to rely on side effect laden prescription drugs to treat the degenerative diseases they will contract because they will be denied access to health-promoting nutrients.

What You Can Do to Stop this Impending Carnage!

No one can sit on the sidelines with an emergency of this magnitude about to befall everyone who depends on dietary supplements. As citizens, we have the constitutional right to petition the government to redress our grievances. In this case, the FDA proposals pose a direct threat to our health and longevity.

We therefore have to take extraordinary measures to defend our right to continue using supplements that our very lives depend on, and to gain access to new natural ingredients that demonstrate efficacy in scientific studies.

I ask each one of you contact your representatives by following this link:

Contact your local representative now!  (Please use this link)

Recall how Consumers revolted back in 1994 and the result was a glorious victory over FDA tyranny!

Let your voice be heard by exercising your right to petition the government against these serious violations of the law and scientific principle.   Please be sure to call, fax, or send a certified letter to your representative – emails can be easily dismissed.

Here is a set of talking points for your consideration:

• My name is [Name] and I am a constituent of [Congress Member’s name].

• I am very concerned about the new FDA draft guidance on dietary supplements and new dietary ingredients.

• I request that Congress hold hearings and take action to review the FDA’s draft guidance and stop their overreach of power.

• The FDA’s draft guidance flies in the face of the original congressional intent of the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act: The guidance turns what was meant to be a simple notification system for new dietary ingredients into a preapproval scheme that Congress did not intend to create.

• Congress recognized that dietary supplements are natural ingredients and therefore inherently safer than drugs and chemical food ingredients. It did not intend that the FDA would have the power to approve or reject dietary supplements.

• The FDA’s draft guidance creates unnecessary regulations that limit my access to dietary supplements I rely on. The expensive and burdensome process will force between 20,000 and 42,000 dietary supplements to be removed from the market and will increase the cost of those supplements that remain.

• The draft guidance hurts our economy. Expert analyses show that this guidance will cause a total economic loss of $21.2 billion to $39.8 billion annually.

• Thank you for your time.

Tips:

• Be courteous and respectful.

• Keep your comments brief and focused on the facts.

• Always thank the staff member for their time taking your call.

SAMPLE LETTER TO CONGRESS:

The Honorable _________________________  Washington, DC

In direct violation of the law, the FDA is threatening to ban my access to new dietary supplements.

The FDA defines dietary supplements as being “new” if they were introduced after October 15, 1994. That means that nutrients that I have been safely using over the course of three decades will be subject to FDA’s oppressive policies that mandate costly animal testing, which translates into forced withdrawal from the market, and higher prices for me if the supplement is ever allowed to be sold again.

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 states that:

“The Federal Government should not take any actions to impose unreasonable regulatory barriers limiting or slowing the flow of safe products and accurate information to consumers.”

It says that Congress finds that:

“dietary supplements are safe within a broad range of intake, and safety problems with the supplements are relatively rare.”

And it says that:

“legislative action that protects the right of access of consumers to safe dietary supplements is necessary in order to promote wellness.”

 

This draft guidance does the exact opposite of what Congress intended. It imposes unreasonable barriers that limit and slow the flow of safe products and accurate information to consumers. I call upon Congress to:

1. Uphold the landmark legislation it passed seventeen years ago, and to direct the FDA to revise its New Dietary Ingredient draft guidelines to reflect DSHEA’s (and Congress’s) stated values and goals.

2. Vote against the newly introduced Dietary Supplement Labeling Act as this would give the FDA even greater arbitrary powers to remove safe dietary supplements from the market, and will profoundly impact this nation’s health in a negative way.

All of these proposals result in wasteful federal spending, while at the same time impose a massive new “regulatory tax” on consumers and the vitamin industry.

Kindly let me know what actions you are taking in response to the urgent issues raised in this letter.

Sincerely,
Name________________________________________
Address______________________________________
City______________________ST____ Zip___________

If you’re an avid consumer of nutritional supplements  then you’ve probably already heard at least something about the FDA’s  ongoing  quest to take over and essentially hand control of the entire nutritional supplements industry to the pharmaceutical companies.

In a nutshell the FDA is attempting to take away OUR RIGHT to choose and buy nutritional supplements and give complete control of the health of the population to Big Pharma.

Seven weeks ago the US  Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a long awaited draft set of guidelines for  New Dietary Ingredient Notifications (NDI’s).  This 35 page document is called  “Draft Guidance for Industry: Dietary Supplements: New Dietary Ingredient Notifications and Related Issues.”

Although this has been expected for some time now, the industry is up in arms and literally shell shocked by the scope of these changes which are being called a complete ‘game changer’  due to the effects they will have on supplement ingredients, products and companies.

Many, many. if not a large majority, of supplement companies will be forced out of business, an obvious follow on effect which many are calling the next step of the FDA to destroy the nutritional supplement industry and allow Big Pharma to step in and take control of vitamins, minerals herbs and all other natural substances.

Experts are predicting that the pharmaceutical companies will design synthetic versions of natural ingredients which,  of course, just happen to be exempt from these new proposed NDI regulations.

When this happens the prices of supplements produced by the pharmaceutical companies will sky-rocket as you will see from the example in the article below.

There is also a move by pharmaceutical companies to take effective natural ingredients that have been proven in the dietary supplement industry and start developing drugs from them.  If they do this then the FDA can deny any NDI application for that ingredient from a dietary supplement manufacturer even if that ingredient has been used for decades.

The ONLY WAY to thwart the FDA’s plans and retain our health freedom is to complain to lawmakers. If you sit back and do nothing we will all be at the mercy of the evil pharmaceutical companies who place corporate greed and profit far above human rights and our health.

I have included below an article by Byron Richards which discusses this topic in depth. He has included a link at the end where you can access a site to take action against this invasion of our health freedom.

If you value your right to choose and access nutritional supplements please use the link and exercise your rights

The FDA’s Scheme to Reclassify Nutrients as Drugs

Tuesday, August 02, 2011  -  Byron Richards, CCN

The FDA and Senator Durbin’s latest attack against the dietary supplement industry should leave consumers for natural health options at affordable prices up in arms. This attack will target some of the most popular and effective dietary supplements, removing them from the free market and placing them under control of large pharmaceutical companies. This move will drastically drive up the price of dietary supplements while severely limiting access to extremely safe and effective nutrients. For example, the GlaxoSmithKline prescription drug version of DHA fish oil (at a therapeutic dose) sells for $189 a month, whereas the equivalent, therapeutic amount of molecularly-distilled DHA sells for $35 a month in the dietary supplement marketplace. Proven to lower triglyceride levels at therapeutic amounts, it is not surprising that DHA is one of the first nutrients the FDA plans to go after. Other powerful nutrients, such as curcumin and resveratrol, are soon to follow.

This is the second article in what will be a series of articles on this critical topic. In my first article, “Senator Durbin & the FDA Viciously Attack Dietary Supplements,” I outlined the scope and nature of the attack and called readers to take action. And it is still critically important that you do take action, so please visit our new TAKE ACTION page immediately following reading this article.

The newly-proposed FDA regulations are complicated. We are just beginning to understand the full scope of their ploy. The FDA is hoping that the complexity of their regulations will confuse consumers so they do not understand the coming changes and resulting repercussions. It is my job to give you some concrete examples of how this will affect you.

It is not just DHA, curcumin and resveratrol that are slated for pharmaceutical industry takeover, hundreds of other nutrients and herbs are at risk. The unfortunate reality is if the FDA is allowed to carry out their illegal strategy then thousands of products currently on the market are likely to be deemed “misbranded drugs” and forced off the market under the FDA’s criminal campaign to wipe out an industry, and ultimately gain even greater power and profit.

The Pharmaceutical Industry’s Perfect Storm of Economic Collapse

Mapping the human genome was supposed to usher in the next generation of pharmaceutical “wonder” drugs. Scientists would identify a gene or set of genes causing each and every disease. New biotech drugs operating at the genetic level would fix the problems or compensate for them, ushering in “The Golden Age of Cures” and reaping huge 21st century profits for the pharmaceutical conglomerate.

This wishful thinking is not the case. Their first biotech drugs have caused more death and injury than benefit. At the same time, rapid advancements in tools to analyze gene function made it obvious that Mother Nature already provided a treasure trove of potential golden cures—natural, safe and effective substances already widely utilized in the dietary supplement industry.

Multiple circumstances threaten hundreds of billions in drug company profits. Their pipeline of new drugs with widespread consumer application is scant, as they gamble their future on dangerous biotech drugs with limited use.  Hundreds of their top-selling drugs are losing patent protection in the next few years, exposing them to generic competitors and massively driving down inflated profits. Widely-publicized adverse side effects and unnecessary deaths caused by many commonly-used pharmaceutical drugs have cast suspicion over their entire industry.

On the political front, Congress is looking for ways to control health care costs, even suggesting incentives for making people well—a far different tune than paying for lifetime drug prescriptions that seldom improve health. In fact, the gene science is actually proving that Western Medicine’s drugs are damaging the human genome and are a significant cause in the onset of many of the diseases of aging—the very diseases they are pretending to treat.

Pharmaceutical companies define their primary assets as patent-protected drugs, giving the drug 15 to 20 years of product sales with no competition. It is vital for them to figure out a strategy to turn dietary supplement ingredients, especially those that could be used for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, depression, Alzheimer’s, and cancer treatment into drug company “assets,” eliminating from the free market many of the most helpful dietary supplement ingredients while drastically driving up prices for consumers.

The Poison-Dispensing Era of Western Medicine

Until the advent of the new gene-regulating drugs, virtually all medications worked on the principle of poisoning the function of a cell or enzyme system to hopefully produce a change that the doctor thinks “beneficial.” If taking a drug results in a better-looking blood sugar, blood pressure, or cholesterol number, then doctors automatically assume the person is healthier. Rather, health has nothing to do with it.  It is in the financial interests of drug companies to dispense more and more drugs, on an ongoing basis.

There is a night-and-day difference in quality of health between a person who has good numbers because they are healthy and a person who has reasonably-looking numbers because they are poisoned with drugs. Studies using high doses of metabolic and cardiovascular drugs to attempt to drive numbers down to the levels of healthy people invariably injure and even kill the participants—clearly failing to improve health quality and extend lifespan.

To make matters worse, the pharmaceutical industry fraudulently hides the actual risks of the drugs from both patients and doctors. This includes slanting, to blatantly falsifying, studies routinely published in medical journals and used for marketing, illegally promoting off-label use of drugs, using funding to bribe research universities to publish only favorable results and blacklisting researchers who refuse to accept, and paying influential doctors to present their data as independent research at medical meetings.

The scope and magnitude of the drug safety issue is a nightmare. In 2006 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) conducted interviews with FDA management and hundreds of FDA employees to ascertain issues leading to drug safety problems. Widespread conflict of interest and many other issues led IOM investigators to label FDA management as dysfunctional. Little has changed.

The Gene-Experimentation Era of Western Medicine

The human body is no slouch when it comes to elaborate complexity. It is often the case that the same exact gene signal is “good” or “bad” depending on the context in which it is activated. In fact, the same genes often behave differently in different areas of the body. Unlike earlier toxic drugs that force cell and enzyme behavior at a rather crude level, biotech drugs turn gene signals “on” or “off” at a powerfully fundamental level of cell function. Unfortunately for consumers, our understanding of genes is in its infancy.  There is daunting complexity in gene regulation, making use of any gene-regulating drug highly questionable.

One example of this problem involves diabetes drugs Avandia and Actos, which turn on the gene PPAR gamma. This gene signal helps to break down triglycerides. These drugs also stimulate the formation of new fat cells, which are more metabolically fit and therefore produce more adiponectin that stops insulin resistance. Thus, in theory, they are potentially great drugs for lowering triglycerides and benefiting people with type 2 diabetes. As these drugs became blockbusters it was soon observed that the patients taking them were experiencing devastating side effects. These drugs have no way to know the context in which they should be operating. They activate PPAR gamma in the wrong places, such as the heart, leading to a 40 percent increased risk for heart failure or heart attack. Additionally, inappropriate PPAR gamma activation in bones causes them to break more easily.

The FDA rushed these drugs to market despite the objections of its own safety supervisor who wanted to employ a black box warning for heart failure. In other words, the FDA knew about the risks but prevented the public from understanding them, and still allowed the drugs to go to market. This was a major scandal at the FDA. The FDA has finally restricted Avandia, but Actos remains available in full swing. Actos has recently been highly restricted in Europe, but in America, the FDA continues to drag its feet. This is likely because the FDA has mud on its face for approving these biotech nightmares in the first place and would rather consumers suffer injury and even die than look bad. The mainstream media fails to aggressively report on or investigate this tragic issue as they are large recipients of drug company advertising dollars.  Even when one of their own, Tim Russert, was likely killed by Avandia or Actos, they turned a blind eye.

 

DHA is a Superior and Intelligent Gene-Regulating Nutrient

The plot thickens. Nature’s nutrient DHA, typically in fish oil, is a powerful activator of PPAR gamma, helping to break down triglycerides as well as make new metabolically-fit fat cells that boost adiponectin and help fight type 2 diabetes—the exact objectives of Big Pharma’s Avandia and Actos. DHA is a near-miracle nutrient for the heart and overall cardiovascular health and also supports strong bones. It has all of the benefits of Avandia and Actos and none of the side effects.

And this is why Big Pharma is so interested in taking over many dietary supplement ingredients. The nutrients know how to work in harmony with gene function in the human body, since nutrition was a key part of human evolution. These nutrients appear to have inherent intelligence that no drug could possibly have. They understand the context of the gene signal and thus support the beneficial gene activity. They know how to behave differently in different areas of the body to promote healthy function at every turn.

Under the FDA’s new draft guidance that redefines the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), the FDA targets many nutrients for elimination from the market, and DHA is one of them. DHA is a component of fish oil, which is a pre-DSHEA nutrient. This means that it should be grandfathered in and not subjected to the newly-published New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) guidelines.

Various companies have been able to concentrate the DHA as well as remove toxins from the oil, enabling consumers to take higher amounts of the most important ingredient in fish oil. Consumers can now easily and safely reach doses of DHA that are consistent with studies showing extreme health benefit. Such doses of DHA are known to be safe, have been tested in clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and are consistent with the amounts consumed by people who regularly eat fish.

The FDA’s point man on NDI guidance issues, Daniel Fabricant, has been telling the supplement industry what to expect. In a recent webinar  he was asked, “Should it be necessary to submit an NDI notification over a small change in the ratios of the long chain omega-3 fatty acids EPAto DHA in one fish oil supplement versus another? Is this really a big safety issue?”  Shockingly, Fabricant responded “If it is a different ingredient, a different chemical entity, then it should trigger an NDI notification.”

Fabricant is saying that any modification of basic fish oil should trigger an NDI notification. This is utter nonsense, but it is exactly what the FDA is attempting to do. What Fabricant did not bother to say to the supplement industry webinar audience was that an NDI application for modified fish oil would be denied, since GlaxoSmithKline already has a fish oil prescription drug on the market called Lovaza. Again, shocking.

Yes, the new guidance document makes it clear that if an existing drug contains any form of the nutrient DHA, a NDI will not be allowed (section IV.C.8-11). In other words, if modified DHA did not require an NDI notification, it qualified as a grandfathered nutrient, an obvious part of fish oil. But if the FDA decides that the newly manufactured form of the nutrient, in this case DHA, is different than its typical concentration in food, it can require that nutrient to have an NDI notification. By retroactively applying this definition to nutrients that compete with drug applications, that nutrient will automatically be denied NDI status. As of now, this is the intended fate of DHA. It is gravely unfortunate, as DHA is one of the most beneficial and effective nutrients offered by the dietary supplement industry.

This is a blatant power play to hand the entire high-grade DHA market to GlaxoSmithKline, one of the largest drug companies in the world. Lovaza already costs five to seven times what a similar amount of high-grade DHA costs—imagine how high their price will go up when there is no competition.

The Rise of Epigenetics

The new frontier of science is the field of epigenetics. A true genetic change means there is a change in the DNA sequence. Epigenetics explains factors that are not such DNA changes. Rather, epigenetic changes relate to how genes are expressed. Some are set in response to early environmental influences such as prenatal malnutrition or nutrient deficiency.  As cells split and divide, however, epigenetic factors play a large role in determining life-long human health and are strongly linked to poor health and the onset of disease. Epigenetic weaknesses magnify during aging and are major factors in the cause of cancer, heart disease, neurological and cognitive disorders, obesity, diabetes, infertility and sexual dysfunction.

This new science is finding that when toxins interfere with the human genome, they can cause lasting damage in the form of adverse epigenetic changes which can occur at any point in one’s life. This is not simply an issue of pollution. Researchers are now demonstrating that regular use of many drugs can cause adverse toxic epigenetic changes, a finding that has alarming implications for today’s medical practices. Up to this point in time, drug safety has not involved studying the impact of any drug on epigenetics.  Science now has the ability to see what is going on in this realm. The pharmaceutical industry and the FDA, unsurprisingly, have no interest in understanding and considering this new, ground-breaking information as the public would significantly reduce their intake of drugs.

On the hand, research on dietary ingredients is showing them to be powerful regulators of epigenetics and some show extreme promise for helping to treat metabolic disease and even cancer. Nutrients are showing that they possess “intelligence” and are able to tell the difference between a stressed and struggling cell (one with epigenetic weaknesses) and a cell with cancer. In the case of the stressed cell, the nutrients can fix it. In the case of the cancerous cell, the exact same nutrient can actually help kill the cancer without any adverse side effects—even overcoming mechanisms that make cancer resistant to drug treatments. Two of the very best nutrients in this category are curcumin and resveratrol, making them potential prizes for the pharmaceutical industry.

As I reported in my recent article,  “Curcumin Helps Change Gene Function to Combat Cancer,”  curcumin and resveratrol are under extensive genetic study at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Regarding cancer, these researchers are at the forefront of all things drug and biotech. The last commissioner of the FDA, Andrew von Eschenbach, was in charge at the MD Anderson Cancer Center before joining the FDA.  Researchers at the MD Anderson Cancer Center are practically drooling over the virtues of curcumin and resveratrol. Some quotes from their recent study include the following:

Recently, natural compounds, such as curcumin, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and resveratrol, have been shown to alter epigenetic mechanisms, which may lead to increased sensitivity of cancer cells to conventional agents and thus inhibition of tumor growth. Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), a yellow spice and the active component of the perennial herb Curcuma longa, commonly known as turmeric, is one of the most powerful and promising chemo-preventive and anticancer agents, and epidemiological evidence demonstrates that people who incorporate high doses of this spice in their diets have a lower incidence of cancer. Furthermore, epidemiological evidence exists indicating that there is a correlation between increased dietary intake of antioxidants and a lower incidence of morbidity and mortality…. How curcumin exerts its powerful anticancer activities has been thoroughly investigated, and several mechanisms of action have been discovered…. curcumin exerts its biological activities through epigenetic modulation.

Extensive research over the past five decades has indicated that curcumin reduces blood cholesterol levels; prevents low-density lipoprotein oxidation; inhibits platelet aggregation; suppresses thrombosis and myocardial infarction; suppresses symptoms associated with type II diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer disease; inhibits HIV replication; suppresses tumor formation; enhances wound healing; protects against liver injury; increases bile secretion; protects against cataract formation; and protects against pulmonary toxicity and fibrosis. These divergent effects of curcumin seem to depend on its pleiotropic molecular effects, including the regulation of signal transduction pathways, and direct modulation of several enzymatic activities. Most of these signaling cascades lead to the activation of transcription factors.

Interest in the effects of dietary compounds such as resveratrol which activate class III HDACs (sirtuins) is growing rapidly because of their demonstrable role in extending lifespan and in reducing, or delaying, age-related diseases including cancers…. Resveratrol, a natural compound found in the skin of red grapes and a constituent of red wine, is believed to play a significant role in the reduction of cardiovascular events.  Multiple studies have shown that resveratrol can activate sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), a histone deacetylase, and inhibit p300. Sirtuins, the class III HDACs, are widely distributed and have been shown to regulate a variety of physiopathologic processes, such as inflammation, cellular senescence and aging, cellular apoptosis and proliferation, differentiation, metabolism, stem cell pluri-potency, and cell cycle regulation.

Experimental evidence accumulated in the recent years clearly supports the idea that dietary nutraceuticals such as curcumin have great potential as epigenetic agents.

These researchers go on to cite all of the human safety and efficacy trials with curcumin, resveratrol and many other natural substances.

This is not dietary supplement companies extolling the virtues of these powerful nutrients. These are mainstream drug development researchers, stunned by the ability of nutrients to regulate epigenetics to support health and at the same time combat diseases that plague large numbers of people. The inherent capacity of these nutrients outshines that of any drug.

There should be no question in anyone’s mind as to why the pharmaceutical industry wants to claim these powerful nutrients as patent-protected drug assets. The question is more about how they plan to pull off this major scheme, this heist, from the dietary supplement industry.

Curcumin (tumeric) has been around for thousands of years and is consumed in very large amounts in Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures. This means the basic spice is protected by DSHEA. Unfortunately, curcumin has relatively poor bioavailability and raw material companies have sought to produce purified extracts with advanced production technology and combine curcumin with other nutrients such as piperine, which can elevate the biological activity up to 2,000 percent. Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center have conducted cancer research specifically with one such curcumin product, made by Sabinsa, and found it very promising.

Under the proposed FDA guidelines for NDIs, such curcumin extracts would retroactively become NDIs as they were not available prior to 1994. The immediate impact would be the removal of curcumin from the dietary supplement market while submitting an NDI application. Sabinsa, however, has already been granted several investigational new drug applications for their curcumin complex as they work with researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Under the new FDA guidelines the net result would be eliminating all high grade curcumin extracts from the dietary supplement market, as no NDI will be granted for any ingredient that is under investigation as a new drug. Sabinsa, a dietary supplement raw material supplier, will be able to sell its rights to its curcumin compound to the highest pharmaceutical bidder while all other competing curcumin extracts, including Sabinsa’s product, will be forced off the dietary supplement market.

It is a similar story for resveratrol, which is also under investigation as a new drug. In fact, numerous highly-effective and therapeutic extracts will be targeted in this way by the pharmaceutical industry. The FDA has a glaring conflict of interest and can easily approve investigational new drug applications for any nutrient of interest to the pharmaceutical cartel, automatically blocking them from entry or existence in a competitive dietary supplement marketplace. Dietary supplement companies could spend millions trying to get the FDA to pass a NDI application. The FDA just sits on the NDI application, to ultimately approve the nutrient as an investigational new drug and deny the dietary supplement company’s NDI application.

Consumer options for therapeutic nutrition will rapidly dwindle. What is left on the market will be far more expensive and many nutrients will no longer be available without prescription. Once the pharmaceutical industry gains control of the nutrient, the new price will be ten to fifty times what consumers pay now.

A Call for Consumer Action

The most important force capable of preventing skyrocketing prices and the elimination of therapeutic nutrition from the dietary supplement marketplace is you, the consumer.  If you wait to act until the products actually begin to disappear, it could be too late. Act now and help preserve your right to a wide range of these powerful and valuable dietary supplement ingredients and products at affordable prices. Say NO to the FDA’s illegal strategy to help drug companies take over the dietary supplement industry.

Go to our  TAKE ACTION  page and, please, let your voice be heard.

Take Action!

I’m new to your site and trying to examine a product I purchased for my fibromyalgia. It is Source Natural’s ‘Fibro-Response’ with Malic Acid and MSM.

I usually never buy before researching but guess I had a “stupid” moment and did so—-but I want to know more about its contents before I start taking it.

It is so difficult to ascertain whether a vitamin/herb/supplement is a quality product.

I have used vitamins/supplements for many of my 62 years and I sure do need a product for my fibromyalgia and my arthritis.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Hello Maggie,

Thanks for contacting me with your question. With respect to your Fibromyalgia firstly let me congratulate you on your desire to include an all natural (non-pharmaceutical) approach to your treatment. I’m assuming from this that chronic pain/tender points are not a major symptom for you and I certainly hope that this is the case.

Since you haven’t supplied any details about the exact nature and severity of your symptoms, my initial advice would be to take a more comprehensive multi faceted approach aimed at addressing the (suspected) root causes rather than just trying to suppress/manage the symptoms. Fibromyalgia, as you would know, is a complex chronic syndrome for which the exact causes are simply not known or understood at this point. Medical researchers however tend to have a general ‘genetic’ predisposition that it is likely caused and triggered (made worse) by several factors acting together rather than one isolated underlying factor.

Non pharmaceutical treatment options for FM encompass nutrition, relaxation techniques, and exercise. Looking at your nutritional intake is a great place to start and this is where the nutritional health supplements come in. It is always recommended that FM patients have an optimal dietary regime, fluid intake, and whatever exercise is within their means. Also, to strictly limit the amount of sugar, caffeine, and alcohol they use (as these have been shown to irritate muscles and stress body systems).

You asked about the ‘supplement quality issue’ and I can tell you that although Source Naturals Supplements are of very high quality, I would not recommend their ‘Fibro-Response’ supplement you bought , very simply because the formula is nowhere near comprehensive enough. In order to address the root causes of FM (whatever they may be) you need a much broader spectrum of general and specialized nutrients on a daily basis which overall target every single organ and system in your body including your brain.

The supplement which I do want to recommend to you is called ‘Total Balance’ (in your case the Women’s ‘Premium’ version). This supplement formula contains 91 ingredients, many of which are highly specialized nutrients not found in any other health/vitamin supplements (due to their cost and need to be protected by an enteric coating on the tablet to bypass the stomach and release them in the upper intestine). SAMe (S-Adenosylmethionine), L -Carnosine and L-Glutathione (low molecular weight) are good examples of these highly specialized/highly effective nutrients.

Maggie, this Total Balance supplement I’m recommending to you is an elite grade specialty supplement for very health conscious people who want superior nutritional support to protect the health of their DNA, normalize their aging process and avoid all those 21st century influenced (and preventable) degenerative diseases which are effecting people at younger and younger ages these days. Most Importantly this formula contains ingredients from ALL the various nutrients classes (which is important in your case). It covers these nutrients categories:-

If you can afford a full daily dose of the Total Balance Women’s Premium version then this is what I recommend. If not then use whatever your budget allows.

Now, because FM affects the nervous system, I recommend that in conjunction with the Total Balance you also use another supplement called ‘Neuro Natural’. The ‘General’ version is the one to get (unless you’re having severe bouts in which case the Neuro Natural ‘Memory’ version would be better).

Omega 3 fish oil is also a key part of a highly efficious nutritional intake so if your budget allows please add in 1000mg of Omega 3 oil each day.
Maggie – just to let you know, Total Balance is the only supplement I trust for my own health and I have been using it as the foundation of my own personal supplement regime for the past 10 years. My entire family, including my mother and father, use it.

You also mentioned having Arthritis (unfortunately, a common condition with FM patients). So I’d like to tell you about a supplement called ‘Arthrit-Eze’ (also from the Xtend-Life company in New Zealand). It is, in my opinion, the most advanced all natural arthritis formula in the market (31 ingredients). This supplement was formulated to specifically treat the ROOT CAUSES of Arthritis and this is why I recommend to people with Arthritis.

The truth is that virtually all Arthritis formulas in the supplement industry only aim at suppressing symptoms, simply because they do not have enough specialized ingredients to go after the root causes of the condition.

My father had arthritis in his fingers and so I got him onto Arthrit-Eze. After 3 months he was able to stop using it as his pain and stiffness had gone. This was a fast and excellent result for him.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

MAGGIE, I’ve prepared these links for you and they will take you to the product pages for the supplements I’ve recommended (and to some pages on my website where more product info can be found):

Total Balance product info

Detailed Review of Total Balance

Neuro Natural “General’ version

Omega 3 DHA Fish Oil

Omega 3 DHA Fish Oil – what to look for in the best oils

Arthrit-Eze Product Info

Could you please give me your thoughts on Wild Yam. I have been told by several female friends that it is an excellent natural alternative for helping with menstrual complications. But when I did some internet searches I came across only negative statements/studies.

Thanks

Response From Brett:

Hi Megan

Thanks for your question. I know I have written about this before but haven’t been able to locate that reader’s question.

Anyway, I know what you mean! The wild yam content you would have come across is typical of what’s happening on the web nowadays. Unqualified people posting content on which they have no idea whether it is factual, incomplete or predominantly wrong. These people are simply doing internet searches themselves and then copying/re-wording the mistakes of other unqualified website authors.

Wild Yam is an extremely useful medicinal herb for women! It is a precursor (to human sex hormones) able to help with menstrual cramps/pain, hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.

Much of the negative content you probably came across about Wild Yam’s oestrogenic effects is quite misleading (clinical studies for traditional Wild Yam are difficult to come across outside of a laboratory conversion.)

I did some searches to see what came up on the first page of results and it was the usual statements suggesting that Wild Yam (botanical name =’Dioscorea’, active component =’diosgenin’) does not produce the medicinal effects claimed. This is because natural diosgenin from Wild Yam root and the form of alternative progesterone hormone which is synthesized by diosgenin in the lab are completely different! IE. Your body cannot convert natural diosgenin without synthesis in a lab.

Well Megan, while this is actually correct it is NOT the whole story and therefore it is misleading.

Although the same hormonal effects have not been proven in natural Wild Yam due to this claim of non-conversion in the body, the natural hormonal precursors present in Wild Yam do have similar effects to the diosgenin used in laboratory conversion.

You see the negative studies currently available can actually be used as as positive studies (because of what they don’t tell you!) What I mean is in order that natural diosgenin can be converted scientifically to create alternative hormone, the precursors MUST be set in the natural Wild Yam in the first place for this to be able to happen!

The key is that the hormonal precursors naturally present in Wild Yam logically encourage the body to produce its own hormones rather than relying on the synthetic version (albeit from part natural origin) which although gives a finished product, encourages the body to be lazy in not producing its own hormones.

The precursors are the key in the natural product, PROMOTING NATURAL HORMONE PRODUCTION!

So, we can see that the negative studies out there are actually acting as underlying positive evidence in so far as the the proven ability to synthesize diosgenin supports that the natural precursors MUST be there in natural Wild Yam.

This is not an easy topic to explain Megan – I hope I have explained it in a way that you can understand.

Let’s not forget about the Wild Yam studies proving anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic properties. These also contribute to the health of the female reproductive organ!

Megan- at the very bottom of this post I have included a resource which I had on file which helps backup my explanation above. The part in question is highlighted in teal green under the section titled “Quoted references”.

—————————————————————————————————-

Megan, here’s a heads up for you. I review hundreds of supplements each year including the ‘so called’ market leaders.

You might be interested to know that the female premium version of the multi nutrient nutritional health supplement I use contains six natural hormonal balancing precursors including Wild Yam. You won’t find a stronger female support formulation out there!

It’s called TOTAL BALANCE

This formula targets EVERY organ and system in your body. In addition to being gender specific in order to address common health problems specific to each sex (like balancing the female hormonal cascade), it’s the ONLY supplement formula to date which can SLOW DOWN AND NORMALIZE YOUR AGING PROCESS BY PROPERLY ADDRESSING ALL FOUR OF THE PRIMARY CAUSES OF AGING:

Free Radicals

Glycation

Methylation

Inflammation

It uses a WHOPPING 97 INGREDIENTS in order to get the job done !!!!

My mum, dad, sister and I wouldn’t trust our health to any other supplement because quite simply there isn’t another supplement currently out there which takes on each part of the anti aging equation with the specialized nutrients required in addition to doing all the other ‘basics’ that a quality health/vitamin supplement should do.

Use this link if you want to read up on Total Balance. (PS. If you want to give extra nutritional support to your children’s development, I’m happy to tell you that Xtend-Life has JUST RELEASED a special Total Balance formula for children! (My 14 year old niece and 11 year old nephew are already using it!)

Total Balance Womens Premium version

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Quoted References

2. “These tubers have been used in some cultures as a coffee substitute. It helps support the spleen, lungs and kidneys. Dioscoreae contains up to thirteen percent diosgenin. Diosgenin has been processed and given to patients to relieve arthritis, asthma, eczema, regulate metabolism and control fertility. Diosgenin provides the steroid building blocks for developing human sex hormones and can be used for developing muscle mass and strength. It has been used for emotional instability, chronic cough, diarrhea, and diabetes.”

4. “Medicinal Action and Uses: Antispasmodic. Perhaps the best relief and promptest cure for bilious colic, especially helpful in the nausea of pregnant women. Valuable also in painful cholera morbus with cramps, neuralgic affections, spasmodic hiccough and spasmodic asthma.”

9. “Botanical name: Dioscorea oppositae Pharmaceutical name: Radix Dioscoreae Oppositae. English: Chinese Yam Root. Properties: sweet, neutral. Channels entered: Spleen, Lung, Kidney. Functions and clinical use: Tonifies and benefits the Spleen and Stomach: used in cases of Deficient Spleen or Stomach with such symptoms as diarrhea, fatigue, spontaneous sweating, and lack of appetite. Benefits the Lungs and nourishes the Kidneys: used for Wasting and Thirsting syndrome. Because this herb moistens and is neither hot nor cold, it benefits both the Yin and the Yang of the Lungs and Kidneys. It is also used for spermatorrhea, frequent urination, and leukorrhea.”

14. “Wild yam root has been used for hundreds of years to treat rheumatism and arthritis-like ailments. The discovery of steroidal glycosides (diosgenin) in the root validated this ancient practice. Most species of yams contain large amounts of plant steroids, primarily diosgenin, a saponin precursor in the synthesis of progesterone. Without the yams, the industrial complex would not be able to meet the worldwide demand for synthetic corticosteroids. But with them, scientists can derive animal or human steroids in a fairly straightforward multi step process. Wild yams are the only really good source of plant steroids for such purposes.

Diosgenin provides about 50 percent of the raw material for steroid synthesis. It must be emphasized that there is not an equivalency between diosgenin and human steroids. It takes many synthetic steps to get from one to the other. If yam has steroidal effects on the body, it is not because it contains steroidal hormones, but because the steroidal precursors have similar effects. The body does not recognize them or mistake them for its own hormones, but uses them in a similar manner.
Research has shown that yam, yam extract and/or diosgenin possess good to excellent anti-inflammatory action.

In one series of studies, yam was found to induce a short-lived decrease in blood pressure and an increase in coronary flow when injected intravenously into rabbits. Also in rabbits, the saponins of yam, fed orally, prevented large increases in blood cholesterol levels. The good therapeutic effect of dioscorea saponins on patients with atherosclerosis combined with hypertension was confirmed in Clinical practice.
The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia recognizes wild yam root as a spasmolytic, mild diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic and cholagogue, for use in the treatment of intestinal colic, diverticulitis, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular rheumatism, cramps, intermittent claudication, cholecystitis, dysmenorrhea, and ovarian and uterine pain. Bilious colic and rheumatoid arthritis are specific indications for the use of yam.”

Point 14- website source: http://www.rain-tree.com/REFKEY.htm

1. Free Radical Production
2. Glycation
3. Methylation

and how to effectively treat them with specialized and in some cases rare supplement ingredients.

Your body has to fight against these SERIOUS problems every single day. Besides aging you they are responsible for the onset of degenerative disease.

These four aging components require specialized ingredients in your nutritional health supplement to effectively address and control them.

The problem we have seen however is that because around 99% of vitamin health supplements, of all standards, are manufactured to a price, with many distributed via expense heavy MLM structures, these specialized ingredients are just too expensive to be included.

In today’s article I will look at the final aging component – Chronic Inflammation.

When people hear the word ‘Inflammation’ most will immediately think of Fish Oil and Omega 3. Yes, you will see Fish oil in the list below of the necessary specialized anti inflammation nutrients but……………

It Takes Much More Than Fish Oil To Adequately Tackle And Control Inflammation!

If inflammation is not controlled it will cause crisis to your health!

It is a serious condition but one that is not mentioned much in anti aging discussions. In fact there are leading scientists who have publicly stated that chronic inflammation is the main contributor to age related health damage. This is because excessive inflammation causes toxic chemicals which eat away body tissues, thus leading to heart disease, dementia, arthritis and diabetes and so on.

Just think about that for a moment!

Regardless of whether these scientists are spot on or not chronic Inflammation is a VERY BIG DEAL when it comes to your health and to the issue of

PREMATURE AGING!

You see, just about every one of us is suffering from premature aging. That’s because we live in the civilized world and so we can’t hide from the causes:

Things like oxidation (from breathing), X rays, sunlight, and numerous dietary/environmental toxins and stressors which impact on our health EVERY SINGLE DAY! (The only way to escape these is to run away and live in remote places like the Himalaya’s, with races like the Hunsa’s who live to around 120 years and where men father children well into their nineties.)

How do these things impact your health exactly ?

The answer is above!

They SPEED UP the four things which are primarily causing you to age: Free Radical Production, Glycation, Methylation and Inflammation.

So, to support, improve and (hopefully) optimize your health, you need to SLOW DOWN AND NORMALIZE YOUR AGING PROCESS . In other words to bring it more into line with what mother nature intended.

Therefore you must comprehensively take action against free radical, glycation, methylation and inflammation.

That’s the straightforward answer you’ve been looking for.

Anti Aging Secrets – Take Action How?

Well, your dietary intake is certainly a HUGE part of the action you must take but as you have/will discover from my previous articles in this series, some of the specialized anti aging nutrients you must have to take on free radicals, glycation, methylation and inflammation, cannot be taken in through your diet.

That’s why supplementation is so critical to the process.

So, if you believe in using nutritional health supplements, and you are/are going to spend good money on one, on a continuing basis, then you absolutely need to make sure it can do more than just top up any nutrient deficiencies you may have!

The key here is to understand that these four components are completely interrelated. That means you have to treat all four simultaneously. It’s completely a waste of time buying an isolated nutrient(s) in order to address just one or two of them. This WON’T WORK.

If you haven’t read through parts 1,2 and 3 of this anti aging secrets series then this might be a good time to do so and then you will understand the interconnection of these four aging components. (Use the anti aging secrets links in the sidebar over on the right of this page.)

But here’s a good example to highlight this interrelatedness.

MDA (Malondialdehyde) is a dangerous chemical byproduct formed in your body as a result of the action of free radicals on the fatty membranes of your cells. It is a major factor in the production of AGEs from glycation. This same chemical, MDA, is also involved in inflammation.

Anti Aging Secrets – Reduce The Summation

So, if you try using anti-oxidants to decrease your free radical population then you will reduce the oxidation of your cell membranes which will in turn reduce the formation of MDA which in turn will reduce glycation and thereby the creation of AGEs. Presto- you have reduced inflammation as well!

But you still need to take Carnosine (part 2) in addition to the most powerful antioxidants (part 1) to inhibit the creation of AGEs because there will still be free radical production – you can’t kill all those troublesome free radicals – so MDA is still going to form and try to create AGEs which in a summation effect will contribute to inflammation

And you can’t stop the production of all AGEs and by connection not all inflammation can be avoided so you absolutely have to use specialized nutrients that can tackle inflammation (in ADDITION to the the other specialized nutrients for glycation, methylation and free radicals. (parts 1, 2, 3)

In part two, I discussed the unique qualities of the nutrient ‘Carnosine’ with respect to glycation. Well, Carnosine is also on the list of specialized ingredients for addressing inflammation. Carnosine really is an amazing nutrient!

One nasty component of inflammation is excitotoxicity. This is a process which leads to damage and death of nerve cells from excess levels of glutamate and similar substances in your diet (MSG and other flavor enhancers, like aspartame, are the problem – take note! ) If brain cells are killed due to excitotoxicity this can lead to strokes, traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases like Multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.

One of the very dangerous chemicals associated with chronic inflammation is Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF). TNF actively promotes the degeneration of your brain and nerves! It is activated by a combination of free radicals and AGEs.

A supplement label SHOULD list the category of nutrients it contains, like Vitamins, Herbal Extracts, Enzymes, Amino Acids, Immunity and so on? An important category of nutrients that should be on that list is ‘Calorie Restriction Mimics’. Is it there on your supplement label?

To keep the production of TNF as low as possible you need to take in the best known calorie restriction mimic:

Resveratrol.

For greater efficacy and increased value for money be sure to check that any Resveratrol in your supplement is in the ‘Trans’ form and not the cheaper and less bioavailable ‘Cis’ form! Due to resveratrol’s extremely high price, supplements that can afford to include it usually do so with very low potencies of around 5 – 10% and inadequate dose amounts (< 50 mg). BEWARE!

And speaking of well known, let’s talk about Omega 3 fish oil. Now, most doctors and health experts promote fish oil exclusively as the answer to inflammation. There’s no debate that the anti inflammatory activity of fish oil helps significantly in controlling inflammation but the problem here is that it addresses only one component of the much wider picture of inflammation.

So to finish up, here’s your list of the most effective anti-inflammation nutrients that work in synergy with fish oil in addressing and reducing inflammation:

• Resveratrol

• Glutathione

• Carnosine

• Turmeric

• Alpha Lipoic Acid

• Flavanoids

Anti Aging Secrets- Summing Up

I’m sure many of you reading this article would now like to expand your anti aging knowledge more. So, just let me give you a heads up that a very large amount of the literature out there promotes just free radicals as the most important concern in anti aging programs.

Of course you know this is NOT the case. Supplement companies and marketers are responsible for this – because their products do not address glycation, methylation and inflammation, they won’t mention them. They also have tried to brain wash consumers into believing that fish oil is the sole answer for inflammation.

But…just using antioxidants to tackle free radicals or fish oil for inflammation, will NOT achieve what you want. It is only PART of the complex anti-aging equation.

Well everyone, that wraps up this anti aging secrets and nutritional supplements series. I hope it has helped you to understand your aging process more fully and the actions you need to take to comprehensively tackle and protect yourself from the serious health issues that speed up your aging and lead to degenerative disease and a debilitated lifestyle.

Nature intended for us to live in vibrant health and die from natural causes – not from disease. But unfortunately that’s not the case for the majority of the population today.

We all really do need a helping hand from the best nutritional health supplements to make this possible.

Here’s one more heads up for you. I review hundreds of supplements each year including the so called market leaders. To date I can tell you there is ONLY ONE health supplement out there that has a formula which properly addresses free radicals, glycation, methylation and inflammation.

It uses a whopping 97 ingredients in order to get the job done.

I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that it’s the supplement my family and I have use. I wouldn’t trust my health to any other supplement because quite simply there isn’t another supplement currently out there which takes on each part of the anti aging equation with the specialized nutrients required.

It’s called Total Balance. I use the Men’s Premium version. Use this link if you want to read up more on Total Balance and it’s unique properties. They even have a formula for children! (My niece and nephew use it!)

Total Balance

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• Not Your Grandma’s Anti-Aging Secrets – Beauty regimens have come a long way in the past 50 years. Just ask Annette Tucker of Los Angeles who is Aging Backwards at 75 years young!
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Of course you know as well as I do that there is a literal mountain of products out there, all of which supposedly give you the anti aging wrinkle results you so desperately desire. If you’re well read however then you know all too well that most anti aging products barely do anything!

The fancy marketing presentations (aka ‘lies’ and ‘mis-truths’) that manufacturers come up with to ‘spin’ their products are designed to mis-lead you and tell you what you want to hear. They also cleverly hide any and all weaknesses that each product contains. But, their days of basking in the vast profits that amass from consumers lack of knowledge are fast coming to an end!

Over the past 10 years researchers have been hard at work learning what actually works and why. So, let’s just cut to the chase!

When it comes to anti aging wrinkle cures what works and what doesn’t work? And just how many ‘PROVEN” anti aging wrinkle substances actually exist?

Well, according to a recent review in The Archives of Dermatology, there are THREE treatments out there waiting for you which are “proven clinically effective”!

1. The topical application of retinol


2. Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing


3. An injection of hyaluronic acid

WOW – only three!

Each of these treatments work with the same mechanism of action- the interaction of connective tissue cells (called ‘fibroblasts’) with the collagen they produce.

David Leffell, a professor of dermatology and surgery at Yale, said in response to the study “This is an area where there’s a lot of hype and not much substance”

Of course any of us who have spent a small fortune on anti aging wrinkle creams and serums over the years already know this.

Leffell went on to say that this particular study is “good science”.

What researchers have come to gradually recognize is that the cause of wrinkles lies with damage to the mechanical properties of collagen outside your skin cells, and not necessarily genetic damage to the cells themselves. This discovery sits along side an improved understanding of ‘dermal collagen’ which is your skin’s connective tissue.

So, here’s an easy breakdown.

Fibroblasts create collagen. So, in a perfect world they could go on their merry way unimpeded throughout our lives busily making collagen to keep us looking young. But…..

…of course there’s always a ‘but’ and here it is. Exposure to sunlight diminishes fibroblasts ability to produce collagen!

Which body parts receive the greatest sun exposure? That’s right, your face, neck, hands and upper chest. All the areas where we wrinkle the most (and don’t want to). This connection is clearly demonstrated in fair skinned people whose light-pigmented skin wrinkles more readily than darker skinned people.

You know that your skin naturally deteriorates with age. This is in part because certain enzymes degrade your collagen. But ultraviolet radiation from sunlight sets of the production of these same enzymes. Double whammy! Sun damage to your collagen and its production essentially creates a situation representing accelerated natural chronological aging.

So, with age and exposure to ultraviolet radiation, your collagen fibers deteriorate and fragment. This inhibits the fibroblasts collagen producing ability. As the fragmented collagen accumulates, new collagen production declines, the connections between the fibroblasts and the collagen weaken, and the skin, now lacking support, begins to wrinkle!

Anti Aging Wrinkle Magic

Enter our three proven treatments from above. Each one is able to tackle this destructive process.

Retinol ( a form of vitamin A) when applied topically on your skin causes the production of new collagen in both naturally aged skin and skin damaged by ultraviolet radiation.

How does it do that? Well no-one is really sure, The molecular pathways involved are not very well understood as yet. But as long as we know it works then who really wants to know how it performs its anti aging wrinkle magic.

The next logical question is what concentration of retinol is enough to have an effect?

According to Dr, Gary J. Fisher, a professor of dermatology and the lead author of the review, you should look for concentrations of 0.2% to 0.6%

Strangely enough MANY of the retinol containing skin creams which are available over the counter do not list the concentration of the retinol. Only a company with something to hide would resort to such measures so steer clear of these kind of dubious products.

A totally ineffective concentration of say 0.005% still qualifies a manufacturer to market their retinol wonder product in big bold letters! These incredibly tiny concentrations barely qualify the retinol as the active ingredient! They are simply a waste of money.

And don’t be sucked in by useless products that do state the concentration of retinol on the label. Take careful note of that number!

Now, with over the counter retinol products there is a fine line between effectiveness and side effects! Anti aging wrinkle preparations with retinol concentrations strong enough (as above) to produce results can cause a ‘retinoid dermatitis’. In such cases you must stop using the product. A gradual build-up in concentration has proven effective for some in avoiding this problem.

Retinol also makes your skin more prone to ultraviolet light damage. Strict sun protection measures such as umbrellas or avoiding the sun altogether are absolutely crucial while using retinol.

If you take your anti aging wrinkle strategy very seriously then the best bet is to go for a prescription strength retinol preparation rather than risking an over the counter product.

Anti Aging Wrinkle Strategy – Zap Them

Now we come to the second treatment from our ‘effectiveness proven’ list – carbon dioxide laser resurfacing.

This CO2 laser has been around for quite a while now and it’s effectiveness has been well tested. I definitely know this treatment works because I’ve had it done on my face twice in the past 12 years and my results were nothing short of fantastic. For most people though one treatment in a space of this many years would normally be enough. (When it comes to my anti aging wrinkle program I’m a bit on the ‘intense’ side!)

If you’re not familiar with the CO2 laser, what it does is to burn away very fine layers of skin without damaging surrounding tissue. New collagen is produced as the wound heals.

The healing time takes on average 2-3 weeks. This rather long recovery period is what turns many people away from this treatment option. You need to completely avoid the sun while your skin is healing.

There are several alternative lasers available now which have virtually no recovery downtime but the results are way less noticeable than with the carbon dioxide laser, as far as I’m concerned. I’ve tried one of these lasers (around my eyes) roughly 1 year ago and frankly I felt that that the financial outlay was just not worth it for the minimal results achieved. Particularly because I had experienced the results of the CO2 laser earlier so it was easy to assess the comparative effectiveness of both treatments.

Anti Aging Wrinkle Injections

Injections of a form of hyaluronic acid, similar to a substance the skin normally produces, into the dermis that underlies the wrinkles is the third and last of our three effective anti wrinkle treatments.

The interesting thing with hyaluronic acid is that it was originally used as a space filler to ‘fill in’ wrinkles. There was no intended physiological outcome.

In time researchers discovered that as the injection stretches the dermis, fibroblasts react by increasing their collagen production levels. The authors of the Archives of Dermatology review cite studies that have demonstrated that increased collagen production is visible within a month after the injection. The benefit lasts about six months, Dr. Fisher said.

You’ll find topical creams containing “Hyaluronic Acid” for sale but this form is not the same as the effective injectable form. It is not possible to stimulate new collagen with these topical skin preparations so please don’t waste your money on any of them.

Anti Aging Wrinkle Cures – Specialized Nutrients

We’ve seen that these three treatments effectively address the reduction of wrinkles and are backed by solid research. But there’s more we can add to create a much more potent anti aging wrinkle program!

You can address your wrinkles from the inside out!

What I mean by this is using cutting edge nutritional science to address the primary causes of chronological aging. This involves sophisticated supplementation with specialized nutrients that can tackle the four fundamental causes of aging.

Do you know what these four ‘aging components’ are?

1. Free Radical Production


2. Glycation


3. Methylation


4. Inflammation

Each of these is a traumatic and highly destructive situation for your health. But all four together represent a colossal tidal wave of health issues and degenerative disease. You see they are all interrelated so you must tackle all four at the same time.

Living in the civilized world of the 21 st century is the chief cause of these four health busting conditions. Their net effect on your health is PREMATURE AGING. This means the greatest majority of people living in the modern civilized world are aging far faster than what mother nature intended.

Besides the onset of degenerative disease, premature aging leads to the degradation of your collagen. Remember I mentioned earlier how your skin naturally deteriorates with age? Well, premature aging speeds that process up tremendously. Basically your collagen begins to collapse and those youth destroying wrinkles appear more and more.

So, as far as your anti aging wrinkle program is concerned, for more powerful results you need a 2 pronged approach. The first is addressing wrinkles at the skin level with the one of the proven treatments from above. The second is to address premature aging by using supplements containing proven nutrients which can take on and deal with free radicals, glycation, methylation and chronic inflammation.

Perhaps you may like to read my anti aging secrets and nutritional supplements series There are four parts and each part covers one of these four aging components and reveals the names of the specialized nutrients needed to tackle it. Parts 1-3 are available now and the final article will be out next week. Just use the link above to pop over to Part 1.

Some of these special ingredients are extremely rare in the nutritional supplement industry. In fact, there is only one multi ingredient health/vitamin supplement in the entire market that contains ALL of them to successfully address premature aging by slowing down and normalizing your chronological aging process.

How do I know?

I used to work in the supplement industry and I’ve reviewed hundreds of supplements including the markets leaders. I can tell you that almost all nutritional health supplements (or nutritional vitamin supplements as they’re more commonly called) address free radical production through the use of antioxidants. But as for the other three primary causes of aging, manufacturers simply cannot afford to include the specialized ingredients that can get the job done. That’s because almost all of them set out to manufacture their supplements to a price!

This approach guarantees that they will NOT include all the necessary key ingredients that the latest nutritional science has identified as the most potent and effective!

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Click on this link if you would like to know more about the only nutritional supplement that includes all the specialized ingredients to tackle free radicals, glycation , methylation and inflammation. There’s separate versions for males and females.

And if you would like to read my review of this supplement (it’s called Total Balance) use this link here: Total balance review

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• Anti Aging – The Top Ten Tips – If you liked these ten anti aging strategies, be sure to visit Jim’s online resource for more anti aging articles and anti aging tips….
• Anti Aging Tips for Your Face – Although more and more anti-aging creams and serums are coming into the market, many of these really actually contribute a great deal to keeping wrinkles and sagging at bay. These anti-aging face products do have advantages and benefits …
• Prostate Health – What You Need To Know – Anti aging isn’t all about women – this article is for men. If you are a woman – Pass it along to the man in your life….
• The Easiest Way To The Best Anti Aging Skin Products – It’s important to learn all you can about anti aging so you prevent or delay the aging process for a very long time. If you are ninety, no one will worry that you are aged, but to be in your fifties or forties and start aging is not …
• Top 10 Anti-aging tips – Let’s face it, we’re not getting any younger. But we can do something so we can look younger and stays healthy at the same time. I came across these top ten anti-aging tips that I would like to share….
• Laser Wrinkle Removal – There are many wrinkle treatments such as wrinkle serums, anti aging wrinkle creams, anti wrinkle eye creams, wrinkle reducers, wrinkle removers, and wrinkle products on the market. They all claim to be great at wrinkle reduction. …

If you’ve already read Parts One and Two in this anti aging secrets and nutritional supplements series you’ll understand how the processes that lead to premature aging and the onset of debilitating degenerative disease are all INTERRELATED!

You’ve seen that to be successful, to any real degree, with an anti-aging program you must treat all four of the fundamental components of aging:

Free Radicals
Glycation
Methylation
Inflammation

The bottom line for [tag-tec]nutritional supplements[/tag-tec] marketing themselves as having anti aging benefits and the ability to slow down your aging process, is that they MUST contain the specialized ingredients which can address and tackle not only the free radical problem (which most supplement do reasonably well) but also these other three crippling aging components.

The anti aging secrets presented in parts one and two revealed that when it comes to addressing the first two aging components, free radicals and glycation, virtually all nutritional health supplements and multi ingredient vitamin supplements FAIL to give you either the best of these specialized ingredients (in cases where there are some choices) or NONE AT ALL.

Because almost all supplements are made to a price the manufacturers simply cannot afford to include these expensive rare ingredients!

Anti Aging Secrets – Methylation

So, now I’m going to move on to the third aging factor:-

Methylation

Anti Aging Secrets No 2:

Maintaining and Enhancing Methylation Is A Critical Step In Treating Aging And Disease Including Cancer And Heart Disease!

Have you heard of Methylation before?

Most vitamin supplement consumers won’t have come across it because supplement manufacturers won’t discuss it. Why?

Well that’s an easy answer and I bet you’ve already guessed it. It’s because their products do little to nothing to address Methylation! To mention it would highlight a major weakness in their supplements putting paid to their anti aging and ‘optimal‘ health claims.

Methylation is a biochemical reaction resulting in the attachment of a chemical fragment, called a methyl group, on various substances/molecules in your body, like DNA. DNA methylation is one of the most essential uses of a methylation process however there are many others – in fact there are hundreds of methylation reactions in your body!

So, simply put, methylation is a reaction that provokes changes in your body!

When a a methyl group attaches to some compounds in your body this acts as a catalyst for a reaction to take place such as the ‘turning on of a gene or the activation of an enzyme. (When the methyl group is lost/removed the reaction stops- ie the gene is turned off and the enzyme is deactivated).

Let’s use an example to put this into perspective so that you can understand why we should bother to care or even think about about methylation.

Consider the well known neurotransmitter serotonin.

Receiving a methyl group ‘turns on’ serotonin production leading to appropriate levels of this ‘happy/feel good’ brain chemical. But if your serotonin is not methylated it is turned off and this results in depression. See how methylation can have serious consequences for your health!

Now, people can be an over methylator or they can be an under methylator. In the case of our depression example above let’s say you are an under methylator. If your methylation is increased you may not need to take SSRI’s (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors).

This is very important for a person with depression! Further down I’ll explain how supplements can help to increase your methylation.

Please don’t start worrying about whether you’re an over or under methylator. Not everyone is one or the other, there are other groups and you may be in the group that is neither under or over so you’re fine. Statistical analysis by Professor Karl-Peter Pfeiffer from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, suggests 45% are under methylators and 15% are over methylators. That leaves roughly half of the population as neither!

The simplified bottom line for methylation is this:

If your methylation processes are altered, limited or in any way working less than optimally, you are heading for nasty health problems. The effects of under methylation can be seen as premature aging, cancer, heart disease, liver disease and other chronic illness, depression and birth defects. Not to mention the acceleration of your aging process!

So, methylation is incredibly important. It’s a bit like a spark plug in a car- making things turn on and happen. Without methylation you would die in a matter of days!

Anti Aging Secrets – Homocysteine

Now, I’d like to mention homocysteine because the methylation of it is exceptionally crucial to your health.

You’ve probably heard of homocysteine before because of its connection to the most common cause of death in the United States – HEART DISEASE! The medical and health establishments have gone to great lengths over recent years to bring to the general publics attention the importance of keeping their homocysteine levels low.

Homocysteine is a by-product of an important amino acid methionine and is what remains when methionine is used to methylate your proteins and DNA. Homocysteine needs to be methylated and converted back to methionine – it can be toxic if not converted!

How toxic?

Besides heart disease, elevated homocysteine levels are associated with poor circulation, degenerative illnesses (eg Dementia and Alzheimer’s), liver disease, and other severely debilitating conditions!

It is critical to keep your homocysteine levels down!

Anti Aging Secrets – Methylation As Time Goes By

Your body can become methylation-depleted just as it can become depleted with antioxidants or any vitamin or mineral, and with age your methylation process becomes less efficient. This results in DNA damage and a dangerous buildup of homocysteine as well as heightened risk of contracting any of the flow-on degenerative conditions listed above.

So, if you are an under-methylator to begin with or you have become methylation depleted you absolutely need to take action! If you are still young or middle aged then you also need to take action now to balance and possibly enhance your methylation and guard against premature aging and degenerative disease.

The action you need to take is simple! Just supplement your dietary intake with the methylation agents your body needs to successfully complete this task.

Anti Aging Secrets – The Methylation Agents You Must Have In Your Supplement

These 3 groups of compounds are what you want:

• B Vitamins – B6, B12 and Folic Acid
  

• Tri-Methyl-Glycine (TMG) – also known as ‘Betaine’
  

• SAMe (S-Adenosyl-Methionine)

However they are FAR from all equal in their levels of effectiveness as methylating agents!

SAMe stands head and shoulders above the others!

That’s because science and bio-chemistry have long since identified it as the primary methylating substance in the body.

Now, if you think back to parts one and two in this anti aging secrets series you’ll remember how I keep stressing that your aging process results from constituent components which are ALL interrelated.

Free radical damage, (part one), is one of these aging components. So, here’s another example of this interrelationship: free radicals alter methylation patterns!

What’s the big deal with that you may be asking?

Well, it’s these alterations which ‘turn on’ genes.

And that includes CANCER genes!

Anti Aging Secrets No. 3:

SAMe, in it’s role as the primary methylating agent, has the power to reverse damage to methylation patterns caused by free radicals!

So, SAMe is an absolutely vital ingredient that must be in your health supplement if you expect to be successful in your anti aging program. The other methylating agents listed above must of course also be there.

Now, as with parts one and two, I’m going to ask you to go take a look at your supplement bottle label.

In my post about free radicals I asked you to check your label for the most powerful antioxidant L -Glutathione ‘reduced’. Then for glycation you went to check for Carnosine, the only nutrient which can inhibit the formation of those deadly ‘aging’ molecules AGE’s.

I said that because 99% of nutritional vitamin supplements are made to a price, 99% of you won’t find those specialized and critical anti aging ingredients in your supplements because they are simply too expensive for most manufacturers to include.

Well, this time I’m going to ask you to check for SAMe and guess what?

Yes, it’s the same story for this essential ingredient. You won’t find it !

Firstly, because of its super expensive price and secondly, just like L-Glutathione, it is particularly susceptible to damage by stomach acid and so it MUST be used in a pharmaceutical grade enteric coated tablet.

Unless you’re using the supplement that I use, your supplement definitely isn’t enteric coated.

So, SAMe’s not on your supplement label, right? Well, it’s not on mine either!

BUT…… .it will be there by the end of this month. That’s when the 6th Generation version will be released. It already includes all the other effective methylating agents so the inclusion of SAMe will just further enhance it’s existing methylating abilities. This new formula sets a new standard within the supplement industry.

OK, so I’ve now covered three of the four fundamental components of aging (free radicals, glycation, methylation) and we’ve seen the importance of treating all of them in order to produce real anti aging benefits and achieve a life without degenerative disease.

That leaves one more to go.

Look out for my final post in this anti aging secrets series next week where I’ll be discussing inflammation.

———————————————————————————–

Use this link if you would like to read about the multi ingredient nutritional vitamin supplement I use.

————————————————————————————

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In Part 1 of this anti aging secrets and nutritional supplements series I looked at the meaning of anti aging in respect of nutritional supplements. This, I stated, was the ability of nutritional health/vitamin supplements to tackle the number 1 most prevalent health concern of the 21 st century – PREMATURE AGING.

Premature aging is responsible for the host of degenerative diseases and illness’ which are inflicting an ever-increasing percentage of the population at younger and younger ages! The stats are climbing year in year out and I’m sure you’re all too aware of this health-devastating trend.

You only have to think about how many people die these days of a disease! That’s NOT how mother nature planned for us to go out!

So, the ‘[tag-tec]anti aging[/tag-tec]‘ capabilities of [tag-ice]nutritional health supplements[/tag-tec] must not only be able to correct [tag-tec]vitamin[/tag-tec]/mineral deficiencies (the simplest common denominator for all of them) and then also be able to help heal degenerative [tag-ice]disease[/tag-ice] which may already be present, but MOST importantly be able to comprehensively address the causes of premature aging in order to slow down and normalize (to some significant degree) the aging process, thereby addressing the spiraling increase in degenerative disease in western diet based societies

I went on to say that virtually all nutritional vitamin supplements FAIL when it comes to addressing premature aging!

Why?

Because there are four primary components of aging and each of these is interdependent on the other three. So, to successfully address premature aging a supplement must contain specialized ingredients which can adequately tackle ALL FOUR.

But….

…. just about any nutritional health supplement you care to examine, including the most well known and ‘so-called’ elite super supplements, can only take on ONE of these four key aging components – which is the reduction of free radicals through the use of antioxidants. (For MANY supplements it’s primarily by way of the cheap, less potent vitamin antioxidants only).

The other 3 critical aging components which are not addressed are Glycation, Methylation and Inflammation because the specialized ingredients needed to deal with them are simply not there!

I then ‘opened up’ for discussion the first ‘anti aging secret’ – the role of free radicals in our aging process and I revealed the names of the most powerful and effective antioxidants which neutralize them (the antioxidants that most supplements can’t afford to include!)

If you haven’t yet read Part 1 and would like to, just follow this link anti aging secrets and nutritional supplements part 1

Today, I will continue on by looking at Glycation and exposing what specialized ingredients MUST be there (but nearly always aren’t) to tackle this SERIOUS health crippling process.

Anti Aging Secrets – Glycation leads to AGES And AGES AGE US!

Oxidative damage to your cellular DNA from excessive free radical production in your body is a SERIOUS problem for your health and wellness but Glycation is far more destructive!

So, if you’re conscientious about good health it’s VERY important that you understand how to protect yourself from glycation.

Glycation is a complex process so bear with me while I first spend a little time explaining it (as simply as I can) before revealing the names of those ‘ANTI GLYCATING INGREDIENTS that I’m sure you want to know asap!

The glycation process revolves around protein molecules in your body and basically alters/damages their configuration so they are unable to function correctly.

This is REALLY BAD NEWS for your health because your various types of proteins have key responsibilities in performing biological activities throughout your body which are critical to your health.

So, in a nutshell, glycation is a (non-enzymatic) reaction through which glucose molecules and chemicals derived from glucose, known as ‘aldehydes’ (collectively we can call them all ‘glycating agents’ for ease of understanding), bind themselves to your intra- and extracellular protein molecules. ie. the protein molecules have become ‘glycated’!

Glycated proteins are no longer ‘free agents’ able to effectively perform their designated biological duties necessary to guard against premature aging.

GLYCATED PROTEINS ARE RELIABLE MARKERS OF DISEASE AND AGING!

The new structures formed by glycated proteins are called AGEs which stands for Advanced Glycation End-products. These are REALLY DANGEROUS molecules when it comes to your health!

When both of the sticky ends of AGEs attach to other neighboring proteins, they create permanent, disabling links.

Anti Aging Secrets: Cross-Linking And YOUR Wrinkles

This process of inappropriate attachment is called ‘cross-linking’. You’ve probably heard this term ‘cross-linking’ before.

Cross-linked chains of AGES decreases the mobility/elasticity of proteins. Cross-linking of the skin protein ‘collagen’ has been shown to be responsible for wrinkling and other age-related changes in skin. So, if you take in a lot of sugar through you diet you’re going to have more glucose molecules floating around inside you and that means more glycation, leading to the collapse of more collagen and so MORE WRINKLES.

AGES normally form and accumulate at a slow and steady rate in everybody (except those with diabetes where the greatly increased availability of glucose leads to a marked increase in their formation earlier in life).

But, AGES do a lot more health-busting damage than just playing a part in creating wrinkles.

They produce poisonous chemicals and toxic by-products as well as stimulating free radical production leading to further glycation – a vicious cycle endures! Glycated proteins increase free radical production 50 fold (over non-glycated proteins).

Remember how I mentioned in Part 1 that each of the 4 primary aging components were interdependent? See how they work together?

Researchers have also implicated glycation to Alzheimer’s disease!

And there’s more! Glycation contributes to HEART DISEASE. It thickens artery walls and clinical evidence suggests that AGEs are important components in the formation of potentially lethal atherosclerotic plaque – that’s the stuff that can build up to impede and block blood flow in your arteries.

So, you’ve no doubt got the picture by now of how destructive glycation is to your health. You absolutely need to take action to limit the amount of glycation and formation of AGES in you body. This is a VITAL STEP in slowing down and normalizing your aging process.

What to do!

1. GREATLY reduce the intake of sugar in your diet. Learn the ‘hidden’ sugar content of what you are eating. Avoid simple carbohydrates!

 

2. Inactivate the glycating agents (aldehydes) before they can bind to your proteins

 

3. Prevent a glycated protein from binding to another ‘free’ protein and creating a cross-linked chain

You’re wondering what to do for steps 2 and 3, right?

Well, you can achieve that through ‘Carnosinylation’!

Huh?

A clever and powerful nutrient called Carnosine (an amino acid) is capable of defending your body’s proteins against glycation. The process by which carnosine does this is called carnosinylation.

Inhibiting The Formation Of AGES Is An ESSENTIAL Part Of Any SUCCESSFUL Anti Aging And Life Extension Program!

Here’s what carnosine actually does!

1. It can bind itself to glycating agents and NEUTRALIZE them

2. And it can put a shield around a protein molecule which already has a glycating agent attached. This protects and prevents it from cross-linking with another protein

NO OTHER NUTRIENT CAN DO THIS!

Oh, and carnosine stops the oxidative damage of free radicals!

If you go and check your supplement label I bet you won’t find carnosine listed there. That’s because it’s a very expensive ingredient for nutritional supplement manufacturers to purchase. They simply can’t afford to include it. So, once again we come back to the greatest limitation in the formulation (and effectiveness) of nutritional vitamin supplements – that they are made to a price!

This is why supplement companies (deliberately) fail to mention glycation on their websites or in their product marketing presentations. They don’t want to highlight a major weakness in their product!

Anti Aging Secrets: How Much Carnosine?

“Like so many nutrients there is no real evidence to support the premise ‘more is better’“

The generally accepted effective dose rate is 50 – 150 mg daily!

The multi ingredient health supplement my family and I have used for the past 7 years is called Total Balance and it includes a generous dose of 100 mg of carnosine in a daily dose. (That’s one of the main reasons I originally opted to use it.)

Use these links to take a look at total balance mens plus or total balance womens plus

Or follow this link if you’d like to read my in-depth review of total balance (It’s a loooong one!)

Now, some of you may be thinking right about now about racing out to buy a bottle of isolated carnosine. Don’t do that.

Carnosine, like most specialty nutrients, works FAR more effectively when combined with other compatible ingredients (that’s why you need a professional grade supplement formulated by a bio-scientist or chemist because only they know what nutrients are compatible with one another at the molecular level in your body to synergize enhanced efficacy).

Supplements put together by physicians and worse still by marketers, don’t even come close to making the grade!

And , as you’ve discovered, glycation is only one of the four (interdependent) primary components of aging. There’s not much point in addressing only glycation at the expense of the other 3.

Anti aging secrets special note:

There are currently some really promising experimental drugs being tested to fight AGES – but sorry you’ll have to wait a while. None are yet commercially available. If and when any do become available I’ll be sure to make a post about it.

In the next part of this anti aging secrets series I’ll discuss the third aging component, METHYLATION, and give you a heads-up on the special methylation agents you need in your vitamin supplement to combat it.

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“I would like to know if you have evaluated Dr Ben Kim’s Greens powder”.

Thank you

Response from Brett:

Hi again Tricia

I’ve looked through Dr Ben Kim’s website and I’m sorry to say it’s just another example of a ‘doctor’ taking advantage of consumers lack of knowledge about supplement quality and nutrition.

In my site I have stressed to my readers many times that doctors have no formal training whatsoever in how to formulate professional grade supplements nor how nutrients interact at the molecular level in the body. This is a specialized science.

Any Doctors who have done additional training (and that is very little of them), clearly highlight those qualifications on their websites and it is impossible to miss it – you would instantly know about it.

Dr Kim states on his site that he is a “chiropractor and acupuncturist”. I see no other specialized qualifications other than his experience gained through treating his patients- which still doesn’t make him a credible authority on supplements. Some of the info below and much throughout nutritional supplement truths website shows that people like Dr Kim are not presenting the ABSOLUTE TRUTH.

I’m not saying that you have to have specialized degrees in pharmacology, organic chemistry. Microbiology and the like (I certainly don’t) IF you have access to, and are going to, present the truth and scientifically established facts to your readers and customers. However this is just not the case with the majority of doctors, and other professions who can use the prefix ‘Dr’.

To give you some background, I just spent under 5 mins looking at the [tag-ice]multivitamin whole food[/tag-ice] formula which Dr Kim promotes (I will get to Greens powder which you asked about in a moment) as an exceptional product. That’s all the time I needed to be able to tell you the following.

His statement about the superiority of this supplement is misleading to say the least.

It is a very ordinary [tag-tec]multivitamin[/tag-tec] and at $48 a bottle it is REALLY expensive for what it is. I believe it offers very poor value for money.

To set a comparative benchmark for supplement value for money you might like to compare Greens to the supplement I use – [tag-ice]Total Balance[/tag-ice], (which is reviewed in-depth on [tag-tec]nutritional supplement truths[/tag-tec] (use this link)

http://www.nutritional-supplement-truths.com/Total-Balance.html

and then you will see that Dr Kim’s [tag-ice]supplement[/tag-ice] is missing key, highly efficious (and expensive) ingredients like:

• L-Glutathione

• Resveratrol

• Tocotrienols

• L-Carnosine (in fact no amino acids at all)

• Bilberry

• Turmeric (high potency)

• Zeaxanthin

• Gender support nutrients

and so on.

When it comes to the few expensive ingredients that are there (like cranberry) they are extracts (meaning much weaker efficacy).

Plus the [tag-ice]herbal extracts[/tag-ice] used are not standardized!!! That’s a big no – no (well there’s no info on them being standardized, only extract ratios for each herb used, so its obvious they are not standardized otherwise that would definitely be mentioned as it’s important).

This multivitamin contains 250 mg of vitamin C which is way too much. This is one of the cheapest ingredients which manufacturers use to fill up a tablet (cheaply)- yet Dr Kim boldly goes on to say how this supplement contains none of the usual fillers (pectin etc) which is technically correct.

Instead it is just filled with too much vitamin C (which he doesn’t mention of course). Manufacturers always try to justify these over the top amounts under the “optimal amounts” scenario and that you need more than the RDA recommendations (which health-conscious supplement users do not!).

Now, I know you didn’t ask about this product in particular (and I’m still coming to ‘Greens Powder’) but just wanted to show you how these ‘doctors’ are essentially just marketers in disguise and they are fooling people via their qualifications into buying average products at HIGHLY INFLATED PRICES.

Dr. Kim talks about the normal retail price of this multivitamin as being (over $70) which is CRIMINAL if that is the case, and then goes on to tell you that he only takes a small profit cut so he can offer it to you at $48 a bottle. This is clever marketing - ‘Make the consumer think you are doing him/her a favor – win their trust – establish a relationship with your readers!

So I hope I’ve at least partially set the stage for you with what’s going on here.

Certainly the manufacturing standards for the products he sells are reasonably good.

He talks about how each ingredient is tested for impurities etc but I notice that he does NOT MENTION that there is any independent testing (a must for professional companies) or that each raw ingredient is tested for compliance with its Certificate of Analysis (an absolute must!).

Tricia, you can learn more about these very important issues by going to this page on nutritional supplement truths.com:

http://www.nutritional-supplement-truths.com/super-supplements-2.html

Now, to Greens Powder.

It is described as a “wild-crafted [tag-ice]whole food supplement[/tag-ice]”, not containing any [tag-ice]synthetic vitamins[/tag-ice].

Firstly, these issues about whole food supplements and synthetic vitamins are largely misunderstood by supplement users.

So, you may like to read my earlier posts about ‘[tag-tec]Natural Vitamin Supplements[/tag-tec]‘, ‘Synthetic Vitamins’ and Whole food supplements so as to put these topics in a more correct perspective. (check the ‘Articles’ Archive)

Tricia, the story with Greens Powder is the same as with Dr. Kim’s multivitamin above.

$47 a bottle for this “whole food” supplement is very expensive!

Dr Kim talks about the wonderful results he achieved with his patients conditions after using this formula and I have no doubt in believing those results.

BUT…..

That’s because the body is capable of self-healing most conditions when it receives a daily broad spectrum supply of the right [tag-ice]nutrients[/tag-ice] – especially the potent [tag-ice]phytonutrients[/tag-ice] and [tag-ice]antioxidants[/tag-ice] found in whole foods ([tag-ice]fruits[/tag-ice] and [tag-ice]vegetables[/tag-ice] in this case) and in conjunction with other healthy dietary and lifestyle choices. Like minimal amounts of protein from animal sources, minimal amounts of alcohol, no smoking and so on.

But why pay close to $50 dollars a bottle for these nutrients when you can just eat healthy meals and snacks containing reasonable amounts of raw vegetables and fruits everyday and ultimately take in far more of these [tag-ice]disease[/tag-ice] busting nutrients than what you will get from a bottle of greens powder over 53 days.

The extent of nutritional value which you actually get from whole food supplements is exactly what I discuss in my Whole Food Supplements post which I referred to above.

Tricia, look at content on the greens powder info page:

“Ounce for ounce, it is one of the least expensive [tag-ice]green food[/tag-ice] products available throughout North America – amazing when you consider its exceptional quality and the fact that it has no fillers”.

This is just marketing as you will understand when you read my whole food answer. They are telling you what you want to hear.

So while the formula of Greens is, technically speaking good, in reality it is offering you very little (unless you have an appallingly bad diet to begin with) while costing you a lot.

The answer is to get your antioxidants and phytonutrients from real foods!

Dr Kim says of Greens powder:

“Again, I firmly believe that nothing can substitute for a minimally processed, whole food diet.”

Yes – that’s true

“…. But if you are looking for just one [tag-tec]natural health[/tag-tec] food product that can significantly enhance your [tag-tec]health[/tag-tec] now and as you age, I highly recommend that you try our greens.”

Well, Greens cannot even be compared with Total Balance. They’re not even in the same category.

Total Balance addresses every organ and system in your body and contains important ingredients (like several medicinal herbal extracts) which we cannot take in from our diets – even good diets.

It has an absolute ton more than what Greens offers. The comparisons on nutritional-supplement-truths.com will reveal this to you.

Hope this answer helps you with your decision making Tricia

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