Todays post about anti aging secrets with respect to nutritional health supplements is a very interesting one which I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading. You’re going to discover a number of ‘eye opening’ facts which most of you won’t have come across before.

These are facts which supplement manufacturers and companies definitely don’t want you to know because they reveal major weaknesses and limitations in their products when it comes to anti aging claims.

I’ve decided to split this topic up because it’s quite a complex one. To keep it ‘readable’ and not bombard you with too much technical detail in any one post I’ve divided it into 4 parts which will appear over the next 2 weeks.

Now, if you’re a regular subscriber you will have noticed I haven’t made a post for over 2 weeks. So, first up let me apologize for that.

I’m actually on vacation in Sydney so it’s hard to get ‘online time’ as per my normal schedule.

Additionally, my website nutritional-supplements-truths.com has recently begun to ‘boom’ and I’ve become inundated with reader questions like never before. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs doing.

Anyway, enough with the excuses, let’s start digging into those anti aging secrets!

ANTI AGING SECRETS – SOME YOU KNOW SOME YOU DON’T!

That word ‘anti aging’ has been bandied around in all the various media forms for years now. So much so that of late it has totally outgrown any ‘legitimate’ roots it originally had. Now we are faced with a literal tidal wave of products in the marketplace all promoting some form of ‘anti aging’ capacity.

From a business marketing point of view the term ‘anti aging’ is simply a connotation for looking and feeling younger in some way or to some degree and ‘anti aging’ has basically become nothing more than a valuable brand through which businesses can increase sales!

But, the misleading and deceptive marketing presentations of numerous ‘anti aging’ product manufacturers, not to mention outright fraudulent practices, seems to have reached no limits! That’s because of the enormous profits driven by the antiaging phenomena and these are of course an intrinsic result of people’s natural desire to look good and maintain their youth.

With nutritional science constantly evolving and promising ‘better and better’ results, people are spending increasing amounts of their disposable income in the hunt for stronger anti aging properties.

It’s clear to me thought that an increasing number of savvy health-conscious consumers are learning to no longer be sucked in by exaggerated ‘anti aging’ claims and to take them with a grain of salt. So the lingering question as to the ‘worthiness’ of anti aging products must then become one of degree.

To what degree are anti aging benefits obtainable from a given anti aging product’?

Let’s address that question from the point of view of nutritional health / vitamin supplements.

ANTI AGING SECRETS – NUTRITIONAL HEALTH SUPPLEMENTS

Can nutritional health supplements create significant anti aging benefits for the user?

From a nutritional science standpoint the answer is “yes!”

But do they?

For almost all supplements the answer is a definite “no!” (Note I said “almost”)

To understand why this is the case we first need to define ‘anti-aging’.

The term ‘Anti Aging’ has evolved to represent a number of different common meanings and connotations depending upon whether you’re dealing with the medical, scientific or business communities.

Nutritional health supplements of course define ‘anti aging’ purely from a business perspective and as such we need to address the following common product claims:

• Stopping your aging process

• Reversing your aging process or “turning back the clock”

• Slowing down / normalizing your aging process

I would be highly surprised to find anyone who honestly believes a nutritional supplement can actually “stop” the aging process despite this subtle connotation wafting out from cleverly put together marketing presentations by disreputable supplement companies.

Most supplement manufacturers however would definitely have you believe their supplements can turn back the clock making you look and feel (biologically) younger.

But the truth is that’s not possible. Well at least not yet!

When it comes to the word ‘reverse’ (certain) supplements can undo (to varying degrees) the effects of degenerative and age-related disease thus technically speaking making some people feel and look younger. This can to some be interpreted as an anti aging response.

The market’s best nutritional health / vitamin supplements are also believed to be able to improve damaged DNA. This goes far beyond their abilities to simply limit oxidative damage to DNA through the use of antioxidants. Here we are talking about actually repairing damage that has already occurred!

That’s what the leading industry experts are trying to do right now – find a way to clinically prove that their supplements actually do repair damaged DNA.

Assuming they can do this then at that point the “turning the clock back” claim will become valid.

But, as of right now, what are we left with?

• Slowing down and normalizing your aging process!

• Bringing it back more in tune with what nature originally intended!

This is what I believe is the appropriate anti aging definition in respect of nutritional health supplements.

It must also be remembered that anti aging is relative to the times we live in and the way in which we are now aging. In other words it is linked to 21 st century environmental, emotional and dietary/nutritional stressors which are currently impacting on our aging processes.

The bottom line here is that the daily effects of these stressors has resulted in a speeding up of the aging process for an overwhelming majority of the population. Premature aging if you prefer.

MOST PEOPLE ARE AGING WAY TOO QUICKLY – FAR FASTER THAN WHAT NATURE INTENDED!

This is clear with just a casual look at the ever increasing year on year stats for degenerative disease like diabetes, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, stroke and so on. People are contracting these life-debilitating diseases at earlier and earlier ages.

How often do we now hear of people in their 40′s having had a heart attack!

ANTI AGING SECRETS – THE COMPONENTS OF AGING

To be capable of producing significant and effective anti aging effects which slow down and normalize aging, a nutritional vitamin supplement must address the primary causes of aging!

But….

This Is A Complex And Multi-Faceted Task!

Yet 99% of supplements, including virtually all the market’s leading, so-called ‘elite’ multi ingredient vitamin / health supplements address this task via ONE APPROACH ONLY – the reduction of free radicals through the use of antioxidants!

This is why they FAIL to make any real headway!

Anti Aging Can Only Be Successfully Accomplished By Targeting The Main Components Of Aging – Not Just One!

There are numerous causes attributed to aging but without doubt four of the primary and most important ones are:

• Free radicals

• Glycation

• Methylation

• Inflammation

So, that means your supplement must be capable of:

• Using Antioxidants to reduce and control your free radical production

• Preventing Glycation which leads to Age’s

• Balancing Methylation for Healthy DNA

• Reducing Chronic Inflammation which contributes to degeneration.

The critical aspect to understand here is that these critical components ARE ALL INTERDEPENDENT ON ONE ANOTHER!

Optimizing the normalization of your aging process means you must not short change yourself by excluding any one!

ANTI AGING SECRETS – REDUCING FREE RADICALS

Today I’ll concentrate on the free radical component of aging and then tackle the other components in parts 2, 3 and 4 of this anti aging secrets topic.

Just about every supplement consumer out there has heard of free radicals and antioxidants, right!

You probably know that antioxidants are like ‘superheroes’ for your health and that free radicals are really nasty, unstable molecules wandering around inside you which can cause you serious health problems.

Antioxidants have the ability to neutralize free radicals and so your body uses them to keep your free radical population to adequate levels and minimize the damage they cause.

If your free radical levels are in excess they will accelerate your aging and basically cause havoc to your health.

Here are just some of the diseases linked to excess free radicals:

• Various Cancers

• Arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis

• Heart Disease

• Stroke

• Arthritis

• Diabetes

• Alzheimer’s

• Emphysema

• Ulcers

• Parkinson’s Disease

• Cataracts

• Senility

Now we come to ‘Oxidation’.

Picture an apple which you’ve taken a bite out of and left sitting for 20 minutes on the kitchen sink. The exposed inside part of the apple has turned brown right! This is an example of a process called oxidation (chemicals inside the apple have reacted with oxygen in the air) and this is what oxidation does on a molecular level!

So, what you need to know here is that oxidation creates those bad guys – free radicals!

And there’s oxidation going on inside you ALL THE TIME. Just the simple act of breathing in oxygen (respiration) creates oxidation which in turn creates free radicals. So, you can’t avoid oxidation nor the creation of those nasty free radicals, they are continuous and inescapable!

But not to worry because in controlled quantities free radicals are fine. They are in fact necessary in many of your metabolic processes. The bottom line is simply to ensure that oxidative stress and the production of free radicals do not increase to the point of over production!

Remember above I mentioned that environmental, societal and dietary/nutritional stressors are to blame for premature aging.

Things like smoking including second hand smoke, air pollution, electromagnetic radiation including sunlight and x-rays, stress, exercise, food additives, toxic chemicals, smoked and barbecued foods, lack of nutrients in our diet, pharmaceutical drugs, and even alcohol all create free radicals.

In the civilized world of today you are impacted by these factors every single day. You simply cannot escape them! Three or four decades ago things were significantly different. Food was not processed as it is today and it was far more nutritious with a much greater antioxidant content. Nor were people exposed to today’s ridiculous levels of pollution and toxins.

Faced with these dilemmas you need to take action to ensure you take in enough antioxidants to meet the double challenge of these destructive free radical promoters and an antioxidant depleted food chain!

Supplements are a popular and sensible choice of action!

ANTI AGING SECRETS – ANTIOXIDANT SUPPLEMENTATION

All nutritional health supplements tackle the free radical component of aging through the use of antioxidants.

In cheap and middle of the road supplements you will always find the well known vitamin antioxidants vitamins A, C, E and the trace mineral selenium, all of which are quite weak (and very cheap ingredients for manufacturers to use!)

The up-market multis do much better by using more powerful and expensive antioxidants like green tea, gingko biloba, alpha lipoic acid, lutein, bilberry and grape extract.

BUT NONE OF THESE CAN COMPARE TO AN EXCEPTIONALLY POTENT ANTIOXIDANT LIKE L-GLUTATHIONE!

Anti aging secrets No. 1:

L-Glutathione is an absolutely critical anti aging ingredient which you definitely want to see in your supplement!

But in 99% of supplements you won’t find it for 2 reasons!

Firstly, L-Glutathione needs to be in the ‘reduced’ form. This is a smaller molecular size because ‘normal’ L-Glutathione will not pass through the intestinal walls into the blood stream.

Due to the extreme price of reduced form L-Glutathione very few supplement companies can afford to include it. That’s because almost all supplements are made to a price!

Secondly, L-Glutathione must be protected as it passes through the stomach before being released in the upper intestine! This is the only place that L-Glutathione when taken orally can be effective.

This means that any supplement containing L-Glutathione needs to be ENTERIC COATED! This is a special aqueous coating which protects tablet ingredients from exposure to stomach acid and then harmlessly dissolves when the tablet reaches the alkaline environment of the upper intestine.

Once again due to price controls enteric coating is almost never used on multi ingredient vitamin health supplements. (The unique supplement I use is a rare exception).

Incredibly there are market leading health supplements out there which include L-Glutathione in the ‘normal’ form and without enteric coating.

This is a perfect example of how supplement companies, including the biggest and most well known ones, can deceive you and hide weaknesses in their products.

Of course L-Glutathione is not a miracle worker. It needs to be backed up by a wide range of other powerful antioxidants. The synergy created as these age defying nutrients interact together at the the molecular level create far more potent results in neutralizing more free radicals and bringing their production back more acceptable levels.

Here’s a list of the most potent antioxidants which you need backing up L-Glutathione in your supplement:

• N-Acetyl L-Cysteine
• Lutein
• Bilberry Extract
• L-Carnosine
• Green Tea Extract
• Grape Seed Extract
• Gingko Biloba
• Alpha Lipoic Acid

ANTI AGING SECRETS PART 1 – SUMMING UP

At the top of this article I said that while nutritional health supplements can create significant anti aging benefits, virtually all do not. Since they are made to a price the bio-chemists formulating them simply cannot include all the ingredients that they know should be there to get the job done properly.

Just look at what I’ve revealed for our first component of aging – free radical production!

Does your supplement contain L-Glutathione in the reduced form with an effective dose amount of at least 100 mg AND is it enteric coated? Does it contain every one or at least most of the key antioxidants listed above?

Unless your using the same supplement that I do then I know the answer is ‘no’.

Now, keep in mind that free radicals are ONLY ONE of the four primary causes of aging so there’s a lot more that a supplement has to tackle to truly address the anti aging issue and protect you from degenerative disease.

In my next 3 posts I’ll address the other 3 key components of aging:

• Glycation

• Methylation

• Inflammation

—————————————————————————————-

P.S. If you’d like to read a review of the one of a kind nutritional health supplement I use, just follow this link, it’s called Total Balance

—————————————————————————————–

Like this post?
Publish It On Your Own Blog

Good Health Always!

Your nutritional vitamin supplement contains Folic acid, right?

Well it very well may cause you cancer - according to a recently released article!

That’s exactly what Harvard Medical School researchers have said in the March 2008 edition of their Harvard Men’s Health Watch newsletter.

They also cited studies to say that other multivitamin ingredients, namely [tag-tec]antioxidants[/tag-tec], [tag-tec]vitamins B6[/tag-tec], B12 and [tag-ice]Folic acid[/tag-ice] don’t prevent disease (cancer and heart disease).

Now, before jumping to any conclusions, it is VERY important, with all (often sensationalist) negative supplement reports, to DIG DEEPER to see what’s really going on!

As you know some researcher’s research protocols and conclusions can be clouded by vested interests and their results INTENTIONALLY SKEWED. Third party examinations of the cited studies/research usually paint a somewhat different picture/conclusion. (Usually that it is inconclusive and needs further study!).

Over the years there has been studies conducted, which have been ‘sponsored’ by those with ‘anti-supplement vested interests’, such as Big Pharma, where the final conclusion has been pre-determined before the study even begins! This needs to be kept in mind when reading negative [tag-tec]supplement[/tag-tec] studies.

The best course of action is to never take any of them at face value.

In the case of this Harvard Men’s Health watch report, the Vice President for Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at the Council for Responsible [tag-tec]Nutrition[/tag-tec] (CRN), Andrew Shao, Ph.D., has come out to question the research cited in the newsletter and labeled it’s conclusion as “premature”.

Mr Shao helped put this report in perspective for supplement consumers and other interested parties by revealing that the [tag-ice]antioxidant[/tag-ice] studies it referenced have been “heavily criticized by the scientific community.”

He also noted that the Folic acid research cited was “only one study”!

Hmmmmm – ONE SINGLE STUDY!

That lone study found an increased risk of [tag-ice]cancer[/tag-ice] (colon and prostate cancers) among people taking Folic acid. BUT……

……the study involved ONLY people taking large amounts of Folic acid ( a whopping 2.5 times the recommended daily allowance) and who already have an increased risk of developing the [tag-ice]disease[/tag-ice].

The devil is in the details!

NOTE: Harvard professors contacted by Shao also thought the article was premature, and said that they still take their [tag-tec]multivitamins[/tag-tec].

The newsletter article concluded “There is no proof that a daily [tag-ice]multivitamin[/tag-ice] is harmful. Still, it now seems possible that the high levels of Folic acid achieved by well-intentioned people who take a multivitamin and eat healthful [tag-ice]foods[/tag-ice] could increase the risk of colorectal and possible prostate and breast cancers.”

Sources:

Harvard Men’s Health Watch March 2008

Natural Foods Merchandiser March 4, 2008

Brett’s Comments:

An estimated 35 percent of U.S. adults regularly take [tag-tec]nutritional vitamin supplements[/tag-tec]. That includes the industry’s best [tag-ice]super supplements[/tag-ice] that come with a much higher price tag.

That’s a HUGE amount of money each year spent on [tag-tec]dietary supplements[/tag-tec]. ($21 billion actually).

But….. it has been previously estimated that $1 in every $3 used on [tag-tec]nutritional supplements[/tag-tec] is WASTED!

Gosh, could that be your money?

Supplement users, like you and I, have relied on supplement manufacturers for the safety and efficacy of supplements we use. We rely on them to balance the ingredient dose amounts so that if in the unlikely event situations such as the above Harvard report ever turn out to be true, we will not be affected by having consumed excessive amounts of any isolated ingredient.

If you’ve read through some of the articles in at the nutritional supplement truths main site, you’ll already know that relying on supplement manufacturers can be a BIG MISTAKE!

The time has come for supplement consumers to start thoroughly checking up on the manufacturers of supplement(s) they use or those they are comparing prior to purchase.

Why?

Because there are just too many dishonest and disreputable manufacturers out there trying to mislead you.

And on top of that there’s many many others who just don’t have the superior manufacturing know-how to produce a safe, professional, science-based supplement that is highly effective. The kind of [tag-ice]elite supplement[/tag-ice] that savvy consumers like you and I want to take.

You know, even the huge and well known supplement companies who have marketed their way to large scale popular recognition over the years, are cleverly holding back little known key information because it would reveal weaknesses and poor value for money in their products.

Now more than ever you need to check the details of your nutritional supplements to be sure you haven’t been sucked in by deceptive and misleading marketing and that you really are getting all the [tag-tec]health benefits[/tag-tec] you want and are paying for.

Many self claimed super supplements are certainly not all they claim to be and this extends right down to the basic supermarket type multivitamins as well!

The short time it takes to do your supplement homework will be well worth it, for your safety and peace of mind and that of your family if they use [tag-tec]nutritional health supplements[/tag-tec].

WHAT’S IN YOUR NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT?

I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not but the FDA dietary supplement regulations leave it up it up to supplement manufacturers to make sure their supplement is safe and effective, and that the bottle label is a truthful representation of what’s really in each tablet in that bottle.

These FDA regulations don’t prevent manufacturers from creating poorly put together and even [tag-ice]unsafe supplements[/tag-ice]!

Because there’s currently no FDA enforcement, many manufacturers take advantage of the situation by doing minimal to no quality assurance testing of their raw material ingredients.

Reputable supplement manufacturers, however, test ALL their raw ingredients for conformity with each Certificate Of Analysis (COA).

The COA is a document containing detailed information about the identity, quality and purity of the raw material. It should reflect the true and representative properties of the substance in question.

Disreputable manufacturers just don’t test.

They simply rely on the word of the raw material supplier who supplies the COA. This creates tremendous cost savings for them. They’d rather focus on excessive profits at the expense of your [tag-tec]health[/tag-tec]!

In other words they’re gambling with your health!

“How?”

They know all too well that raw ingredients can be adulterated with heavy fillers, some of which can be TOXIC, not to mention impurities and potencies far below what they should be.

And how about this for RIDICULOUS – Raw material suppliers to the nutritional supplement manufacturing facilities are “EXEMPTED” from the new (2007) FDA GMPs !

Are you starting to see what you’re up against here!

Reputable manufacturers are well aware that some raw material suppliers (even including those with GMP accreditation) falsify their COA’s!

That’s why quality focused manufacturers go through the huge cost of testing ALL their raw ingredients.

But then we have the problem of some manufacturers falsifying the results of their own tests!

Argh – What to do!

Despite the fact that there are currently no regulations to do independent, third party testing to verify raw material conformity with COA’s, the absolute best manufacturers DO employ third parties to verify their own test results.

Those third parties should however be accredited state, regional or national bodies. (It ‘s estimated that by the end of this year the FDA will be ready to appoint its own third party auditors.)

And just putting aside the quality and safety issue of raw ingredients for a moment, don’t forget that producing a professional grade supplement is a complicated manufacturing task that has many complex steps.

If there is any technical oversights (ie. MISTAKES!) from a lack of know-how in any step OR cost-cutting shortcuts, then in no time at all supplement quality is rocketing downhill. The end result is a substandard, less effective supplement or in the worse case scenario a potentially dangerous supplement.

So, when it comes to choosing a quality nutritional vitamin supplement or one of the market’s leading super supplements, there are a multitude of options to weed through. Therefore you really do need to examine many details.

This is exactly why it’s so risky selecting on PRICE ALONE!

There is a huge risk that you will end up with a sub-standard supplement that has not been verified through a vigorous quality assurance process.

Don’t take anything for granted when it comes to your health and your family’s health.

Every detail is worthy of your attention!

Don’t trust any supplement or the word of any supplement company, unless you’ve done your homework and are 100% sure it makes the grade!

PLEASE DO YOUR SUPPLEMENT HOMEWORK!!!!

You’ll be relieved to know that dietary supplement quality controls in the USA will soon significantly improve.

The revised (June 2007) FDA cGMP contain much stricter (legislated) standards than what manufacturers have been operating under to date and will weed out a lot (but not all) of the disreputable manufacturers who are only in it for a quick buck. These companies are essentially marketers in disguise.

These new regulations could have been much stricter and to be honest they don’t actually prevent a manufacturer from producing a bad supplement. That’s because, as I mentioned above, the FDA leave it up to the manufacturer to conform.

There is no enforcement!

Nonetheless it will be near impossible for most of the really bad manufacturers to continue.

So, for the sake of your health and longevity, you’ve got to do your supplement homework.

Depending on the number of employees, companies have until June 2010 (at the latest) to become cGMP compliant.

You’re Not Going To Wait?

Great!, – to learn all the nutritional supplement details that you need to check on please visit my are super supplements all they claim to be article.

What To Ask – Ask The Right Questions!

You need to ask the right questions of supplement companies to draw out product and manufacturing details which they have deliberately kept hidden.

This then allows you to fill in the ‘information gap’ and judge the true effectiveness and value for money of a supplement.

Visit my evaluating nutritional vitamin supplements series of articles.

There’s 6 of them covering these crucial topics:

• The Formula
• Ingredient Quality
• Bioavailability
• Manufacturing Standards
• Synergy
• Value For Money

At the bottom of each one you’ll find a list of the RIGHT QUESTIONS to ask for that particular topic (or for a couple there’s a link to pdf files).

Please don’t waste your money, and worse yet, run the risk of potential harm, by taking poorly put together supplements offering poor value for money?

The value for money factor is one of the least understood issues by supplement consumers, particularly when it comes to super supplements made by those gigantic well known U.S based companies.

These companies have huge costs when they manufacture nutritional vitamin supplements and these impact on the product selling price and on which ingredients, potencies, bioavailable forms, and dose amounts that they can afford to include!

The Devil Is In The Details!

Like this post?
Publish It On Your Own Blog

Good Health Always!