Delta -Tocotrienol Fights Cholesterol, Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer???

Very interesting and provocative article:

"Vitamin E in the form of delta-tocotrienol can lower cholesterol by an astonishing 15-22%, and markedly improve LDL/HDL ratios"

"Tocotrienol from annatto has a far greater L-ORAC (Oxygen radical absorption capacity) value than alpha-tocopherol, and is more potent than resveratrol and green tea catechins. It is up to 60-fold more potent and 70-fold more bioavailable than alpha-tocopherol."

"Tocotrienols have repeatedly been shown to inhibit proliferation and induce cell death in cancer cells. They may be doing so in multiple ways: by inhibiting angiogenesis, through free-radical quenching, by interfering with tumor pathways"

"“Our study has shown for the first time that lovastatin and delta-tocotrienol, two suppressors of HMG-CoA reductase, synergistically suppress tumor growth in vivo,” they conclude. "

Look, we must be careful in what materials we ingest so as to obtain the best results. But if you want to begin using this unique form of Vitaman E I recommend Mito-GOLD from Geronova Research, a unique and powerful combination of lipoic acid and this rare, specific form of Vitamin E called delta-tocotrienol sourced naturally from the annatto bean.

Why not order some right now?

Hearing Loss, Lipoic Acid and CoQ10

Very interesting research in this article: "One of the most surprising findings was that these two — alpha lipoic acid and coenzyme Q10 — were very specific in their protection against apoptosis and hearing loss,"

"Becoming "hard of hearing" is a standard but unfortunate part of aging: A syndrome called age-related hearing loss affects about 40 percent of people over 65 in the United States, and will afflict an estimated 28 million Americans by 2030.

"Age-related hearing loss is a very common symptom of aging in humans, and also is universal among mammal species, and it's one of the earliest detectable sensory changes in aging," says Tomas Prolla, a professor of genetics and medical genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "

Geronova Research offers a unique R-lipoic Acid (much more effective than alpha-lipoic) and CoQ10 combination in one convenient, easy to swallow capsule.

Along with all the other benefits lipoic and coQ10 provide, you should be thinking of daily lipoic therapy as a nutritional supplement insurance policy.

Pete

Lipoic Acid and Homocysteine

David Carlson of Geronova with some interesting information (see the Geronova blog for more of David's comments):

Lipoic Acid and Homocysteine

Question: A recent rat study in Free Radical Biology & Medicine indicated lipoic acid increased plasma homocysteine and S-adenosyl homocysteine levels and suggested this could be a previously unreported adverse effect of lipoic acid consumption. Could you please comment as this could be relevant to regular users of lipoic acid products?

(DAC) I saw the full text of the Stabler et al study the day it was posted online and we have been working on clearing up this issue for the last two months. Like you I was particularly concerned after reading the study due to the strong warning language used and the fact they used our PK paper to justify their conclusions.

I will write to Stabler et al and FRB&M since I believe the peer reviewers and journal should have made them tone down the language or prove this preliminary rat study has any relevance to humans prior to publication. I don’t think fear based language belongs in a scientific journal without significant data to support the contentions. Stabler et al failed on this point but probably gained interest in getting funding for the next study.
 
When I first saw the Stabler et al study, I wrote Dr Anthony Smith for his opinion. He also felt the language was unwarranted since Stabler et al could show no statistical correlation between lipoic acid concentration and HCy and SAH (despite the doubling of HCy concentrations) and since they only looked at a single time point. Even if the same pattern occurs in humans, the effect of a transient spike in HCy and SAH is unknown. Many factors may transiently alter HCy output and metabolism that may not correlate to normal/average baseline levels or pose any additional risk to the consumer.
 
The newest member of our team, Dr Anthony Sanchez has been working on an HPLC method to measure blood levels of R-lipoic acid (RLA) as well as Homocysteine (HCy) and other amino thiols such as cysteine, glutathione and cysteinylglycine simultaneously. This way we can see if the HCy levels are altered overall in humans (higher or lower) or if it only occurs when RLA is transiently present in blood, which we suspect. Remember RLA/NaRLA reaches high blood levels fast and clears quickly (most within 0.5 hr and almost all in <1 hr). We plan to run another NaRLA PK study with simultaneous measurements of Hcy at each time point and even after RLA has cleared from the blood.
 
I do believe patients receiving blood panels should advise their doctors as to whether or not they recently ate lipoic acid since it can give artificially high Hcy levels. When we first started testing lipoic acid in the blood 5 years ago I did see a transient spike in my HCy from the average of ~7 uM up to to ~15 uM (a doubling effect similar to Stabler's model) but I didn’t know if it was an artifact or a real effect since red blood cells (RBCs) can export significant amounts of Hcy if the sample is not processed quickly and properly. The elevation in HCy occurred only at Cmax for RLA (1 gram of K-RALA was consumed). When I later tested my Hcy it was back to the normal level of ~7uM where it has stayed for years despite the fact I consume 1-2 grams of our R-lipoic acid products/day with loads of methyl donors. When I get my Hcy measured now I make sure the RLA content of my blood is low by waiting at least 24 hrs after the last consumption.
 
I do not think any LA/RLA products in the normally used dosages (50-600 mg/day) will cause any long term health problems due to "methylation stress" particularly if consumed with methyl donors (betaine, phosphatydyl choline, carnitine, acetyl carnitine, methylcobalamin etc as well as B6 and B12) which most lipoic acid users take concurrently or as a regular part of their supplement programs.
 
Lipoic acid consumers with genetic variations (SNPs) in the 5-MTHFR gene might be at greater risk than the normal population but I believe even this can be easily compensated for by increased consumption of methyl factors. I have 2 SNPs in the 5-MTHFR gene which can reduce methylation by 50% of normal and yet my HCy levels are "normal".
 
Another issue not considered by Stabler is that although 1 lipoic acid molecule acquires in theory up to two methyl groups during metabolism, these methylated metabolites might themselves provide methyl groups to further downstream targets (even HCy) and thus negate any net methyl group depletion. This is supported by the Schupke study that showed only 12.4% of the methylated metabolites appeared in the 24 hr urine.
 
Thanks for you question and interest in our products. Keep checking my lipoic acid research blog since I will have a lot more to say on this topic in the weeks and months ahead.
 

Phenibut and Alpha-GPC Deep Discounts

Short expiry blow-out pricing. Get 'em now while supply lasts. Fully potent through the December expiration.

Purchase Phenibut

Purchase Alpha-GPC

Stock up and take advantage of compelling cost savings!

Alpha-GPC (Choline Alfoscerate) Sale Pricing

Relentless Improvement brand Alpha-GPC, the best choline donor out there, is at special pricing, allowing you to stock-up on a material that is normally much more expensive.

Alpha-GPC is suggested to use by anyone seeking brain/cognitive support or when using cognitive enhancers such as Oxiracetam or Piracetam.

600mg per capsule providing 300mg elemental is a full-strength, generous dose.

Cataracts and Carnosine Eye Drops

Very interesting new research "Protective Effects of l- and d-Carnosine on α-Crystallin Amyloid Fibril Formation: Implications for Cataract Disease" published in the July 28 issue of the journal Biochemistry regarding the use of carnosine to prevent or reverse cataract formation. This research holds forth the promise of greater acceptance of the use of carnosine eye drops in order to maintain eye health.

Some excepts:

"In conclusion, in this study, we observed that considering α-crystallin alone or the more complex model of lens organ culture, the presence of carnosine prevents fibril formation, maintains chaperone activity, and disassembles already formed fibrils, restoring almost completely lens transparency. Moreover, because of its resistance to carnosinases, d-carnosine can be a valuable therapeutic tool."

"Carnosine is also present in the eye lenses at a high level, therefore, our result supports the hypothesis that a possible decrease during aging, as it is known in the muscle, could contribute to age-related cataractogenesis,"

Carnosine eye drops are available without a prescription, however it is critical to only use documented products, tested for purity by independent laboratories.

Please note- the research above involved the bathing of the eye lenses in a liquid solution containing carnosine. Oral ingestion of carnosine capsules has never shown a beneficial result against cataracts.

Did You Know? R-PLUS Curcumin Features BCM-95

What is BCM-95 and who cares? you might ask...

""Six-month, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, Pilot Clinical Trial of Curcumin in Patients with Alzheimer Disease," Baum L, Wai Kei Lam C, et al, Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 2008; 28: 110-13. (Address: Larry Baum, Dept of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong. E-mail: lwbaum@cuhk.edu.hk ).

Summary: In a 6-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial involving 22 patients with Alzheimer's disease, supplementation with a particular curcumin supplement (BCM-95 capsules) was found to have significantly greater bioavailability, as compared to conventional curcumin powder, suggesting it may provide better clinical benefits. Subjects (aged 50 years of age or older) with progressive decline in memory or cognitive function, diagnosed with probable or possible Alzheimer's disease were given: 1.0 g/d curcumin, 4.0 g/d curcumin, or placebo, taken after a meal (capsules) or mixed with food (powder), for a period of 6 months. Supplementation with curcumin was found to increase levels of serum Abeta, possibly reflecting the ability of curcumin to disaggregate Abeta deposits in the brain. Significant increases in vitamin E were found as well, with greater increases found among subjects who took the BCM-95 capsulses. In addition, BMC-95 was absorbed 7.8 times more than conventional curcumin; this bioavailability may confer greater clinical benefits. The authors recommend that BCM-95 be used in future clinical trials. A larger trial of a longer duration is warranted."

Geronova Research R-PLUS Curcumin uses the highly bioavailable BCM-95 material. Oh and don't forget, it is on sale now.

Quality matters!
Pete

The Buzz on Bing

Go check out Bing.com - Microsoft's alternative to Google search.

Yes Microsoft is the company we love and hate. And yes a lot of their products may not live up to expectation. BUT. Bing is an internet search engine that is fast, looks good and returns relevant results.

I am impressed and have been using it the past week with satisfaction. See what you think?

My Emails and Phone Calls...

Do you sell powders???
Why is the price different from the last time I ordered???
Will you send me free samples????
Can you give me free shipping???
I am broke (old/in school/sick/bankrupt) and need to buy some stuff, can you help me out??
Here are my health problems, what would you prescribe???
Will you take my $9.95 phone order? And oh yeah, I need to ask you questions for two hours...

Oh.. and- "where is my (international) package sent via First Class Mail?" (NO tracking and dirt cheap cost)

and... "why did you bill my credit card 2/3/6/gazillion times???""Don't f' with me! I will report you!!" (some customers keep trying to submit orders with incorrect cc info. Over, and over. I finally built a credit card tutorial page just to explain this)

I think I will stop answering the phone and reading emails :-)

Seriously, all in all I have a fantastic customer base. But man oh man the same old crap (from a precious few) sure gets tiresome (and provokes an occasional rant like this).

Had to post this. Enjoy.

Curcumin and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

Interesting study (and particularly timely with our Geronova Research R-PLUS with Curcumin on sale):

"Chronic fatigue syndrome affects millions of people in the United States, making it virtually impossible for many of them to hold a full-time or even part-time job, go to school, enjoy their families, or participate in routine or leisure activities. Estimates of the actual number of people who have the disease vary widely, from 500,000 to more than 4 million.

Study of curcumin and chronic fatigue
Oxidative stress is a significant factor in chronic fatigue syndrome, and so ways to reduce it theoretically should also improve symptoms of this complex condition. A study published in the January 2009 issue of Immunobiology reports on mice who were challenged with a stress test for 10 minutes daily for 19 days. Half of the mice were given curcumin and the other half acted as controls.

The control mice showed signs of significant fatigue and had hyperalgesia (increased sensitivity to pain), another common symptom of the syndrome. The mice who were given curcumin showed a significant reduction in fatigue, oxidative stress, and hyperalgesia. The investigators suggest that curcumin may be a valuble option in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Curcumin in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
Along with an increase in oxidative stress, research shows that chronic fatigue syndrome is accompanied by activation of the inflammatory response system, and that a natural agent called nuclear factor kappa beta (NFkappabeta) is the main intracellular mechanism that regulates inflammatory and oxidative stress mediators.

In a Belgian study, researchers studied the possible impact of inhibiting the production of NFkappabeta in patients who had chronic fatigue syndrome. They found that there were significant correlations between the production of NFkappabeta and symptoms typically associated with the syndrome, including muscular tension, fatigue, irritability, depression, a subjective feeling of infection, and aches and pain.

They also discovered that the increase in oxidative stress and inflammation reported in previous studies of chronic fatigue syndrome may be caused by increased production of NFkappabeta. Given these results, the study’s authors suggest that people with chronic fatigue syndrome should be treated with antioxidants that are known to inhibit the production of NFkappabeta, including curcumin, quercetin, lipoic acid, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Curcumin for chronic fatigue syndrome
Curcumin is one of several curcuminoids, the natural pigments that give the spice turmeric its yellow color. It has both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and as such it is also used to treat arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and to help maintain a healthy cardiovascular system."