How to Supplement

1271 High Street, Auburn, CA 95603 • Phone (530) 823-7092 • order line (800) 359-6091 Hours: Tues. – Fri. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. • E-mail: [email protected] web: www.ImageAwareness.com December 2006 Volume 2 : Issue 12

The Problem eating of cyanobacteria from the less or dangerous by credible scien- An untold number of women genus Spirulina as a health food.” tific authorities. They then burn out. Carmicahael points out that who have been placed on inexpen- Pharmaceutical License sive iron supplements which resulted some cyanobacteria which can contaminate Spirulina harvests I want a company that oper- in digestive distress and black stool ates with a pharmaceutical license. are testimony to the importance of produce potent nerve toxins. Even more common than the four neu- This is not required of natural food quality supplementation. Iron in a fer- products (the supplements I pre- rous sulfate form irritates the diges- rotoxins found in these water plants are potent liver toxins which not fer) but it provides an extra mea- tive tract and oxidizes to a black col- sure of safety and quality control. or. (This problem is usually resolved only damage the liver, but may 2 Companies that operate with by using a chelated iron--read on.) prove to be cancer causing agents. 1. Schauss, Alexander, Ph.D., Colloidal minerals: a pharmaceutical license are not The problem with iron is obvi- Clinical implications of clay suspension products afraid to have the FDA come in and ous, but many problems are not so sold as dietary supplements, American Journal of Natural Medicine, Vol. 4, No. 1, January/February inspect their facilities for cleanliness obvious. For example, the widely 1997, 5-10. and to insure that what is placed touted colloidal mineral products 2. Carmichael, Wayne, The Toxins of Cyanobacte- on the label is actually in the prod- were often contaminated with sig- ria, Scientific American, January 1994, 78-84. uct. These are unannounced in- nificant quantities of aluminum. spections. FDA inspection also as- My analysis of one product found How to Supplement aluminum the 6th most abundant I am frequently asked how one element (272 mg/liter). Aluminum should supplement. The follow- is a potentially neurotoxic sub- ing are some of the criteria I use in stance associated with increased evaluating the supplements we risk of dementia. It definitely is not have chosen to work with. The dis- something one should be ingest- cussion is broken into two parts. The ing as a food supplement no mat- first deals with the manufacturer. ter how effective and attractive the The second deals with the products. advertising for the product. Regard- less, millions used these products.1 About the Company Similarly, millions have been led Not a Shooting Star to believe that blue-green algae is a desirable and healthy supplement. I look at how long a company has Aquatic biologist and toxicologist been around. Highly unethical com- Wayne Carmichael writes, “...the tox- panies usually act like shooting stars. icity of many chemicals produced They appear suddenly and make by cyanobacteria is undeniable. For wild and exaggerated claims for this reason, I am becoming increas- their products. They then tend to run ingly worried by a modern fad: the afoul of the legal authorities or their products are shown to be worth-

Copyright 2006 by Jim McAfee. All rights reserved. sures that a manufacturer follows name for the promotion of the prod- Florida nephrologist who conducted Good Laboratory Practices and ucts. These companies will have the study with toxicology experts at Good Manufacturing Practices. research facilities at their disposal the school’s Gainesville campus.”2 and will often have unique and dif- There is no reason to use A Manufacturer ferent types of products. Some supplements derived from raw I want a company that manu- of these products are patented. materials which could poten- factures its own products. Many tially contribute to toxic residues. private labelled products are de- Toxicological Testing 1. Quig, D.W., and Crinnon, W., “Clearance of lead signed more for profit than quality. Quarantine and examination from a patient with lead poisoning from Ayurvedic A number of years ago I worked of all raw materials for purity and herbs,” 2006, IAACN Conference, San Diego. 2. “Lead still in calcium supplements,” CNN.com, as an intermediary with a company potency prior to manufacture of Sept. 20, 2000. interested in having their products products is important. Testing of private labelled. They told me they manufactured products for disin- The Supplements wanted the best quality that could tegration and dissolution time, sta- be made. The manufacturer told bility, purity, potency, bioavailabil- Based in Nature me that their best product was re- ity, odor, and taste is also essential. I believe supplementation served for their direct distribution Many companies are not even should be derived from foods which channel, but they would be able to aware of the fact that there are toxico- have a long history of safe usage as manufacture an excellent product. logical issues with supplements. Da- much as possible. The reason for this When the company saw the price vid Quig, Vice President of Scientific is the desirability to find sources of of a good product, they decided Support for Doctor’s Data, a testing nutrients we can use day in and day they wanted a less expensive prod- laboratory, shared an amazing story out for a lifetime without problems. uct to increase their profit margin. at the 2006 meeting of the Interna- There are few studies on the effects tional and American Associations of of feeding animals for a lifetime on Backed by Science Clinical Nutritionists in San Diego. synthetic formulations of nutrients. Products should be based on The lab tested a man’s urine and There are also potential prob- legitimate scientific research rather found 9,100 ug/Pb gm (micrograms lems with derivation of nutrients than the desire to have something per gram of lead). There was some from sources which are not a nor- to sell. There is a difference between difficulty identifying the source of the mal part of the human food chain. producing a product and looking lead poisoning until the man’s herbal For example, krill oil is now being for a scientific reference to sup- products were tested. They proved promoted as a source of omega-3 port the product and basing the to contain 56,185 ug/gm of lead.1 oils. My research indicated that the development of a product on the Contamination of calcium large amounts of the carotenoid best scientific research available. products with lead has been a long astaxanthin in krill oil have a totally Independent Verification standing problem. An excerpt from different structure than the -astax I look at a company’s associa- a news report follows: “The authors anthin in salmon. We know the tions. Is research on their products tested 23 products in March; their re- salmon is safe as it has been a part published in peer reviewed journals sults appear in Wednesday’s Journal of man’s diet for thousands of years. of the American Medical Association.” like the American Journal of Clinical Use a Good Multiple Nutrition, Free Radical Biology and “The authors found no detect- In last month’s newsletter I shared Medicine, the FASEB Journal or similar able level of lead in 15 of the supple- the research of Dr. Arthur Furst who publications? Do they have a work- ments. The remainder had from 1.74 found that a good multiple could ing relationship with organizations micrograms to 3.43 micrograms per prevent animals from developing like the United States Department 1,500 milligrams of calcium. The cancer, while all would develop can- of Agriculture, the World Health Or- dose generally recommended to cer without the supplementation. I ganization, and Stanford University. help prevent osteoporosis is about 1,200 milligrams to 1,500 milligrams did not mention that laboratory rats A Scientific Advisory Board daily.” (I think this level is too high) are generally much better nourished I look for products that have “Experts have suggested that the than people are as they are able to re- competent scientific personnel body’s total daily exposure to lead produce without difficulty, a measure working on the development of should not exceed 6 micrograms, of adequacy of nutrition. Remem- products rather than lending their said Dr. Edward Ross, a University of ber this the next time a researcher

Copyright 2006 by Jim McAfee. All rights reserved. states that an artificial chemical has two rats pictured. The animal receiv- *OUFTUJOBM been shown to be completely safe ing the high quality phospholipid $IFMBUFE.JOFSBMT 8BMM i/FVUSBMJ[FEwXJUI in testing on laboratory animals. and phytosterol sources from whole "NJOP"DJETQBTT SFBEJMZUISPVHI This is one of the reasons drugs are grains and legumes evidenced UIFQPSFT 5P#MPPE often approved, then pulled off the not only superior nutrient utiliza- 1PTJUJWFMZ$IBSHFE 4USFBN .JOFSBMTBSFBUUSBDUFE market when they are demonstrat- tion, but also better overall health. UP/FHBUJWFMZ$IBSHFE 1BSUJDMFTPOUIFJOUFTUJOBM ed to create problems in people. XBMMBOEJOUIFJOUFTUJOFT Continuous Release 5IFZBSFFMJNJOBUFE One of the objectives of supple- Vitamin C mentation should be to obtain as *OUFTUJOBM Dr. Steve Hickey and Dr. Hilary 8BMM wide a range of nutrients as possible Roberts have recently published a from natural sources. Lack of even wrapping the mineral with however book entitled Ascorbate: The Science one important nutrient can have many amino acids are required to of Vitamin C. They point out that vi- serious consequences. Celebrated neutralize the charge--usually two). tamin C “has a half-life in the blood researchers Harte and Chow stud- Chelated minerals tend to be of about 30 minutes.” This results in ied over 200 research papers and safer and more effective than min- the fact that a quick release dose concluded that “the shortage of a erals which are not in this form. only provides protection for a maxi- single essential vitamin, mineral el- mum of 4-6 hours. Slow release dos- Biological Matrix ement, amino acid, or fatty acid will es provide much better protection. I like to see rice, yeast, and kelp create a shock wave that spreads to Most of the work conducted as sources of nutrients. This means affect the utilization and/or function on vitamin C underestimates the that the nutrients have entered of every other essential nutrient.” into a biological matrix. They will Cheraskin, E., et al, Psychodietetics, New York: benefits of this nutrient because ex- Bantam, 1976, 22. perimental animals and people have be accompanied with amino acids, typically been dosed with a quick re- vitamins, minerals, enzymes and Nutrients to Look For lease form of vitamin C once a day. co-enzymes which will greatly im- Hickey, Steve, Ph.D., and Roberts, Hilary,, Ph.D., prove their effectiveness. Over the Phospholipids The Science of Vitamin C, Ebook: Lulu.com, 2004, years I have seen a good number of p. 126-129. My favorite multiples contain people obtain better results from a a rich source of phospholipids and food based multiple than a whole phytosterols. These are the primary box of synthetic supplements. building blocks of cell membranes. They have profound influence upon the overall functioning of the endo- #F crine system and nutrient utilization. #PUJO Studies on animals have shown /JBDJO # that a phospholipid and phytosterol # source derived from whole wheat, Amino Mineral Amino rice, and soybeans improves nutri- Acid Acid ent utilization in animals by 50%. Such a study was conducted on the Chelated Minerals # # The word chelate means “claw.” It /JBDJO # refers to a process of wrapping minerals with amino acids to neutralize the Use a High Potency positive charges minerals carry. Stud- Fish Oil ies have shown that this improves Numerous studies have shown absorption of minerals up to sixfold. that Americans are seriously defi- A positively charged mineral cient in omega-3 oils. I prefer a fish tends to attach to the lining of the in- oil supplement made by molecular testine which has a negative charge differentiation (not distillation). It (opposites attract). The result is poor is the only fish oil product of which absorption. A properly chelated I am aware which contains certifi- mineral has no charge (this requires able amounts of all 8 of the master Copyright 2006 by Jim McAfee. All rights reserved. 1271 High Street, Auburn, CA 95603 Phone (530) 823-7092 order line (800) 359-6091 E-mail: [email protected] Visit our website! www.ImageAwareness.com

molecules of the omega-3 family. Zeaxanthin 274:532-538. Molecular differentiation en- Lutein1,2,3 3. Di Mascio, P., M. E. Murphy, and H. Sies. (1991) Antioxidant defense systems: the role of carot- ables the manufacturer to select All of these are carotenoids. enoids, tocopherols, and thiols. Am. J. Clin. Nutr., specific molecules from fish oil, Free radical oxygen is arguably 53:194S-200S. while leaving behind others which the most damaging free radi- 4. Cutler, Richard G., Antioxidants and aging, Am J Clin Nutr, 1991;53:375S. are associated with rancidity, fishy cal produced in the human body. taste, and burping. This product is A number of years ago a well- a vast improvement over earlier fish known aging researcher, Richard Removal or Addition oil formulations. It contains 50% Cutler, reported that two nutrients to this Newsletter are directly associated with lifespan. more omega-3 oils than earlier sup- If you wish to be removed from this health- plements in a capsule half the size-- The more of these nutrients in the letter simply send us an email requesting to a heck of a lot easier for swallowing! blood, the longer animals or humans be removed. If you wish to add an email address send us the address with a request to would tend to live. The two nutrients be added. A Carotenoid Complex were carotenoids and vitamin E.4 Phospholipids and omega-3 My favorite carotenoid product Web Resources oils are key structural nutrients, be- is made with a patented Nutri-Max www.yourbodyssignlanguage.com ing the major building blocks of cell process. It is encapsulated in a ni- www.imageawareness.com walls or cell membranes. These fats, trogen environment to prevent it however, are at risk of oxidizing if from reacting with oxygen. Studies Disclaimer This publication contains the opinions and antioxidant intake is inadequate. by the United States Department ideas of its author. It is intended to provide The most powerful of all fat of Agriculture demonstrated that helpful and informative material on the sub- soluble antioxidants are the carot- the product increase immune func- jects addressed in the publication. It is pro- vided with the understanding that the author enoids, followed by vitamin E. The tion 37% in 20 days, improved natu- and publisher are not engaged in rendering most powerful and efficient free ral killer cell activity 20%, increased medical,health, or any other kind of personal radical oxygen quenchers are the antioxidants in cholesterol 5-fold, professional services in this newsletter. The reader should consult his or her medical, following in order of their potency: and reduced oxidation at the cellu- health or other competent professional be- Lycopene lar level by 44%. Powerful medicine! fore adopting any of the suggestions in this Gamma-carotene 1. Di Mascio, P., Devasagayam, T. P. A., Kaiser, S., newsletter or drawing inferences from it. Astaxanthin and Sies, H. (1990) Carotenoids, tocopherols, and The author and publisher specifically dis- thiols and biological singlet molecular oxygen claim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or Canthaxanthin quenchers. Biochem. Soc. Trans., 18:1054-1056. risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred Alpha-carotene 2. Di Mascio, P., Kaiser, S., and Sies, H. (1989) Ly- as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of Beta-carotene copene as the most efficient biological carotenoid use and application of any of the contents of Bixin singlet oxygen quencher. Arch. Biochem. Biophys., this newsletter.