Recently I have been reading publications of the Life Extension Foundation
magazines and came across these comments relating to various vitamin E
(tocopherol) supplements :
" Why You Need This Vitamin E
A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (April 1997)
suggests that it could be dangerous to take high doses of alpha tocopherol
without also consuming gamma tocopherol. What made this study interesting
was that it showed that high doses of alpha tocopherol can displace gamma
tocopherol in tissues. While alpha tocopherol inhibits the production of
free radicals to some degree, it is gamma tocopherol that is required to trap
and neutralise existing free radicals......
The scientists who wrote the National Academy of Sciences report insist that
vitamin E supplements should contain at least 20% gamma tocopherol. Most
conventional supplements don't contain any at all...... "
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Now let's move on to the advertisement for Life Extension's own New Life
Extension Mix (TM) later in the same publication. All the constituents are
listed, including Vegetable-Fruit Complexes, Water-soluble vitamins and
Enzymatic Activators, Amino Acids, Minerals and so forth, right down to the
Fat-Soluble vitamins, where one finds this form of vitamin E:
Vitamin E (natural d-alpha tocopherol succinate)
Note well - NO gamma tocopherol, just the same old (synthetically
manufactured) alpha tocopherol which Life Extension Foundation earlier in the
same magazine (May 2001) said "can displace gamma tocopherol in tissues."
Their supplement, just like others that they criticised, contains no gamma
tocopherol at all! Yet their advertisement states in huge print that Life
Extension Mix (TM) is "The Most Complete Multi-Vitamin Supplement in
History". Am I missing something?
Not only that, but this Mix also excludes aminos such as L-glutamine and
L-arginine, which other companies regard as being important for stimulating
growth and immune response. Nor does it contain any of the Omega3, Omega 6
and Omega 9 oils which are almost universally regarded as being important for
preventing various cardiocirculatory problems. Then we note that most (261mg
out of 326mg) of the 'elemental' magnesium in their Mix is derived from
highly insoluble (and very cheap!) magnesium oxide which is poorly absorbed
by the gut. The calcium salt in their Mix is not specified, which may well
indicate that is the usual cheap, poorly absorbed carbonate or oxide forms.
ADDITIONAL ISSUES
If you read the average Life Extension magazine and take everything there
literally, you will find that you need to take in excess of something like 30
various supplements a day to stay healthy, live longer and combat virtually
illness known to humankind, at a combined cost of over $400 a month.
For example, you are strongly advised to take the following:
1. Alpha-lipoic acid 60 capsules ($37) at 3-6 capsules per day = $55.50
- $111 a month
2. Perilla Oil (Alpha-linolenic acid) 180 capsules ($24) at 6 caps a day
= $24 a month
3. Cognitex (reduce brain ageing) 75 caps ($38) at 5 caps per day = $76
a month
4. Acetyl-L-carnitine (reduce brain ageing etc) 100 caps ($35) at 4 caps a
day = $42 a month
5. Coenzyme CoQ10 (100mg, 100 capsules $69) at 1 cap a day = $ 21 a month
6. Super carnosine (500mg, 90 caps, $66) at 3 caps a day = $66 a month
7. 1C3 (Indole-3-carbinol) (anti-cancer) (200mg, 60 caps, $28) at 3 caps a
day = $42 a month
The above total comes to just under $400 and the list of Life Extension
Foundation (LEF) recommended supplements adds many more than the small sample
that I have selected. I trust that this organisation also stresses that it
sometimes necessary to eat some food with one's supplements.
What I found to be even more disturbing is that the LEF actually published an
article (Redwood Anti-Aging Clinic) which referred to the "Eat Right for your
Blood Type" theory of Peter Adamo as if it is a proven fact, without a single
peer-reviewed or clinical reference to support their claims that each food we
eat has a different effect on each one of us because of differences in blood
type.
Thus, this article categorically stated:
" O type blood groups hail from the hunter-gatherers so can process red meats
appropriately, while A types should eat a relatively vegetarian diet........
If A groups eat large quantities of red meat, that food can ferment or putrey
in the bowel and increase growth of bad bacteria from which
lipopolysaccharides can be absorbed......
It is now known that our food talks to our genes, which are pleiotropic, and
the omega-3 fatty acids can turn on and turn off the genes - they actually
speak to them." Peter Adamo has been challenged on numerous occasions to
produce a shred of scientific evidence to substantiate his theories, but to
date he has not been able to do so, nor has he been able to show that his
methods are superior to any other non-blood type methods for improving
general health and reducing excess fat.
Finally, let it be stressed that LEF is by no means unique in using some very
powerful and compelling marketing campaigns to sell a host of supplements
that the average family could never afford. The health, shape and
anti-ageing market is a multi-billion dollar industry in the USA alone and
heaven forbid that it should be neglected by any entrepreneur worthy of his
salt (I mean his sea salt, reduced sodium content)! They are the first to
criticise the regular pharmaceutical industry about salesmanship and
promotion of products with marginal or dubious benefits to the average
person.
I can foresee the day when the pharmaceutical companies either buy out or buy
controlling shares in the 'natural' supplement companies or start selling
their own competitive products. That sort of trend hit the computer market,
with the 'big guys' buying out the smaller ones and creating the Microsoft,
Adobe, AOL-Times-Warner and other demi-monopolies that surround us today.
Is anyone else moved to comment on this supremely healthy industry?
Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/
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