关于natural occuring 与 synthetic supplements 的分别与分辨

skydog

在找高质量的B complex是发现了好文章。关于Bioavailability Of Nutritional Supplements。

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Bioavailability Of Nutritional Supplements
Using 'Bioavailability' as Criteria to Evaluate Supplements

Not every nutrient you swallow is absorbed by your body!


The bioavailability of nutritional supplements is an often overlooked factor when comparing supplement brands. It has major implications for the efficacy and particularly value for money of a supplement.

So when it comes to all those costly ingredients you’re paying for, bioavailability basically means “the proportion of a nutrient or bioactive ingredient that was absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract” (1) for use or storage in the body.

After passing through the intestinal wall lining, the ingredients enter your bloodstream and find their way to their target organ or body system where they go to work performing their specific duties to support your health and make you feel great – well that’s the plan anyway.

Under the US Dietary and Health Education Act 1994 (DSHEA) nutritional supplements are regulated under ‘food’ GMP – this means absorption rates do not have to be tested – this has played a part in creating a credibility problem for the supplement industry.

Research data on bioavailability levels for supplements is very limited and incomplete to say the least. There is an urgent and continuing need to develop simple in-vitro methodologies to determine bioavailability of nutritional supplements.

Standardized measurements (of bioavailability) are what we need but for numerous reasons (cost being the major one) it looks like it will be many years before this eventuates.

So, one very important thing that you need to keep in mind is -

…the ingredients and amounts of each on a supplement label are in no way an indication of how much actually makes it into your bloodstream for use in your body!

Different factors such as;

    disintegration time

    dissolution percentage

    types of excipients used

    nutrient forms

    presence of co-factors or inhibitors in the formula

    interactions with drugs

    time of the day taken

    area in the body that disintegration occurs (supplement delivery system)

    level of absorption at the intestine and cellular level

    your body’s nutritional needs


all influence the total level of bioavailability.

The label gives you no idea how bioavailable each ingredient is!
There are also nutritional and physiological factors involving not the product but rather the individual taking the supplement. Being pregnant is one example, being elderly or sick are others. These are highly individual so I will limit this article to factors related to the supplement only.

High quality supplements are formulated to allow much higher levels of bioavailability than cheaper, mass produced vitamin and mineral products. This is because they are science based and use more sophisticated manufacturing processes. This is one reason why they cost more (but work better!).

OK, let’s get down to the nuts and bolts of bioavailability and how it can be increased.

I’ll explain how you can use ‘bioavailability in nutritional supplements’ as criteria to evaluate and compare supplement brands – this involves requesting some ‘missing’ information from supplement companies.

Questions to ask are listed for you below.

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skydog

STEP 1- THE TABLET NEEDS TO BREAK APART!

Disintegration refers to a tablet’s ability to break apart and fragment into small particles in order to distribute the contents - a rather important thing that we take for granted will happen. Let’s discuss that further down.

Even though disintegration has occurred that doesn’t mean that the ingredients have dissolved! A tablet can have fast disintegration time yet be biologically unavailable i.e. the ingredients can’t get in to do their magic.

Dissolution refers to the ability of a supplement to dissolve in solution – expressed as a percentage. Supplements which dissolve most rapidly have the highest bioavailability because nutrients have a limited and defined region of absorption in the intestinal tract [Bland, 1985] (2)

Non-governmental, not for profit organizations such as the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and British Pharmacopeia (BP) have set standards assuring integrity and uniform quality of: drugs, excipients, dietary supplements, vitamins, and minerals.

These standards include disintegration and dissolution rate guidelines for supplements (USP section <2040> and pharmaceutical drugs.

When supplements meet these standards you can have confidence that their formulation process is representative of the best state-of-the-art technology currently available.

The USP works closely with the FDA and pharmaceutical industry in producing these quality standards (which have been produced since 1820). Today they are recognized worldwide and are enforced not only by the FDA but by the governments of many countries.


Examples of USP disintegration standards for tablets;

    calcium supplements must dissolve in 30 minutes

    magnesium supplements must dissolve in 45 minutes

    multi vitamin/mineral formulations in 45 minutes


Professional standard supplements disintegrate within 20-30 minutes!

If you would like to see the British Pharmacopeia disintegration test for pharmaceutical grade tablets please follow this link. Unfortunately these disintegration standards are only guidelines when it comes to supplements. In other words they’re voluntary.

Reputable supplement companies however always manufacture in line with USP/BP standards. It’s important to always check on this when evaluating and comparing supplements!

It’s well known that some cheap, mass produced supplement formulations do not break down and pass straight through the body intact! If this happens (with your supplement) your money goes straight down the toilet.

Perhaps you’ve heard the documented stories of nurses finding intact supplements in patient’s bedpans!

At the bottom of the ‘Supplement Facts’ label on a supplement bottle is a listing called “Other Ingredients”. These are inactive substances added into the formula to give the desired consistency, form and assist the manufacturing process. Collectively they are referred to as ‘excipients’ and the number and type used can affect a tablets ability to disintegrate.

To learn more about whats an acceptable tablet binderincluding which ones should and shouldn’t be in your supplement please follow this link.

skydog

GETTING MORE OF THOSE IMPORTANT INGREDIENTS
INTO YOUR BLOOD

There are 4 effective ways in which nutrients can get into your blood stream.

    Via Injection

    Via the mucous membranes of the mouth.

    Via the lining of the walls of the upper intestine.

    via the lining of the walls of the colon (suppositories)


Nutrients in supplements enter the blood stream via the small intestine. That’s the way nature designed it to happen. Just like when we eat food - the nutrients are eventually delivered to the intestine for absorption.

HERE’S THE PROBLEM
The actual delivery of the nutrients from the stomach to the intestine is a major factor to be considered because stomach acid and some enzymes in the stomach significantly damage or destroy certain nutrients!

Vitamins and minerals are not affected by stomach acid but others including pancreatic enzymes, some vegetable enzymes and expensive/highly beneficial ingredients like L-Glutathione, alpha lipoic acid, SAMe and herbals are.

At the end of this article you’ll find a table listing examples of common supplement ingredients which are susceptible to stomach acid.

So if a special delivery system to overcome this problem is not employed then bioavailability is significantly reduced! - as is your supplements’ effectiveness and value for money (not to mention your health!).

NOTE: Some experts believe that due to damage from stomach acid only 10-15% of the active ingredients actually get into the blood stream. Other experts would of course disagree. More research is needed!

What is this special delivery system?
Enteric Coating
Enteric coating has been extensively used for many years with pharmaceutical drugs (which is one reason why drugs work so well and so quickly). Enteric coating provides a protective layer on a tablet as it passes through the stomach. Once the tablet reaches the duodenum (small intestine) the coating reacts to the alkaline environment, strips away and the tablet contents are harmlessly released.

A much greater level of bioavailability is thus guaranteed.

Enteric coated nutritional vitamin supplements do not have to be taken with meals – as is the case with non-enteric coated tablets.

Why is enteric coating rarely used with nutritional supplements?
Cost and knowledge!

It’s a very expensive technology and since most supplements are made to a price they can’t afford to use it. On top of that many supplement companies are merely marketers – not science based companies – so they don’t have the technical know how.

It doesn’t matter whether a supplement is in a liquid, tablet or capsule form - if it is released in the stomach then its contents will be affected.

Manufacturers of liquid products who claim ridiculously high levels of bioavailability always conveniently forget to mention this!

How do leading companies explain the fact that they don’t use enteric coating?
Three of the industry's four best vitamin supplements which are reviewed and compared in this site, do not employ enteric coating! So I asked their suppliers/manufacturers “why?” They all said they don’t need it because nature ensures nutrients reach the intestine for absorption.

That’s true, to varying degrees, but as supplement consumers what we are interested in is how much of each of the various nutrients reach the intestine? That’s the real issue because we’re paying for those nutrients! Basically they sidestepped the question.

If a supplement doesn’t contain ingredients susceptible to stomach acid then enteric coating is not needed. This is of course the answer as to why many supplement companies don’t need to use enteric coating.

The problem with this is that most of the ingredients affected are important and expensive/efficious ones that you definitely want in a quality supplement aimed at complete good health.

So the decision on whether to use enteric coating as a delivery system rests on the type of ingredients, integrity and structure of the company, and objective of the product.

The product which does use enteric coating is called Total Balance from the Xtend- Life Company, based in New Zealand.

This is the supplement my family and I take, and the bioavailability/enteric coating issue was a major factor in our decision to originally use it.

Mr. Warren Matthews, the chairman of Xtend-Life offered the following example as to the importance of enteric coating: (quoted with permission)

skydog

“For many ingredients in a supplement it does indeed make a big difference as to where they are released in the body. Let me give you a fairly detailed example using L-Glutathione which is extremely important for the health of your cells. This substance will be severely damaged if released in the stomach. This is well documented! It must be released in the upper intestine in order to be effective.

The amount of L-Glutathione we consume in food is very low and has little or no impact on the levels within our blood. This is because the L-Glutathione which is present in food is damaged by stomach acid. Because of this the body relies on the liver to synthesize L-Glutathione.

Whereas relying on the liver to produce this nutrient and others is fine when you are young and healthy, but it is a different story as you get older. Your organs are not as efficient and as a result the production of many essential nutrients is reduced, so it is easy to slowly develop deficiencies in many essential ingredients.

You will not even be aware of these developing deficiencies unless you have extensive blood testing. I am sure that you appreciate how critical it is that you don’t develop nutrient deficiencies, as they are the primary cause of most diseases.

If you want to do everything to help yourself avoid diseases then you must ‘top up’ with these key nutrients and this is simply not possible using a conventional tablet or capsule. The nutrients need to bypass the stomach, and the only practical way to do this is with an enteric coated tablet which we use for Total Balance and our Neuro-Natural range. An alternative would be by intravenous drip, or suppositories, neither of which is practical for most people.

In summary on this point, those people who suggest that there is no point in enteric coating tablets unfortunately do not either understand bio-chemistry or are unaware of the importance of certain ingredients.”

skydog

BIOAVAILABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL NUTRIENTS

Nutrients can exist in more than one chemical form!

Different forms result in different levels of bioavailability.

For example zinc and copper have average absorption ranges of 30% – 80% depending on the source and the individual user. That’s a huge difference!

So disintegration and dissolution levels by themselves are insufficient indicators of bioavailability in nutritional supplements.

The nutrient 'form' must be considered!
Using current research we can determine the more bioavailable forms of some nutrients and then check to see if that form is included in a supplement we are evaluating.

Minerals are probably the most well known and well researched example when discussing bioavailable forms.

Minerals are so crucial to optimal health and vitality yet many people do not take in enough minerals from diet alone. They are very hard to absorb. The body often mis-regulates their transport and some, sharing the same metabolic pathways, will compete against one another resulting in too much of one and a deficiency of another.

Some minerals can be manufactured in certain forms that are better at ‘getting in’.One such form is the chelated form.

A ‘chelator’ is a substance formed of molecules that tightly bind to metal atoms (minerals in this case) and forces them to go wherever the chelator goes - helper molecules which assist minerals on their journey into our bodies.

This bound pair is a compound and it is called a chelate. In the simplest sense you could think of the term ‘chelated’ to mean ‘firmly attached’.

So, chelates enhance the passage of minerals through the intestinal wall lining into the blood, tissues and cells thus increasing total mineral bioavailability. They allow for greater amounts of minerals to enter your blood stream than what your body would ordinarily allow.

There are different types of mineral chelates
The most absorbable form of mineral chelates is called Organic acid salts. There is a great deal of accepted research available to support this.

Examples of these chelates which you want in your supplement are:

    Picolinates

    Gluconates

    Lactates

    Succinates

    Citrates

    Orotates

    Nicotinates

    Carbonates (usually classified as inorganic but function more like organic)

For example:

If calcium is included in a supplement as an organic salt you will see it listed on the nutritional facts label as;
Calcium as Calcium Citrate
Start checking your labels!

What you don’t want to see are inexpensive and relatively non-absorbent inorganic mineral salts:

    Chloride

    Hydroxide

    Oxides

    Phosphates

    Sulfates

Organic salt chelators do not however form a particularly strong bond with minerals atoms and the bond can be broken by water molecules in your body or random cell jostling. If this happens the mineral does not get its forced ride into your blood stream and cells.

Another form of chelate which produces a stronger bond with Amino Acid Chelate. The minerals are chelated with amino acids. (You guessed that – right!) The body readily absorbs amino acids.

On a Supplement Facts label you’ll commonly see amino acid chelates listed like this example:
'Boron as amino acid chelate'
But this type of listing is not good enough!

Products labeled like this may not be true chelates – it depends on the source and properties of the chelating agent. If a supplement contains true amino acid chelates the name of the amino acid to which the mineral is chelated must be shown.

Keep checking those labels!

Not all amino acid chelates are superior to other forms. For example Magnesium and Calcium have been shown to offer about the same bioavailability in the organic salt chelate form as in the amino acid chelated form.

* That’s why leading professional level supplements differ in their usage of chelated mineral forms.

A quick mention about Colloidal Minerals
There are a number of supplements available that promote the use of ‘colloidal minerals’. Manufacturers of these products commonly claim that colloidal minerals have 98% absorption.

The bottom line is that this has never been proven!

There are no documented clinical tests what-so-ever to show that colloidal minerals are absorbed at all.

Without clinical research to support the use of a particular ingredient/ingredient form it shouldn’t be included in a supplement.

OTHER FACTORS
Other chelates exist (e.g. Kreb’s cycle intermediates) but we don’t need to dig down any deeper - its gets too technical. The main ones have been discussed above.

There are other important factors which also effect absorption such as ‘co-factors’ (nutrients which help other nutrients do their job) and the synergy of the formula. You can read about these in my ‘synergy’ page.

Nutrients not absorbed can still be beneficial !
Huh!

Don’t worry about the common belief that excessive nutrients produce expensive urine and are of no benefit to you.

Research has shown that many nutrients have important roles to play by remaining in the lumen of the intestine rather than being absorbed. For example vitamin C and calcium in the large intestine offer protection against cancer by inhibiting the conversion of agents into carcinogens and to enhancing healthy flora [Prasad 1994] (3)

skydog

Bioavailability of Nutritional Supplements - Lets Sum it all up!

High quality multi nutrient supplements have been formulated by highly qualified scientists to offer much higher degrees of bioavailability. This is not the case with cheap or middle of the road products.

So please don’t let price be your determining factor when selecting supplements.

If you are spending good money on what you think is a quality supplement it’s crucial to know that a high percentage of the ingredients will actually make it into your bloodstream.

There is a lot of conflicting and inconclusive science as to the most bioavailable form for many nutrients. Therefore it becomes impossible in trying to determine the absolute most bioavailable form for every common ingredient used in supplements. Use the established facts above to guide you in this regard.

For some nutrients however the supporting science is strong. Take Resveratrol as an example - an expensive, beneficial phyto-chemical found in most quality multi nutrient supplements. There is clear evidence that Resveratrol in the ‘Trans’ form is significantly more bioavailable than in the cheaper ‘Cis’ form.

In cases like this it is easy for you to check and compare. But finding credible research is a real challenge for consumers.

Please revisit this site often (or subscribe to my rss feed) as I continue to track down leading studies that show us the best nutrient forms and dosages amounts for disease fighting ingredients.

Some of the information which you need to examine can be found in the ‘Supplement Facts’ label on a supplement bottle/box. All quality companies have websites displaying label pictures for each product.

From the label you can see whether minerals have been included in the most bio-available forms:  organic salts or amino acid chelates.

So lastly, here are the two key questions about disintegration standards which you should ask of supplement companies.

QUESTION	IDEAL ANSWER
Does your product meet USP or BP supplement guidelines for disintegration?	Yes
Has your product been tested both in-house and independently to back your claim of meeting USP or BP supplement guidelines for disintegration?	Yes

Key Supplement Ingredients Damaged By Stomach Acid

Adenosine Triphosphate(ATP)

Aloe Vera Polysaccharides

Alpha Lipoic Acid

Amylase (enzyme)

Betaine Hydrochloride

Bromelain (enzyme)

DMAE

Enzidase (enzyme)

Isolase (enzyme)

L-Carnosine

L-Glutathione (reduced)

Lipase (enzyme)

N-Acetyl L-Cysteine

Phosphatidyl Choline

Resveratrol

Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)

SAMe

That brings us to the end of our discussion about the bioavailability in nutritional supplements. Let’s move now to the next key criterion for evaluating supplements -

Synergy in nutritional supplements


Bioavailability of nutritional supplements - Sources:

(1) Bioavailability of dietary supplements (2000 forum) The Pharmaceutical Journal, Vol 264, no 7084, p304-305, February 19

(2) Wallace JM. Appendix NC 5 Selecting High Quality Dietary Supplements. 1998:6

(3) Ibid (p-7)

End:- Bioavailability of nutritional supplements

skydog

All Natural Health Supplements
How To Track Down The Very Best

All Natural Health Supplements - Don’t Be Fooled by the thousands of CHEAP IMITATIONS out there that are a total WASTE OF YOUR MONEY!

With one in every three dollars spent on vitamin supplements wasted (according to a recent report by Physicians Management Journal), it is evident that most individuals do not know what factors to look for when purchasing multi ingredient nutritional vitamin supplements.

When it comes to all natural health supplements what exactly does the “natural” actually refer to? In most cases it is only the source of vitamins and minerals in the product. But is it necessary or even beneficial to have only naturally sourced vitamins in a supplement?

Much debate, confusion and half truths exist over the issue of all natural vitamins versus synthetics Follow this link to learn the truth. All natural does not only refer to vitamins and minerals but also to all non-active ingredients (fillers) present in the formula. These are known technically as excipients and in the highest quality supplements only a minimal number are included to assist the manufacturing process.

In order to find the best vitamin supplements it is important to first understand what key ingredients should be in effective supplements - which are the most efficious and beneficial ones and what are the cheapest ones (which you don’t want making up a large percentage of your supplement). Lastly supplement consumers need to take note of how many non-active ingredients are present. The answers to these questions are covered in depth throughout nutritional-supplement-truths.com.

Currently there are no regulations in the United States that require a manufacturer to prove that their all natural health supplements actually work or that they are safe. Additionally there are no governmental agencies that regularly review nutritional vitamin supplements against label claims

How to Evaluate Your Vitamin Supplement

Despite the lack of regulation and government control, there are several ways to assess the quality, safety and value for money of the supplements you choose. For multi-nutrient, and the up market, industry leading super supplements, it is vital to take a multi perspective approach in evaluating the true quality of a supplement.

This means considering a given supplement from 6 Key criteria:

   1. Nutritional supplement formulas

   2. ingredient quality in nutritional supplements

   3. bioavailability of nutritional supplements

   4. synergy in nutritional supplements

   5. manufacturing standards

   6. best vitamin supplements - value for the money


Quality all natural health supplements will be formulated with well-established key ingredients that fall into the appropriate ranges needed to receive maximum health benefits. In addition, nutritional supplement formulas must not contain unsafe amounts of vitamins and minerals One key for elite supplements is the use of an enteric coating to maximize vitamin absorption This ensures that stomach acids do not damage or destroy key nutrients, thereby diminishing their absorption levels and performance.

Health and natural nutritional supplements should have quality ingredients in the most efficious and bioavailable forms. It is important to study product labels to be sure they do not include artificial colorings, flavorings, preservatives, fillers and binders.

Companies claiming to produce the best all natural health supplements should clearly indicate on their websites or in their marketing literature, their quality control measures, safety testing, manufacturing protocols, along with ingredient forms, dose amounts and potencies of all active ingredients. If a manufacturer is unable or unwilling to provide this information, they are probably hiding deficiencies in their products and over the top amounts of cheap ingredients.

The bioavailability issue is often overlooked when determining the efficacy of nutritional supplements. Bioavailability refers to the amount of an active ingredient that is absorbed into the bloodstream for utilization by the body. This is a very important factor in determining the value for money of a supplement.

Synergy in all natural health supplements refers to the combined effects of each of the ingredients when working with all other compatible ingredients in the formula. This combined effort will always have a more powerful result than that of an individual ingredient.

To ensure that any all natural health supplement you choose is safe, pure and potent, all raw ingredients must be sourced from Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) registered and audited facilities and all ingredients must have a Certificate of Analysis to confirm potency. In addition, supplement companies must test all raw materials prior to manufacture for compliance with the COA and for microbiological contamination. This information should be clearly set out on a supplement company’s website!

skydog

如果买了所谓的super supplements，又怕中骗，大概可以跟着一下的方法来进行评估。

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SUPER SUPPLEMENTS
Most 'Premium Grade' Health/Vitamin Supplements Are Not As Good As They Claim To Be!
JUST HOW 'SUPER' IS YOUR SUPPLEMENT?

Caution your nutritional supplement may not be all it claims to be
Are you using one of the market's premium super supplements?

One of those marketed as a broad spectrum, multi nutrient,anti aging health/ vitamin supplement. A (so-called) super supplement to boost your health!

If you are (or you're thinking about it) then your intentions are great. You're aiming to practice preventative healthcare and take control of your own health.

Congratulations and Well Done!

You're clearly aware that you're probably not always meeting the challenge of eating a healthy diet that provides you with a full spectrum of the essential and disease preventing nutrients you need to counter all the environmental and dietary toxins and stressors which come with toxic 21st century living.

The industry's most advanced super supplements help support, rejuvenate, enhance and guard your COMPLETE health (not just 'part' of it like cheaper supplement do!)

Being pro-active and taking a quality supplement to maintain and power your health, wellness and longevity, is probably the most important thing you can do these days for yourself and your health!

BUT... are you actually receiving the type of super supplement benefits you pay for?

blue question mark icon Are you getting the FULL RANGE of health benefits you were promised including REAL  AND TANGIBLE ANTI AGING RESULTS ?

Are you getting GREAT VALUE FOR MONEY? (HOW DO WE MEASURE THIS?)

blue question mark icon OR......Have you been (to any degree) DECEIVED by clever marketing presentations?

blue question mark icon If so, then perhaps it's time to UPGRADE to a GENUINE SUPER SUPPLEMENT?

Let me show you how supplement companies can deceive and mislead you

What if Your Supplement Is Missing The
Important Ingredients?
You're bound to know by now that most (but not quite all) health supplements are MADE TO A SET PRICE!

That means bio-chemists, who are forced to formulate supplements to a given price mark, are NOT ALLOWED TO INCLUDE ALL THAT SHOULD BE THERE!

So, their formulas are NOWHERE NEAR AS STRONG as they could (and should) be!

To read more about why nutritional vitamin supplements are not as good as they should be just follow this link.

Now, if you think you're are using a highly effective super supplement, does it contain these particular ingredients...?
    L-Glutathione (Low Molecular Weight - 'Reduced' form)
    SAMe
    L-Carnosine
    Bilberry
    Polysaccharides
    Resveratrol ('Trans' form, high potency 40-50%)
    Turmeric (high potency >95%)
    Zeaxanthin
    Tocotrienols
    Chrysin (Men's versions)

These are 8 especially important, highly effective (and expensive) key ingredients that ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE THERE!

A GENUINE SUPER SUPPLEMENT WILL CONTAIN ALL OF THEM.

skydog

MEDICINAL HERBAL EXTRACTS:

Now, what about those powerhouse ingredients - Medicinal Herbs!

A number of leading (so-called) 'elite' grade health supplements contain a pitiful 3 or 4 key medicinal herbs! A super supplement contains a GOOD DOZEN of the MOST EFFECTIVE, broad spectrum medicinal herbal extracts - super herbs for a super food supplement - for super nutrition.

They're VITALLY IMPORTANT ingredients for protecting against and treating chronic disease. Many of their unique properties have been established for centuries.

To learn the names of the best medicinal herbs for supplements (particularly those offering multiple health benefits) just use this link: nutritional supplements and herbs

IMMUNITY:

What about the most potent immunity enhancer identified thus far: Polysaccharides!!
(best sources are Aloe Vera, Beta 1,3 Glucan and Tea polysaccharides)

Are they there in your super supplement? Are they backed up by several other well established, highly effective immunity boosters? (Black Cumin, Olive Leaf, CoQ10, Quercetin, Manganese, Zinc, Beta Carotene....)

Real super supplements ALSO contain VITAL ingredients in the following nutrient categories. These are usually missing in many so-called super health supplements:
    Amino Acids
    Enzymes
    Gender Support Nutrients

The female and male support nutrients are special ingredients which address common health conditions specific to each sex.

Examples of THE MOST POWERFUL AND CLINICALLY ESTABLISHED female support ingredients are:
    Chaste Berry
    Red Clover
    Dong Quai
    Wild Yam
    FeverFew
    Isoflavones

These are the 6 key hormonal precursors which balance the female hormonal cascade.

Leading support nutrients for MEN are:
    Chrysin
    Beta Sitosterol (Phytosterols)
    Isoflavones
    Nettle Root
    Lycopene
    Saw Palmetto
    Red Clover
    Zinc Acetate

Chrysin is a wonderful bioflavonoid and natural aromatase inhibitor which helps inhibit testosterone conversion to estrogen while the other ingredients are the most clinically proven prostate protectors.

How many ingredients does your super supplement have? The supplement I trust my health to has 99!

What If Your Supplement Is Like Almost All Others And Tackles ONLY ONE Of The Primary Causes Of Aging?

Virtually all nutritional vitamin supplements tell you they offer anti aging benefits and that's true - they do give you 'some' because they contain some antioxidants.

Those products marketing themselves as super supplements would also have you believe that they can normalize your aging process by slowing it down - you only have to read through all the marketing literature and you'll definitely hear this.

The problem is of course that they can't do this - well, actually 99% of them CAN'T!

The single greatest devastating health problem that an overwhelming majority of people now face is PREMATURE AGING!

The constant and inescapable environmental and dietary toxins and stressors which come with 21 st century living have impacted on our health to cause a speeding up of our aging process!

The undeniable result is that each and every year an increasing percentage of the population is contracting major degenerative disease(s) at earlier and earlier ages.

So, nutritional health supplements need to address premature aging, in addition to optimizing health by having a formula capable of targeting every organ and system in the body and of course correcting any nutritional deficiencies that may be present.

BUT........
Slowing Down And Normalizing The Aging Process Is A Complex And Multi-Faceted Task!

skydog

To be capable of actually slowing down your aging process to a significant degree and bringing it in tune with what nature originally intended, there MUST be specialized (and costly) ingredients which target and address the

5 Key Components Of Aging:
    Free Radicals
    Glycation
    Methylation
    Inflammation
    DNA Degeneration

I mentioned above my estimate that 99% of health/vitamin supplements simply can't do this. This comes back again to the fact that they are made to a price. The supplement companies are under constant shareholder pressure and with large, ineffective organizational structures and marketing systems, they simply cannot afford to include the specialised ingredients necessary to address these five CRITICAL 'aging components'!

So what do they manage to do instead?

They approach the task via ONE APPROACH ONLY - the reduction of free radicals via the use of antioxidants! This includes almost all of the really well-known, so called "elite" vitamin nutritional supplements (the FAKE super supplements)!

Anti Aging Can Only be Successfully Accomplished By Targeting ALL The 5 Areas Of The Aging Process!

Supplements which can do this while still being affordable are the industry's true super supplements! They slow your aging process by:
    Using Antioxidants to reduce and control your Free Radical production
    Prevention of Glycation which leads to Age's
    Balanced Methylation for Healthy DNA
    Reducing Chronic Inflammation which contributes to degeneration
    Using Specialty Bio Actives to repair and slow down DNA Degeneration

The critical aspect to understand here is that THESE FACTORS ARE ALL INTERDEPENENT ON ONE ANOTHER!
A Super Supplement Is A Supplement Which Targets All FIVE!

Now, to the names of the LEADING ANTI AGING INGREDIENTS that MUST be there to successfully target and normalize your aging process?

Use this link to open my effective super supplements hubpage and scroll down to the sub-heading "Free Radicals - you'll find all the answers from there on. (I've done this to keep the length of this page'readable')

Then come on back here and read on to discover the unique and affordable multi ingredient health supplement I use which contains all the specialty anti aging ingredients to tackle not only free radicals but equally importantly glycation, methylation and inflammation!

What If Your Supplement Is Put Together By Contract Manufacturers?
Did you know that 95% of all nutritional vitamins supplements manufactured in the U.S. are CONTRACTED OUT?

This is FARRRRR from the ideal situation.

To Manufacture Super Supplements There Is No Room For Error

This means you cannot put the control of the manufacturing processes into the hands of a third party manufacturer.

When this happens you lose control of vital components:
    Ingredients
    Blending Protocols
    Top Notch Manufacturing Know-How!

Whenever I receive a request to comment on the quality of a supplement the first thing I look at is who manufactures it!

And the answer I want to see is that the supplement company self manufactures and controls EVERY aspect of the production cycle.

You see, supplement quality is not only dependent on the manufacturer INDEPENDENTLY testing that the raw ingredients are what the Certificate of Analysis (COA) CLAIMS they are (Note: many manufacturers don't bother testing for compliance with COA's so they can reduce expenses) .....

..... but also that they adopt manufacturing procedures to ensure the finished supplement contains the correct dose amounts for each and every ingredient and is manufactured professionally.

Unfortunately the incentive is simply not there for most contract manufacturers to do this as they are producing for a third party and therefore they are in a very competitive bidding situation.

Want to know more: nutritional supplements and contract manufacturing

What if Even One Of The Raw Materials Used In Your Supplement Is Contaminated Because All Ingredients Haven't Been Fully Tested And Properly Certified?
WARNING!

Contaminated ingredients!

IT HAPPENS A LOT MORE THAN YOU WOULD EXPECT!

Particularly in herbal supplements! Those of us who have worked in the supplement industry know what a real problem this is and the credibility issues it creates for the supplement industry.

That means you should do whatever you have to check up on the quality assurance measures for your supplement (including products marketed as super supplements).

Scour the company's website first and if there's nothing there or not enough detail to reassure you then SEND OFF AN EMAIL. If they don't respond that should raise a big red flag for you!

The short time it takes to do your supplement homework will be well worth it, for your safety and peace of mind.

Why Gamble With Your Health?

Don’t trust, and possibly throw your money away, on a so called super supplement unless you’re 100% sure it makes the grade.

You can however TRUST the one of a kind multi ingredient super supplement my family and I use because I've already done the research and evaluations.

It passed with flying colors and overwhelmed all its competition along the way!

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What You don't Know About Your Supplement May Hurt You!

What If Your Supplement Manufacturer Doesn't Check For HARMFUL Components Of An Ingredient?

Is Your Supplement Effecting The Neurochemistry In Your Brain?

That's right! That's how SERIOUS it can get if your supplement manufacturer doesn't have a professional and experienced bio-chemist formulating it's supplements.

For example: MANY supplement manufacturers include Gingko Biloba extract as an ingredient but do they check, or have a limit on, the level of Gingkolic acids that affect the neurochemistry of the brain?

What about the popular ingredient 5-HTP.

I'm sure many disreputable companies as well as manufacturers lacking first class manufacturing know-how, don't check for the levels of Peak X, a component implicated in an outbreak of Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome some years back?

They just don't know!

This is yet a further reason why you MUST check up on the company that manufactures any nutritional health supplement which you are considering buying!

What If Your Supplement Is Actually Giving You
Poor Value For Money?

Vitamins And Minerals Are The Cheapest Ingredients In Supplements

Genuine super supplements have to be highly effective AND be capable of preventing, treating and even reversing chronic disease while also maximizing your health and wellness.

In other words genuine super supplements help do far more than just act as routine 'nutritional insurance for poor diets' which most people associate as the main reason for taking vitamin supplements.

So, the first thing to do when measuring the value for money factor in the best vitamin supplements is to work out what percentage of one tablet is made up of vitamins and minerals.

Super Vitamins

What about supplement vitamins?

One of the cheapest vitamins is good old vitamin C (ascorbic acid). It costs only around $15 a kilo and this is one eightieth the price of some of the really important ingredients (like L-Glutathione).

From my research I know of several well known and highly popular multi ingredient vitamin supplements which market themselves as super supplements, but the huge amount of vitamin C they contain makes up a WHOPPING 40% of their ENTIRE formula!

Did you know that if you take more than 400mg of vitamin C in one hit it actually changes to being a PRO-OXIDANT in your body! That's means it becomes the opposite of an antioxidant - it will actually create free radicals rather than remove them!

HOW MUCH VITAMIN C IS IN YOUR HEALTH SUPPLEMENT?

Calcium and magnesium are extremely common examples of other very cheap vitamins and minerals which supplement companies sneak in with crazy over-the-top dose amounts.

Now, don't get me wrong here. You do need a full spectrum supply of all vitamins and minerals, except iron which is a pro-oxidant.

But you absolutely don’t need a supplement mostly full of high doses of vitamins and minerals!

Vitamins and minerals must be there but in reasonable doses!
To act primarily as cofactors, and to top up what you're missing from your diet.

SO BE CAREFUL

Sooooo many of the more expensive, self claimed best vitamin supplements are a whopping 70% - 80% JUST vitamins and minerals

The most elite super supplements contain primarily potent phytonutrients, medicinal herbs, amino acids, enzymes and gender support nutrients, with vitamins and minerals playing an important synergistic supporting role as nature's supplement!

What if Your Supplement's Manufacturer Isn't Working To The Highest level Possible?

Super supplements are put together with top of the line professional manufacturing processes and blending protocols, along with state of the art equipment.

To manufacture at the highest level your supplement's manufacturer needs to manufacture at a PHARMACEUTICAL LEVEL and nothing less.

The only thing I like about pharmaceutical companies is the RIGOROUS standards they follow to ensure that what they say is in their products truly are. It is rare that a pharmaceutical drug is contaminated or spiked with additional ingredients or that its contents don't match the label.

That's why its SO IMPORTANT that your supplement's manufacturer follows pharmaceutical level processes. because the current dietary supplement regulations DO NOT ensure that supplements contain what they say they do!

If a supplement manufacturer uses Pharmaceutical GMP you'll easily know about it because they'll have it highlighted in huge letters on their website. It differentiates them from all the others.

Very few companies can and do manufacture to this STRICT level!

You could count the ones that do on ONE HAND!

Manufacturers of super supplements use complex pharmaceutical blending protocols which involve blending in several stages over several hours.

These are FAR SUPERIOR to the common method of simply putting all the ingredients together at the same time and dumping the mix into a big tumble blender. The mix is then blended for around 20 minutes ONLY!

The greatest concern here is an uneven mix due to ‘STRATIFICATION’ where the heaviest ingredients settle at the bottom of the mix.

Pharmaceutical GMP is the highest standard possible for the manufacture of super supplements

It DOES Make A HUGE Difference!

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What If Your Supplement's Supplier Isn't Accredited And Properly Inspected?

I'm sorry to have to tell you this but there are a lot of dishonest and disreputable supplement manufacturers out there producing ineffective and even unsafe supplements.

Then there are many others who just don't have the superior manufacturing know-how to produce a professional grade supplement.

Cost-cutting measures result in nasty short-cuts that consumers know nothing about. Add to this some technical oversights from a lack of top grade know-how and in no time at all supplement quality is speeding downhill.

Super supplements are made at facilities which are US FDA cGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practices) compliant.

In June 2007 the US FDA released its final new rules on GMP for the manufacture of dietary supplements. It's taken the FDA over 5 years to revise these and I believe they are now the MOST IMPORTANT accreditation you need to look for.

You absolutely should checkup on whether your supplement's manufacturer currently meets or HAS BEGUN the process of meeting the US FDA's new cGMP.

Depending on the number of employees, companies had until June 2010 to become compliant.

The BEST Companies WILL BE cGMP Compliant!

Why settle for a supplement that might have been created under less-than-ideal conditions?

Don’t take anything for granted when it comes to your health and your family's health. Every detail is worthy of your attention!

What If Your Supplement's Manufacturer Isn't Using The Most Advanced Equipment?
It goes without saying that to achieve superior quality control a manufacturer needs to use state of the art equipment which is the best of its kind.

So, can you guess what the most important piece of equipment is?

Yes - It's the blender that mixes all the ingredients together!

Cheaper blenders don't get the job done as well and what do you think that means for you?......

.....THAT THE CONTENTS OF EACH TABLET ARE NOT THE SAME and they're not a true reflection of what's being advertised on the supplement label.

In other words you're not getting what you paid for and that's a pretty big concern don't you agree?

What's the best blender available you ask?

It's called a 3D Blender and it achieves a PERFECT BLEND particularly for complex formulas with low dose ingredients of varying densities.

Pharmaceutical companies commonly use 3D mixers because they are subject to extremely strict regulations and their super pills must contain exactly what's on the label.

But 3D mixers are rarely used in the supplement industry!

nutritional supplement 3D blender

That's because they are mighty expensive so not many companies use one (even though they should).

If your supplement company uses a 3D blender you're on a WINNER!

And once again you'll know about it because they'll definitely be screaming it out on their website loud and clear as well as in their marketing literature.

Has YOUR super supplement been put together in a 3D mixer?

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What If Your Supplement Has Too Many Excipients?

Have you ever wondered about that section on a supplement label that says "Other Ingredients"?

In the industry the ingredients listed there are known as EXCIPIENTS.

The More 'Other Ingredients' Your Supplement Has The Less Value For Money You Get!

These ingredients are inactives!

They don't provide any health benefits but small number are necessary to assist the manufacturing process.

The leading Super Supplements contain an absolute minimal number of excipients - less than 10. Having such a small number can in fact often create certain manufacturing difficulties leading to additional expense but this is what is required in the manufacture of quality natural supplements.

BE AWARE

Around 50% Of The Contents In Cheap Supplements Are Excipients!

I know of one extremely well-known multi that contains an UNBELIEVABLE 62 EXCIPENTS. The name of the brand starts with the letter C_ _ _ _ _ _.

Now the other thing to watch out for here is that ALL EXCIPIENTS COME FROM NATURAL SOURCES!

You absolutely don't want artificial anything in that list - Colors, Flavors, Preservatives, Fillers, Binders (think of it like a nature supplement). Nor do you want potential allergenic substances such as lactose, gluten, wheat and yeast.

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回复 10# winsonchin

刚找到一份关于binder比较仔细的文章；

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Tablet Binder And Other Non Active IngredientsWhich ones   SHOULD   and   SHOULDN'T   be in your supplement!
A supplement must disintegrate rapidly for maximal absorption to occur. A tablet binder is a major factor which affects the speed and extent of disintegration.


Binders as the name suggests help to bind the ingredients together - to achieve a desired bulk and form for manufacturing. Like glue that holds all the ingredients together.

A tablet binder is a part of a group of  inactive, non-medicinal substances called excipients - you’ll find these listed as Other Ingredients at the very bottom of the ‘Supplement Facts’ label on your
supplement bottle.

Like most supplement users you’ve no doubt glanced at the ‘other ingredients’ list on your supplement label and perhaps wondered for a brief moment what those substances are all about and whether they should all be there. In this article I’ll explain some basics to help you understand what to look for in that mysterious ‘Other Ingredients’ list.


Firstly, powdered supplement mixes for tablets and capsules cannot be manufactured without including some excipients.


The performance of tablets, consistency of dose amounts and the use of more desirable forms of certain ingredients in the mix depend heavily on the performance of the excipients.


Many herbs, and other ingredients, clump together and don’t mix well unless excipients are added.

So, although excipients don’t contribute significant health benefits their inclusion is essential.

Tablet form is best – that’s why most expensive drugs are produced this way – however very few supplement companies have mastered the correct manufacturing protocols for pharmaceutical grade tablet making. Supplement companies not using tablets will all tell you that capsules or liquid form are best.

Like all ingredients there are good excipients and there are cheap ones. The cheap ones adversely affect the bioavailability of a nutritional supplement because they don’t easily disintegrate. Others commonly cause stomach upsets, sensitivity or allergic reactions.

Have you ever known anyone who developed an adverse reaction to a supplement? I’ve known many.


Acceptable ExcipientsThese come ONLY from NATURAL SOURCES:

[size=+1]
• Plant (e.g. starches, sugars, cellulose)
• Animal (e.g. lactose, gelatin, stearic acid)
• Mineral (e.g. calcium phosphate, silica)

Most excipients have been used in pharmaceutical drugs for a long time and as such have reliable safety profiles which meet U.S pharmacopeia standards and FDA regulations. They have also been used in the food industry as additives for decades with no adverse effects encountered in people.

Excipients can be classified according to their function. Some serve multiple functions:

[size=+1]
• Binders
• Disintegrants
• Fillers (Diluents)
• Colorants, Flavors, Sweeteners, Preservatives
• Lubricants
• Glidants (flow enhancers)
• Coating Agents
• Emulsifying Agents

I won’t go through what each type does as I’m sure you wouldn’t be interested.

But the bottom line is this:

---

[size=+1]The less number of (effective) excipients in a tablet the better

---

Reputable companies include only those necessary for efficient manufacturing and to provide the required functions of the tablet.

About 4 up to and not exceeding 8 best represents the optimal range for the number of excipients in the market's leading,  professional grade supplements.

More excipients (especially fillers) mean a cheaper product!


Cheaper supplements are around 50% just excipients!

[size=+1]Half of what you think you are paying for is just inactive materials!


Sometimes the use of certain excipients is hidden so take note – the ‘Supplement Facts’ label does not always give you the facts! There are no international labeling standards so labeling regulations vary from country to country.

Large amounts of excipients are common in (cheap) supplements because they are produced in vast quantities using high speed tableting or encapsulating machines. This requires the powders to flow very fast without caking/sticking thus necessitating a high proportion of excipients.

Excessive amounts of fillers are added because most supplements are produced by contract manufacturers who offer only a limited number of tablet sizes. After the formula ingredients are added if space still exists then fillers are included to increase the tablet dimensions to the size of the next mold or make a capsule look fuller.

Here’s an example :

I just looked up a very well known and popular brand of multi vitamins and minerals (the name starts with 'C' and ends in 'M'). A very well known yet inexpensive brand.


The total number of excipients I counted was a WHOPPING 62!

The very cheapest multi vitamin supplements commonly use only one tablet binder and this combined with excessive pressure when compressing the tablets results in a rock-like tablet which passes straight through your digestive system without dissolving.


Professional grade supplements are around 25% excipients.

[size=+1] WHICH EXCIPIENTS ARE NOT OK IN YOUR SUPPLEMENT?

Artificial Colorants, Flavorants, Fillers and other AdditivesCheck for artificial colors/flavors/preservatives/fillers/binders. These are substances you don’t want in your body and are one reason why people have adverse reactions to nutritional supplements. Look for “natural” alternatives - derived from fruit and other natural sources (sensitivities to some natural sources are also common).

Potential allergenic substances include lactose, gluten, wheat, yeast and to a lesser degree corn (as vegetable coating or starch). Lactose is no longer that common in supplements but nonetheless please check as many people are lactose intolerant.Some companies hide the use of lactose as a raw material. What appears to be an ordinary listed ingredient may in fact have been standardized with 10 % lactose (or more).

The only way to really know is to demand full disclosure from the manufacturer. Please refer to the questions to ask manufacturers on myingredient quality in nutritional supplementspage. http://www.nutritional-supplement-truths.com/support-files/ingred-qual-questions.pdf

Quality focused companies should clearly identify on the product label or in its marketing literature those ingredients that the product is free of.


E.G.

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Free of wheat, corn, yeast, soy and dairy


Artificial colorings also cause allergies and other nasty health problems. They usually have the terms D & C or FD & C (D= drug, C= cosmetic, F= food).


E.G.

           FD & C Yellow #5  (Tartrazine)


Which by the way has been linked to hyperactive behavioral disorders in children.

Certain colorings have been shown to be carcinogenic and banned in some countries. For example the FDA has banned FD&C Reds #1, #2 and Yellows # 3 and #4. Enough said!

Sweeteners are common in supplements. They make highly soluble, bitter tasting nutrients more palatable. Liquid vitamin products contain large amounts of sweeteners.

Natural forms are ok and include maltose, sucrose, fructose, mannitol, sorbitol, stevia, glycerine, maltodextrin and dextrose. Some also act as binders, disintegrants or coating agents and may be referred to as these rather than as sweeteners in marketing descriptions.

Give some thought to the use of  sucralose (Splenda) especially in supplements for kids – it’s a CHLORINATED sucrose derivative.
The worry here comes from the hazards seen in pre-approval research and from its chemical structure and so it’s been reported that years or decades of use may contribute to serious chronic immunological or neurological disorders. We just don't know yet!

Sucralose has been approved by the FDA for use in supplements! Hmmm.


Sodium Benzoate:

A common preservative and flow agent used in supplements. Has GRAS (generally recognize as safe) status in the U.S. but is a dubious preservative.  


Propylene Glycol:

A tablet binder - maintains moisture to stop tablets crumbling apart (friability). Also used to make anti-freeze, de-icing solutions, cosmetics and as a solvent in: food colors, flavors, paints/plastics industry. Excessive exposure damages kidneys heart and nervous system.

The amount used in supplements is considered safe and it’s been used safely in the pharmaceutical industry for decades. This one’s up to you but there’s no way I would let this substance into my body. It is also a known skin irritant with extended use from cosmetics.


Aluminum silicate (talc):

A cheap non-food grade lubricant used in the manufacturing process. Considered by some experts to be a neuro-toxin which causes Alzheimer’s disease. May lead to digestive or absorptive problems.


WHICH EXCIPIENTS ARE OK?I won't list every single one but I will list those most frequently used, all of which are derived from natural sources.

The most common tablet binder is probably cellulose (a plant fiber usually from pine trees) or a derivative of it so you’re bound to see “cellulose” on your label.

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B = binder, C = coloring, D = disintegrant, E = emulsifying agent, F = filler, FC = film coating agent, G = glidant, GE = gelling agent, H = humectant, L = lubricant, NF = natural flavorant, P = preservative, S = sweetener, SA = suspending agent, SO = solvent

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• Gelatin  [size=-4](B/GE)
• Glycerin  [size=-4](S/H/P) Only vegetable grade
• Magnesium Stearate [size=-4](L)
• (Colloidal) Silicon Dioxide [size=-4](L/G)
• Silica
• [size=-4]Titanium Dioxide [size=-4](C)
• [size=-4]Microcrystalline Cellulose [size=-4](B/D)
• [size=-4](Di) Calcium Phosphate [size=-4](B/F)
• [size=-4]Calcium Sulphate [size=-4](F)
• [size=-4]Potassium Aspartate [size=-4](F)
• [size=-4]Pregelatinized Starch [size=-4](B/D)
• [size=-4]Sodium Starch Glycolate [size=-4](D)
• [size=-4]Croscarmellose Sodium [size=-4](D)
• [size=-4]Sodium Citrate [size=-4](FC)
• [size=-4]Ascorbyl Palmitate [size=-4](L)
• [size=-4]Stearic Acid [size=-4](L/G/E)
• [size=-4]Carob [size=-4](E/C)
• [size=-4]* Acacia Gum [size=-4](B/E)
• [size=-4]Guar Gum [size=-4](B)
• [size=-4]Vanilla [size=-4](NF)
• [size=-4]Beeswax [size=-4](NF/FC)
• [size=-4]Lecithin [size=-4](B)
• [size=-4]Tapioca Flour [size=-4](F)
• [size=-4]Purified Water [size=-4](SO)
• [size=-4]Vegetable Acetoglycerides [size=-4](FC/L/E)
• [size=-4]Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose [size=-4](FC)
• [size=-4]Rice Flour/bran/powders [size=-4](F)
• [size=-4]Modified corn starch [size=-4](B/E)
• [size=-4]Sodium chloride [size=-4](F)
• [size=-4]Shellac [size=-4](pharmaceutical glaze) (FC)
• [size=-4]Soap [size=-4](B/E/L)

[size=+1]
* Acacia gum (or gum Arabic) can cause asthma attacks, rashes and allergies in some people. (1)


Just a quick word about the commonly used excipient Magnesium Stearate (a lubricant) and the often heard claims that it can produce immunosuppressive effects and decreases absorption of nutrients in supplements.

Marketing trash travels quickly on the net. Erroneous reports are quickly picked up, taken out of context and then regurgitated on many different sites as nothing more than marketing techniques of authors and manufacturers.

These Magnesium Stearate claims principally originate from work presented in the journals ‘Pharmaceutical Technology’ and ‘Immunology’.

The tests involved can be seen as skewed from a number of different perspectives and have taken science out of context.

For vegetarians, I suggest you contact the manufacturer to check if a supplement is free from animal sources unless stated so on the label.

If your supplement is in capsule form you should know that gelatin is animal based unless a vegetarian version (potato extract) has been used – identifiable by the term “Vegicap”. Magnesium Stearate may be derived from either an animal or plant source.

[size=+1] Let’s sum up The bottom line for ‘Other Ingredients’

Study the label! Your supplement must disintegrate to be of benefit so regardless of your supplements’ price, what you want is to see more than a single tablet binder but not a whole handful of them.

If you’re using a more expensive supplement and want to gauge your value for money then check that there is only a couple of binders along with 3 or 4 other excipients. There should be no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives nor major allergens such as glutens, lactose and yeast.

Since many excipients serve multiple functions, the total number included in a high quality product really shouldn’t exceed around 9 or 10 in order to get the job done and offer the greatest value for money.


Tablet Binder: Sources:

(1) Mindell E. Earl Mindell’s Supplement Bible. Mindell paperback, 1998:20

End:- The Tablet binder and other excipients

**************************************

skydog

接下来关于natural occuring supplements 当中都会强调的成分：

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All About Bioflavonoids - Bookonline By Daniel Gastelu

Notice: this bookonline is for education purposes only.
Please consult a doctor or other professional health care practitioner
for advice on your health and proper treatment and care of diseases.

Introduction

What group of health-promoting nutrients is found in foods such as fruits and vegetables and beverages such as red wine, tea, and even cocoa? The answer is bioflavonoids. The most recent scientific breakthroughs confirm that these incredible nutrients are an important part of a healthy diet. Their healing properties promote longevity and play a role in the prevention of cancer and heart disease. They can even make you smarter and improve the appearance of your skin.

So far 5,000 different types of flavonoids have been identified, and of these, a hundred or so have been shown to have biological effects in humans. These are called bioflavonoids. Several bioflavonoids, including quercetin, cathechin, and hespiridin, have scientific research backing their health benefits. In fact, many nutritionists believe that not getting enough of these precious substances from your diet may cause premature aging, degenerative diseases, and death. But by making a few simple nutrition choices and by taking the right bioflavonoid supplements, you can improve the quality of your life and perhaps extend your years.

In “All About Bioflavonoids”, you will learn how these nutrients can prevent aging of the skin, relieve hemorrhoids, provide a natural way to help prevent breast cancer, and reduce the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome and menopause. You will also learn how certain bioflavonoids may help protect the prostate gland fro cancer. Section 1 provides you with some basics about bioflavonoids. Section 2 through 8 cover different bioflavonoids or bioflavonoid sources, including Pycnogenol, quercetin, grape-seed extract, green tea, citrus bioflavonoids, soy bioflavonoids, and more. The last section will guide you in choosing and using bioflavonoids. In other words, this book will help you select bioflavonoid-rich foods and supplements that will bring you the most complete health rewards for your investment.

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Section 1. Bioflavonoid Basics

Bioflavonoids, which are sometimes referred to as flavonoids, are a group of naturally occurring plant compounds that act primarily as pigments, giving fruit, leaves, flowers, and other plant parts their vibrant colors. When ingested, bioflavonoids have numerous health-enhancing effects on the human body. In fact, this group of antioxidant nutrients-discovered in the 1930s-has always been an important part of the human diet. In this chapter, you'll learn the basics about these amazing bioflavonoids.

Q. Why do plants contain bioflavonoids?

A. One function of bioflavonoids is to give plants their various colors. Many of these colors, however, cannot be seen by humans or can be seen only under the illumination of ultraviolet light. Dr. John H. Crow, a botanist and ecologist at Rutgers University, suggests that bioflavonoids are involved in attracting insects to flowers, in which they tend to occur in high concentrations.

Bioflavonoids also function as antioxidants in plants. You see, plants are exposed to direct sunlight all day long, and therefore receive a large dose of ultraviolet (UV) light. Bioflavonoids help protect the plant from these harmful UV rays and neutralize the free radicals-unstable molecules with an unpaired electron-which they produce. Bioflavonoids have this antioxidant effect in humans, too.

Q. What are the health benefits of bioflavonoids?

A. The main health benefits of bioflavonoids fall into two categories: health-promoting effects and therapeutic effects. The health-promoting effects include better eyesight; improved cardiovascular health; increased capillary strength; improved structure of connective tissues and appearance of skin; and a stronger immune system. In addition, bioflavonoids have a vitamin C and vitamin E enhancing effect, meaning that they can boost the function of these powerful antioxidant vitamins.

Bioflavonoids also offer the health-promoting effect of lowering the risk of some diseases, such as atherosclerosis, cancer, arthritis, and gastrointestinal disorders. The therapeutic applications of bioflavonoids include treating a variety of diseases and disorders. Several of these are coronary heart disease, allergies, inflammation, hemorrhoids, respiratory diseases, viral infections, some types of cancer, and peptic ulcers-ulcerations of the mucous membranes of the stomach, esophagus, and upper small intestines.

Q. How were the beneficial effects of bioflavonoids first discovered?

A. Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, a famed Nobel Prize-winning researcher, was the first to discover a bioflavonoid effect during his research work on vitamin C. He found that vitamin C from lemon-juice extract was the most effective treatment for the fragile blood vessels caused by the vitamin-C deficiency disease, scurvy. He observed an improvement in capillary permeability, which appeared to reduce the bleeding he was trying to alleviate. This discovery led him to conclude that another vitamin factor was present in the lemon-juice extract, which he called "vitamin P."

As Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi's research continued, it was determined that the vitamin-P factors were chemically related substances derived from a group of natural chemicals called phenols. Upon further investigation, he determined that the vitamin-P factors belong to a category of phenols called bioflavonoids. Shortly thereafter, the term vitamin P was discontinued because further research failed to establish that bioflavonoids are essential nutrients-meaning that they were not proven to be necessary for survival or required by the body to prevent nutrient-deficiency diseases. Despite their current nonessential status, bioflavonoids play an important role in health maintenance and disease prevention.

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Q. What is the current thinking concerning bioflavonoids?

A. Contemporary researchers believe that bioflavonoids actually play important roles in the promotion of health and longevity. Since the early nutrition research by Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi, many researchers have turned some of their attention to the so-called nonessential or semi-essential nutrients in the human diet-nutrients that serve to enhance the structure, function, and health of the human body, but are not absolutely required for existence.

A large portion of the research on bioflavonoids is epidemiological-a type of research that examines health statistics of populations and looks for relationships between diet and health. Epidemiological studies are usually starting points that later lead researchers to conduct experiments in an effort to understand how a particular food or substance causes the observed effects. Scientists then begin to conduct a barrage of other studies; some to identify, isolate, purify, and reproduce the substances in foods that may be causing the beneficial health effects.

Q. What are some common terms that refer to bioflavonoids?

A. During the course of determining the various effects that different flavonoids exert on living systems, the term bioflavonoid was adopted by some researchers to differentiate between the health-promoting flavonoids and the thousands of other flavonoids that do not have a proven biological role. Unfortunately, scientists who study bioflavonoids are often at odds in agreeing on their terminology and classification. (This is sometimes the case when dealing with such a large group of chemical compounds.)

For our purposes, know that bioflavonoids-which are as diverse as vitamins-are categorized by their chemical structure. Think of them as a group of plant compounds that have a similar primary structure with slight differences. Though individual bioflavonoids can be sorted into several subgroups, the entire group of bioflavonoids falls under a larger group of plant chemicals known as phenolic compounds. These compounds contain one or more phenyl rings in their structure. Bioflavonoids contain at least two.

The different subgroups of the bioflavonoids include the catechins, anthocyanidins, leucoanthocyanidins, flavonones, flavones, flavanonols, flavonols, isoflavones, flavans, dihydrochalcones, aurones, and chalcones. In turn, specific types of bioflavonoids belong to one of these classes. For example, the bioflavonoid quercetin belongs to the flavonol class; genistein belongs to the isoflavone class; catechin belongs to the catechins class; and cyanidin belongs to the anthocyanidins class. But don't become too concerned about memorizing these categories. Instead, stay focused on the big picture-the types of foods and supplements that contain these health-promoting bioflavonoids.

Q. Why aren't bioflavonoids considered essential nutrients?

A. In order for a nutrient to be classified as essential, a deficiency of the nutrient must cause symptoms of disease. Currently, there are no clearly established bioflavonoid-deficiency conditions that result in obvious symptoms or sudden death. Some researchers speculate that an absolute essential function of bioflavonoids hasn't been determined because it's difficult to completely eliminate this group of nutrients from the diet. Other researchers argue that low bioflavonoid intake leads to a slow death from degenerative diseases, such as cancer and coronary heart disease. There is also scientific evidence that bioflavonoids positively influence the behavior of genes-the biological blueprints that direct the behavior of the cells of the body. While bioflavonoids are not essential by the strictest sense of the word, they are very beneficial.

Q. Are there any studies that link bioflavonoid intake to disease prevention?

A. Many studies-some of which will be discussed in later chapters-have linked bioflavonoid intake to disease prevention. The Zutphen Elderly Study is one of the more popular studies. In this study, Michael Hertog and coworkers set out to see if there was a connection between bioflavonoid intake and a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. To accomplish this, the researchers assessed the bioflavonoid intake of 878 men, age sixty-five to eighty-four, at the beginning of the study in 1960 and again in 1985. The bioflavonoid content of various foods, including black tea, onions, and apples, was determined. Total consumption of bioflavonoids averaged 25.9 mg per day. At the end of the study, the researchers found that those men who regularly consumed bioflavonoids in their diets reduced their risk of death from coronary heart disease.

The researchers hypothesize that one way bioflavonoids play a role in reducing coronary heart disease is by reducing the formation of oxidized LDL-cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol), which would then inhibit the formation of cholesterol deposits in the arteries. In addition, bioflavonoids inhibit the cyclooxygenase pathway, which plays a role in blood platelet aggregation. This results in a reduced risk of thrombosis-a type of blood-vessel clot formation.

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Q. What exactly are antioxidants?

A. Antioxidants are chemical substances that control or prevent oxidation, or free-radical damage, by neutralizing free radicals before they can harm the cells and tissues of the body. As the field of antioxidant research has grown, antioxidants, as a group, have come to include compounds that protect against many types of oxidants, or reactive chemicals, including super oxide radicals, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radicals, as well as the more mild oxygen molecules. Oxidation in your body can alter lipids, proteins, and other biomolecules, damaging their structure and function.

You should note, however, that these potentially harmful reactions are vital to ordinary body functions. That's why the body produces its own antioxidants, including glutathione peroxidase, coenzyme Q10, alpha-lipoic acid, and super oxide dismutase (SOD). Together with dietary antioxidants, these endogenous antioxidants help to protect the body against the thousands of free-radical hits that each cell experiences daily. With all of these biochemical reactions going on in the body, it's easy to understand why the extra intake of antioxidants, including bioflavonoids, can promote a healthier internal environment.

Q. Are bioflavonoids very powerful antioxidants?

A. The antioxidant activity of bioflavonoids is quite diversified and actually complements the more traditional antioxidants, which include vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene. Bioflavonoids work with the other antioxidants to offer a sort of group protection. And on their own, bioflavonoids have the ability to deactivate several types of free-radical compounds that exist in or infiltrate your body. Free radicals damage the body in many ways, and are the underlying causes of many degenerative diseases, including cancer and arthritis, and also may speed up the aging process.

Different bioflavonoids seem to have individual preferences for the different types of free radicals they neutralize. Additionally, bioflavonoids-due to their individual structures-display an attraction to certain body parts where they carry out their antioxidant activities or other health-promoting functions. For example, the herb bilberry affects vision; green tea plays a beneficial role in gastric cancer; and Pycnogenol and grape-seed extract have positive effects on coronary heart disease.

Q. How do antioxidants help to prevent diseases?

A. There is growing evidence that free-radical damage plays a causative role in diseases, such as cancer and coronary heart disease, and leads to other age related disorders, such as cataracts and arthritis. And as you've learned, antioxidants neutralize free radicals before they can cause damage.

For example, by preventing LDL-cholesterol from becoming oxidized by free radicals, antioxidants can prevent the resulting artery-clogging plaque that can lead to heart disease. In the case of cancer, the oxidation of DNA can lead to cellular mutations and cancerous tissue growth. By limiting free-radical damage to DNA, antioxidants inhibit the growth of abnormal cells and tumor cells. As for arthritis, antioxidants help to control the increased amount of free radicals in inflamed arthritic tissues. The formation of cataracts, because they are the result of free-radical damage to proteins in the lens of the eye, can be decreased with adequate antioxidant intake.

Q. Can bioflavonoids really help to prevent cancer?

A. In a recent article entitled "The Prevention of Cancer," Bruce Ames and Lois Swirsky Gold reported that dietary factors can have a major effect on reducing cancer rates. In particular, hundreds of epidemiological studies have shown that adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables-plant foods that are typically high in bioflavonoids-is associated with lower cancer rates. Therefore, people who have cancer or who are at risk for cancer may experience some anticancer health benefits by eating fruits and vegetables and by taking bioflavonoid supplements. Note, however, that cancer is associated with many other factors, including aging, toxic chemicals, and metabolic waste products. Moreover, this is a very serious disease, so strict medical supervision is mandatory to insure that every available prevention therapy and treatment option is being considered and properly utilized.

Q. Can taking antioxidants, such as bioflavonoids, slow the aging process?

A. Slowing the aging process with nutrition has recently become a major focus of medical research. Free radicals, as you've learned, can damage cells and cause the body to breakdown on the cellular level. You've also learned that antioxidants can reduce the amount of damage caused by free radicals. Therefore, antioxidants, such as bioflavonoids, act to slow cellular breakdown-a major factor in the aging process. Researchers-including Bruce Ames, Kenneth Beckman, and Denham Harman-who study the adverse effects of free radicals and other chemicals on the body, point out that the free radicals produced during normal body processes cause accumulative damage over the course of a lifetime; eventually leading to disease, aging, and death. An increase in antioxidant consumption should therefore significantly decrease the amount of free-radical damage that an individual accumulates over the years.

Q. What are good sources of bioflavonoids?

A. Bioflavonoids are abundant in virtually all plant foods. However, the greatest dietary sources of bioflavonoids are tea leaves, onions, apples, grains, grapes, potatoes, roots, herbs, fruits and their juices, soybeans, vegetables, cocoa, coffee, beer, and most wine. Remember, however, that it's a good idea to limit your intake of alcoholic and caffeine-containing beverages.

Bioflavonoids are also available as dietary supplements. Scientists have developed special concentrated forms of bioflavonoids with the hope of enhancing their health benefits. Pycnogenol, quercetin, grape-seed extract, green tea, and soy isoflavones are just a few examples of the bioflavonoid products available in health food stores, pharmacies, supermarkets, and through mail-order catalogs. See Section 9 for some guidelines on boosting your bioflavonoid consumption.

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Section 2. Pycnogenol

Pycnogenol is a trade name for a compound of natural antioxidants extracted from the bark of the French Maritime pine tree-Pinus pinaster. Loaded with bioflavonoids and other biologically active phytonutrients, or plant nutrients, Pycnogenol is backed by clinical research and a long history of use. Studies show that Pycnogenol-a powerful antioxidant-has cardiovascular benefits, boosts the immune system, improves the appearance of the skin, treats varicose veins, relieves the pain of arthritis, and reduces inflammation.

Q. Which of the bioflavonoids does Pycnogenol contain?

A. Three bioflavonoids-catechin, epicatechin, and taxifolin-have been identified as occurring in their free state, known as monomers, in Pycnogenol. However, the majority of bioflavonoids found in this pine-bark extract are linked together to form compounds called proanthocyanidins. Pycnogenol contains high amounts of a certain type of proanthocyanidins called procyanidins. Procyanidins are composed of various combinations of catechin and epicatechin bioflavonoids, forming short chains called oligomers.

Q. What makes Pycnogenol so special?

A. Pycnogenol is one of the few standardized bioflavonoid-containing plant extracts that has undergone numerous experimental and clinical studies to determine its effects on the human body. Because Pycnogenol is a standardized extract-meaning that each batch of Pycnogenol contains exactly the same amount of bioflavonoids and procyanidins-other researchers can use it in their experiments to confirm the results of previous studies. This is one of the important criteria of scientific research-that experiments can be successfully reproduced by other researchers. In fact, one reason why researchers have come up with so many different results when testing plant extracts and compounds is because these substances have not been standardized. Once a substance becomes standardized, however, it often attracts much scientific attention.

Q. How long has Pycnogenol been used?

A. French explorer Jacques Cartier was introduced to pine-bark tea by the native Indians of Quebec during the winter of 1534. The Indians gave Cartier and his men the pine-bark tea to save them from dying of scurvy. Over 400 years later, Professor Jack Masquelier of the University of Bordeaux in France was working in Canada and came across this information. It fascinated him because he was very interested in studying the bioflavonoids, which he suspected were partly responsible for helping Cartier's group ward off scurvy.

Professor Masquelier began to conduct research on pine bark to determine its biological effects. Later in France, he worked with extracts made from the bark of the Maritime pine trees that grew there. From this work, he determined that the extract did indeed display antioxidant activity and had beneficial effects on the vascular system-similar to the vitamin-P factor observed years earlier by Albert Szent-Gyorgyi. Professor Masquelier continued his work on pine-bark extract and developed a standardized extract, which he eventually called Pycnogenol.

Q. How safe is Pycnogenol?

A. Pycnogenol has been used safely for many years in Europe. This substance has no mutagenic activity as determined by the Ames test. This means that Pycnogenol does not cause DNA mutations and is non-cancer causing. Moreover, Pycnogenol has gone through extensive testing to confirm its purity and safety. Studies on humans report no alarming side effects-even at high dosages. Pycnogenol is therefore considered nontoxic at the recommended dosage of 20 to 100mg per day for extended periods of several months, or 100 to 300mg for shorter periods of a few months, which is reserved for therapeutic usage.