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actually brewed them up.
For example, there are at least two quality levels of vitamin C on the market right now. The pharmaceutical
grade is made by Roche or BASF. Another form, it could be called "the bargain barrel brew," is made in
China. Top quality vitamin C is quite a bit more costly; as I write this, the price differential is about 40
percent between the cheap stuff and the best. This can make a big difference in bottle price and profit. Most of
the discount retail vitamin companies use the Chinese product.
Chapter Six 114
There's more than a price difference. The vitamin C from China contains measurable levels of lead, cadmium,
mercury, iron and other toxic metals. The FDA allows this slightly contaminated product to be sold in the US
because the Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamin C is a mere 60 milligrams per day. Taken at that
level, the toxic metals would, as the FDA sees it, do no harm. However, many users of vitamin C take
100--200 times the RDA. The cheap form of C would expose them to potentially toxic levels of heavy metal
poisons. The highly refined top-quality product removes impurities to a virtually undetectable level.
I buy my C from Bronson who ethically gives me the quality stuff. I know for a fact that the vitamin C sold by
Prolongevity is also top quality. I've had clients who bought cheaper C than Bronson's and discovered it was
not quite like Bronson's in appearance or taste. More importantly, it did not seem to have the same therapeutic
effect.
The distributors I've mentioned so far, Bronson, NOW, Cooper, Prolongevity and Vitamin Research Products
are all knowledgeable about differences between actual manufacturers and are ethical, buying and reselling
only high quality products. Other distributors I believe to be reputable include Twin Labs, Schiff and Plus. I
know there are many other distributors with high ethic levels but I can not evaluate all their product lines. And
as I've mentioned earlier, businesses come and go rather quickly, but I hope my book will be read for decades.
I do know that I would be very reluctant to buy my vitamins at a discount department store or supermarket;
when experimenting with new suppliers I have at times been severely disappointed.
Co-enzyme Q-10. This substance is normally manufactured in the human body and is also found in
minuscule amounts in almost every cell on Earth. For that reason it is also called "ubiquinone." But this
vitamin has been only recently discovered, so as I write this book Co-enzyme Q-10 is not widely known.
Q-10 is essential to the functioning of the mitochondria, that part of the cell that produces energy. With less
Q-10 in heart cells, for example, the heart has less energy and pumps less. The same is true of the immune
system cells, the liver cells, every cell. As we age the body is able to make less and less Q-10, contributing to
the loss of energy frequently experienced with age, as well as the diminished effectiveness of the immune
system, and a shortened life span.
Q-10 was first used for its ability to revitalize heart cells. It was a prescription medicine in Japan. But unlike
other drugs used to stimulate the heart, at any reasonable dose Q-10 has no harmful side effects. It also tends
to give people the extra pick up they are trying to get out of a cup of coffee. But Q-10 does so by improving
the function of every cell in the body, not by whipping exhausted adrenals like caffeine does. Q-10 is
becoming very popular with athletes who measure their overall cellular output against known standards.
Besides acting as a general tonic, when fed to lab animals, Co-Enzyme Q-10 makes them live 33 to 45
percent longer!
DMAE is another extremely valuable vitamin-like substance that is not widely known. It is a basic building
material that the body uses to make acetylcholine, the most generalized neurotransmitter in the body. Small
quantities of DMAE are found in fish, but the body usually makes it in a multi-stage synthesis that starts with
the amino acid choline, arrives at DMAE at about step number three and ends up finally with acetylcholine.
The body's nerves are wrapped in fatty tissue that should be saturated with acetylcholine. Every time a nerve
impulse is transmitted from one nerve cell to the next, a molecule of acetylcholine is consumed. Thus
acetylcholine has to be constantly replaced. As the body ages, levels of acetylcholine surrounding the nerves
drop and in consequence, the nerves begin to deteriorate. DMAE is rapidly and easily converted into
acetylcholine and helps maintain acetylcholine levels in older people at a youthful level.
When laboratory rats are fed DMAE they solve mazes more rapidly, remember better, live about 40 percent
longer than rats not fed DMAE and most interestingly, when autopsied, their nervous systems resemble those
Chapter Seven 115
of a young rat, without any evidence of the usual deterioration of aging. Human nervous systems also
deteriorate with age, especially those of people suffering from senility. It is highly probable that DMAE will
do the same thing to us. DMAE also smoothes out mood swings in humans and seems to help my husband,
Steve, when he has a big writing project. He can keep working without getting 'writers block', fogged out, or
rollercoastering.
DMAE is a little hard to find. Prolongevity and VRP sell it in powder form. Since the FDA doesn't know any
MDR and since the product is not capped up, the bottle of powder sagely states that one-quarter teaspoonful
contains 333 milligrams. Get the hint? DMAE tastes a little like sour salt and one-quarter teaspoonful
dissolves readily in water every morning before breakfast, or anytime for that matter. DMAE is also very
inexpensive considering what it does. A year's supply costs about $20.
Lecithin is a highly tonic and inexpensive food supplement that is underutilized by many people even though [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]