Science has come a long way since the simplistic admonition in the 1980s for Americans to eat less fat.
It has taken nearly 30 years to officially reverse some recommendations about cholesterol and fat intake, even with relatively strong evidence that the recommendations were not based on current scientific evidence. Also, contrary to our thought process in the 1980s, it isn’t as simple as “saturated fats are bad” and “unsaturated fats are good.”
It was that exact overly simplistic thinking that resulted in the near extinction of tropical oils from the food supply and the explosion of hydrogenated vegetable oils (think trans-fat). The truth of the matter is that not all polyunsaturated fats are healthy, nor are all saturated fats unhealthy.
There has also been a shift in what most experts agree is a healthier macronutrient ratio of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. The long-time recommendation to eat low fat and high carbohydrate has now been adjusted to slightly increase fat and decrease carbohydrates to a more moderate level of both.
Although most experts would still agree with the fact that fats derived from plant sources, which are primarily unsaturated fats, should comprise the majority of fat intake, some research has indicated that replacing all saturated fat with carbohydrates may actually worsen heart health and disease risk.
So, as it turns out with most nutrition and health related subjects, the best advice is balance and moderation.
The most recent evidence indicates that replacing saturated fatty acids with MUFAs or carbohydrates does not improve endothelial function, nor does it decrease coronary heart disease risk. Endothelial cells are cells that line the inner blood vessels that mediate coagulation, platelet adhesion, immune function, and control the dilation and narrowing of blood vessels (called vasodilation and vasoconstriction). Endothelial dysfunction is thought to be a key event in the development of atherosclerosis, a disease in which plaque builds up inside your arteries.
Saturated fats have a big advantage over polyunsaturated fats when it comes to stability. They are much less prone to oxidation and rancidity. Even the healthiest of polyunsaturated fats becomes unhealthy once it is oxidized. This is a real potential concern in processed products that require a fairly long shelf life.
It may take many more years for the official recommendations to catch up with science when it comes to saturated fat, but the evidence is mounting. Until then, our mission is to provide the healthiest and best quality products based on current science. Currently, the science says get a variety of fats from healthy sources such as nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables (avocados, olives), and that our avoidance and fear of saturated fats (especially from tropical plants) has been largely exaggerated and unnecessary.
This article appeared previously on the following websites:
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/coconut.jpg478732Russ BartonRuss Barton2017-06-19 10:42:542022-07-05 10:18:11Saturated Fat: The Shift in Expert Recommendations
Love Your Liver and Live the Good Life with USANA® Hepasil DTX™
USANA® Hepasil DTX™
Stay energized and help balance your body’s detoxification processes with a unique liver-support blend made with USANA InCelligence Technology®.
Life comes with the good and the bad. There are memorable meals with loved ones and opportunities to savor delicious food and drink. And there are also inescapable pollutants or chemicals in the environment that are a modern reality. Together, all of these add up to a load of substances your body has to process. Your liver is responsible for filtering everything you consume. It’s a big job. So, your body’s waste filtration system can’t ever really take a break. USANA Hepasil DTX™ can help support the normal health and function of your liver, so it can handle whatever may come its way. And you can stay focused on living the good life.*
The ingredients in Hepasil DTX help support your liver function, which plays many roles in maintaining your daily well-being:
Helps your body produce energy through supporting normal metabolic processes*
Produces vital substances needed to power your body*
Natural removal of fat, toxins, and waste products*
In addition to supporting your liver function, many of the ingredients in Hepasil DTX also provide antioxidant activity to help protect cells from damaging oxidative stress.*
Hepasil DTX is a powerhouse supplement for liver and detoxification support. Hepasil DTX is not a liver cleanse.*
Trendy cleanses where you limit your calories or drink only juices might be a “fun” way to help revitalize your commitment to living a healthier lifestyle. They might even help you lose a couple pounds, but they won’t cleanse your liver. When your liver is healthy, it doesn’t need an extreme cleanse to detoxify. That’s the job it’s designed to do. Hepasil DTX helps provide ingredients that will help it keep doing that job effectively.*
Your liver will love Hepasil DTX because it was formulated with the best of supplement science to create a uniquely powerful formula. It features a number of technologies exclusive to USANA. Each expertly blended tablet features USANA InCelligence Technology to activate your body’s naturally protective detoxification processes. The InCelligence Detox-Support Complex also includes Olivol®–the olive-fruit extract developed by USANA scientists. And because Hepasil DTX is also made with Nutritional Hybrid Technology, it offers an exceptional combination of ingredients at a potency that may not be available in many other products.*
Weighing in at more than three pounds (1.36 kg), your liver is a heavy hitter when it comes to keeping your body healthy. You can find your liver in the upper right area of your abdomen, under your ribs—above your stomach and below the lungs. And, as the second largest organ in your body (your skin is the largest), it performs a multitude of functions vital to keeping you alive and well.
After passing through the digestive tract, almost everything you consume—food, drinks, medications, supplements—goes through your liver. Once there, nutrients are further broken down into forms your body can use. Substances your body needs for energy and other functions are produced and stored. Waste and toxins are filtered out of the blood, then altered, so they can be removed. Once everything is processed, the various compounds are returned to your blood stream. Nutrients and other substances are circulated to where they’re needed. And finally, waste is sent to your bowels and kidneys to be eliminated from your system.
It wouldn’t be too much of an overstatement to say the liver borders on having magical powers. It’s the only organ that can actually regenerate itself when it’s healthy. As long as 25 percent of the tissue remains, your body can essentially re-grow a new liver.
This doesn’t mean you’re free to abuse your liver. Because it’s such a hardworking gland, it’s important to keep it healthy. A number of activities, especially if they’re done excessively, can stress your liver:
Drinking too much alcohol
Eating too much sugar or fatty foods
Misusing medications
Using toxin-laden cleaning and gardening products
Exposure to high amounts of pollution
There are lifestyle practices you can follow to help maintain your liver function. They include limiting your exposure to excess alcohol, unnecessary chemicals, and fatty foods. Of course, eating plenty of fruits and veggies and getting adequate exercise won’t hurt either. Good hygiene can also help avoid exposing your liver to unnecessary toxins or germs. And drinking enough water will help support the circulation of nutrients and removal of wastes, too.
You can also help your liver thrive—even in a world filled with toxins and temptations—with advanced daily support. Add USANA’s Hepasil DTX to your healthy lifestyle to help maintain liver function and support your body’s natural detoxification processes.*
Help Your Liver Turn Your Food into Energy with Hepasil DTX
One of the main functions of your almost-magical organ is assisting the digestive process in breaking down everything you consume. This action supplies the energy you need to power your day. Your liver uses many nutrients, including the biotin and choline in Hepasil DTX, to drive key parts of the metabolism process.*
Your liver uses biotin to form metabolic enzymes. These are substances that cause chemical reactions to break down and change macronutrients, like carbohydrates and protein, into useable compounds. And these biotin-dependent enzymes don’t just break nutrients down. They also help your liver make substances your body needs for energy, like fatty acids and glycogen (a type of sugar your body uses for fuel).*
Choline is used by the body to mobilize many steps of the metabolic process. One of the most important is helping to create phosphatidylcholine (a type of lipid) and betaine (an amino acid), which are vital for helping to move fats and cholesterol out of your liver. This vitamin-like substance is also necessary for supporting normal detoxification reactions.*
Your body can make some choline, but it also needs a steady supply from the diet. And unfortunately, many people don’t eat enough foods with choline. Additional choline could be even more important if you regularly participate in endurance sports (such as triathlons and marathons). Strenuous physical activity has been shown to reduce plasma choline concentrations by about 40 percent.*
Hepasil DTX is an excellent source of biotin and choline to help ensure you have plenty of both nutrients, so your liver can help keep you energized.*
The InCelligence Detox-Support Complex Helps Take Out the Trash
Imagine if you never took the trash out at home. It wouldn’t take long for all of the garbage to build up and become overwhelming. Soon, your home would be run down. And all the debris would interfere with your ability to function optimally.
Your body is similar. The metabolism process is constant source of toxins and waste that are filtered from the substances that you’ve consumed. And your body needs continual maintenance to keep it cleansed. This purification process helps your body function at its best. The liver is a major detoxifying organ that plays the role of housekeeper for your body.*
Taking a supplement like USANA Hepasil DTX every day can help support your liver’s important cleansing function.*
Hepasil DTX delivers superior support for your liver thanks to the InCelligence Detox-Support Complex. The unique blend supplies premium-quality nutrients, including many phytonutrient extracts selected because they deliver the highest percentage of active ingredients. These ingredients support naturally protective processes in a healthy liver.*
Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) extract
The extract in Hepasil DTX is derived from the seeds of the milk thistle fruit. Milk thistle is one of the most frequently used herbal extracts for maintaining the health and function of liver cells. It provides a concentrated amount of the active ingredient silymarin. Recent research revealed silymarin’s benefits may come from its ability to help regulate important cell-signaling pathways for stimulating liver enzymes. And it also promotes the production of your body’s natural antioxidants.*
N-acetyl L-cysteine (NAC)
Hepasil DTX supplements the amount of this amino acid naturally made from L-cysteine in your body. It may be a small protein, but it packs a big punch as a detoxifier. It helps your body make its own glutathione (a powerful antioxidant) to maintain healthy levels in the liver. *
Alpha-Lipoic Acid (ALA)
This acid, which is also naturally produced in the body, is quite the multitasker. Similar to NAC, alpha-lipoic acid helps your body make glutathione. It also offers direct antioxidant activity and helps recycle other antioxidants, including vitamins C and E.*
Historically, ALA could not be combined with NAC, as the two ingredients would break down and lose potency quickly. But because they’re combined using USANA Nutritional Hybrid Technology, these two powerful nutrients can be kept separate to retain potency, but still be delivered in one tablet.*
Broccoli (Brassica oleracea) extract
The broccoli concentrate in Hepasil DTX is a source of powerful compounds from cruciferous vegetables (like glucoraphanin and sulforaphane). They have been studied for their beneficial effects on a number of cell-signaling pathways. One of the effects of these antioxidant compounds is helping to activate the pathways for your body’s natural detoxification enzymes.*
Inositol
Inositol is a vitamin-like substance that’s closely related to glucose in structure. While it is most abundant in the brain, spinal cord, and spinal fluid, this naturally occurring carbohydrate also helps support the metabolism of fats.
Green-tea (Camellia sinensis) extract
With 90 percent polyphenols, the green tea extract in Hepasil DTX offers concentrated antioxidant activity. One of the most studied antioxidant compounds in green tea is epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG). This compound has been shown to regulate important cell-signaling pathways.*
Olivol® olive-fruit (Olea europaea) extract
USANA scientists developed Olivol extract to deliver the potent antioxidant benefits of olive oil in a unique ingredient. The olive-fruit extract helps defend cells from oxidative damage. And research has indicated that hydroxytyrosol, one of the active phenolic compounds in olives, also helps the body produce its own protective antioxidant enzymes.*
Meriva® Bioavailable Curcumin Extract**
Meriva extract is the source of another nutrient you’ve probably heard a lot about: curcumin. The “golden spice of India” has been used for thousands of years as part of Ayurveda (an ancient approach to holistic wellness). More recently, it has garnered a lot of attention. Studies have revealed that curcumin provides many benefits for health, including supporting antioxidant activity and healthy immune responses. Curcumin has also been shown to influence the production of your body’s own antioxidants and help retain normal levels of key detoxification enzymes.*
**Meriva is a registered trademark of Indena S.p.A.
The InCelligence Detox-Support Complex activates your body’s natural processes to help keep your liver healthy and clear of substances that can slow you down. And by maintaining the integrity of your liver cells with antioxidant protection, the ingredients in Hepasil DTX work together to support the normal function of a healthy liver.*
When it comes to comprehensive support for liver health, Hepasil DTX truly shines. It aids metabolism and the removal of fats and cholesterol from the liver. And the ingredients in Hepasil DTX also help balance natural Phase I and Phase II detoxification reactions.*
Let’s take a brief look at how the process works:
Many enzymes in the liver help change toxins into less harmful substances. The main detoxification pathways in the liver use what are known as Phase I and Phase II enzymes.*
You may have guessed that Phase I is the first stage in your body’s natural detoxification process. Phase I enzymes begin transforming a toxin by joining the toxic molecules with other reactive molecules, making it unstable. This is known as oxidation. Unfortunately, this initial oxidation can make some compounds more toxic. However, your body has a second phase of detoxification that kicks in to defuse the situation.*
In the second phase of detoxification, the highly reactive molecules are combined with various compounds that neutralize them. These are known as Phase II detoxification enzymes. Glutathione, amino acids, and methyl groups are all included in this process (along with other substances). Once the byproducts of Phase I are chained to these water-soluble molecules, the byproducts have been made into forms that can be passed from the body in bile or urine.*
It’s important that Phase I and Phase II detoxification processes are balanced properly. You need Phase I enzymes to start the process. And it’s vital that there are enough Phase II enzymes to ensure the reactive molecules are neutralized to maintain cellular function and support healthy aging.*
That’s where Hepasil DTX comes in. It supplies your body with plenty of nutrients it can use to help keep these natural detoxification reactions in balance.*
Many of the ingredients in the InCelligence Detox-Support Complex, such as curcumin, milk thistle, ALA, and broccoli concentrate, have been shown to support naturally protective processes in the liver. One way they do this is by targeting the cell signaling pathway for helping your body produce liver enzymes, such as glutathione-S-transferase.*
Glutathione is a master detoxifier. It attaches to and carries toxins out of your body. The enzyme is highly concentrated in your liver, because it’s so important to detoxification reactions. And that’s not all. It’s also a master protector.*
Glutathione plays many vital roles in your health. In addition to its action as a Phase II detoxification enzyme, glutathione helps the liver regulate lipid, glucose, and amino acid use by the body. And it supports the removal of formaldehyde produced from the metabolism of choline and other substances.
Glutathione also supports healthy hepatocytes (liver cells) by acting as an antioxidant.*
The natural detoxification process is dynamic, with a lot of reactions and conversions happening as substances are metabolized. This process can generate a lot of free radicals. So, enzymes like glutathione can defend against damaging oxidative stress to maintain the health of your liver cells.*
Unfortunately, glutathione from food or supplements is inefficiently absorbed. It’s best to give your body what it needs to make it. In addition to having enough protein from your diet, a number of micronutrients can help support this process.*
The InCelligence Detox-Support Complex contains several nutrients that help your body produce its own antioxidants, like glutathione, in addition to providing antioxidant activity. (Many also help your body make other antioxidant enzymes, like superoxide dismutase [SOD].) Milk thistle, green tea, NAC, ALA, Olivol—virtually every ingredient in the proprietary complex enhances your cells’ ability to generate glutathione to help maintain healthy levels in your liver.*
3 Hepasil DTX a Day Keeps Liver Damaging Free Radicals Away
The InCelligence Detox-Support Complex in Hepasil DTX contains a unique blend of ingredients that optimize cell-signaling pathways tied with glutathione production. This process supports the body’s natural detoxification capacity, and it significantly enhances antioxidant protection.
The ingredients in Hepasil DTX have been shown to support healthy circulating glutathione levels following supplementation. And, somewhat unexpectedly, vitamin C levels can also be supported.
This is surprising, because there isn’t any vitamin C in the product. It was thought that circulating vitamin C levels could only be supported with direct vitamin C supplementation. But USANA research has shown that both circulating and tissue levels of vitamin C can also be optimized by certain phytochemicals.*
In other words, Hepasil DTX seriously ramps up your body’s ability to protect your liver, and other cells, from damage caused by free radicals. And because it’s made with USANA Hybrid and InCelligence technologies, no other liver support supplement can equal the innovative formula of Hepasil DTX.*
Adults take three (3) tablets daily, preferably with food.
Ideal For
Healthy adults
Endurance athletes
People exposed to pollution or toxins
Frequently Asked Questions About Hepasil DTX
When should I take Hepasil DTX?
Supporting healthy liver function is always a good idea. But it’s especially important when your body is exposed to increased pollution or when you consume less healthy food and drink. If you know you’re going to need some extra support, it’s best to take Hepasil DTX before the exposure, not after. This will help ensure your liver has the support it needs to keep up with the extra load, when it needs it.*
How does Hepasil DTX affect cell signaling?
Hepasil DTX contains a unique blend of ingredients that alter cell signaling pathways tied with glutathione production. This process increases both the body’s antioxidant and detoxification capacity, by increasing plasma glutathione and vitamin C levels.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
USANA InCelligence Technology® is intelligent supplement design. It’s a nutritional technology—not a single product or a product line. InCelligence is a platform for creating products that support optimal cellular health through a natural process called cell signaling.*
This technology utilizes molecular targeting of nutrients to optimize cellular function. Key nutrients, scientifically proven to be effective cell-signaling molecules, speak your cell’s language.*
They cut through the biochemical noise—whether naturally occurring or from your lifestyle or environment—to activate your body’s abilities to support vibrant health.*
The Four Types of Nutrients and Cellular Interaction
Your diet is so much more than the calorie count. The food you eat contains a variety of nutrients. We put them in four basic categories:
Essential Micro- and Macronutrients: Macronutrients are the big things (hence the macro)—protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Your body uses them for calories (energy), and as building material for cells. Micronutrients are found in the fruits and vegetables we eat. That’s where a lot of our vitamins and minerals come from.
Antioxidant Protection: Just the act of living, breathing, and going through your day creates damaging oxidants. That’s why you need antioxidants. Living without enough of these important nutrients can cause problems and compromise health over time. In the broadest sense, an antioxidant is any oxidant scavenger. Dietary antioxidants include vitamins and other organic compounds that neutralize oxidants at a one-for-one or one-for-two ratio. So each molecule of an antioxidant like vitamin C can take care of one or two oxidants.
Additional Nutritional Support: These additional nutrients fall outside the category of essential vitamins and minerals. So you won’t encounter a nutritional deficiency disease without them. But they have been found to provide additional health benefits. Nutrients like lutein, zeaxanthin, and glucosamine are deposited in specific areas of the body to provide a targeted benefit—like supporting healthy vision, cognitive function, skin health, and joint health.
USANA InCelligence Technology: We’ve known for centuries that fruits and vegetables are good for us, but scientists had to find out why. They pulled out all the big things, like vitamins, and kept digging deeper. The search led them to phytonutrients—other compounds plants make, like the ones that give them bright colors. After all, if you think about it, the best chemists in the world are plants.
In high concentrations in test tubes, the compounds were great antioxidants. But they couldn’t figure out exactly how they were still working at the lower concentrations they could achieve in the human body. Something else had to be happening.
It was cell signaling. This relatively new understanding of phytonutrients’ abilities is the basis for InCelligence technology. USANA scientists select key nutrients—like resveratrol and quercetin—that work on cell-signaling pathways to elicit health benefits inside your cells.*
Cell Signaling Basics
Your cells are intelligent. They can sense and respond to their internal and external environments through cell signaling. So at a very basic level, this process is nothing more than a cell responding to internal or external molecules.
Receptor molecules in the cells sense their internal and external environment. These interactions trigger a chain reaction (think of a line of dominoes) that can turn on genes and activate a variety of cellular responses.
There can also be signal amplification. So very small amounts of the right nutrients targeted to the right cellular landing spots can have big impacts.
Age, lifestyle, and environmental factors can make it harder for your cells to communicate effectively. InCelligence supports your cellular communication pathways, helping maintain their health and yours.
We have the ability to target specific pathways with nutrients. Supporting the free flow of cellular information allows a broad spectrum of pathways to be positively impacted. Here’s just a few examples of what supporting and turning on these cell-signaling pathways can do:
Optimize cellular function.*
Support a healthy immune system.*
Support the body’s natural detoxification processes.*
Optimize the production of powerful antioxidants made inside cells.*
Support cellular clean-up processes.*
Cellular Strength Training for Resilience and Adaptability
Exercise strengthens your body, making it more resilient and adaptable. Your cells need the same thing. That’s why InCelligence is like strength training for your cells.
Hormesis is the scientific term you could use to describe this kind of cellular exercise. You stress cells to increase their resilience and adaptability—just like exercise stresses your body to ultimately make it stronger. The nutrients used in InCelligence complexes evolved as plants’ protection from the sun and hungry animals. So even though you’re getting a safe dose of these “cellular stressors” your cells still trigger protective responses.*
Flexing those cellular muscles helps create resilient cells that can more easily adapt to your lifestyle. Taking the proactive approach of turning on these natural processes also optimizes the natural longevity of cellular function.*
Products Made with USANA InCelligence Technology
USANA utilizes InCelligence cell-signaling technology to formulate a variety of products that provide different benefits.
USANA® CellSentials™: Contains Vita Antioxidant™ and Core Minerals™. CellSentials supplies carefully balanced levels of high-quality vitamins and antioxidants and a balanced range of highly absorbable essential minerals and trace minerals. It’s designed to provide an essential foundation of nourishment and powerful antioxidant protection. The InCelligence Complex also uses nutrients to unlock natural processes that support the health of your cells.*
HealthPak™: Convenient AM and PM packets containing Vita Antioxidant, Core Minerals, CellSentials Booster, and USANA® MagneCal D™ —a bone-health supplement that was not formulated with USANA InCelligence Technology. All the core supplements you need in one product for full support of your healthy lifestyle.*
Proglucamune™: Daily immune-support supplement with zinc and the InCelligence Beta-Glucan Complex. It supports the body’s ability to adapt and respond to the effects occasional, everyday stress or strenuous exercise can have on immune function. InCelligence Beta-Glucan Complex uses baker’s yeast and a combination of mushrooms to prime immune cells’ natural protective responses so they can effectively protect health.*
Hepasil DTX™: Comprehensive liver-support formula featuring the InCelligence Detox-Support Complex. The complex delivers a comprehensive array of phytonutrients, including green-tea extract, milk-thistle extract, broccoli concentrate, turmeric, and USANA’s unique Olivol® olive-fruit extract. This helps to activate your liver cells’ natural protective antioxidant and detoxification processes.*
Procosa®: Supports joint function and comfort. It also helps regulate normal cartilage formation that helps cushion your joints. The InCelligence Joint-Support Complex in Procosa helps trigger a process in cartilage cells that helps renew healthy joint-cell function and support healthy joint aging. The complex also influences signaling pathways that modulate your body’s natural responses to the temporary, normal inflammation resulting from exercise. This helps proactively promote a healthy immune and inflammatory response after exercise.*
CopaPrime+™: Supports peak mental performance and protects your brain health as you age with powerful nootropics: American ginseng plus the InCelligence Cognitive-Support Complex, which includes bacopa monnieri and coffee-fruit extract. CopaPrime+ works by helping your body produce an important cognitive protein needed for learning, memory, and thinking. It also helps you stay calm and focused during mentally stressful situations.*
Celavive® Skincare Products with the Cell Signaling Complex: A number of products in the Celavive skincare line reveal your natural radiance and fight the visible signs of aging with the power of the Cell Signaling Complex. These products feature InCelligence Technology by supplying targeted nutrient combinations that help revive your skin’s youthful appearance. A combination of botanicals and innovative peptides supports the natural production of compounds—collagen, hyaluronic acid, and more—that help skin look firmer and more radiant.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
00staffstaff2017-05-30 13:27:162019-12-19 11:26:09An introduction to InCelligence Technology®
When you think of the adrenal glands you likely think of stress. It makes sense, since they are most often referred to for their role in secreting the hormone adrenaline (epinephrine), which enables your body to respond to a stressful situation. Think fight or flight reaction.
But that’s not really their primary role. Their primary role is in secreting hormones that are essential to life.
Each adrenal gland is composed of two distinct structures—the outer part of the adrenal glands is called the adrenal cortex. The inner region is known as the adrenal medulla.
The adrenal cortex secretes 3 types of hormones that are essential for life – mineralcorticoids, which are regulated by the hypothalamus and pituitary glands in the brain; glucocorticoids that are regulated by signals from the kidneys; and sex hormones to a small degree (most sex hormones are produced by the ovaries and testes).
Glucocorticoids released by the adrenal cortex include:
Hydrocortisone: Commonly known as cortisol, it regulates how the body converts fats, proteins, and carbohydrates to energy. It also helps regulate blood pressure and cardiovascular function.
Corticosterone: This hormone works with hydrocortisone to regulate immune response and suppress inflammatory reactions.
The principle mineralcorticoid is aldosterone, which maintains the right balance of salt and water while helping control blood pressure.
Unlike the adrenal cortex, the adrenal medulla does not secrete hormones that are essential to life, but that does not mean they aren’t beneficial. Hormones secreted by the adrenal medulla help you deal with both physical and emotional stress.
Hormones secreted by the adrenal medulla are:
Epinephrine (adrenaline): This hormone rapidly responds to stress by increasing your heart rate and rushing blood to the muscles and brain. It also spikes your blood sugar level by helping convert glycogen to glucose in the liver.
Norepinephrine (noradrenaline): This hormone works with epinephrine in responding to stress. However, it can cause vasoconstriction (the narrowing of blood vessels). This results in high blood pressure.
Disorders and diseases of the adrenal glands include Addison’s disease (also known as adrenal insufficiency), which develops when the adrenal cortex fails to produce enough cortisol and aldosterone, and Cushing’s disease, which is caused by overproduction of the hormone cortisol, typically due to a tumor on the adrenals or pituitary gland.
Adrenal fatigue is a term applied to a collection of nonspecific symptoms, such as body aches, fatigue, nervousness, sleep disturbances and digestive problems. Although the term is commonly used, it isn’t an accepted medical diagnosis currently. “Adrenal Fatigue” is a syndrome, not a disease, which means it is a collection of symptoms. Symptoms of adrenal fatigue syndrome are numerous and include:
Waking up unrested
Decrease ability to handle stress
Brain fog or decreased cognitive ability
Dizziness when standing from sitting or lying down
Low sex drive
Increased severity of allergic responses
Low blood pressure
Low blood sugar
Weakness, and more…
Adrenal disorders such as Addison’s and Cushing’s diseases are medical conditions that require medical treatment, or life-long hormone replacement (much like type 1 diabetes or hypothyroidism).
Adrenal “fatigue” can best be addressed by a healthy diet (high glycemic diets and overconsumption of stimulants are often problematic), adequate sleep, stress management, and a balanced multivitamin/ mineral supplement that provides basic building blocks and nutrients to support normal kidney and adrenal function. Specific products marketed to treat adrenal fatigue are rarely necessary or beneficial, especially if lifestyle and dietary factors are not adequately addressed.
In many ways, nutrition has been a lost frontier in achieving optimal health. Only relatively recently—and outside of some early adopters—has the role of nutrition been appreciated in athletic performance, healthy aging, degenerative diseases, and most importantly maintaining health for as long as possible. To further understand, fine-tune, and improve the positive role nutrition plays in optimal health, a significant innovation in nutrition must occur.
When it comes to the field of nutrition, there are a few areas that are ripe for innovation. However, before we get into innovation in nutrition let’s start with a brief history of nutrition to help understand how we got to where we are today.
Essential micronutrients and macronutrients
In talking about essential nutrients, we are talking about the compounds we must get through our diet or nutritional supplement to sustain life. These nutrients are essential because our bodies do not make them. There are two general categories of essential nutrients: 1) essential macronutrients and 2) essential micronutrients.
Macronutrients are the nutrients we need in larger quantities (usually >1 gram). These are the raw materials our cells need to 1) build the structures that make up our bodies and 2) burn for energy—fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.
Essential micronutrients are the minerals and vitamins our bodies need but in smaller quantities (usually <1 gram). Some minerals, like calcium, for example, could be considered macronutrients because we need them in large dosages. However, because we cannot burn calcium and other minerals for energy, most nutritionists lump them into the “micronutrient category.” Simply put, essential minerals are the inorganic substances our bodies need to support life, and the essential vitamins are the organic compounds our bodies need to support life.
It has long been appreciated that we must eat food (macronutrients) to survive. It has also long been appreciated, mostly from early physicians, that minerals are important because of the composition of bone. However, the role essential vitamins played in health remained much more elusive. It is the luxury of 21st century hindsight that makes the discovery of essential vitamins so interesting. Therefore, vitamins will be the main focus of this brief historical perspective.
Discovery of essential vitamins
Although they didn’t know it at the time, it was the earliest seafaring explorers who were responsible for the discovery of vitamins. On their long voyages, sailors would almost exclusively eat dehydrated foods and fish with little or no fresh fruit or vegetables. This diet put sailors at risk for vitamin C deficiency and scurvy. The severe symptoms of scurvy (general weakness, tooth loss, blood spots, excessive bruising, etc.) would appear as soon as 10 to 12 weeks into a voyage—the first observable and documented disease of nutritional deficiency. However, it was also observed that as soon as sailors reached land and began consuming “acid fruits,” their symptoms would disappear in as little as one to two weeks. The British navy was the first to appreciate this observation and adopted the use of citrus juice (mostly lemon or lime juice) into the sailors’ daily rations—all but curing this disease in its sailors. The exact reason and specific compound(s) responsible for the amelioration of scurvy would evade discovery until the early 1930s when a Hungarian researcher, Albert Szent-Györgyi, discovered vitamin C—literally hundreds of years later.
Again, with the luxury of hindsight in modern science and medicine, it is clear why scurvy was the primary concern of these early explorers. Vitamin C is highly water-soluble. We have a relatively high daily requirement because we are one of the few animals that does not synthesize vitamin C. And the fact that we are poor at recycling it means that vitamin C is usually the first nutrient depleted from our bodies. Thus, scurvy is one of the first diseases of nutrient deficiency to manifest overt symptoms.
Fast forward to the 1800s when widespread European colonization of Asia, Caribbean, and Pacific Islands was occurring, and many other diseases of nutrient deficiency began to be observed. It was only when the observations of different European physicians were lumped together that the role of nutrition in preventing diseases of nutritional deficiency became clear. Basically, sailors, soldiers, prisoners, and even farm animals fed homogeneous, restricted, and/or limited diets became at risk for “disease.” However, proving exactly what caused these diseases proved to be elusive. Further compounding the discovery of essential vitamins was timing. Research into diseases of nutritional deficiency was occurring at the height of the “Pasteurian revolution”—or “germ theory of disease”—a time when microscopic organisms were thought to be the cause of all maladies. This led researchers down many experimental dead-ends.
It wasn’t until the 1890s that a Dutch physician working with chickens discovered the difference between a chicken (or soldier) developing the “neurological disease” known as beriberi was whether they were fed “brown” or “white” rice. This discovery was ultimately responsible in solidifying the notion that “components of food” could be responsible for health or disease. This sparked a scientific revolution into the 1900s that lasted up through 1941 when folic acid, the last discovered essential vitamin, was described.
Establishment of dietary guidelines
During the second World War, a time when global war and economic depression was occurring and food rationing and starvation were rampant, the United States determined it needed to set nutritional guidelines. No doubt to gain an upper hand in the war effort, the United States National Defense Advisory Commission mandated the United States National Academy of Sciences establish the United States National Research Council to investigate the role nutrition might have in national defense. The goal was to maintain a healthy fighting force and civilian population, and help guide overseas relief efforts. In 1941, the first Recommended Daily Allowances, or RDAs, were put into practice. While these dietary guidelines were initially established by the United States, many countries around the world have either adopted these guidelines outright or have some modified version thereof. The RDAs (or the now broader dietary guidelines known as the Dietary Reference Intakes) are only updated on average, every five to 10 years. As such, since their inception, these dietary recommendations have only been updated a handful of times and leaves us where we are today.
Governmental regulations preventing diseases of nutritional deficiency versus optimal health
The common denominator of how essential vitamins were discovered and how governmental guidelines were established was “preventing diseases of nutritional deficiency and other complications of malnutrition”. Thus, these governmental regulations, guidelines, and recommendations have never been considered dosages to achieve “optimal health”. For regulatory agencies to ultimately modify their recommendations from “minimal amounts” of nutrients to stave off diseases of nutritional deficiency to “optimal amounts” of nutrients to promote health, significant investment and novel experimental approaches in the nutritional sciences must occur. For the general public to benefit from this science it must be accessible, understandable, and ultimately simple, personalized nutritional recommendations made. To marry these seemingly distinct goals, a significant innovation in nutrition must occur.
Innovation in Nutrition
Increased nutritional research
Our bodies and cells work because of biochemical reactions occurring within them. For these chemical reactions to work and to work as efficiently as possible, they need a number of nutrients and cofactors—in the right concentration, balance, and form—to function optimally. To date, there has been a severe drought of basic nutritional research in determining what exactly are “optimal levels” of nutrients we as individuals should be striving to consume daily. For example, what are optimized levels of nutrients to maximize athletic performance and let us age healthily? And most importantly, what levels of nutrients do we need to consume daily as an individual to maintain health for as long as possible—our so-called “healthspan”?
This gap in the scientific literature is likely due to two major factors. First, is a general lack of funding for nutritional research, both from governmental agencies and the private sector. The lack of funding from many major governmental agencies is likely multifactorial and complicated, but whatever the reason, there simply has not been the dedication to funding nutritional research relative to other areas of study. In regards to the private sector, large-scale, long-term human clinical trials are very expensive. These clinical studies can cost millions of dollars per year to run. And because many of these studies would need to be run for five, 10, 15, 20, or more years, they simply become cost prohibitive for even the largest of corporations to fund solely out of revenues.
Second, many scientists have recently called into question whether the traditional scientific model of “randomized, placebo-controlled trials” (so-called RCTs) are the right method to conduct nutritional clinical studies. These RCTs work well in the pharmaceutical industry because the molecules they are experimentally testing are almost never found naturally within our bodies. Because many governments prohibit patenting natural compounds, the pharmaceutical industry must develop synthetic molecules to patent-protect their research investments. This makes pharmaceutical experimental methods much more straightforward and much easier to determine a direct cause-and-effect. Their potential new drug is either found in us or not; their potential new drug either has an effect or not. Because of this literal binary methodology, these studies are much more cost effective and direct conclusions easier to draw.
This is not the case with nutrition. When similar clinical studies are performed in humans, we will all have some baseline level of nutrients in our bodies simply because of the food we eat. Further compounding this fact, based on the specific diet each of us is eating, some of us will have relatively high levels of some nutrients, and others relatively low levels. This fact is almost never considered when designing nutritional studies. Taken together, nutritional experimental methods become much less straightforward. These differing baseline levels increase experimental error. Because experimental error can become high this makes determining a direct cause-and-effect of nutritional interventions on a specific health outcome much more difficult to conclude. Without proper experimental design, having massive numbers of test subjects, and proper statistical analyses, this core difference in pharmaceutical and nutritional research often explains many of the equivocal results published in the scientific literature.
Further compounding experimental design and the interpretation of results is that nutrients don’t work in isolation in any single biochemical/metabolic pathway. Within every given metabolic pathway within our cells, there will be a number of nutrients and cofactors facilitating the biochemical/metabolic reactions. Thus, experimentally testing one nutrient in the context of all the other nutrients needed in a metabolic pathway and measuring a health improvement is hopeful at best. Based on nutritional and biochemical/metabolic science, best practices would include experimentally administering all nutrients in a given biochemical/metabolic pathway where a specific health outcome is desired. This, however, goes against the hundreds-of-years-old “scientific method” every scientist is taught.
The scientific method states that only one experimental variable can be changed relative to the control or placebo group. In literally every case of nutrition as it relates to health and disease, this is simply a flawed approach. Proper nutritional and biochemical/metabolic practices would demand all known nutrients in a given metabolic pathway be experimentally administered to expect a health improvement. However, this practice not only goes against the scientific method but also compounds a clear cause-and-effect interpretation of results. While this fact is appreciated by many nutritional and biochemical/metabolic scientists, when applying for governmental research monies, any experimental design outside of the scientific method is generally considered “poorly designed” and often fails to receive funding.
Simply put, for significant innovation in nutrition to occur, there needs to be a renaissance in basic nutritional science. For that to happen, a dogma change in traditional nutritional experimental design has to occur. New experimental paradigms will also need to be developed to answer nutritional experimental questions. And this is exactly what some forward-thinking nutritional and biochemical/metabolic scientists are doing—looking for methodologies outside of the traditional scientific method to answer nutritional research questions. These scientists are taking a non-hypothesis driven, non-targeted approach to nutritional science. That is, giving many nutritional interventions simultaneously relative to a control group, measuring numerous biochemical and metabolic outcomes, and then reconstructing the data based on known biochemical and metabolic principles. While this is a costly, complicated, and time-consuming approach it is allowing these scientists to make strong relationships between multiple nutritional interventions and their effects on biochemical and metabolic pathways. In other words, they are letting the data tell the story and not forcing data into preconceived or biased hypotheses because of flawed experimental design. This is likely the approach nutritional scientists will need to take in the future.
Ultimately, increased research funding, a renewed resurgence and commitment to basic nutritional research, and improved and novel experimental designs constitutes a great innovation in nutritional science.
Conditionally essential and non-essential nutrients and cofactors
We clearly need essential nutrients to survive and be healthy. But a new aspect of nutrition that is increasingly being appreciated is what is known as “conditionally essential” nutrients. As mentioned above, the last essential vitamin (folic acid) was discovered in 1941. And while there have been some potential candidates of yet undiscovered essential nutrients such as pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ for short), ergothioneine, and others, the likelihood of finding another absolute essential vitamin is unlikely. However, what is likely to occur through increased nutritional research is the characterization of more and more conditionally essential nutrients and cofactors, including essential vitamins and minerals.
What are “conditionally essential nutrients and cofactors?” Unlike essential nutrients directly linked to diseases of nutritional deficiency, there is no direct link between conditionally essential nutrients and cofactors and diseases of nutritional deficiency. However, what we are talking about are potential sub-clinical deficiencies were no overt signs of disease are present but where metabolism and cellular function are compromised.
A nutrient or cofactor might become conditionally essential during different stages of our lives. For example, we know that as we get older our bodies don’t absorb minerals and some vitamins as efficiently as in our youth. Additionally, it has been shown that non-essential nutrients and cofactors such as lipoic acid and carnitine decrease with age. We know that many elite athletes and women of childbearing age tend to need more iron and many other nutrients to maximize oxygen carrying capacity and support the additional stresses of athletics and child rearing. We know that following an acute physical injury, vitamin D levels crash. We know that we put on the majority of our life-long bone mass before the age of 20 and so pound-for-pound (or kilo-for-kilo), children need more bone minerals than adults.
A better understanding of candidate nutrients and cofactors that may not be “essential” by the strict nutritional definition but that may lead to a subclinical and compromised cellular, tissue, or organ function is needed. Or alternatively, describing conditionally essential nutrients and cofactors that would deliver additional health benefits through increased levels of supplementation. Expanding research into characterizing conditionally essential nutrients and cofactors to better determine the exact dosages needed, at specific periods of time in the lifespan, would be a great innovation in nutrition.
Personalized nutrition
It has been proposed by some theoretical biologists that the odds of any one of us being born exactly like we are, at this specific point in time, and under these specific circumstances to be around 1:400,000,000,000 (yes, one out of 400 trillion). So by that definition, if there were 400 trillion people currently living on Earth, there might be someone who was exactly identical to you or me in every way. Since there are currently only seven billion people on Earth, the likelihood that any two of us are exactly identical is highly unlikely at best. Therefore, one could easily surmise that we all have individual, unique, and personalized nutritional requirements.
Historically speaking, governmental agencies have not taken this nuance into account. Many recommendations coming from various regulatory bodies have lumped all nutritional requirements into large, population-based groups. Only more recently have different “life stages” and nutritional requirements been appreciated: for example, how old we are, if we use tobacco, or if a woman is pregnant or breastfeeding.
To have useful innovation in nutrition, it will be paramount to understand what smaller and more defined populations’ specific nutritional needs are—and ultimately any given individual’s exact, specific nutritional requirements—to increase the efficacy of nutrition as it relates to promoting optimal health.
Cellular and molecular targeting of nutrients
It has long been appreciated that our cells contain extensive communication networks known as cell-signaling pathways. These cell-signaling pathways allow the cells to communicate what is happening within a single cell, to its neighboring cell, or to cells that may be long distances away.
The sole purpose of these cell-signaling pathways is to help a cell, tissue, or organ adapt and respond to its environment. How does this work? There are “sensor molecules” (usually proteins) that live both on the surface and inside all cells. Like a lock and key, when the right molecule (key) hits the right sensor (lock), you initiate a cell-signaling pathway and communication commences. Think of a chain of dominoes being knocked over. Once initiated, the cell signaling pathway will ultimately have a physiological effect on the cell, tissue, organ, or even the body’s entire physiology—either turning biological processes on or turning biological processes off.
Certain nutrients can work at the molecular level to target cell-signaling pathways and yield a health benefit. For example, the compounds found in dark chocolate or the seeds of grapes can help support cardiovascular health. Caffeine can mimic adrenaline and give us both heightened cognitive function and improved athletic performance. Certain nutrients from plants (phytonutrients) have been shown to activate our body’s own natural detoxification processes, while others act like non-steroidal, anti-inflammatories (so-called NSAIDS). This happens because nutrients are working at the molecular level to activate cell-signaling pathways. And nutritional scientists are now capitalizing on molecular targeting of natural compounds within a cell to elicit specific, healthful, and efficacious physiological effects.
Learning exactly which nutrients—and at what precise dosages—target specific cell-signaling pathways to yield health benefits is in its infancy, and it is ripe for innovation.
The “omics” revolution in nutrition
The so-called “omics revolution” has been trendy in science, especially the biological sciences. The phrase comes from the suffix of many subfields of biology such as genomics (the study of DNA), proteomics (the study of proteins and enzymes), microbiomics (the study of microorganisms that live in and on us) and metabolomics (the study of metabolism).
This “omics” trend is the result of a notion in biology known as “systems biology”—how all the individual systems are working within our bodies to make us who we are. This is taking a more computational or engineering approach to understanding biology: from looking at what is in our DNA and what it tells us about our propensity for a particular health outcome (genomics), to how our cells turn that DNA message into our cellular protein machinery (proteomics), to how all the mutualistic microorganisms that live in and on us interact with our environment and affect our physiology (microbiomics).
Systems biology’s promise was to look at the complex interplays within those systems to help us understand the complexity of biology. And while systems biology was meant to give us less of a reductionist approach to biology, it has failed to deliver fully on its promise. It turns out there are many systems within the cell, so studying a single system (genomics, proteomics, microbiomics, etc.) doesn’t give us the complete picture, much less the interplay among all of these individual systems. But if you believe that, biologically speaking, we are nothing more than a bag of biochemical reactions—and it is those biochemical reactions that make us who we are—there could be one “systems approach” that could give us tremendous insight and help us innovate in nutrition. That promise is metabolomics.
The promise of metabolomics
As mentioned above, metabolomics is the study of the biochemistry of our entire metabolism. The promise of metabolomics comes from the fact that it takes into account many, if not all, systems in systems biology. Hierarchically speaking, it is the one process that can take all potential variables into account, simultaneously, regardless of the DNA we inherited from our parents; regardless of how efficiently we turn that DNA into useful protein machinery for the cell; regardless of how our microbiome is affecting our physiology; and regardless of things we haven’t even talked about yet, such as how efficiently we absorb nutrients, our lifestyles, and the environment in which we live. All of these things directly or indirectly affect our cellular biochemical reactions, and metabolomics takes all of these—and more—into account.
The promise of metabolomics also comes from the fact that our specific cellular biochemistry has been known for a number of years; that is, literally, every metabolic pathway in our bodies has been mapped out—not just the major players and pathways, but also the minor pathways and “metabolites.” By having such well-defined cellular biochemistry that includes the biochemical reactants, the metabolic intermediates, and all the necessary enzymes, cofactors, vitamins, minerals, etc. needed to conduct this biochemistry, we can know if our metabolism is functioning optimally or might be perturbed. And because there are trillions of chemical reactions occurring at any given time within our body, we can literally get a minute-by-minute or even second-by-second snapshot of how our metabolism is running.
All that said, it is exactly this promise of metabolomics that has also been the very thing to hold it back. Many researchers have shied away from full-blown metabolomics because of its inherent complexity. To get a complete view of our “metabolome” (everything that makes up our metabolism), one would literally have to measure hundreds-of-thousands of metabolites, simultaneously, as often as possible, over a wide-range of scenarios, to get an accurate view. As you can imagine, that becomes exponentially complex very quickly.
But technology in this field is rapidly advancing. It is now possible to measure tens-of-thousands of metabolites experimentally with more being added literally every day. But this complexity would only exist in the initial basic metabolomics research. Once an accurate snapshot of the metabolome, over many lifestyle scenarios, was captured, it would be possible to utilize a few key metabolites to know exactly how our cells are functioning. And going back to nutrition, we could determine exactly what we needed to put in our bodies to keep those cells functioning as optimally as possible. What should I eat? Carbohydrates? Proteins? Fat? When? Am I nutrient deficient? What nutrients do I need? When? And at what dose? The level of granularity, specificity, and real-time feedback provided by metabolomics is its real promise.
Going back to our example of scurvy (the disease of vitamin C deficiency): the reason individuals’ teeth fall out, they bruise easily, and they usually die of a cardiovascular event (aneurysm or heart attack) is because vitamin C is required for collagen synthesis—the “molecular glue” that holds our cells and blood vessels together. In this example, utilizing metabolomics, if we could identify when collagen synthesis or some seemingly unrelated metabolite first begins to become compromised, we could intervene and recommend consuming vitamin C to get this metabolic pathway back on track. This metabolic compromise could be identified far before any clinical symptoms present themselves or even subclinical consequences would negatively affect the cell. And we could use similar examples for maximizing energy production, muscle synthesis, brain function, and markers of disease or health. Literally, every biological process could be optimized using metabolomics.
A better basic understanding of metabolomics and which key metabolites to use as markers of optimal nutritional status and health is the penultimate innovation in nutrition.
Medical devices, fitness trackers, breathalyzers, and optical scanners
There are currently a number of devices available on the market whereby consumers can measure a number of important health endpoints. In terms of currently accepted medical devices, they include instruments that measure blood pressure, pulse wave velocity, weight, body composition, blood lipids, cholesterol, C-reactive protein, body temperature, and blood glucose, to name a few.
The popularity of fitness trackers has exploded to a global multi-billion dollar industry. Clearly, there is a demand for devices that give real-time feedback on health measurements. The most popular fitness trackers tell us how many steps we’ve walked, how far we’ve run, how efficient our swim stroke was, what our cycling cadence and power output is, heart rate, calories burned, and how well we have slept.
In more recent years, there’s been a resurgence of non-invasive technologies where specific wavelengths of light are shone into human tissue to determine health endpoints, such as blood oxygen saturation, pulse, macular pigment density, skin health, hydration, and even the status of certain nutrients, and antioxidants, with blood glucose being the “Holy Grail” of “Big Pharma.” You are also probably familiar with breathalyzers that can determine our blood alcohol content. There has also been a resurgence of breathalyzers (measuring metabolites in our breath) to determine metabolic health or even outright disease states.
Where this industry has left us short is being able to couple all of the aforementioned endpoints, and others, into a single device to give us a comprehensive look into our health status. Merging all of these endpoints and technologies into a single device that could measure our nutritional and health status in real-time would be a huge innovation in nutrition.
Coupling medical devices to nutritional, medical, and metabolomics data
The final innovation that needs to occur in nutrition is taking the comprehensive medical device referenced above and coupling it to the latest scientific discoveries in nutrition, medicine, and metabolomics. Imagine the possibilities if you could hold a medical device up to your finger; maybe give a small drop of blood or shine a light into it, or blow through a tube to get an overall snapshot of what your metabolism (metabolome) looks like in real-time. You could then take that information and receive a recommendation of a nutrient you might be low in, a food you should eat, or if you need to exercise. Such a device would ensure we keep our metabolism and biochemistry working as efficiently as possible and almost literally in real-time. We could maximize athletic performance, optimize our health, and most importantly, maintain our healthspan for as long as possible.
Coupling cutting-edge nutritional breakthroughs, especially in the field of metabolomics, with a comprehensive, non-invasive medical device to give us an instantaneous snapshot of our metabolic health, and hence our overall health, is theultimate innovation in nutrition that will meaningfully affect human health.
Conclusion
The mid-1800s through the mid-1900s was the defining time in nutrition. Those 100 years set the tone for how we think about nutrition today—minimal amounts of nutrients treating diseases of nutritional deficiency. We need to change the current nutritional dogma from minimal amounts of nutrition to optimal levels of nutrition to promote optimal health. If meaningful innovation in nutrition is to occur, there must be a renewed emphasis and dedication to basic nutritional research, especially how nutrients work on the molecular level. New scientific methods applicable to nutrition must also be developed and accepted in the scientific community to take less of a reductionist approach to nutritional research and more of a systems—or engineering—approach. The systems approach that is the most promise in nutrition is metabolomics, and this is where the majority of nutritional research should occur. Applying novel, non-reductionists, untargeted, non-hypothesis driven research methodologies to metabolomics will create real innovation in nutrition. Once we achieve a relatively complete understanding of how nutrients both directly and indirectly affect our metabolism, can we couple this knowledge with existing medical devices and develop new ones. Together, this will turn basic research into usable and actionable information whereby any consumer can take deliberate action to ultimately increase their health span.
This is the promise of innovating in nutrition.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/lime-and-lemon.jpeg8201200staffstaff2017-04-18 04:00:562022-07-05 10:27:44Innovation in Nutrition
Get a Good Night’s Sleep with USANA® Pure Rest™ So You Can Rise and Shine
USANA® Pure Rest™
Give your body a boost of melatonin to help support your natural sleep-and-wake cycle.
Your life is full of demands. And showing up—physically, mentally, and emotionally—for whatever’s important in your day starts with getting enough sleep the night before. Not to mention that regularly getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night is essential for your overall health and well-being. If you sometimes need a little help drifting off at night, USANA® Pure Rest™ can help you get to sleep, so you can rise and shine the next morning.*
Pure Rest is a fast-acting melatonin supplement. It supports the body’s natural sleep-and-wake cycles by adding to your natural melatonin production at night. When taken at bedtime, Pure Rest supports the body’s natural circadian rhythms. They signal your body that it’s time to sleep. It’s especially helpful if your normal sleep schedule has been disturbed due to working odd hours or traveling and jet lag.* Pure Rest is not a sleeping pill. It’s non-habit forming. Simply take Pure Rest as part of your bedtime routine to help you get the sleep of your dreams every night.*
Sometimes, when life gets demanding, you just aren’t going to get enough sleep. And if you occasionally find yourself struggling to fall asleep, it’s time to take action.
Running on too few hours of sleep won’t just leave you tired, grumpy, and mentally foggy. Even one night of sleep deprivation may have mental and physical consequences for your daily well-being.
Unfortunately, if you’re in need of more pillow time, you’re not alone. Millions of people need more sleep. It’s become so common that it’s the new “normal.” But not getting enough sleep isn’t something you can relax about. It’s actually considered a growing, unmet health problem by the Institute of Medicine. And with good reason.
Sleep quality supports a number of aspects of health:
Restoring the body after daily stress and exposure to free radicals*
Immune function *
Tissue repair (including joints) and healthy muscle growth*
Fitness recovery*
Cardiovascular health*
Maintaining healthy blood glucose levels (as long as they’re already in the normal range)*
Getting enough quality sleep will not only help you feel energized and productive. It will also help undo some of the effects of daily wear and tear on your body and increase your odds of living a healthier life.*
The goal? The National Sleep Foundation suggests adults aim to regularly get 7-9 hours of sleep a night. This is based on a rigorous scientific review of studies that related sleep duration to health, performance, and safety. The panel of experts found that those who sleep, on average, less than six hours a night may experience greater impacts to their well-being than those who average seven to eight hours a night.*
Your sleep cycle is controlled by your internal biological clock, known as circadian rhythms. This 24-hour cycle regulates a number of bodily functions, including telling your body when it should be asleep and awake. Circadian rhythms are a natural process within your body, but they can be influenced by outside factors.
A number of things can disrupt your sleep cycle (or sleep quality):
Stress
Working night shifts
Traveling across time zones
Artificial lighting (including LED light bulbs and the blue light coming from your smart phone or other electronic devices)
Alcohol or drug consumption
Age (melatonin levels may naturally drop, and you’ll tend to experience more sleep disturbances)
Make regularly getting your ZZZ’s a priority. Daily exercise; limited use of electronic devices and light exposure before bed; and a comfortable, dark sleep environment can all help you get good quality sleep. You can also support a good snooze by giving your natural circadian rhythms added support with a boost of melatonin.
Support Your Sleep to Sustain Your Health with USANA Pure Rest
Melatonin is the key to getting to sleep. This naturally occurring hormone is produced primarily in the pineal gland in your brain. Regulating normal sleep-and-wake cycles is melatonin’s main job. During the day, your body doesn’t make melatonin. Then levels naturally start to rise in the evening. Melatonin levels remain elevated for most of the night, signaling to your body that it is time to sleep.
To boost melatonin from plant-based sources, try adding tomatoes, olives, walnuts, or strawberries to your diet. Or, you can add tryptophan, which is an essential amino acid that your body uses to make melatonin. Tryptophan is found in eggs, poultry, dairy products, chickpeas, and almonds.
Get truly reliable levels of melatonin to help mimic the activity of your natural, sleep-inducing hormone with USANA Pure Rest. Each sugar-free, orange-flavored tablet contains 2 milligrams (mg) of pure melatonin from non-animal sources. And the tablet is scored, so you can easily break it in half to adjust the dosage to fit your needs.*
Taken about an hour before bedtime, Pure Rest will help your melatonin levels increase gradually. As melatonin levels rise, you will become less alert, feel drowsy, and eventually fall asleep. It’s a healthy way to support sleep without experiencing harsh side effects. But you’ll want to take Pure Rest at least five hours before you need to wake up, to help ensure you’ll feel refreshed and focused the next day.*
If you’re worried about a lack of sleep ruining your vacation or making you groggy on a business trip, Pure Rest should be your travel companion. It may help reduce jet-lag when traveling, especially if you’re headed east or across two or more time zones. A dose of approximately 5 mg has been shown to be most effective when crossing many time zones.*
To all you night owls: Supplementing your melatonin with Pure Rest could be especially important if you are exposed to artificial light at night, while it’s dark outside. Light exposure can upset your circadian rhythms and suppress the natural release of melatonin. So, your body will think it’s still time to be productive and make it harder for you to sleep. Pure Rest can help sync your body with the natural light–dark cycle to support a more natural sleep pattern.*
Pure Rest also protects your health at the cellular level while it helps you sleep. Melatonin can act as a free-radical scavenger. Plus, it helps support your body’s own natural antioxidant enzymes. So, by defending against cell-damaging oxidative stress, Pure Rest offers even more benefits for the restorative processes your body undergoes while asleep.*
Adults take 1/2 to 2 dissolvable tablets, as needed, one hour before bedtime for relief of occasional sleeplessness.
Insomnia may be a symptom of serious underlying medical illness. Keep out of reach of children. Consult your physician if you are pregnant, nursing, taking a prescription drug, or have a medical condition. Do not drive or operate machinery when taking melatonin.
Ideal For
Adults who need help supporting their normal sleep-and-wake cycle
Travelers
Anyone who needs to reset his or her sleep schedule
Frequently Asked Questions About Pure Rest
Who should use Pure Rest?
Pure Rest is designed for adults interested in improving the quality of their sleep, as well as those who appreciate the link between quality sleep and overall health. Because melatonin production and sleep quality generally decline with age, melatonin supplements also tend to be popular with individuals over the age of 50.
A number of studies confirm melatonin as an effective way to address jet lag. As such, it is a popular choice for individuals who travel extensively.*
When should I take Pure Rest?
Don’t take it too early or it’ll make you fall asleep! Pure Rest will work most effectively if you take it about an hour before you go to bed. The orange-flavored tablet will dissolve in your mouth without water.
Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. Institute of Medicine Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research [Internet] [accessed 30 May 2018] Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19961/
Sleep is important for optimal physical and mental function to carry you through your day. Find out how sleep and health are connected. And learn the science of sleep.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
See the World Through Healthy Eyes with USANA Visionex® and Visionex DS*
USANA Visionex
Visionex DS
Focus on eye health with a vision-supporting supplement that delivers the nutrients your eyes need—vitamin C, zinc, lutein, and zeaxanthin.*
Your eyes are the window to the wonders of the world. So, don’t let exposure to the sun or screens dim your outlook. Focus on protecting your eye health and maintaining your vision with proper nutrition. Set your sights on the important nutrients found in USANA Visionex and Visionex DS.*
Ophthalmologists recommend a diet rich in fruits and vegetables to keep eyes in tip-top shape. And, many recommend adding an advanced eye-health supplement—with specific nutrients—to your daily routine. Visionex supplies nutrients your eyes need to stay sharp.
Visionex is loaded with vitamin C and zinc. It also delivers the phytonutrients lutein, zeaxanthin, and bilberry. Together, these ingredients support many aspects of health:*
Maintaining long-term eye health by fighting free-radical damage*
Acting as blue-light filters to help maintain good eye health and vision*
Aiding the brain through neural support and antioxidant activity*
Maintaining skin health by providing antioxidant defense and supporting collagen and surface lipids*
You can look out for your precious eyes with the nutritional support they require. The CellSentials will help provide a nutritional foundation for your overall health, which includes your eyes. And you can make maintaining healthy eyes a top priority by also including two tablets of Visionex in your daily supplement regimen. Or to get the same amount of lutein and zeaxanthin in only one tablet, try Visionex DS.*
To understand how Visionex can help maintain good eye health, you first need to understand how vision works. The brain and your nervous system also get involved, but it all starts with your eyes.*
The human eye detects radiation (or light) in a specific part of the spectrum—visible light. Then your eyes can form images of objects either directly in front of you, or as far as many miles away. They can even respond to a single particle of light.
This is possible because of the high concentration of sensory receptors found in the eye. In fact, your eyes contain over 70 percent of all sensory receptors in the body.
But your eye is only collecting and focusing light. Your brain translates the messages the eye perceives so you can see the world around you. To understand vision, you need to know how the eye, brain, and optic nerves work together to visually interpret your world.
Processing of visual information begins in the retina and macula in your eye. What you actually see is the light that strikes the retina—a light-sensitive layer of cells at the back of the eye. In the center of the retina is the macula. The lenses in your eyes focus light on the macula.
This focused light initiates cell-signaling pathways. These pathways transmit light information from the eyes, through the optic nerves, to the primary visual cortex of the brain. That processing center is located at the very back of your head. Ultimately, this process creates images that help you perceive the world around you.
The Central Nervous System and Blood Brain Barrier
Your eyes are considered part of the central nervous system (CNS), because many parts of the eye actually begin as brain tissue during early embryonic development. Additionally, it takes many nerves, along with your brain, to perceive the light your eyes take in as physical objects. The fact that the eyes are part of the CNS is important, because all structures of the central nervous system are protected by something known as the blood-brain barrier.
This barrier consists of a highly selective, semi-permeable membrane that separates the circulating blood from the fluids and structures of the CNS. The blood-brain barrier is formed by especially tight connections between the cells that line blood vessels in and around the central nervous system.
The barrier protects these very delicate structures. To do so, it allows only a few select molecules, nutrients, and chemicals to pass. Not all nutrients make it through to the CNS. Thus, to get nutrients into the eye, you must selectively target compounds known to cross the blood-brain barrier.
To do their part in vision, your eyes depend on many nutrients to help you see the world around you. Take a look at some supplied by Visionex:
Vitamin C: This powerful antioxidant and essential nutrient is found in fruits and vegetables. It supports healthy capillaries, gums, teeth, and cartilage. Vitamin C can be found in virtually every cell in the body, and its concentration is significantly higher in the retina than in the blood. Since the human body does not make vitamin C, it must be consumed as part of the diet.*
Zinc: As an essential trace mineral, zinc is necessary for many aspects of health. And it’s found in high concentrations in the eye. It plays a critical role in transporting vitamin A to the retina. Zinc deficiency has been linked to poor night vision. This mineral appears to provide antioxidant protection and promote good visual acuity.*
Lutein & Zeaxanthin: These two carotenoids are selectively transported across the blood-brain barrier and deposited in the macula of the eye. They serve as antioxidants, which help to neutralize free radicals and reduce oxidative stress. Additionally, they help filter out high-energy blue light to support visual acuity.*
Bilberry Extract: The bilberry fruit is rich in antioxidants called anthocyanosides. Bilberry has also been shown to help maintain healthy capillaries, including those in the eye. Healthy capillaries are important because they deliver nutrients to eye tissue. The eyes need plenty of nutrition because vision churns through a lot of energy.*
Visionex harnesses the free-radical-fighting and vision-supporting benefits of these nutrients. And puts them to work for you. By armoring yourself with supportive nutrition, you will continue to support healthy vision and eyes.*
Visionex Works to Make You the Picture of Ocular Health*
The eye (especially the macula) is prone to photo- and oxidative-damage. This comes from multiple sources:
Natural sunlight
Artificial light from certain types of light bulbs or from computer screens and mobile phones
Exposure to environmental pollutants
Oxidants produced as a result of the high metabolic rate of the eye
Over time, these insults add up and there can be a general decline in visual acuity as you age.
A top concern are the damaging rays from the sun that enter the eye. Just like sunlight (ultraviolet radiation, to be specific) can burn and damage your skin, these same rays can damage structures of the eye.
This is an interesting dilemma for the eyes to balance. On one hand, eyes need to let light in so you can see. But on the other hand, they have to minimize how much light comes in to help protect against damage. To help combat the harmful effects of light, eyes developed an interesting mechanism—concentrating specific protective nutrients.
Some of these nutrients include vitamin C, zinc, lutein, zeaxanthin, and the flavonoid bilberry. Flavonoids, which are a type of plant compound, and vitamin C help promote healthy blood vessels to ensure nutrient delivery. Vitamin C and zinc work together to provide antioxidant protection. Zinc additionally helps to transport vitamin A, an essential nutrient for vision, into the eye. *
The central portion of the macula contains a dense, yellow pigment called macular pigment. This helps protect the sensitive light receptors in the macula from the potentially harmful effects of high-intensity, shorter wavelengths of light (also referred to as blue light). The nutrients that make up this macular pigment are carotenoids, including lutein and zeaxanthin.
A Quick Guide to Carotenoids
Carotenoids make up a very large family of over 750 naturally-occurring plant pigments. They are the compounds in fruits and vegetables that tend to give them their red, orange, and yellow color. With all the different carotenoids found in nature, the eye has developed the ability to specifically and selectively concentrate lutein and zeaxanthin in the eye, specific neurons involved in vision, and certain regions of the brain. Together with these other nutrients, the eye is well equipped to cope with daily stresses.
Because your body cannot make lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin C, zinc, and bilberry, they must be obtained from the diet or a nutritional supplement. Research has shown that levels of these eye-protecting nutrients correlate to the amount you consume. So, levels of these nutrients increase in a few days and continue to increase as long as they are being consumed. Unfortunately, once consumption of these nutrients stops, levels begin to decline as rapidly as they increased. Therefore, it is important to consistently eat a healthy diet and take a nutritional supplement that supports eye health.*
As you age, macular pigment density tends to decline. Research over the past twenty years has been geared toward understanding how this age-related decrease is related to nutrition. Now scientists have a better understanding of how nutrition helps support vision and maintain long-term eye health.*
The first AREDS research (Age-Related Eye Disease Study) was sponsored by the National Eye Institute. Previous studies linked eye health and nutrition, but AREDS sought to more deeply explore the potential connection.
For study participants, the tie between eye health and a daily recommended intake of nutrients like vitamin C, zinc, lutein, and zeaxanthin was strong. The results of the first AREDS confirmed the link between nutrition and eye health. And additional studies support the findings.*
The formula of Visionex is no accident—it’s based on solid science, including AREDS. Vitamin C, zinc, lutein, and zeaxanthin can help lighten the load of ocular burdens. They reinforce the health of macular pigment to protect your eyes from damaging sunlight. And as antioxidants, they maintain your eyesight by defending against oxidative damage to the delicate tissues of the eye caused by light.*
Along with Visionex, eating a healthy diet and practicing eye-protective habits can help your eyes stay healthy, even as you age. That means avoiding direct exposure to the sun by wearing sunglasses. You should also take regular breaks from computer and smartphone screens.
Keep Your Vision Sharp Through the Power of Visionex*
Your eyes guide you through your world, so their health can have a noticeable impact on your life. Healthy eyes ensure high visual performance across situations like driving a car or playing sports.
Since time in front of computer screens and cell phones is on the rise, it is necessary to protect your eyes from stress and fatigue. You want your eyes to perform well while you are working. But you also need them to be on top of their game when you get behind the wheel or step onto the field.
Scientific research has shown that nutritional interventions (like dietary supplementation) can help support visual performance.
A 2005 study put this theory to the test with 40 young, healthy subjects (average age of 23.9 years). They were assigned to receive daily supplements of lutein (10 mg) and zeaxanthin (2 mg) for six months. The subjects’ eyes were then tested for the effects of glare as experienced in everyday situations. That included being outdoors on bright days, lengthy sessions of computer time, and nighttime exposure to oncoming headlights.
Following the six months of supplementation, the participants saw positive impacts on macular pigment optical density (MPOD) when compared to average values at the beginning of the study. MPOD levels have been linked with visual acuity. After testing the subjects for their performance on visual tasks, researchers concluded that four to six months of lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation supports visual performance in high-glare situations.
Supplementation with the lutein and zeaxanthin in Visionex can help preserve visual function. Use of these important carotenoids has a number of benefits:*
Sustains tolerance to and recovery from exposure to bright light*
Supports visual acuity in low-light or hazy conditions*
Can help maintain healthy vision by making edges appear clearer*
Reboot your eye health with the nutrients found in Visionex. The lutein and zeaxanthin in USANA’s eye supplement helps support the blue light-filtering power of the macula and provides antioxidants to fight off oxidative damage.*
The benefits of Visionex extend beyond your eyes. That’s because lutein and zeaxanthin can cross the blood-brain barrier. So, after these carotenoids are deposited in the macula, they also have work to do supporting healthy brain function.*
What accounts for the cognitive effects? Your brain puts lutein and zeaxanthin to use helping to optimize the speed and efficiency of sending messages in your brain.*
The first way this may work is supporting the speed at which signals are sent down a neuron. This could be the result of the antioxidant properties of lutein and zeaxanthin shuttling electrons and other signals along the neuron.*
The second possibility is that lutein and zeaxanthin support specific cell-signaling pathways. These pathways turn on the gene responsible for holding neurons tightly against each other at connections called tight junctions. Think of these as the glue that keeps cells in close contact. More glue means a strong, tight connection.*
Why would this connection be important? Neurons need to send messages down the length of their cells, as well as between cells. The tighter the connections, the more efficiently the signal is sent and received. Supporting signaling efficiency equals optimal cellular communication.*
Increasing the amount of this cellular glue may help the brain form new connections and cell-signaling pathways. Both are very important for learning and memory.*
Because it supports the brain’s ability to send and receive messages, Visionex is an excellent companion product to CopaPrime+, which uses USANA InCelligence Technology™ to support peak cognitive function.*
Research has shown high levels of circulating carotenoids, specifically lutein and zeaxanthin, support many brain functions. They include the following:*
Lutein and zeaxanthin also offer benefits for supporting your skin’s healthy appearance. They do this by increasing surface lipids (fats) and enhancing natural antioxidant activity. By concentrating in the skin, they help provide protection from light to reduce the visible effects of the sun.
By promoting lipid production, lutein and zeaxanthin foster healthy cell growth. Skin cells are some of the fastest growing cells in the body. So, they need the support of nutrients like lutein and zeaxanthin to guard your body with a beautiful and protective outer layer.*
The vitamin C in Visionex acts as an antioxidant and also supports the synthesis of collagen, which is an important structural protein in the skin.*
The antioxidants in Visionex help protect skin from a dry or prematurely wrinkled appearance that could be caused by environmental exposure. When paired with a broad-spectrum sunscreen applied to the skin to defend against the effects of the sun, Visionex can help maintain your healthy glow from the inside.*
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Take a Deep Dive on the Body and Brain Benefits of USANA® BiOmega™
USANA® BiOmega™
Concentrated omega-3 fats from fish oil plus vitamin D support your heart, brain, eyes and more, starting at the source of health—your cells.
Get the beneficial fats your body and brain need to be at their best with USANA® BiOmega™. No healthy nutritional program is complete without a high-quality source of omega-3s. These fatty acids work to keep you healthy from before birth through your senior years. And your body can’t make many omega-3s on its own. So, eating fatty fish a couple times a week is one way to boost your intake. But adding USANA BiOmega every day makes it easy to get plenty of omega-3s in your diet.*
BiOmega is made with a concentrated dose of premium quality, purified fish oil to deliver a multitude of benefits for your daily wellness. Thousands of studies have shown omega-3s help support several aspects of health:*
Cellular function
Balanced immune response
Cardiovascular health
Brain and nerve activity
Eye health
Healthy pregnancies
Joint and exercise recovery
Plus, research continues to reveal benefits for omega-3 supplementation, including liver and breast health. And that’s not all. This multitasking supplement is fortified with vitamin D for even more support for your cells—where great health starts.*
Beyond the added vitamin D, the key to BiOmega’s effectiveness is the amount of long-chain EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) it contains. Both EPA and DHA have been extensively studied and found to provide different, important actions in the body. And the long-chain forms of omega-3s are more potent than other, short-chain fatty acids. This means you don’t have to consume as much to get all the great health benefits.*
What are long- and short-chain fatty acids?
Fatty acids are the main component of lipids (fats) in your body. They are made up of carbon atom chains (with some other molecules, too). The carbon chains have different lengths. They’re referred to as long, medium, or short based on the number of carbons they have. Fatty acids are considered short-chain if they have one to six carbons, medium if they have seven to 12, and long-chain with more than 12.
These individual fatty acids serve different purposes in the body based on their chain length. Alpha-linoleic acid is a short-chain fatty acid that can be converted to long-chain fatty acids, like DHA, in the body. However, the process isn’t as efficient as eating DHA or EPA directly. It’s still healthy. You just need to consume more ALA to get the same benefit. This is why getting it already formed in a long chain through the diet is helpful for meeting your body’s nutritional demands.*
BiOmega offers one of the most concentrated doses of EPA and DHA you can find. It’s made from responsibly sourced, cold-water, deep-sea fish. Plus, it’s flavored with lemon oil to help minimize any fishy aftertaste. (Taking your supplement with a meal should also help reduce any aftertaste issues.) All of this adds up to making BiOmega a great catch for supporting your whole-body health.*
Fats are an essential part of your diet. However, you should limit unhealthy fat intake and focus on consuming the right kinds of fats.
The fats you should limit are saturated and trans-fats. Saturated fats are found in red meat, milk, butter, and cheese. They are not as harmful as trans fats but should be eaten in moderation. Trans-fatty acids (found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils) are even more harmful to your health. Try to avoid them, or at least limit them, in your diet. These are fats that are solid at room temperature. They promote an increase in low-density lipoproteins (LDL–the bad cholesterol) and the formation of artery-clogging fatty deposits.
The good guys are monounsaturated fats found in vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, and seeds. That’s because they don’t promote arterial fat deposits. And polyunsaturated fatty acids—especially omega-6 and omega-3—are the most beneficial to overall health.*
Omega-6 fatty acids are found in poultry, leafy greens, eggs, nuts, grains, and vegetable oils.
There are many types of omega-3s, but the three you hear about most are alpha-linoleic acid, EPA, and DHA. Flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts are plant-based sources of alpha-linoleic acid, which converts to EPA and DHA in the body. You can get EPA and DHA omega-3s directly from food sources, like fatty fish—salmon mackerel, tuna, sardines, and anchovies—or krill oil.
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids compete for the same enzymes that trigger production of eicosanoids in your body (more on this below). And, it’s important that you have a good balance of each to make sure you get the benefits of both.*
Many experts believe a 1:1 ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 is ideal. But a 4:1 ratio is a good target for most people for overall health. However, average diets often contain significantly more omega-6 fatty acids, because they’re found in many processed foods. It’s not uncommon to see ratios of 16:1 (or higher) of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.*
This means omega-6s could be blocking the benefits of the omega-3s in your diet. And omega-3s may not be present to counteract an excess of omega-6s, which could have a negative impact on your health.*
Unfortunately, this imbalance is common. Despite the clear health benefits associated with omega-3 fatty acids, dietary surveys indicate up to 90 percent of people simply don’t get enough from their diet. Most individuals only consume 30-100 mg of EPA/DHA daily, falling far below the recommended amounts of between 250 mg to 2 grams of EPA/DHA per day.
Eating fatty fish is one way to increase your omega-3 intake. It’s recommended to consume at least two, six-ounce pieces of fatty fish every week to meet expert recommendations.
BiOmega is a great solution if you can’t or don’t want to eat that much fish—because of food preferences or concerns over toxins associated with certain types of fish. Mercury or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs—organic chlorine compounds) are usually the biggest concerns. Supplementing with quality fish oil is a safe and effective way to increase your omega-3 levels and help maintain a proper balance. And you can feel good about supporting your health without the fear of contamination that can come from eating certain types of whole fish.*
There’s Nothing Fishy About the Quality of USANA BiOmega Fish Oil
BiOmega is a whole-body oil (not a liver oil) made from anchovies and sardines—small fish with short lifespans. These fish are naturally much lower in contaminants than larger fish species, like swordfish and king mackerel. They also come from regulated sources to ensure quality. In fact, the raw material (pre-refining) oils used in BiOmega are already lower in PCBs than established guidelines for finished products.
The oil is concentrated and refined using fractional distillation. In other words, the chemical compounds are separated at different boiling points. This molecular distillation process removes impurities and any trans-fatty acids, leaving only the key beneficial components behind. The finished oil is tested once again for heavy metals and other contaminants to ensure it meets tough purity standards.
The fish oil comes from byproducts of fishmeal and canning industries. No fish are caught exclusively for the production of the oil. And any waste products are turned into biofuel to help power the production facility in Nova Scotia.
BiOmega works to protect your good health at the most basic level—your cells. Let’s start by looking at how omega-3 fatty acids play a key role in cellular structure.
All of the cells in your body are enclosed in a plasma membrane. The fatty acids from your diet are incorporated into your cellular membranes to form a phospholipid bilayer (phospholipids are fatty acids combined with a phosphate). The membrane acts as a selective barrier—keeping things out or letting them in. It’s a gatekeeper that regulates the water, oxygen, nutrients, and other compounds that can cross the lipid barrier. Proteins in your cellular membrane are also how your cells send and receive communication signals.*
Because your cellular membranes are made up of the fatty acids from your diet, their rigidity or fluidity are directly impacted by what you eat. Rigid cell membranes don’t do you any favors. Stiff cells make it harder for the things your cells need to thrive to get in or out.
Ensuring the fluidity of cell membranes requires maintaining the right balance of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. If you consume too many saturated fatty acids, which are more rigid, your cell membranes might be rigid, too. Omega-3s, especially DHA, are one of the key structural fats you can consume to help maintain the fluid, healthy function of your cell membranes.*
Beyond being part of the structure of your cells, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids serve many functions in your body. They are needed to produce a family of compounds called eicosanoids (prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes). These compounds are hormone-like substances that control many naturally occurring processes in your body, including vascular contraction and relaxation as well as blood clotting.*
With eicosanoids, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. If there’s excessive arachidonic acid—an omega-6 fatty acid—in your cellular membranes, the result can be an overproduction of eicosanoids. This, in turn, may eventually lead to tissue damage.
Maintaining a good ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in your cells acts like a check-and-balance system. Having enough omega-3s helps control the amount and types of eicosanoids made to help keep your cellular activities normal and balanced. Some of these activities can include promoting healthy immune function and responses to stress.*
Other than influencing eicosanoids, omega-3s also support healthy cell signaling and normal gene expression.*
Similarly, the vitamin D in BiOmega partners with the omega-3s to support cell health. There are vitamin D receptors on virtually every cell in your body. This fact illustrates how important vitamin D is for the health and function of your entire body. But the overwhelming majority of people are deficient in this vital nutrient, too. BiOmega gives you an added boost to help you get enough every day.*
The nutrients in BiOmega are vital for supporting many aspects of your health. That’s because they have a broad impact on your physiological function at the most fundamental level. *
BiOmega Works at the Heart of Cardiovascular Health
Fatty fish has long been a staple of the heart-healthy Mediterranean and DASH diets. And for good reason. Omega-3s and fish oil are swimming in benefits for cardiovascular health. Those benefits have been verified in a number of large-scale epidemiological studies and randomized, controlled studies.
How much do you need to get the cardiovascular benefits? The American Heart Association recommends two servings of fatty fish per week, supplementing with fish oil if needed. The Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s (GOED) suggests omega-3 intakes of 500 to 1000 mg per day. And some studies have shown advantages at even higher intakes.*
The concentrated levels of EPA and DHA in BiOmega were designed with your heart health in mind. How does BiOmega love your heart? Let’s count the ways:*
Supportive, but not conclusive research, shows that consumption of EPA and DHA may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. One serving of BiOmega provides 1050mg of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids. [See nutrition information for total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol content].*
EPA and DHA help maintain healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL—the good cholesterol) and triglyceride (a type of fat) levels in plasma, which are important for supporting healthy arterial function and blood flow.*
Your brain is your body’s master organ. It controls everything from breathing and balance to memory and mood. Good nutrition plays a significant role in maintaining overall brain health. You can feed your brain the beneficial fats it’s hungry for with BiOmega.*
Omega-3 fatty acids are a major component of your brain cells’ membranes. This makes omega-3s integral to your brain and central nervous system’s development, structure, and function. Healthy, fluid cell membranes help make sure chemical messages are sent and received by your neurons. This process is vital for cell communication, and it impacts learning, memory, and other complex cognitive processes.*
DHA is the major omega-3 fatty acid found in the brain. So, maintaining adequate levels helps support many brain functions, including normal enzyme and electrical activity as well as neurotransmission. This becomes especially important in your senior years. Lower levels of DHA have been associated with reduced brain volumes in older adults.*
Your brain isn’t the only place with a lot of DHA. It also supports your eye health by naturally concentrating in the retina. This light-sensitive part of your eyeball sends optic signals to the brain, where a visual image is formed. DHA protects eye cells, supports the fluidity of photoreceptor membranes, and helps preserve retinal integrity. *
Further, DHA can help keep that healthy glisten in your eyes. It lubricates your eye to preserve normal vision and eye comfort. It does this by supporting the activity of a gland in your eyes that produces the oily part of tears.*
Some of the omega-3 benefits already discussed for heart health may play a role in your eyes, too. Your eyes contain tiny blood vessels. And by supporting vascular health, omega-3s in BiOmega can also help protect healthy eye function.*
Omega-3s Support Healthy Pregnancy and Healthy Babies
BiOmega should be a key part of your daily diet if you are expecting, may become pregnant, or are breastfeeding. A quality prenatal vitamin, like Prenatal CellSentials, gives you the important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants you need. BiOmega delivers the omega-3s that will help support a healthy pregnancy, a stable mood after delivery, and normal fetal growth and development.*
Why supplement? It is almost impossible to get the increased levels of DHA and EPA needed during pregnancy from diet alone. And many mothers wisely avoid seafood during pregnancy and breastfeeding because of concerns about contaminants. That’s a significant impact to omega-3 intakes. A supplement can help you get the adequate amounts of DHA and EPA you need without any pollutant concerns.*
BiOmega fish oil can help give your baby a smart start in life. DHA is one of the dominant fats in the nerve cells of fetal and infant brains. Observational studies have found that omega-3 fatty acid consumption during pregnancy is associated with many different aspects of cognitive development in the child. All of the following have been related to omega-3 intake levels during pregnancy:*
Visual recognition/memory
Verbal intelligence
Behavior
IQ
Fine motor skills
Social skills
Communication skills
Your baby’s need for healthy fats doesn’t end at birth. Continued omega-3 supplementation during breastfeeding has been shown to further support cognitive development.*
Omega-3s also help support healthy development of the eyes and visual system. Neural phospholipid membranes selectively concentrate DHA in photoreceptors and some cell-signaling sites. The retina selectively incorporates EPA to support eye fluidity. Some research has shown that if a mother has insufficient DHA during pregnancy, her infant may have below average visual acuity at 60 days of age.*
Prenatal consumption of omega-3 fatty acids has also shown benefits for healthy childhood lung function.*
In addition to the developmental benefits listed above, EPA and DHA are also important components for overall health in young children, adolescents, and young adults. Infant formulas with added DHA can further support development of your baby’s brain. And children over age four can start omega-3 supplementation with USANA BiOmega Jr. through adolescence.*
Nutritional skincare plays a role in the appearance of your skin. You can help a healthy-looking complexion by adding BiOmega to your daily beauty routine.
Deficiency in essential fatty acids can cause skin to become dry and lose its luster. While omega-3s are not the major fatty acids in the skin, dietary supplements can ensure you have the sufficient levels needed to help maintain skin’s barrier function. Of course, you’ll still want to use smart sun protection, too.*
You exercise to keep your body fit. BiOmega can help you do even more to achieve your fitness goals. Research has shown combining fish oil intake with regular exercise is more supportive than exercise alone. This is especially true for helping to maintain a healthy weight and body fat, as well as supporting metabolic health.*
BiOmega can also help your body recover from the impact of exercise, so you can keep going strong. Fish oil supports joint function and helps maintain the health of the articular cartilage that covers the end of your bones, where they come together. After a workout, the nutrients in BiOmega may help reduce muscle soreness. Plus, they help support strong, healthy bones. Omega-3 supplements can also help support the body’s normal, healthy inflammatory response from exercise and everyday activities.*
What is the difference between BiOmega and BiOmega Jr.™?
USANA’s BiOmega supplement is a fish oil supplement that contains a balanced, concentrated source of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids including EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) in a convenient capsule form.
USANA’s BiOmega Jr. is a fish oil supplement that delivers appropriate amounts of the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and vitamin D, in a delectable, sugar-free, flavored gel format that is friendly for kids or adults who have a hard time swallowing capsules.
How much EPA and DHA are in BiOmega?
Each serving (2 capsules) of BiOmega has 1200 mg total of omega-3 fatty acids. Of which 580 mg are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 470 mg are docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
Can BiOmega™ be used during pregnancy and lactation?
Research has clearly shown that essential fatty acids are important for developing babies, and many women don’t get enough from diet alone. During pregnancy, omega-3 fatty acids, particularly DHA, support brain, eye, and nerve development, especially during the last trimester.*
How is BiOmega purified?
BiOmega™ is purified using high vacuum molecular distillation. (We actually distil the product twice to ensure a maximum level of purity.)
Molecular distillation removes impurities (heavy metals, dioxides, etc.), saturated fats, and other undesirable organic compounds, leaving only the key beneficial components of the fish oil. Molecular distillation is gentle with exceptionally low heat residence time and is performed in a vacuum to further reduce heat requirement. Additionally, the BiOmega is a whole-body oil (not a liver oil) made from wild caught anchovies and sardines – small fish with short lifespans which are naturally much lower in contaminants than larger fish (such as salmon, tuna, etc.)
Does BiOmega contain trans fat?
All of USANA’s products, including BiOmega, are completely free of trans-fatty acids.
Does BiOmega contain vitamin A?
No, BiOmega does not contain vitamin A. Unless added by the manufacturer, only fish oil supplements specifically made from fish liver (such as cod liver oil) will contain vitamin A.
Can I remove the liquid from the BiOmega capsules?
A primary concern with opening BiOmega capsules is the difficulty involved in emptying the capsule completely, which may reduce the amount of active ingredients received. (Also, it can be difficult to mask the taste of extracted fish oil.)
Assuming taste isn’t a concern and the capsule can be emptied completely, there shouldn’t be a problem with consuming BiOmega this way. Just be sure to use the liquid immediately, as it was not designed to be exposed to air.
What fish species are used to make BiOmega™?
BiOmega™ is a whole-body oil (not a liver oil) made from anchovies and sardines – small fish with short life spans which are naturally much lower in contaminants than larger fish (such as salmon, tuna, etc.). In fact, the raw material (pre-refining) oils used in BiOmega are already lower in PCBs than established guidelines for finished products. It is then purified using a process called high vacuum molecular distillation (twice) and the finished product is tested again for heavy metals and other contaminants.
Why doesn’t BiOmega contain omega-6 or omega-9 fatty acids?
Fish oil typically contains minimal amounts of omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids. If a company were to add dietary significant amounts of these nutrients to a fish oil supplement, the size and/or number of capsules would have to be increased.
In addition, omega-6 fatty acids tend to be more prevalent in the diet than omega-3’s, and while omega-9 fatty acids are beneficial and healthy they are not considered “essential” (since the human body is capable of synthesizing them).
How do I eliminate the fishy aftertaste associated with fish oil supplements?
Lemon oil is added to BiOmega to help reduce the potential for fishy aftertaste.
If you still find the taste bothersome, try taking BiOmega with a meal.
What is the caloric content of BiOmega?
10 calories per capsule, 20 calories per daily dose
Does BiOmega™ contain gluten?
USANA tablets and capsules do not contain wheat, oats, rye, barley, or gluten.
For individuals with a specific allergy to fatty fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, anchovies), BiOmega would not generally be recommended except on the advice of a physician.
For individuals with shellfish-specific allergies (e.g. shrimp, crab, lobster), BiOmega should not be a problem as it does not contain any shellfish ingredients.
An overview of the chemical nature of dietary fats and their role in nutrition. Discover the difference between fat types and their place in your diet.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Healthy Brains and Bodies Get a Smart Start with USANA® BiOmega Jr.™
BiOmega Jr.
Make it fun for your little one to get a healthy squeeze of omega-3s from fish oil, plus vitamin D in a tasty orange-pineapple gel.
In parenting, sometimes you have to pick your battles. You know it’s important for your child to get a full range of nutrients to grow up healthy. But that can seem like an insurmountable task when getting kids to eat something—anything—resembling real food is challenging. Never mind sitting down for a healthy fish dinner! USANA BiOmega Jr. can help save your sanity and stop the table-time tantrums (well, maybe some of them). Give your little one the benefits of the good fats from fish without the fight. BiOmega Jr. is a tasty, tropical-flavored omega-3 plus vitamin D supplement they will actually look forward to.
The healthy amount of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil in BiOmega Jr. won’t leave a fishy aftertaste. This will make it easier to ensure your child gets the important omega-3 fats—especially DHA, EPA—along with a boost of the vitamin D they need to help support:
Healthy growth and development*
Healthy brain function*
BiOmega Jr.comes in convenient single-serving packets. So, it can easily be used by children 4-years and older, teens, and adults who have difficulty swallowing tablets and capsules. The orange-pineapple flavored gel hides the fishy flavor, and it can be eaten straight from the packet (best served chilled). Or you can add it to creamy, cool foods, like yogurt or smoothies.
Help support your child’s healthy mind and body with an omega-3 supplement that isn’t full of added sugar. They’ll look forward to having BiOmega Jr. as a treat, every other day. And when you pair BiOmega Jr. with Usanimals™, you’ll feel great knowing you’ve met many of their important nutritional needs. Even if the rest of their diet that day is less than ideal.*
BiOmega Jr. Reels In a Healthy Dose of Beneficial Fats from Fish
Nutrition is key to getting a child off to a healthy start. You may think of a multivitamin to provide vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. But don’t forget the importance of a balanced diet that also includes the right kind of fats.
Fats are an essential part of any child’s diet. And, limiting unhealthy fats, while also encouraging consumption of healthy ones, is the key to setting a solid foundation of good nutrition for life.
Unfortunately, many children prefer to overeat foods that contain only saturated or trans-fats, like meat, milk, and cheese. Consuming too much of these types of fat isn’t beneficial for your child’s health.
Monounsaturated fats found in plant foods and polyunsaturated fatty acids, like omega-3 fatty acids, are great additions to their diet. Some of the most beneficial and well-studied fats for health are omega-3s, especially EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).
USANA’s BiOmega Jr. can help you add a highly bioavailable source of omega-3s to your child’s diet. The emulsion delivers a concentrated amount of ultra-refined, sustainably sourced fish oil in a tasty orange-pineapple flavored gel. Each packet provides 650 milligrams (mg) of total omega-3s, containing 350 mg of EPA and 230 mg of DHA. BiOmega Jr. is also an excellent source of vitamin D3. Together, these ingredients can help support your child’s healthy growth and development.*
Why is an Omega-3 Supplement Important for Kids?
A growing body of research shows the importance of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids for overall health, even at the earliest stages of life. Because it’s well known how important these vital nutrients are, pregnant women and new mothers often supplement their diets. And most infant formula is now fortified with omega-3s to help support a baby’s growing brain and body in the first years of life.*
But when a child transitions to eating solid foods, the amount of omega-3s in their diet may drop dramatically and stay low throughout childhood. And, not surprisingly, reports suggest this is indeed the case: nearly 80 percent of children in North America don’t get enough omega-3s in their diet. This shortage appears to be common in children outside of North America, as well. Most also fall short on vitamin D consumption.
The best way to maintain optimal levels of omega-3s in the body is to get them directly from the diet. So, to help make sure your child gets a healthy amount of these beneficial fats, start by encouraging them to eat these sources of omega-3s regularly:
Salmon, wild tuna, mackerel, sardines, herring, and other fish (unfortunately, most breaded fish sticks don’t have nearly as much omega-3s in them)
Seeds (chia, flax), edamame, and nuts (walnuts)
Fortified foods, such as eggs, juice, or yogurt
Fortified foods and fatty fish, eggs, and yogurt can also be sources of vitamin D. The amounts are often low, though. So, a supplement is a great solution to provide your child with more vitamin D, as well.
You can also give a packet of BiOmega Jr. to your child every other day, especially if they’re finicky and won’t eat many of the foods listed above. It’s a stress-free way to make sure their growing body will have the good fats and vitamin D it needs to support normal growth and development.*
Catch the Benefits of BiOmega Jr. for a Growing Body
Developing a healthy body early in life can have long-term, positive benefits into adulthood. And your child’s development and overall health need adequate intakes of omega-3 fatty acids, including EPA and DHA, as well as vitamin D to support the healthy function of many different parts of the body:*
Omega-3 fatty acids support so many different aspects of health because of their central role in the body. They help keep cells healthy and functioning properly. They do this by absorbing into cellular membranes to keep them fluid and permeable (so substances can pass into and out of them).
Fluid cellular membranes are important for many reasons. One is helping cells readily absorb nutrients from your child’s diet to fuel various processes they need to perform. This includes building more cells that will be needed as your child’s body grows. This makes BiOmega Jr. a great way to ensure your child’s cells can optimally absorb nutrients from the foods they eat.*
Omega-3s are also vital for the production of important signaling molecules, which are messengers that carry information. These molecules—known as eicosanoids—are needed to direct many biochemical processes and interactions between cells. Eicosanoids influence healthy function of the muscles, circulatory system, immune system, digestive system, and more.*
Vitamin D is also important for the healthy function of virtually every cell in your child’s body. There are vitamin D receptors on most tissue cells, including those in their muscles, skin, nervous system, and thyroid. And, of course, vitamin D is key in supporting the development of strong healthy bones and teeth by supporting proper calcium use by the body. This makes vitamin D equally essential as omega-3s for a growing body.*
BiOmega Jr. Helps Feed a Growing Brain for a Smart Start
Children learn more quickly during their early years than at any other time. It’s when they learn the skills and behaviors that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. This means supporting a healthy brain is important for establishing a smart start for your child’s future.*
Over half of the brain is fat. And DHA is the most concentrated polyunsaturated fat in the brain, eyes, and nervous system. So, by feeding your child’s body the DHA it needs, BiOmega Jr. helps support the proper structure and function of their developing brain.*
This structural support of brain cells helps them can relay information, and may help support many aspects of cognitive development:*
The omega-3s in BiOmega Jr. are needed throughout the brain to support good communication between cells. In fact, their role in communication is so important that healthy brain cell membranes contain over 10 times more omega-3s than the rest of the body. They help keep information flowing by creating an optimal environment for sending and receiving messages in the brain.*
The messages in the brain and nervous system are sent by specialized cells—neurons. They use electrical and chemical signaling to pass information along. And fluid cell membranes are one element that’s critical for transmitting those signals.
When DHA is absorbed into neuronal membranes, it does more than support fluidity. It also supports the formation of the new neural networks required for learning and memory.*
Your child’s growing brain uses DHA to support the production of new neurons and synapses, which are junctions where messages are passed between cells. The omega-3s in neuronal membranes also help promote synaptic plasticity and function. This is what allows the brain to reshape itself to adapt to and store new information.*
As you can see, omega-3s play many roles in supporting growing brains and bodies. BiOmega Jr. can give your little one a tasty squeeze of the essential nutrition that will help them thrive.
Ages 4–12 years—take one (2.5 gram) packet every other day with or without food. Serve chilled for an even better taste.
Ideal For
Children 4 years and older
Teens
Healthy adults with difficulty swallowing tablets
Why does BiOmega Jr. contain potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate?
Foodborne illness caused by microbes or pathogens is a common and costly public health problem. Each year, thousands of people are sickened by consuming contaminated foods or beverages. The young and the elderly are most susceptible to food borne contamination. Many different disease-causing microbes, or pathogens, can contaminate foods, so there are many different foodborne infections. By inhibiting the growth of microorganisms, preservatives help prevent outbreaks of food-borne illnesses. Potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate are the preservatives included in Biomega Junior to inhibit the growth of microbes and pathogens.
Your health and the health of your children are very important. At USANA, we review all relevant and necessary materials and research when formulating products to ensure safety, efficacy, and compatibility. Because of this initial research and testing of final products, you can be assured that we have done our due diligence with regards to product safety and efficacy.
Kids’ nutritional needs change as they age. Learn what healthy kids need at different ages to help them grow. Also, discover tips about nutrition for kids.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Products that are generally recommended during pregnancy and lactation:
BiOmega – Research has clearly shown that essential fatty acids are important for developing babies, and many women don’t get enough from diet alone. During pregnancy, omega-3 fatty acids, particularly DHA, support brain, eye, and nerve development, especially during the last trimester.
Celavive – When used as directed, there are no known health or safety concerns regarding use of Celavive products during pregnancy and lactation.
Digestive Enzyme
USANA® MagneCal D
Prenatal CellSentials – The CellSentials are not designed specifically for use during pregnancy and do not contain iron. Therefore, it is best to use the USANA Prenatal supplements if possible. Otherwise, we would suggest pregnant individuals discuss the CellSentials with their health professional and add appropriate levels of iron if they are going to be used as a prenatal.
USANA Probiotic
USANA Food Products – Although the USANA food products are safe to consume during pregnancy, they should not be used for weight loss during pregnancy. Sufficient calorie intake is important to support normal fetal growth and development during pregnancy and breast milk production in lactating women.
Vitamin D
*All USANA products should be discussed with a healthcare professional prior to use during pregnancy and lactation. Many of them contain herbal compounds and other ingredients that lack sufficient safety data for USANA to recommend their general usage during pregnancy.
00staffstaff2017-02-23 09:05:352023-08-24 12:09:30Product Usage During Pregnancy and Lactation
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