Articles posted on October 2008 (9)
If nutrients need to be protected with enteric coated tablets why are they OK in food??
From time to time we have both customers and readers ask why we enteric coat our Total Balance and some of our other products.
The following question from Keith is quite typical. He says:
“On the subject of enteric coated, I am puzzled why that is necessary. All of the natural food we eat, which presumably has essential nutrients, pass through the stomach before reaching the upper intestines. If stomach acids destroy the nutrients contained in Total Balance (and other enteric coated products), why don't they also destroy the nutrients in natural food?”
This is a pretty logical question, so I will attempt to answer it the best way I can.
Some ingredients in food are also affected by stomach acid.
Firstly, it is well proven that some of the nutrients that we use in Total Balance (not all) are particularly susceptible to stomach acid and they are either damaged or rendered useless by stomach acid or the structure of them is altered by the exposure to hydrochloric acid. This can have an impact on their efficacy and may well be one of the reasons why many people have nutrient deficiencies particularly as they age. These same nutrients are adversely affected whether they are within a supplement or in food.
Interactions between Vitamin K and Warfarin (blood thinners)...
We regularly get enquiries about the potential interaction of Warfarin and other blood thinners with some of our products. Below is a recent one and a detailed response from Joanna our Medical Nutritionist. Hopefully this will be helpful information for those readers who may be using Warfarin.
Michael: asks…
Hi, I just read about your new Multi-Xtra vitamin/mineral supplement. I would like to know if it is safe to take with blood thinners (Warfarin). I saw it has some vitamin K-2 and Green Tea in it. I believe these could interact with Warfarin but I don't know if the levels are sufficient to do so or if any of the other ingredients are a problem. I already understand that the Total Balance Premium could interact with Warfarin because of some of the ingredients. Please advise. Thanks
Joanna: responds
It is true that you should recognize that there is a relationship between Warfarin and vitamin K, but often the relationship between Warfarin and vitamin K is misunderstood.
First, you should know that your liver needs and uses vitamin K to make blood clotting proteins. In doing so, vitamin K plays a role in your body's natural clotting process. Warfarin of course works against vitamin K.
Your bottled water may not be as pure as you expect...
Over the years I have written a lot about water. In fact about 10 years ago I did an investigation into the purity of bottled water and the results were very dissapointing to say the least.
It is for this reason why I have always advocated a quality water filter in your home or a reverse osmosis system.
In recent years I have not had much to do with bottled water although I had heard that many of the companies had 'cleaned up their act'. However, it appears that this is still not the case with many according to a recent investigation into the quality of bottled water.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) have just finished a review of bottled water quality and their findings are not good. It certainly reinforces the need to have your own quality filter or reverse osmosis system and home and fill your own bottles of water.
You can read a copy of their report by clicking here
Protection against Stroke and the effects of one...
According to an article in an Oct 2008 issue of ‘Stroke’ researchers at John Hopkins Institute in Baltimore have discovered that gingko biloba when taken in a supplement can offer protective effects.
They believe that is can halve the damage of a stroke and reduce the amount of paralysis and limb weakness.
In their studies they found that mice being fed with this nutrient suffered 50% less neurological dysfunction following a stroke compared to mice that were not give the nutrient. Additionally the area of the brain that was damaged in these mice was also 50% less than those in the control group.
No surprise really as it has long been believed that gingko along with other nutrients can help reduce the risk of stroke and the seriousness of one if it does occur. This has always been an influencing factor in the design of our Total Balance.
Do blood thinners contribute to Osteoporosis?
According to researchers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands they do in children! Apparently they found that taking anticoagulants long-term such as coumarin derivatives (warfarin etc) may cause osteopenia in children with the risk of developing osteoporosis later in life.
The researchers believe that the blood thinners inhibit vitamin K recycling, disturbing the equilibrium between bone formation and resorption.
Although this study was carried out in children one has to wonder if it is having the same effect on adults? I would suspect so.
Many adults are long term users of Warfarin and it is a commonly prescribed medicine. It is usually not desirable to mix warfarin with Vitamin K, so users really get a double 'whammy'. On one hand the warfarin is inhibiting the benefit of any Vitamin K that may be in the body and it is not practical to take additional Vitamin K because it is not compatable with the warfarin.
So, what do you do if your Doctor is insisting that you take warfarin?
Do Vegetarians get enough Protein?
Question: from Sam
How are you? I have a question about protein. A vegetarian diet does not have enough protein. Does Total Balance or any of your other products contain enough protein for the whole body? Thank you.
Answer: from Warren
This is an issue that is always subject to debate. Vegetarians will argue that you can get enough protein from vegetables, and indeed many scientists agree with them and would argue that we generally consume too much protein in a normal diet. On the other hand non vegetarians will argue the opposite. Although I am not a vegetarian I tend to side with the vegetarians on this issue…subject to certain caveats which I will raise in a moment.
One of these is that vegetarians are often deficient in Vitamin B12 as it is difficult to get enough of this vitamin from plant sources alone. But even more serious is another deficiency that vegetarians are subject to and in my opinion is a factor in many of them becoming old before their time and also often having health problems even though they appear to eat very healthy.
Intramax from Drukerlabs. Is it good?
Question: from Sasha
Nice to hear from you. Thank you very much for your reply. There is only one product in the market I can recommend. The rest of the products in the market are no match to your products. The name of the product is Intramax. It contains 415 nutrients in organic liquid form. They are using a special technology. More information can be found at the following web page:
When more nutrients are added to tablets, one has to consume more tablets. But in liquid form, one ounce is enough for more nutrients. This is my opinion. What is your opinion? I hope Xtend Life comes out with a more sophisticated product than Intramax. Eagerly waiting for your reply. Thank you.