Xtend-Life-Questionst
Issue 27th June 2006

Question: from Gary (Subject: More about stomach acid and nutrients…)q1

Just following on from Ron’s question in the last issue!...perhaps the question might be:  How do we get nutrients from the food we eat if stomach acid destroys these nutrients?  Is it that many are destroyed, but some get through intact?  Or are they in a resistant form in whole food?
 
This has puzzled me for some time.  I take a probiotic that has this protective shell, so how do live cultures survive in yogurt and such things if this acid is so destructive?  

I have great faith in your products and feel you are always up front and honest with all you do, that is why I use them. My first order was in December 2003.  You converted me some time ago! 

Answer: from Warren
 
First of all, many thanks for being such a loyal customer for so long!
 
Nutrient bioavailability is indeed an interesting issue.
 
It is important to be aware that not all nutrients are damaged by stomach acid, only a proportion. Those nutrients that are damaged in normal supplements are also damaged when present in food.   

Also bear in mind the nutrients that are damaged by stomach acid are not affected equally either.  For example some ingredients may be 95% damaged, thus only enabling 5% to be available for absorption through the intestinal tract, whereas other nutrients may only be 50% damaged.
 
It seems that many of the important nutrients damaged by stomach acid are those in which only a minimal amount is found in food…thus the body has to manufacture them itself. 

Two such well known examples are L-Glutathione and CoQ10. The amount of these nutrients present in food or that survive the trip through the stomach is negligible.  This is why the body synthesizes them...simply because it can't get enough via food. 
 
If we lived in a perfect world where all of us were forever young and healthy, our diet was perfect, our foods were nutritious with no additives and our livers were always functioning at optimal levels…then our bodies would be able to continue to produce these important nutrients well into old age:  Then we would never have to worry about these nutrients and we would not need to use supplements and as such the enteric coating system for tablets would not be necessary.  But, the reality is something different and as such we do have to worry about these sorts of things.  This is the nature of aging.
 
As we get older we get a 'double whammy'.  Not only are our organs not as efficient and therefore as effective in producing these essential nutrients, but our bodies do not extract and absorb the nutrients from our food as effectively either.  Our organs need these nutrients as this is their fuel!
 
So…we gradually, inadvertently, starve our organs, which makes age-related disease inevitable…unless action is taken.  This is why we need to use specialised ingredients to provide our ‘manufacturing organs’ a helping hand.  To do this we must protect them as they pass through the stomach.  Only by enteric coating the tablets is this possible.

I know that it is sometimes difficult for people to accept all this as very few companies enteric coat their tablets, indeed very few companies incorporate the sophisticated ingredients in their products that we do.

Why?  Simple…cost!  Enteric coating is an expensive process and so are the ingredients that it protects.  For example, I mentioned L-Glutathione before.  That ingredient costs more than 80 times that of vitamin C.   

So Gary, the bottom line in all this is that some nutrients, even in food, are destroyed by stomach acid, but it doesn’t matter when you are young and everything is functioning well because your liver is providing these nutrients for you.

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Question: from Kim: (Subject: Urine therapy…)q2

I found articles on the internet about urotherapy recently. It sounds disgusting to me, but can I have your comments on this therapy? Is it a true cure for all disease? Is it real? Is it effective? Could it be the cheapest medicine? Why have so many people claimed to have gotten amazing results from it? I really need an honest answer.

Answer: from Warren
 
It doesn’t seem like an attractive therapy does it. J

Nonetheless, urine therapy has been around for thousands of years and it has some scientific foundation for its efficacy.

In essence, the principle behind it is that if you are diseased in some way your body will produce various antibodies.  These are present in your urine.  These, plus the urea in the urine, are what is believed to provide the healing properties.  In other words it is like a customized vaccine just for you.

I know the idea of it is certainly not appealing to most people as we have been conditioned to thinking it as something dirty. But if you get past the emotional aspects, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Urine has actually been thoroughly filtered by the kidneys and is sterile when it leaves the body, provided the kidneys are functioning normally and of course the genital area is clean.

Although I have not tried taking it orally personally I do remember when I was a teenager over forty years ago and working in the bush felling trees, the accepted thing to do when you got a severe cut was to pee on it.  My own experience was that when this happened and I 'treated' it that way the cut would heal incredibly fast.  Certainly much faster than any antiseptic cream on the market in those days, and I would suspect today too!

If I was suffering from a serious disease and I couldn’t fix it using natural therapies I would certainly do some serious research on it. Some drugs are extracted or discovered through urine analysis…example Premarin from the urine of pregnant mares.

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Question: from Marion: (Subject: Follow up on Policosanol effectiveness...)q3

You may recall me writing to you recently regarding my concerns raised over the study done on Policosanol that questioned its effectiveness, to which you kindly replied and inserted in your last newsletter. Well, I just had my cholesterol tested again and I have a success to report to you after taking Cholest-Natural for only three and a half months!

Test date:
16th December 2005 - test indicated borderline high readings for cholesterol.

Total cholesterol - 236
HDL - 58
Cholesterol ratio - 4.1
LDL - 152

Test date:
6th June 2006 - test indicated near optimal levels, though my HDL is slightly reduced.

Total cholesterol - 192
HDL - 50
Cholesterol ratio - 3.84
LDL - 111

I attribute this success to a combination of taking Cholest-Natural regularly each day (four capsules half an hour before dinner), careful diet and rigorous exercise at the gym with a trainer four times a week. Now, if you guys at Xtend-Life can only figure out a magic weight loss pill for middle-aged women I'll be all set!

With heartfelt gratitude,

Answer: from Warren

Thank you for sharing this with us. 

Don’t I wish that we could produce a magic weight loss pill? J  We are continuing to research this subject, but I am sorry we still don’t have the answer…and neither does anyone else that I know of.  Oh…plenty claim that they do, but I have yet to see the evidence.

Important notice: All material provided is for informational and educational purposes only, and is not to be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action should be taken solely on the contents of this publication. Consult your physician or a qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health and wellbeing or on any opinions expressed within this newsletter. The information provided in this newsletter is believed to be accurate based on the best judgment of the editor but the reader is responsible for consulting with their own health professional on any matters raised within.

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