A Worldwide Epidemic
If it were an infectious disease, it would be considered one of the worst epidemics in the history of the world. One in four Americans have this disease and it is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States, killing more than a million Americans every year. Worldwide, the annual death toll from this disease is currently 17 million, and expected to rise to an annual rate of 22 million by 2020, over 60,000 deaths daily. The global cost to society in dealing with this disease is at least $500 billion every year. It now strikes more frequently in lower socioeconomic groups and is more common in India and china than in all the economically developed countries in the world combined.
What is this epidemic disease that is altering our society? It is CVD, or cardiovascular disease. It manifests itself in a variety of forms, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, and congestive heart failure.
What is the cause of the CVD epidemic? Until recently, it was thought that high cholesterol was the culprit behind the clogged veins and arteries that are the hallmark of CVD. But analysis has shown that half the victims of CVD had normal cholesterol levels when they died! Clearly there is more to this problem than cholesterol levels.
The real culprit: Oxidative stress
Further research has shown that oxidative stress may be the differentiating factor. Oxidative stress, caused by an overabundance of toxic oxygen radical molecules in the body, has the potential to change cholesterol appears to be the primary culprit in clogging veins and arteries. Thus, oxidative stress may be a much more reliable predictor of CVD than cholesterol levels alone. But what is oxidative stress and what causes it?
To understand how oxidative stress cripples the cells in the body, compare the human body to a car engine. During the process of combustion, the engine uses gasoline (fuel) to create energy. However, in the process it also creates exhaust, a toxic byproduct that must be minimized or neutralized to prevent pollution and sickness.
Toxic Metabolic Byproducts
During the process of metabolism, converting food (fuel) to energy, the hman body also generates toxic byproducts that need to be minimized and neutralized. Among these byproducts are unbalanced, or “free” oxygen radical molecules that are highly reactive and destructive to cell walls, DNA, and the energy-creating mitochondria within each cell.
Further, if we run a car engine on poorly refined, low-octane gasoline, the exhaust byproducts will be dirtier and more toxic because the fuel does not burn cleanly. Similarly in the human body, if our diet is poor, heavy with sugars and fats and low on raw fruits and vegetables, the metabolic byproducts generated will be greater in volume and more toxic to surrounding tissues.
Some natural foods, however, contain specific nutrients that actively minimize and neutralize these free oxygen radical molecules before they can damage cells. In effect, they absorb them, eliminating their potential to create chain reactions of unbalanced molecules. These nutrients are collectively referred to as antioxidants.
Tests now measure antioxidant capacity
Thanks to recent testing procedures developed at Tufts University, we can now determine the capacity of various nutrients to absorb and neutralize free radicals. Logically, the test is referred to as tht Oxigen Radical Absorbance Caparity or ORAC test.
ORAC testing has revealed that many common vegetables and fruits are good antioxidants. We have further discovered that there are a handful of exotic fruits from all over the world that have an unsually high level of antioxidant power. By making extracts of these foods, their antioxidant power is further concentrated. If taken regularly, these concentrate significantly reduce oxitative stress within the body, slowing the aging process and preventing CVD.
Dozens of Free Radicals, Hundreds of Antioxidants
At this point it starts to get more complicated, because there are dozens of different oxygen radicals to oxidize the cells. Ten of the most common ones are:
- Super Oxide
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Hydroxyl
- Singlet Oxygen
- Peroxynitrite
- Hypochlorous Acid
- Lipid Hydroperoxide
- Lipid Peroxy Radicals
- Lipid Alkoxy Radicals
- Activated Carbonyls
There are also hundreds of known antioxidant compounds that absorb these oxygen radicals. They are known by a variety of chemical names, including carotenoids, polyphenols, anthocyanins, flavanoids, etc. Some vitamins, like vitamin C, Vitamin D and Vitamin E are considered antioxidants as well.
Any given antioxidant food will only contain a small subset of all possible antioxidants. That is why some foods absorb certain oxygen radicals but not others. In order to absorb the full range of oxygen radicals and to provide antioxidants that work in all systems and organs of the body, it is necessary to eat a variety of antioxidant-laden foods. Generally, then, the more antioxidant compounds in your diet, the better you will be able to eliminate oxidative stress throughout the body, thereby preventing the onset of CVD.
Combine Foods to Absorb More Antioxidants
To create a super antioxidant food then, we can combine extracts of the most highly antioxidant fruits and berries. There are14 plant varieties, some of them not very well known, that have been shown to have tremendous amounts of antioxidant compounds.
But the challenge still remains to create extracts of these exotic fruits and berries that retain all their active ingredients. Tablets and capsules require high-temperature processing and drying which damages delicate antioxidant molecules. Mixing plant extracts in a liquid drink would work, but that introduces the inconveneince of carrying a bottle around with you and keeping it refrigerated.
GEL: The perfect carrier for plant extracts
A gel packet, which provides continuous hydration of nutrients and can be sealed sanitarily and hermitically, opens up a whole new delivery vehicle for the powerful antioxidant protection found in concentrated plant extracts. A gel antioxidant concentrate gives enormous benefits that can’t be obtained any other way:
- Incredibly convenient
- Completely sanitary
- Concentrated
- Food-like structure not found with pills or powders
- Preserves food synergies
- Premeasured doses
- Combines hundreds of antioxidants to absorb a full range of free radicals
- Protects active antioxidant ingredients through minimal processing
- Enhances bioabailability and absorption
- Tastes great and is easy-to-take.
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