Aspirin, the world’s most well-known drug is back in the news. This time, there are claims that it prevents cancer. This is just one of many apparent benefits of this so-called ‘wonder drug’. The medical fraternity and media…as seen in this recent article on the Time website …will probably have you believe that aspirin also removes carpet stains, mildew and who knows what other miracles. Okay, so maybe I was over-doing it a little, but it doesn’t deter from the fact that despite whatever significant medical treatments and preventions are associated with aspirin, not everyone should be taking it. In fact, it’s a drug by definition which means no one should actually be taking it unless its absolutely necessary. What really blows my mind is that the overall perception created by this drug’s hype points to the suggestion that everyone should be taking it daily. Even those people who may need to address a few conditions or ailments need to think about any form of treatment with a clear head…regardless if it’s a cheap everyday drug like aspirin or some multi-million dollar pharmaceutical ‘wonder cure’. Unless I’ve missed it, I cannot find any references or suggestions of following a healthy lifestyle, exercising regularly, drinking enough water and ensuring you’re getting enough of the right nutrients.

You’d be amazed at the choice that some men would prefer… especially in light of the hair-loss drug called finasteride. According to this article , some of the potential side effects are low libido and the inability to orgasm in men using the drug. Worse still, these symptoms may still occur for many years after stopping the drug! The following excerpt from the article looks at the study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine…the results may shock you: “…the new survey of 76 men aged 21 to 46 found that sexual problems including erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation lasted at least three months after men stopped taking the pill. “Among the study participants, some of whom had taken finasteride for just a few days, 94% said they experienced low sexual desire, 92% reported low sexual arousal, 92% developed erectile dysfunction and 69% had trouble having orgasm. “Participants had taken finasteride for 28 months on average, and reported sexual problems for an average 40 months, but the study author said that 10% of the surveyed men had used the drug for less than a month.” However, as scary as these side effects are, some men still take hair-loss and baldness so seriously, they may ignore these risks and use this drug or other expensive and potentially dangerous hair-loss ‘cures’. Male pattern baldness is caused by various factors such as genetics, aging and nutrient deficiencies. Some men find that by taking a daily nutriment supplement like Total Balance , their rate of hair-loss reduces and according to one Xtend-Life customer, his grey hair even returned to its natural dark color.

This was a question put to the audience at a recent industry conference at Anaheim, California (March 2012) by one of the invited speakers Bill Sardi.  The rationale for his question arose from the fact that the FDA and most other authorities throughout the world do not allow claims that a supplement or natural ingredient will prevent, treat or cure a disease or illness. So, what happens if there is irrefutable evidence that a supplement ingredient does those things?  Frequently new evidence comes up somewhere that supports this or that ingredient does prevent, treat or cure illnesses!  Some of the evidence has been around for a long time…for example, we all know that Vitamin C prevents scurvy but it would be illegal to make a claim to that effect as that would make Vitamin C a drug! Bill Sardi is known in the dietary supplement industry for his well-researched writings on a variety of subjects and the promotion of a brand of resveratrol supplements.  He raised this matter at the conference because he was frustrated from being prevented by the FDA to carry out a clinical study on resveratrol with Duke University.  The main focus of the study was to consider the efficacy of resveratrol on aged macular degeneration.  However, because it was essentially a disease prevention study the FDA refused approval for it to proceed! This creates somewhat of a quandary for manufactures/developers of dietary supplements who want to prove the efficacy of a product or ingredient.  We have started investigating ways in which a clinical study could be designed to help prove the efficacy of Total Balance.  It is not an easy thing to do as there are many barriers to overcome such as the one which Bill Sardi has experienced…but, it will happen…although it won’t be any time soon.

This was a question put to the audience at a recent industry conference at Anaheim, California (March 2012) by one of the invited speakers Bill Sardi.  The rationale for his question arose from the fact that the FDA and most other authorities throughout the world do not allow claims that a supplement or natural ingredient will prevent, treat or cure a disease or illness. So, what happens if there is irrefutable evidence that a supplement ingredient does those things?  Frequently new evidence comes up somewhere that supports this or that ingredient does prevent, treat or cure illnesses!  Some of the evidence has been around for a long time…for example, we all know that Vitamin C prevents scurvy but it would be illegal to make a claim to that effect as that would make Vitamin C a drug! Bill Sardi is known in the dietary supplement industry for his well-researched writings on a variety of subjects and the promotion of a brand of resveratrol supplements.  He raised this matter at the conference because he was frustrated from being prevented by the FDA to carry out a clinical study on resveratrol with Duke University.  The main focus of the study was to consider the efficacy of resveratrol on aged macular degeneration.  However, because it was essentially a disease prevention study the FDA refused approval for it to proceed! This creates somewhat of a quandary for manufactures/developers of dietary supplements who want to prove the efficacy of a product or ingredient.  We have started investigating ways in which a clinical study could be designed to help prove the efficacy of Total Balance.  It is not an easy thing to do as there are many barriers to overcome such as the one which Bill Sardi has experienced…but, it will happen…although it won’t be any time soon.

Rather an odd ‘heading’ which I hadn’t heard of until a couple of days ago.  Apparently this is the term used by some people to describe the practice in which some laboratories doing testing for dietary supplement companies don’t actually do the tests at all! Instead they claim they have the correct equipment for the testing and provide a report saying that the ingredient being tested meets the specification, even when they haven’t done the test.  In some cases this is done in collaboration with the manufacturer, sometimes not. This was to be the theme of “Dateline NBC” in a story about the dietary supplement industry which was to have aired last Sunday the 18th March.  Not sure if it did go to air as we have not had any feedback as yet. It is a real shame that some companies stoop to such low levels which brings the entire industry into disrepute.  The cost of testing is not that great relative to the overall cost of producing a product so there is no excuse for a manufacturer not doing proper testing… With regard to labs that indulge in this practice, and manufacturers that knowingly participate they are nothing short of fraudulent enterprises!  Over time these companies will be weeded out as a good auditor will discover these practices.  Finding good labs, as with finding good manufacturers is a time consuming business.  We spent many months researching reliable qualified labs.  We need multiple labs because we conduct many specialised tests and no one lab can do all of them as they require different equipment, or, in some cases they may have the equipment but they have not developed the validated methods to carry out specific tests.  This accreditation is either from a government agency, such as the FDA in the USA or Medsafe (Department of Health) in New Zealand or organizations like IANZ (International Accreditation New Zealand) or ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board/ACLASS in the USA who audit the Laboratories compliance with GLP’s (Good Laboratory Practice’s) and ISO standards. In other words you may have a government approved lab (or in the case of one of the labs we use, a government owned lab) but it may not be setup to do certain tests.  We use seven labs.  Three in New Zealand, three in the USA, and one in Australia.  They have all proven to be reliable, ethical and accurate.  They are as follows: Asure Quality – New Zealand Cawthron – New Zealand Hills Laboratories – New Zealand Venture Laboratories – USA Intertek/AAC  Laboratories – USA Alkemists Laboratories – USA Southern Cross University – Australia How can you be sure I am telling the truth about these labs when you can’t call them and ask them if Xtend-Life is a customer due to their confidentiality policies?  If you have any concerns you can ask us and we can give you documented copies of recent tests they have carried out on our behalf. Bottom line…you can rest assured that we do not cut any corners when it comes to testing (and we can prove it).  In fact, one of our QA staff spends most of his time taking samples, and couriering them to the labs and collating the results before the ingredient is released from quarantine providing it pasts the tests.

Tattoos are almost as common as clothes, cars and art. Millions of people around the world have at least one tattoo. I’ve got nothing against them…in fact, many of my friends and a few family members have been ‘inked’ with an emblem or design that means something special. The tattoo industry has also cleaned up its act and some tattoo parlors are now regarded by some tattoo fans as being more hygienic than most hospitals! I can understand how some may believe this is true as many tattoo artists not only take pride in their design and work, but also their hygiene standards. So what is the point of this blog entry? Well, this article by Dr Glenn Braunstein featured on the Huffington Post website discusses tattoos and balances the good and bad between getting inked and leaving your skin ink free. I must be honest, I initially thought that the article was going to heavily criticize tattoos but I was rather surprised by Dr Braunstein’s well-argued comments and justified statements. Like me, he doesn’t seem to have anything against tattoos and the industry…however, he does warn the reader to do some research into various chemicals found in tattoo ink. Consider the following excerpt from the article: “Tattooing can require injections of substantial amounts of black ink, meaning large amounts of chemicals shot into and under the skin; many of these chemicals — such as benzo(a)pyrene, a carcinogen found to cause skin cancer in animal tests — are toxic, so some advocates have called for further scrutiny and oversight of tattoo inks.” “The study also suggests that the substances in black tattoo inks — materials known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) — migrate into subjects’ lymph nodes, which aid an individual’s body in filtering out disease-causing organisms.” “The FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research is investigating tattoo inks and whether their movement in the body has health consequences

Conventional medicine is designed to treat disease with medication or surgery. For sure, when it comes to emergency interventions, it is one of the best most efficient ‘medicines’ in the world. But for chronic long term illness, like diabetes, cancer and immune disorders, this approach simply doesn’t work. Here’s why…… Why Conventional Medicine Defies the Laws of Nature Most Conventional medicine is based on clear-cut, yes-or-no diagnoses that often miss the underlying causes and more subtle manifestations of illness. Doctors are taught that you have a disease or you don’t. There are no gray areas. Similarly, medical diagnostics are designed to identify black and white indicators: You are either ‘positive’ or ‘negative’. Then, to compound the problem, doctors are rewarded by a health care system which incentivizes them to treat the symptoms rather than address the underlying cause.

So what did I think of this book overall? I was disappointed.  I was really hoping to learn something new and constructive, and I didn’t!  Oh, maybe I should expand on that a little.  I did learn something new but it is of little use to any of us at the moment, but it may have an application say 10 years down the track. I am referring to work which Dr Argus is involved in with his lab which is the study of proteins.  He believes that genes are of little value when it comes to prevention of disease and that they only play a very minor role in your future good health.  I go along with that as there is plenty of evidence to suggest that lifestyle plays a much greater role that what genes you were born with.  Obviously there are exceptions to that in the instances of obvious genetic defects, but as a general rule that is the case. The work that Dr Argus is doing on proteins appears to have promise in that the type of proteins that you have in your blood may be an indicator of what may be degenerating in your body and provide advance warning so you can do something about it.  But, it would seem that it would be many years away before this system becomes viable…then of course there will be the matter of what to do with that information when you have it. Hopefully Dr Argus will by the time he has perfected this system have spent some time studying supplementation and come to the realisation that drug intervention is not the way to go but rather nourishing the cells through professional supplementation is!  Maybe he will ultimately team up with a specialist in this field and can when the time comes provide some advice which will really help. It was interesting to note in his book his views about the importance of gut health and the role this plays in preventing degenerative disease.   He points out that the bacteria in our body outnumber the total sum of our body’s cells.  The balance of good and bad bacteria is crucial in the body and the strains of these are numerous…much greater than that in a probiotic.  This is one of the reasons why we never developed a probiotic which has been the craze for the last few years.  They only deal with a small part of gut health.   This is why we developed our natural Kiwi fruit supplement Digesten-K which amongst other things helps normalise the digestive system.  Good health starts in the gut, no question about that. Should you read the book?  I can’t give a recommendation either way.  I can say though that if you are expecting to see a blue print as to how you can ‘end all illness’ you will be disappointed.  I bought the Kindle edition from Amazon so it doesn’t cost much to find out for yourself if you are interested. Good luck, and good health.

In January this year, a book was released called “The End of Illness” by Dr David Argus.  A customer brought this book to my attention as a result of an article which I have attached here.  Within the article the good Doctor attacks the use of vitamins but promotes the use of statin drugs and aspirin. Dr Argus is quite a well-known oncologist and as such his book got a lot of ‘coverage’ largely because he told the medical fraternity that they had ‘got it wrong’.  No argument there! He believes that the body is a system and that there is no one cause of either good or ill health as there are so many multiple factors which collectively contribute to the end result.  I am 100% with him on this point as well.  He also continues within his book to talk about the importance of exercise, regular sleep, and eating quality fresh non processed food.  Once again I am with him! BUT…then he spoils the entire concept of the book by ‘lumping’ all vitamins and supplements into basically the same barrel and promoting the use of statins and aspirin.  In fact, he suggests that if you are over 50 years of age you should demand your Doctor to explain why you are not on a statin drug! Why?  Because statins can reduce inflammation in the body which is the cause of many degenerative diseases!   It is the anti-inflammatory properties that help give statins heart protective properties…in some people!  In others the side effects more than offset any benefits.  Unfortunately he ignores two important factors, one that statins have significant side effects in many people and two that there are simple ways to get similar anti-inflammatory effects, the simplest being Omega 3 fish oils. He also ignores the studies that have proven the negative aspects of aspirin as well.  Ironically he promotes the off label use of drugs but insists on the need for large double blind placebo studies for supplements.  Somewhat of a double standard! Anyway, back to the issue of vitamins.  He does demonstrate a general lack of understanding of supplementation as he focuses instead on those people and Companies who promote mega doses of single vitamins.  He spends a lot of time discussing Vitamin D and the difficulty of determining what is the correct levels of this vitamin in the body.  He points out that no one really knows what they should be as there are so many variables from person to person.  He says correctly that whereas you cannot overdose with Vitamin D from the sun, you can with supplements and indeed high regular doses can be toxic.  Maybe this toxicity may not be apparent in the short term but it would nonetheless be affecting the overall ‘system’ (the body) in time…perhaps even by feeding cancer tumours!  Once again, I agree with him which is why we have resisted ‘getting on the bandwagon’ like other companies when it has come to promoting Vitamin D supplements. We strongly believe that Vitamin D should only be ingested in small quantities as part of a range of other vitamins and nutrients, and you should get the bulk of your Vitamin D from the sunshine.  When the body is exposed to sunshine it also makes other essential components of which Vitamin D is only one.  Science is still trying to figure out what they are. He also criticises high doses of other vitamins as well such as Vitamin C as it could promote cancer!  More tomorrow in Part 2!.  In the meantime if you wish to read the article that prompted these blog entries please click here .

It could be! If the gist of this article is anything to go by. As a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal, I recently came across this article and thought that beneath the somewhat candid topic, the dark reality was something to discuss. Fashion and clothing serve two purposes in our society… to hide our birthday suits from the general public and to keep us warm during winter. That’s pretty much it. However, over the centuries, fashion and style trends may have gone a bit too far…to the point of actually making us suffer as opposed to simply looking good. It’s been said that “high fashion comes at a price” and when it comes to health conditions, this claim isn’t far off the mark. Take a look at the following list of ‘suspects’…you may be wearing one (or more) of them right now: Tight jeans – ‘tight pants syndrome’ is a term coined by Dr Octavio Bessa of Stamford, Conn after seeing one too many patients with an abdominal girth bigger than their trousers. Skinny jeans are just bad…blamed for various conditions like increased risk of yeast infections in women and infertility in men