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60 Softgel Capsules
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The immune system is the group of
organs, tissues, cells, and cell products,
such as antibodies, that protects us
from invaders. It differentiates self
from nonself and neutralizes potentially
pathogenic organisms or substances.
For example, it protects us
from bacteria, viruses, and cancer
cells. The immune system is perhaps
the most important body system
when considering living well
and maintaining good health. A
healthy immune system is better
equipped to meet challenges.
Free radicals
Oxygen is necessary for all living
things. However, as the body creates
energy at the cellular level, oxygen is
metabolized, changing its structure.
Oxygen atoms that lose an electron and are
therefore unpaired are called free radicals. Free radicals
are highly reactive and have the ability to bind to and
destroy other cells. This combination of oxygen with
another substance—oxidation—is the major source of
free radical damage in the body. Some of the more
destructive oxygen radicals are hydroxyl, superoxide,
and hydrogen peroxide.
Although the majority of free radicals are produced in
the body, they can also be derived from the environment,
which increases the free radical load in the body. Sources
of external free radicals include food additives and preservatives,
fried and barbecued foods, rancid fats, cigarette
smoke, air pollutants, cleaners, radiation, even sunlight.
Free radicals have been linked to many age-related diseases.
These include cancer, heart attack, stroke, rheumatoid
arthritis, cataracts, asthma, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Antioxidants
While we all produce free radicals, we also have naturally
occurring antioxidants, such as glutathione and
superoxide dismutase, that fight free radicals and protect
us from age-related diseases. However, the number
of antioxidants we produce diminishes as we age, and
we have so many free radicals to contend with that our
own supply often isn’t enough.
AIM Proancynol® 2000
AIM Proancynol® 2000 combines the
proven ability of seven antioxidant compounds—
green tea extract, rosemary
extract, grape seed extract, N-acetylcysteine,
alpha-lipoic acid, lycopene, and
selenium—to provide you the best antioxidant
supplementation available. These
components not only work individually
but also synergistically in antioxidant
cycling (see box on p. 3), the term that
describes how antioxidants work together
for an enhanced, combined effect.
Green tea
Green tea, unlike black tea, is made
from leaves that are not fermented before
they are dried. The primary constituents
in green tea thought to provide the most
health benefits are the polyphenols.
Members of the flavonoid family, polyphenols
are catechins made of several ringlike structures.
Four are of particular interest: epicatechin, epigallocatechin,
epicatechin gallate, and epigallocatechin
gallate, the most potent.
In laboratory studies presented at a September 1997
meeting of the American Chemical Society, epigallocatechin
gallate proved to be 100 times more effective
at neutralizing free radicals than vitamin C and 25
times more effective than vitamin E.
Research does suggest that this antioxidant power
may translate into helping to maintain immunity. In
animal studies conducted in Japan in the early 1990s,
green tea polyphenols increased activation of
macrophages, B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, and natural
killer cells. All of these are white blood cells.
Studies indicate that green tea also helps lower
blood pressure and cholesterol levels, helps reduce the
risk of some forms of cancer, and helps reduce the formation
of dental plaque. A recent study affirms that
green tea is helpful with bone mineralization and therefore
osteoporosis (Hegarty 2000).
Green tea also contains oligomers of proanthocyanidins
(OPCs), also in the flavonoid family, that have
been shown to have positive effects on blood vessels
(Ursini et al. 1999, Sato et al. 1999).
Rosemary
Rosemary is increasingly under scrutiny for its
antioxidant properties. Recent studies show that rosemary
extract, and its constituents carnosol and ursolic
acid, enhances the activity of enzymes that can detoxify
carcinogens: animal studies show that the extract
results in an increase in glutathione-S-transferase, one
of these enzymes. Rosemary, an herb, also relaxes
smooth muscle and may provide atherosclerotic protection.
It is thought to have antifungal and antibacterial
properties.
Grape seed
Like green tea, grape seeds contain the powerful
antioxidant OPCs. Some studies indicate that OPCs
are 20 times more powerful than vitamin C and 50
times more powerful than vitamin E. The two most
common sources of OPCs are white pine bark and
grape seed. Grape seeds contain 7 to 15 percent more
OPCs than white pine bark and can be more potent
(Sterling 2000).
In a review of the benefits of the OPCs found in
grape seed extract, one study notes that the antioxidant
activity of OPCs is generally credited for their other
health benefits (Bombardelli and Morazzoni 1995).
The authors note that these include an antimutagenic
effect; that is, they inhibit the mutation of DNA. The
authors point out that chronic degenerative diseases
are believed to be a result of environmental mutagens
(substances that cause mutation). OPCs may be able to
counter these mutagens.
OPCs also have “cosmetic” value. They protect collagen
and elastin, which are an important part of the
makeup of skin. It is the interlacing of collagen and
elastin that gives skin its strength, elasticity, and
smoothness. When these two substances are damaged
and the skin loses elasticity, the result can be wrinkles.
OPCs help restore damaged collagen and elastin and
protect them against further damage.
N-acetylcysteine
Although little known, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a
powerful antioxidant and a powerful tool in maintaining
immunity. It has been used since the 1960s as a
mucolytic—that is, a substance that breaks up mucus,
especially in lung tissue. It also has a positive effect on
toxic chemical and drug reactions, and has been used
for years in hospital emergency rooms to counteract
acetaminophen poisoning.
Clinical trials in Europe have indicated that NAC
may also offer protection against the flu and flulike
symptoms. Other research indicates that it may
enhance the production of human T cells, white blood
cells with various immunity functions.
NAC is metabolized into compounds that can stimulate
glutathione synthesis. The body produces glutathione,
one of its most important and powerful
antioxidants, to help it deal with the free radicals generated
as part of its own metabolism.
Alpha-lipoic acid
When it was isolated 50 years ago, alpha-lipoic acid
was identified as a vitamin. It has since been reclassified
as an antioxidant, and can scavenge free radicals intracellularly
and extracellularly. It is both fat- and water-soluble,
which means that it can access all parts of our cells.
Numerous clinical trials have shown that supplementing
with alpha-lipoic acid is beneficial in moderating
blood sugar concentrations, symptoms of cardiovascular
ailments, blurred vision, and liver complication
(Packer 1995).
Individuals who display limitations in moderating
blood sugar concentrations often have a serious problem
with glycation caused by higher than normal levels
of blood sugar due to low insulin production or insulin
resistance. Glycation happens when blood sugar reacts
quickly and spontaneously with proteins to form damaging
cross-linking. This cross-linking causes severe tissue
damage and leads to kidney ailments, plaque
buildup in the arteries, and retinopathy. Lipoic acid
curtails glycation and enhances the transfer of blood
sugar into the cells by stimulating insulin activity. One
of the more severe complications of noncontrolled
blood glucose levels is reduced circulation to the lower
extremities. Studies show that patients suffering from
symptoms of diabetic neuropathy improved significantly
when they supplemented with 600 mg of lipoic acid
daily (Kahler et al. 1993).
Children treated with alpha-lipoic acid alone or in
combination with vitamin E showed normalized organ
function and less oxidative damage following radiation
exposure in the Chernobyl incident (Korkina et. al 1993).
Current research indicates that alpha-lipoic supplementation
may help increase human T lymphocytes.
Alpha-lipoic acid has the ability to regenerate other
antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, glutathione,
and coenzyme Q10.
Lycopene
Lycopene is a member of the carotenoid family. It is
the pigment that gives fruits and vegetables its red color.
Predominantly available in tomatoes, lycopene has been
found to be twice as effective as beta carotene and 100
times more effective than vitamin E in counteracting
the dangerous free radical singlet oxygen. Lycopene has
been found to be a more potent inhibitor of human cancer
cells than all other carotenoids. A study in Europe
found that there was statistically significant association
between high dietary lycopene and a 48 percent lower
risk of cardiac disease (Kohlmeier et al. 1998).
Selenium
Selenium is an antioxidant mineral. It works together
with antioxidant enzymes to fight free radicals.
Selenium activates the antioxidant enzyme glutathione
peroxidase, which recycles glutathione.
Selenium improves white blood cell proliferation,
and a selenium deficiency will result in a depressed
immune system.
Selenium is reported to mimic the blood sugar regulatory
functions of insulin in laboratory studies and to play
a role in reducing the oxidative stress associated with diabetes.
Selenium may also protect against cancers and cardiovascular
disease by increasing HDL cholesterol levels.
Antioxidant cycling
In antioxidant cycling, antioxidants work
together for an enhanced, combined effect.
When the antioxidant vitamin E disables free
radicals, it becomes a minor free radical. Both vitamin
C and alpha-lipoic acid convert the radical
form of vitamin E back to its antioxidant-self.
However, when vitamin C recycles vitamin E, it
changes to a free radical. Alpha-lipoic acid and glutathione
can both “recycle” vitamin C back into a
potent antioxidant.
Glutathione not only recycles vitamin C, but is
the cells’ primary antioxidant. According to Lester
Packer, Ph.D., maintaining high levels of glutathione
is critical for life—low glutathione levels
are a marker for death at an early age. Glutathione
diminishes as we age and cannot be boosted significantly
through supplements.
N-acetylcysteine manufactures glutathione, and
alpha-lipoic acid regenerates glutathione, ensuring
that the body has an adequate supply. Selenium is
part of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, which
recycles glutathione.
OPCs also play a role in cycling as they sacrifice
themselves in order to neutralize harmful free radicals.
In doing so, they make it possible for vitamins
C and E and selenium to do less “antioxidant” work,
allowing these nutrients to perform their other
functions in the body.
You can see how the ingredients found in AIM
Proancynol® 2000 work together to provide optimum
free radical protection.
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