Beta-Carotene

The headline in my hometown newspaper read, “High dose of vitamin A not healthy.” However, the opening sentence says, “Beta carotene supplements don’t lower the risk of heart disease or cancer, and might even harm smokers and others at high risk for lung cancer, new studies indicate.” We immediately know there is a problem with this article because vitamin A and beta carotene are not the same thing. This is just another example of the media trying to grab your attention with a flashy headline.
Many of you remember the same type of headline about a year ago. It read something like, “Beta carotene causes cancer.” This was the conclusion of the media after seeing the Finnish Study. In this study it was found that men that smoked at least 36 years had a high incidence of lung cancer even after they started taking a beta carotene supplement. Unfortunately the media didn’t report much of what the study really said or what it suggested.
Last spring I attended the International Symposium on Natural Antioxidants in Beijing, China. There were the best researchers from 18 countries around the world, come together to discuss and present the latest findings on antioxidants and free radical damage. In one of the sessions a great deal of attention was given to the Finnish Study. The scientists were very angry at the media for distorting the truth. It was well known to them that the study was flawed for several reasons. First, the study used heavy smokers, men that had smoked for over 35 years! Obviously this group of people will have a higher lung cancer rate. The type of cancer reported in the Finnish Study, and this latest one, isn’t something that develops in the short time span of the study but is something these participants had been working on for many years.
No one believes that a small dose of beta carotene will cure cancer. It is looked at for its protective and preventative properties. This brings us to point two. The amount of beta carotene in the study was very small. All nutritional researchers believe that not even half the proper dosage of beta carotene was used so there is no way any positive results could be seen. Additionally, only synthetic beta carotene was used. It is believed that many nutritional substances can come from either synthetic or natural sources. It is known that some substances such as beta carotene are much more potent in their natural form. The study should have used large doses of natural beta carotene.
Finally, the study shouldn’t have used just beta carotene. Nature never gives us just one substance. Our bodies work best in harmony with varied micro nutrients or phytochemicals we get from our food. It has been shown that there is a strong synergistic action between various antioxidants. One study proved that by taking vitamin C, E, and beta carotene together the antioxidant effect was over 3 times stronger than taking any two of them. Studies should not isolate individual nutritional elements and then try to make a statement about their usefulness in a balanced diet. One has nothing to do with the other. Additionally it has been shown that there are over 600 different carotenoids, not just beta carotene. You should not take just beta carotene as it may interfere with the absorption of the other carotenoids.
For example, let’s say there are 600 carotenoids and that you have exactly 600 receptor sites for carotenoids in your body. If you take a supplement of just beta carotene it could fill all the sites. Later if you ate a meal with lots of veggies the various carotenoids would have no place to go and pass uselessly out of your body. While all the carotenoids help stop free radical damage certain ones are more effective in targeting the lungs while others help prevent eye and vision damage and others help prevent heart disease. It is very important that you take synergistically mixed supplements. By taking just a beta carotene supplement you could severely limit the protection your body receives from your diet.
This new study is no different, in fact it would appear they learned nothing from the Finnish Study at all. The article did mention that after only two years the study has been scrapped. Again, the type of cancers reported did not come from the study but as a result of the high risk behavior of the participants. Behavior that took place over many, many years.
One good point in this article was that the author did cite another recent NCI sponsored study involving 22, 071 male doctors. This study took place over a 12 year period and found no harm from beta carotene in either smokers or nonsmokers. The final conclusion was that despite the title of the article there is no real evidence to support the belief that beta carotene was harmful.
I read literally hundreds of studies and articles every month. Other scientists and researchers that Symmetry is associated with read at least that many. We are committed to staying on the leading edge of knowledge and technology for your health, safety, and well being. Symmetry does not have a beta carotene supplement. We have Mega Juice. This product is made from the juice of 15 fruits and 15 vegetables. While it certainly supplies you with beta carotene, it is also giving you the synergistically mixed Carotenoids and a host of other vital antioxidant families. Remember, we don’t just sell you these products we take them!

Botana-C, Botana-E & Botana-G

Vitamin C

Talk of raising DV from 60 mg to 200 mg in the not too distant future.
Clinical Center at the National Institute of Health says that 200 mg is the optimal dose for healthy people.

1 cigarette destroys 25-100 mg of vit C!
“The Pill” interferes with the availability of vit B6, B12, folic acid and vit C.
Aspirin triples the excretion of vit C from the body!

Antioxidants interact and support each other: the more vit C, the more Vit E you will have in your blood by offering protection from oxidation. Also carotenoid levels were up.

Too many chewable vit C tablets could cause erosion of your tooth enamel.

Vit C loosens narrowed arteries opening blood flow. Take 2,000 mg within 2 hours of a heart attack to increase blood flow.

May be best to take 500 mg twice a day for optimal blood levels.

Diabetics may want to take 1,000 mg twice a day to help control blood sugar and cholesterol.

Vit C does not cause Kidney stones. Good levels of C may actually prevent Kidney stones.

Taking C and E before sun exposure can lessen sunburn.

Vit C is non-toxic – period!

Vit C beneficial for: common cold (decreases symptoms and duration) (during a cold/flu or other sickness take 500 mg to 1,000 every 2 hours), asthma (and taking C before a workout lessens chance of exercise induced attack), arthritis, heart, penis (increased blood flow), cancer (mostly GI, mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach and pancreas, but also lung and cervix), immune response, cataract, tissue damage (soreness) after exercise (and if you exercise, you need more as you breathe in more free radicals), protects against genetic damage, enhances white blood cell function, increases interferon, helps stop oxidation of cholesterol (probably lipoprotein a) which helps prevent blocked arteries also elevates HDL cholesterol (the good one), by helping to lower cholesterol C helps with gallbladder disease (stones), gum disease, inhibits H. pylori bacteria so stops ulcers.

Symmetry’s Botana-C a prolonged release C with phytonutrient rich botanical complex.
Citrus bioflavonoids help the absorption and use of vit C. Also strengthen blood vessel walls.
Rutin, hesperidin complex and quercetin also function much the same way.

Vitamin P (C complex, citrus bioflavonoids, rutin, hesperidin.) Called vit P as P stands for permeability in capillaries – increases strength and regulates absorption. Helps in the treatment of edema and dizziness due to disease of the inner ear.
For every 500 mg of C you should have 100 mg of P.
Flavonoids provide the yellow and orange color to fruits and veggies.
Quercetin recently discovered by University of California to be a potent cancer fighter – suppresses malignant cells before they form tumors.
Botana-C blend: cranberry, pycnogenol, acerola, rose hips and blueberry all help fight UTI and are good for eyes and other systems because of antioxidant blend.

Vit E

Vit E is a group of group of substances called tocopherols not just d-alpha tocopherol. There are actually 8: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, and theta but alpha-tocopherol is the most effective.

While it is a fat soluble vit it is not stored long in the body and 60%-70% can be lost in the feces so it needs to be replenished daily.

DV: 30 IU
Normal intake seems to be between 10-15 IU.
Good sources are seeds, nuts, vegetable oils, wheat germ, tuna fish and oatmeal.
The US’s low fat diet means a low vit E and fat soluble nutrient diet. Fat free salad dressings, mayonnaise and margarine all have no vit E. It would be almost impossible to get 100 IU from food alone and there is no way you could get 400 IU from your diet.

Most doctors don’t recommend vitamins but the majority of those do take E and many also take C.

Prevents heart disease. 1 in 3 Americans will die of heart disease this year.
Carried in blood by LDL cholesterol, the bad one! But it’s only bad when oxidized and E blocks that. 400 IU seems to be the best dose for that. Most studies on E and heart disease use at least 100 IU a day and find that results go up with dose. 100 IU – 400 IU seems best. If you exercise take 400 IU – 800 IU.

E is for effective, excellent, exceptional,

Vit E may be helpful for: as an antioxidant it can help with any free radical damage and the general degenerative diseases of aging, cancer, heart disease, improves overall immunity, senility, sexual function (often called the sex vitamin for men as it can boost erections), arthritis, protects the muscles (very important for athletes), can lessen some types of pain, helps the skin heal faster, cataracts, Parkinson’s Disease, suppressed immune function. Works as a vasodilator and an anticoagulant. Keeps you looking younger. Protects the lungs (with vit A and carotenoids against lung cancer). Helps prevent and dissolve blood clots. Working as a diuretic it can lower blood pressure.

Dry form is recommend over oil as oil can react with some people’s skin and cause upset stomach.

Chlorine (from water) can inactive E!

Botana-E combines full spectrum tocopherols and tocotrienols with a natural botanical base.
Alfalfa, wheat germ, soybean, and sunflower seed would help with bioavailability as food source base. Also have other nutrients that benefit blood, detox and prostate.

Garlic

Allium sativum. Chinese: Da Suan. Japanese: Taison. Korean: Taesan.
The Stinking Rose, Russian Penicillin,
Studies done with fresh cloves or standardized garlic preparations.

Strong effect against ameba and pinworms. Antiparasitic, antimicrobial, antifungal, antibacterial, and anticancer.

“If a scientist were to dream up the ideal drug for this number one killer of our time (cardiovascular disease), says Paul Bergner, herbalist and author of the Healing Power of Garlic, that the drug would need to reduce cholesterol, reduce the oxidation of cholesterol in the fatty deposits in the arteries, lower blood pressure, and thin the blood to reduce its tendency to clot. Garlic, in fact, has all 4 of these actions, and some of them perform the job as well as pharmaceutical drugs.”

Egyptians used to treat heart ailments in 1,500 BC!

A diet rich in garlic makes your aorta more flexible and can increase circulation.

Can lower cholesterol and reduce arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Average drop between 10% - 11% over just 3 weeks. Lowers both Cholesterol and the bad LDL.
Eat 1 – 2 average size cloves a day or its equivalent.

Garlic is one of the most studied chemical compounds from food. Over 1,200 papers published and well over a 1/3 since the mid ‘80’s.

When cut or crushed allin combines with the enzyme allinase and they form allicin the main sulfur compound believed to be responsible for garlic’s health benefits.

Another compound is S-allyl-cysteine (SAC) shown to be effective against tumors. It is found in both fresh and garlic and pills.

Kal Beyond Garlic tablets had 6 times the allicin that Kwai tablets did and 17 times the amount found in GNC’s Natural Brand. Kyolic had no allicin at all.

Used in China and around the world for: fighting infections, bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections for centuries. Superior antifungal, antimicrobial and antiparasitic abilities when compared to conventional pharmaceutical preparations. Those areas (in China and around the world) eating the most garlic have the lowest incidence of cancers. Stomach cancer is particularly low. Garlic seems to increase the ability of anticarcinogenic enzymes in the liver to detoxify carcinogenic compounds.

Garlic enhances theromogenesis (fat burning) (helps weight loss). This seems to be from SAC and allicin. This releases neuroendocrine hormone, norepinephrine (NE). Norepinephrine secretion from the sympathetic nervous system controls theromogenesis of brown adipose tissue (BAT) via stimulation of beta-receptors.

Other spices can also help: piperine (from black pepper), allylisothiocyanate and capsaicin (from hot peppers).

Botana-G combines garlic and allium (chives, leek and onion) blend with a botanical digestive base blend.
Symmetry uses a unique blend of both aged garlic extract and odorless garlic concentrate to make sure you are getting all the active components. Additionally we give you the benefits from the onion family that also has been shown to be potent disease fighters.
The botanical base blend contains parsley leaf, dried peppermint oil and ginger. This will help not only with digestion but help make sure you don’t have garlic breath.