Nutrigenomics is the study of how foods affect genetics and how individual genetic differences can affect the way bodies respond to nutrients and other naturally occurring compounds. Glavonoid™ is the first supplement to be referred to as a “nutrigenomic” supplement—a nutritional substance that actually works at the genetic level. Swanson Health Products announced that the patented ingredient, Glavonoid, is now available in Swanson Best Weight-Control Formula Licorice Flavonoid Oil.

There are two primary types of fat: subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat is located just underneath the skin, while visceral fat is located beneath the muscles and surrounding vital organs. Glavonoid is an ingredient that has been clinically shown to reduce fat—especially visceral belly fat.

Dr. Fumiki Aoki, Senior Scientist with Kaneka Nutrients L.P., explains, “People often say they can’t lose weight because it’s ‘in their genes.’ To an extent, this may be true. We know that information from our genes has broad influence on our biological makeup. Glavonoid represents a new and emerging field known as ‘nutrigenomics,’ which refers to the study of how nutrients interact with our genes. Research suggests that Glavonoid helps mediate lipid [fat metabolism by influencing related gene expression in the liver. This does not mean it alters your DNA in any way. Rather, it means that it affects the biological output of those genes related to this specific metabolic activity.”

In an exclusive interview regarding Glavonoid™ Licorice Flavonoid Oil, Dr. Fumiki Aoki shares his firsthand experience with developing this remarkable nutraceutical. He explains how it can help us face the challenges of metabolic health and weight maintenance so pervasive in today’s society.

Swanson Health Products is an industry leader in bringing vitamins direct to consumers at the lowest prices possible. Swanson Health Products, located in Fargo, ND, offers the highest quality vitamins, supplements and natural health care products and is Good Manufacturing Practices certified.
swansonvitamins.com

Unsweetened cocoa and dark chocolate appear to be healthier choices than other kinds of chocolate. Blood pressure, cardiovascular health and insulin sensitivity have all been shown to profit from the flavonoids in the cocoa bean. Chocolate milk drinkers in one study showed marked improvement in heart health including a boost to the “good” HDL cholesterol. It’s notable that the chocolate milk consumed in this study was made with unsweetened cocoa powder (containing 82 percent cocoa) stirred into skim milk as opposed to the highly processed and sweetened version typically found on supermarket shelves.

Other research suggests eating chocolate makes us feel good – something self-professed chocoholics already know. Chocolate may reduce stress and have other positive psychological effects. Chocolate may be connected to neurotransmitters boosting mood and lowering anxiety. This research is still preliminary, so nutrition experts still don’t recommend eating chocolate for those health benefits, but this research is something chocolate lovers will watch.

Not all chocolate is created equal but consider choosing your chocolate fix based on what we know:

• The higher the cocoa content the greater the health benefits from flavonoids which help protect against aging and some chronic disease conditions. Following unsweetened cocoa powder on the list for percent cocoa is unsweetened baking chocolate and dark chocolate. Studies suggest that eating dark chocolate with 70 percent cocoa improves cardiovascular health. Semisweet chocolate and milk chocolate drop down further on the list for cocoa content.
• White chocolate contains no cocoa — which indicates it contains none of the healthy flavonoids.
• Cocoa butter, the key ingredient in white chocolate, has been shown to primarily contain stearic and oleic acids. On the plus side, cocoa butter doesn’t raise cholesterol. Cocoa butter combined with cocoa powder give that satisfying melt-in-your-mouth experience but makes it a high fat, high calorie food.
• Some chocolate on supermarket shelves has added cocoa flavonoids and other cholesterol-lowering sterols. Choose these if your budget can afford such a treat and you enjoy the flavor. Flavonoids can be obtained from other foods for less money and possibly fewer calories.

Pure chocolate is bitter. The more commonly consumed chocolate is cocoa mixed with sugar and other ingredients. However, we can choose to prepare or purchase healthier chocolate treats with a lower level of sugar. Magnify the benefits of flavonols by:
- Combining dark chocolate with fruit and nuts.
- Dip fresh strawberries into melted dark chocolate.
- Stir together melted dark chocolate with dried blueberries, cherries and nuts and drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper until they solidfy into a berry-cluster treat, or create your own favorite combination for chocolate drops.
- Prepare a dessert platter of red and green grapes, assorted fresh berries and squares of dark chocolate for choices rich in flavonols.
- Bake brownies with unsweetened cocoa powder or unsweetened baking chocolate. Minimize added sugar to the brownies by adding naturally sweet fruit to the recipe.

To add even more antioxidant benefits enjoy your creations with flavonol-rich red wine or a cup of black or green tea.

How much dark chocolate or unsweetened cocoa powder is the potential ticket to good health? None of the studies to date have determined the optimal daily serving. Many health experts are comfortable recommending daily dark chocolate in small amounts—an ounce or two daily—if it’s a food you already enjoy and can afford it in your calorie budget.

As a final word of caution, check the ingredients on the label to see where sugar is listed. The further down the list the better because that indicates a smaller amount of sugar in the product. Weigh the extra calories in chocolate before you spend them … and then enjoy every morsel!

Perryman Nutrition Column – www.news.colostate.edu

Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the USDA have identified factors that influence the antioxidant content of oats. In part, these benefits are likely derived from avenanthramides (Avns), a metabolite with potent antioxidant properties found exclusively, among food crops, in oats.

At the Cereal Crops Research Unit in Madison, Wisconsin, chemist Mitchell Wise is exploring the full extent of the biological function Avns have in oats. Previous studies have found that an Avn-enriched diet boosted antioxidant activity in serum and certain tissues in mammals, including humans. Insight into how Avn production is regulated may lead to increased Avn levels in the grain, which could, in turn, lead to higher antioxidant levels in the foods we eat.

The specific purpose of Avns is still largely unknown, but previous studies have found an increased production of Avns in oat leaves when the plant is attacked by a fungus, leading researchers to believe it plays an antimicrobial role.

But the amounts of individual Avns, says Wise, are highly variable and appear to be strongly affected by environment, genotype, and genotype-environment interactions. Wise and colleague Doug Doehlert, a fellow chemist with the ARS Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center in Fargo, North Dakota, examined the correlation between crown rust pressure and Avn concentration in the grain. They tested 16 oat cultivars and 2 breeding lines at three locations in North Dakota over 2 years.

The researchers found genotypes with the strongest crown rust resistance typically had the highest Avn concentrations in environments where crown rust occurred. They also found Avn production is likely influenced by additional environmental factors, as not all cultivars with strong crown rust resistance produced high Avn concentrations. Nevertheless, their results suggest that oat breeders—taking into account crown rust pressure during growth—can select certain cultivars for enhanced production of Avns.

Wise is also making an important contribution to human nutrition studies involving oats. Though there are at least 25 structural varieties of Avns found in oats, three forms—avnA, avnB, and avnC—are most abundant in the grain. Wise is able to create pure synthetic compounds of each type, which he supplies to colleagues for use in nutrition studies. Recently, Avns have been found to help reduce the risk of heart disease.

This research is part of Plant Biological and Molecular Processes, an ARS national program (#302) described at www.nps.ars.usda.gov.

Mitchell Wise is in the USDA-ARS Cereal Crops Research Unit, 502 Walnut St., Madison, WI 53726-2335; (608) 262-9242.

“Uncovering the Nutritional Value of Oats” was published in the February 2010 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

www.ars.usda.gov

Plant Research International has discovered the gene that makes tomatoes pink.

Tomatoes generally turn red but a mutation in the tomato genome makes them turn pink instead. This mutation was described in the literature as early as 1925 but it was still not known what caused it. In this month’s Plant Physiology Magazine a research team led by Arnaud Bovy explains that the pink colour is due to a mutation in a single gene. This mutation blocks the production of a key group of compounds, the flavonoids. They are found in the tomato skin and are yellow in colour. They combine with another pigment, red lycopene, to create the typical red colour of ripe tomatoes. If the yellow flavonoid is missing, the tomato becomes pink.

Bovy’s group carries out a great deal of research into flavonoids, not so much because of their role in determining the colour of various plants but because they are considered healthy food components of fruit and vegetables. Flavonoids probably function as antioxidants, reducing the likelihood of cardiovascular illnesses.

His group carried out biochemical studies of pink tomatoes and discovered that one important flavonoid was missing. Further research showed that a whole series of genes involved in the production of this compound were no longer expressed. It finally turned out that a single regulating gene was responsible for switching these genes on and off. ‘When we tested our findings on different tomato varieties, the relationship between this gene and the pink colour turned out to be one hundred per cent’, says Bovy.

Wagingen University and Research Center – www.wur.nl

Three plant extracts Hypericum mysorense, Hypericum hookerianum and Usnea complanta, exhibited significant antiviral activity, at a concentration non toxic to the cell line used

Plants have been used as folk remedies and ethnobotanical literature has described the usage of plant extracts, infusions and powders for centuries for diseases now known to be of viral origin. There is an increasing need for search of new compounds with antiviral activity as the treatment of viral infections with the available antiviral drugs is often unsatisfactory due to the problem of viral resistance coupled with the problem of viral latency and conflicting efficacy in recurrent infection in immune-compromised patients. Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) are ubiquitous agents which cause a variety of diseases ranging in severity from mild to severe, and in certain cases, these may even become life threatening, especially in immune-compromised patients. After primary infection, HSV persists in the host for the lifetime. HSV infection is thus considered lifelong infection.

Nucleoside analogues such as aciclovir (ACV), penciclovir etc., are the only approved drugs for the treatment of HSV infections. However, the widespread use of nucleoside based drugs has led to the emergence of resistance in HSV. This indicates the need for search of newer antiviral agents to treat such infections.

The present study was undertaken to test the extracts of 18 plants for their antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1, a DNA virus).

Material & Methods
The plant materials were collected from in and around Ootacamund, Tamil Nadu, India and were authenticated by the Botanical Survey of India, Government Arts College, Ootacamund where sample specimens were deposited. Extracts of different plants were prepared by using Soxhlet extraction unit as per the standard procedure. The essential oils from different parts of plants were isolated by water distillation using Clavenges apparatus.

Sixteen cells were used for each concentration of the test sample. The morphology of the cells was inspected daily and observed for microscopically detectable alterations, i.e.,loss of monolayer, granulation and vacuolization in the cytoplasm.

The cultures were treated with different dilutions of plant extracts in fresh maintenance medium and incubated at 37ºC for five days. Every 24 h the observation was made and cytopathic effects were recorded. Anti-HSV-1 activity was determined by the inhibition of cytopathic effect compared with control, i.e., the protection offered by the test samples to the cells was scored. In virus yield assay, reduction in the yield of virus when cells were treated with the plant extracts was determined.

List of selected medicinal plants –
Bacopa monnieri, Solanum trilobatum, Hibiscus vitifolius, Allium cepa, Derris brevipes, Hypericum mysorense, Hypericum hookerianum, Berberis tinctoria, Mahonia leschenaultia, Usnea complanta, Stirt Usneaceae, Tagetes minuta, Leucas lavandulaefolia, Melia dubia, Azadirachta indica, Santolina chamaecyparissus,
Cryptostegia grandiflora, Daucus carota, Rosmarinus officinalis,

Results
Of the 18 plant extracts tested, three (H. mysorense, H. hookerianum and U. complanta) were found to exhibit potent antiviral activity. H. mysorense and H.hookerianum are used in the treatment for anxiety and inflammation traditionally. Hypericum perforatum from the same species is reported for its antiviral activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus. Three plant species Hypericums connatum, Hypericum caprifoliatum and Hypericum polyanthemum (Guttiferae), growing in Southern Brazil were chemically investigated and tested for their antiviral activity against feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Our results showed that H. mysorense and H. hookerianum suppressed HSV-1 infection.

Discussion
The results from this preliminary investigation provide evidence of the importance of ethnopharmacology as a guide to the screening of biologically active plant materials. We used 100 per cent inactivation to define an extract with antiviral activity, but many extracts had partial antiviral activity. These extracts may have compounds that are true antiviral, but are present at quantities insufficient to inactivate all infectious virus particles. It is possible that the elucidation of active constituents in these plants may provide useful lead to the development of new and effective antiviral agents.

P. Vijayan, C. Raghu, G. Ashok, S.A. Dhanaraj & B. Suresh JSS College of Pharmacy, TN, India

References
1. Vanden Berghe DA, Vlietinck AJ, Vanhoof L. Plant products as potential antiviral agents. Bull Inst Pasteur 1986; 84 : 101-47.
2. Vlietinck AJ, Vanden Berghe DA. Can ethnopharmacology contribute to the development of antiviral drugs? J Ethnopharmacol 1991; 32 : 141-53.
3. Hudson JB. Antiviral compounds from plants. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press; 1990 p. 200.
4. De Rodriguez DJ, Chula J, Simons C, Armoros M, Veriohe AM, Girre L. Search for in vitro antiviral activity of a new isoflavone glycoside from Vlex europeus. Planta Med 1990; 50 : 59-62.
5. Yoganarasimhan SN. Medicinal plants of India, Tamil Nadu. vol 2, Bangalore: Cyber Media; 2000.
6. Vijayan P, Vinod Kumar S, Dhanaraj SA, Badami S, Suresh B. In vitro cytotoxicity and antitumor properties of the total alkaloid fraction of unripe fruits of Solanum pseudocapsicum. Pharm Biol 2002; 40 : 456-60.
7. Vijayan P, Vinod Kumar S, Dhanaraj SA, Mukherjee PK, Suresh B. In vitro cytotoxicity and antitumour properties of Hypericum mysorense and Hypericum patulum. Phytother Res 2003; 17 : 952-6.
8. Chiang LC, Cheng HY, Liu MC, Chiang W, Lin CC. In vitro antiherpes
simplex viruses and anti-adenoviruses activity of twelve traditionally used medicinal plants in Taiwan. Biol Pharm Bull 2003; 26 : 1600-4.
9. Cinatl J, Vogel U, Cinatl J, Kabickova H, Kornhuber B, Doerr HW. Antiviral effects of 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucin on replication of Herpes Simplex Virus type-1. Antiviral Res 1997; 33 : 165-75.

LifeVantage Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: LFVN), the maker of science-based solutions to oxidative stress, announced that the Company has received formal approval from the Mexican government to launch its flagship product, Protandim®, in Mexico. Initial shipments have cleared customs and Protandim® has been shipped to distributors in Mexico.

In August 2009, as part of its expansion, the Company announced it had entered the international market with a pre-launch in Mexico, which ranks among the top five countries in terms of network marketing, according to the Direct Sellers Association (DSA).

“I’m excited Protandim® is finally in Mexico–it has been a long time in coming,” said Dr. Daniel Hernandez-Saavedra, Research Director with the Biochemical Research Center in the National Medical Center of Mexico and a LifeVantage Scientific Advisory Board member. “We are enthusiastic about the potential health benefits to all in Mexico who use Protandim® as well as to the opportunities for future research that the availability of the product in Mexico will provide. I believe there is not another product like Protandim® in Mexico!”

Francisco Varela, National Sales Director of Mexico for LifeVantage Corporation commented, “We believe that the availability of Protandim® in Mexico is a great opportunity for consumers seeking to improve their health. Furthermore, with the arrival of Protandim® in Mexico, in addition to the availability of our TrueScience Anti-Aging Cream, our distributors are now fully empowered to enjoy the increased financial benefits of the LifeVantage business opportunity.”

For more information about LifeVantage in Mexico or its products, go to www.lifevantage.com.mx or contact LifeVantage Customer Service at 011-5255-9171-2029 to place an order.

About Protandim®

Protandim® is a clinically proven supplement that provides substantial benefits for healthy aging. This patented indirect antioxidant therapy works in a very different way than conventional foods such as red wine, oranges, blueberries or other popular antioxidant supplements. Unlike those types of products that have proven to be largely ineffective in reducing oxidative stress caused by free radicals, Protandim® is an indirect antioxidant therapy, which stimulates the body’s production of its own powerful antioxidant enzymes. Protandim® works at the cellular level, triggering cells to naturally increase production of protective antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione synthase.

A peer-reviewed human clinical study showed that after Protandim® was taken for 30 consecutive days, important biochemical markers of aging were decreased by an average of 40%. The study also reported that these markers of aging were reduced in the subjects taking Protandim to the level of a typical 20 year old. Protandim® is currently the subject of approximately 20 scientific studies at universities and research facilities. The nature and stages of the studies vary.

Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, Protandim® is considered a “dietary supplement” and, as with all dietary supplements, Protandim® is not intended for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or cure of any disease. For more information about Protandim®, visit www.LifeVantage.com.

About LifeVantage Corporation

LifeVantage Corporation is a publicly traded (OTCBB: LFVN), science-based, nutraceutical company dedicated to helping people reach their health and wellness goals. Founded in 2003 and based in San Diego, CA, LifeVantage develops products, including Protandim(®), that are intended to deliver significant health benefits to consumers. For more information, visit www.LifeVantage.com

A research group from Tel Aviv University has done the most comprehensive and accurate study of clinical data on Vitamin E use and heart disease to date, and warns that indiscriminate use of high-dose Vitamin E supplementation does more harm than good. Their results were recently reported in ATVB, a leading journal of cardiology, and discussed in the journal BioFactors.

“There were so many conflicting reports about Vitamin E and its effect on various diseases, particularly heart disease, that we wanted to set the record straight,” says Prof. Dov Lichtenberg of TAU’s Sackler School of Medicine.

“Our new study shows that some people may be harmed by the treatment, whereas others may benefit from it. Now we’re trying to identify groups of people that are most likely to benefit from the effects of Vitamin E,” adds study co-researcher Dr. Ilya Pinchuk. The TAU research team also included decision analyst Dr. Moshe Leshno of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Leon Recanati Faculty of Management and Dr. Yedidya (Didi) Dotan, whose PhD thesis is the basis for this analysis.

Applying a very different approach than any previous study, the team of researchers put their heads together to draw definitive conclusions about Vitamin E. In their publication in ATVB the Tel Aviv University researchers evaluated the results of the prominent studies measuring the health benefits of Vitamin E but reached varying conclusions. There have been many previous publications on the subject. Analysis of the results of all these past publications together revealed that subjects who did not take a Vitamin E supplement enjoyed more quality-adjusted-life-years (QALY), a standard parameter used in medicine to assess the effect of medical interventions.

“To explain the meaning of this parameter,” says Dr. Pinchuk, “consider a participant who was healthy during the first 10 out of 20 years of the study, but then suffered a stroke and became dependent on others throughout the following 10 years. The QALY during the first 10 years of healthy life is 10, but after the stroke the quality of life is only half of what this person had before. Therefore, the second decade is considered the equivalent of merely 5 years of healthy life and in sum a person’s QALY is 15.

The researchers examined data from more than 300,000 subjects in the US, Europe and Israel. “Our major finding,” says Dr. Pinchuk, “was that the average quality-adjusted life years (QALY) of Vitamin E- supplemented individuals was 0.30 less than that of untreated people. This, of course, does not mean that everybody consuming Vitamin E shortens their life by almost 4 months. But on average, the quality-adjusted longevity is lower for vitamin-treated people. This says something significant.”

n the BioFactors article, the TAU researchers defined “the real challenge as being able to identify who is likely to benefit taking Vitamin E.” They also explored the first hypothesis of the oxidative theory of atherosclerosis published more than 20 years ago, which was the basis for the widespread use of antioxidants today. At first, this hypothesis raised great enthusiasm that anti-oxidants like Vitamins E and C and flavonoids could be used to prevent disease or its progression. In this respect, the new findings are very disappointing.

“We’ve now concluded that going to the grocery or to a health food store to buy Vitamin E supplements, for the most part, won’t do you good. In some cases it can do harm,” says Dr. Pinchuk. “A doctor wouldn’t prescribe anti-hypertension drugs to the whole population, only to those with low blood pressure. It seems this is true for antioxidants, too. When you give them to everybody, you may be doing more harm than good. Some people may benefit from it, but more may be harmed.”

The researchers are now building sets of criteria that detail under what conditions Vitamin E supplements should be taken. They are also investigating the chemical mechanisms of antioxidants in general to better understand how they work.

www.tau.ac.il