Juice or Junk?

Letter from Dr. Chaney:

I found a couple of interesting articles on the acai berry and the mangosteen fruit in the October and December 2009 issues of Environmental Nutrition.

Environmental Nutrition is not a peer reviewed scientific journal, but they do a good job of researching peer reviewed scientific journals to find out whether there is any sound research behind many of the nutritional products that you find in the
marketplace.

I thought that you might be interested in what they found out about the scientific backing for all of those claims that you have been hearing about for acai berries and mangosteen fruit.

In both cases they found very little scientific backing for the claims made for those products.

In the case of the acai berry they found one clinical study that showed that when people consumed a single serving of acai juice or acai pulp the antioxidant
capacity in their blood was increased over the next 12 hours.

While that sounds impressive, you need to realize that the same is true when people consume a serving of blueberries, raspberries or blackberries.

They also found a study showing that acai extracts destroyed cancer cells in a tissue culture dish.

Again, that's not as impressive as it sounds because other fruits, such as grapes, mangos and guavas, have been shown to do the same thing in cell culture studies, and there is no evidence that any of those fruits have the same effect in the human body.

The science behind mangosteen is only slightly better.

Cell culture studies show that mangosteen extracts can stop certain bacteria from growing and can attenuate inflammation and insulin resistance in cultured human
fat cells.

Again, this is true of almost any food extract with high antioxidant potential, but that alone does not mean that it will have the same effect in the human body.

In animal studies mangosteen extracts suppressed tumor growth in mice and reduced oxidative damage in the brains of rats.

While animal studies are a bit more definitive than cell culture studies, we need to remember that rats and mice are not just little humans.

I have been actively engaged in cancer research - anticancer drug development specifically - for 37 years. Based on my years of experience I can tell you that only about 10% of the effects that we see in animals also show up in humans.

As with the acai berry, there appears to be only a single clinical study with mangosteen fruit. In that study a mangosteen supplement with vitamins and minerals enhanced immune responsiveness.

Again, that sounds impressive. But you need to know that numerous studies have shown that supplementation with vitamins and minerals alone increases immune responsiveness. There is no evidence that the mangosteen had anything to do with the results.

You might be asking "What about all of the fantastic testimonials that the proponents of these products offer?"

You should know that the placebo effect approaches 50% when it comes to things like pain relief, energy levels and feelings of well being. Unless there is strong
scientific evidence, I always discount testimonials.

Environmental Nutrition concluded that there was probably no risk of consuming moderate amounts of acai berry or mangosteen.

However, they cautioned that there was little or no evidence to support the many claims made for those products.

Finally, they stated that you can probably get exactly the same antioxidant and health benefits - at a fraction of the cost - by consuming many of the fruits
and vegetables that you can find at your local grocery store.

I concur!

To Your Health!

Carrots, Eggs and Coffee

How do you handle adversities?

Twas The Night Before Shaklee....

Twas The Night Before Shaklee....

Twas the night before Shaklee, when all through the place,
Not a corner was gleaming, there was no Basic-H.

Our food was all packed in the closet with care,
In hopes when we ate them some nutrition would be there.

The children all wrestled and tossed in their beds,
Because they lacked Calcium from their toes to their heads.

And Mamma without Protein and me without Herb-Lax
Were both quite a wreck and about to collapse.

When from out of nowhere there came such a clatter,
I feebly got up to see what was the matter.

Over to the window I moved like a snail,
My struggle with the shutters all left me quite pale.

The soot and pollution on the new fallen snow,
All made me quite nauseous to see it below.

When what through my bloodshot old eyes did I see,
But a shiny new car, and a license plate that read "Shaklee".

With Aunt Mildred driving and moving so quick,
I thought, she must be on drugs, or some brand new health kick!

With boxes and bottles and bundles she came.
She jumped up and kicked her heels calling them by name.

"I've got Protein & Vita Lea, Herb Lax & Lecithin,
Basic H & G and some bottles to mix them in."

She leaped to the porch, almost kicked down the door.
We were all quite amazed cause her health used to be poor.

As I drew in my head and was turning around,
She had flown in the kitchen in one single bound.

She was dressed in a cloth coat and a cute little hat,
But they were both sparkling clean, and you couldn't miss that.

A bundle of bottles she dropped on the table,
And said soon I'll tell you the Basic H Fable!

Her eyes how they twinkled. She said, "I've a mission!"
Then she sat us all down and began with nutrition.

She was sharp as a whip and her memory quite keen,
As she told us of Herb-lax, Vita Lea and Protein.

She told us that Calcium was good for our teeth,
And that smoking would make them turn green as a wreath.

Then she took off her coat and said "Look at this belly,
Before Shaklee's Cinch, it looked all full of Jelly."

She used to be plump and a crabby old elf,
And she laughed as she said, "I've gotten hold of myself!"

Then I pinched myself hard and I rattle my head,
Perhaps I am dreaming, I must be in bed.

She spoke lots of words about cleaning and work,
And filled all those bottles and turned with a jerk.

Picking up a sponge and the sinks sprayer hose,
She cleaned off the sink, now the porcelain shows.

Then she whipped on her coat as she sprang to the door,
"I've got Shaklee Members to sponsor, haven't time to do more!"
But I heard her exclaim as she drove down the street.

"If you're not into Shaklee, your life's not complete!!!"

Author Unknown