Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw's
Intelligent Design
By
Jim English
Vitamin Research Products is proud to introduce four new Designer Foods® formulas by renowned nutritional researchers and authors, Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw®. Durk and Sandy are often credited with single-handedly launching the anti-aging revolution following the publication of their landmark best-selling book, Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach, in 1982.
Originally inspired by the Free Radical Theory of Aging by Dr. Denham Harman in 1968, Durk and Sandy went on to devote the last three decades to the rigorous study of human aging and disease processes. Over the years Durk and Sandy have made many important contributions to the life-extension, anti-aging and Health Freedom movements, not the least of which is Designer Foods, a line of state-of-the-art nutritional formulas that Durk and Sandy designed for their own personal use.
Designing for Metabolic Effects
How the body utilizes a given nutrient depends on a number of factors. For example, the brain can convert the essential amino acid phenylalanine into noradrenaline, a neurotransmitter that acts as the brain’s version of adrenaline. However, the brain also needs several important cofactors, including vitamins C and B6, folic acid, and copper, to support the enzymes needed for the conversion of phenylalanine to noradrenaline.
Durk and Sandy incorporate this knowledge when designing their formulas by using a chart of Interwww.y Metabolism Biochemical Pathways that allows them to map the numerous biochemical and metabolic interactions of a given nutrient. It is this rigorous attention to detail—a hallmark of Durk and Sandy’s work—that imbues their formulas with a degree of refinement rarely seen in nutritional formulas.
Optimum Energy™
Neurotransmitters are natural messenger molecules involved in every thought, memory and emotion generated by your brain. Noradrenaline, for example, is the primary brain neurotransmitter involved in rapid memory recall, reaction time, mental energy, alertness, attention, and goal seeking. Durk and Sandy formulated Optimum Energy to provide the essential nutrients the brain requires to produce noradrenaline and increase levels of this vital neurotransmitter that is often depleted by the effects of stress, exhaustion, or poor nutrition.
Optimum Energy combines the amino acid, L-phenylalanine, with vital co-factors, such as vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, and folic acid, that aid the enzymatic conversion of this essential nutrient into noradrenaline. Optimum Energy also contains 80 mg of caffeine— about as much as is found in a cup of instant coffee—which helps your brain to release noradrenaline and to become more sensitive to its effects. The result is a pulse of noradrenaline that acts as a refreshing, clear-headed wake-up call for your brain.
For best results start off each morning with a delicious-tasting glass of orange/citrus flavored Optimum Energy for hours of mental and physical energy, free of the jitters, nervousness or crash associated with coffee and other stimulants. Drink a second serving about an hour before lunch. Drink a third serving in the mid-afternoon.
Memorize™
When designing the drink, Memorize, Durk and Sandy concentrated on a different series of metabolic and nutritional pathways that are involved in the production of another important neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. Acetylcholine helps in the transmission of brain impulses between nerves, muscles and organs, and plays a critical role in memory function, focus and concentration, and muscle contraction. Acetylcholine is also directly involved with cognition, long and short-term memory, stimulus response, and mental energy.
Acetylcholine levels have been shown to increase rapidly after eating foods, such as egg yolk and liver, that are high in choline. Choline is a nutrient closely related to B vitamins that helps the body produce and metabolize essential levels of fats and cholesterol. These properties explain the importance of choline in the manufacture of cell membranes, particularly of cells in the brain and central nervous system, while protecting the liver from the accumulation of excess fatty deposits. Low levels of choline have also been implicated as part of the pathological processes in various brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and possibly tardive dyskinesia and Huntington’s disease.
Recognizing the importance of choline and acetylcholine in cognitive functions involving memory, verbal behavior, attention to detail and problem solving, Durk and Sandy designed Memorize for their own use. Memorize combines choline and its vital cofactors in a great tasting, lemon-lime citrus drink mix that helps Durk & Sandy maintain concentration, organize their thoughts, and enhance mental focus.
Pro-Formance™
One of the important biomarkers of human aging is a pronounced decline in the production of important hormones. Human growth hormone is secreted by the pituitary gland, the master gland of the body’s endocrine system. Growth hormone stimulates bone growth, immune function, amino acid uptake, protein synthesis, and muscle glucose uptake. Growth hormone also induces the burning of fat from adipose tissues and plays a key role in maintaining cardiovascular health.
Growth hormone levels peak in adolescence and begin to decline steadily after age 25. By age thirty growth hormone levels begin to plummet by an additional 14% for each successive decade. This drop in growth hormone is known to contribute to a number of serious alterations in aging humans, including immune system malfunctions, increased body fat deposits, a loss of muscle tone and overall physical strength, thinning of skin, and diminished sexual drive.
People taking the correct combination of the semi-essential amino acid L-arginine and co-factors have been able to increase their natural secretion of growth hormone, leading to improvements in muscle tone, muscle-to-fat ratios, and immune response.
Arginine vs Viagra™
In the 1990s scientists discovered that L-arginine is the amino acid precursor of nitric oxide (NO). Nitric oxide is important in many body functions, including the dilation of arteries, endothelial function, motor learning, immune activity, and is required for achieving and maintaining penile erection. Under conditions in which nitric oxide is produced for a specific physiologic purpose, the concentration of L-arginine (from which it is formed) can be a limiting factor. When researchers at New York University School of Medicine gave L-arginine to a group of impotent men, six out of 15 men receiving the amino acid claimed an improved ability to achieve erections, while none of the 15 men in the placebo group reported any benefit (Zorgniotti A, Lizza E. Effect of large doses of the nitric oxide precursor, L-arginine, on erectile dysfunction. Int.J. Impotence Res., 1994 6:33-36.). And the possible enhancement of sexual pleasure is not limited to men. Just as with Viagra, arginine may provide similar benefits for women, including enhancement of sexual sensations and orgasmic enjoyment.
Durk and Sandy were among the first people to recognize that arginine was a dietary supplement that promoted a wide range of health benefits. Since 1979 they have been advocating arginine supplements—and taking it daily themselves—in the form of their nutrient drink, Pro-Formance. Pro-Formance combines arginine, choline, vitamin B5, and other nutrients in a delicious drink mix that can help restore nitric oxide function throughout your body.
First Tea™
When formulating First Tea, Durk and Sandy were trying to solve a huge— literally—problem: the growing epidemic of obesity. Restricting calories to lose weight is a losing proposition. First, cutting back on calories is difficult and unnatural—after all, humans didn’t survive and evolve by purposefully starving themselves. To give you some idea of how hard this approach is, consider the fact that 95% of those who lose weight by caloric restriction regain it all back within one year. When you realize that much of that weight loss consists of healthy muscle mass instead of fat, you can see that weight control is a complex process. This product has been discontinued.
The second problem with reducing calories is that this approach doesn’t really work. Millions of years of evolution have endowed the body with a protective mechanism that kicks in to preserve energy stores (i.e. fat) and reduce energy output (including resting metabolic rate) when food supplies become scarce. In essence the body senses any sharp restriction in caloric intake not as a deliberate act, but as an external sign that food is simply not available. The body responds by triggering hard-wired genetic famine alarm that shifts metabolism into a fat-saving mode to conserve precious energy reserves and prolong life. After a short period of weight loss the famine response goes into high gear, leading to the famous dieters plateau that stops weight loss in its tracks and contributes to an overall feeling of exhaustion.
This highly refined survival trait — once critical to the survival of the human race during the Ice Ages and other periods of famine—completely undermines and dooms most efforts of modern dieters. This mechanism also explains why, after people begin to eat a sensible diet again, most imwww.ely gain back all of those hard lost pounds.
Thermogenesis: The Other Side of the Equation
In designing First Tea, Durk and Sandy searched the scientific literature for research that reported successful mechanisms for getting rid of excess body fat. One such method showed that you could manipulate the other side of the equation for weight loss by fooling the body to burn more fat without unnaturally restricting food intake. The key to this process is thermogenesis, meaning, literally, creating heat. Thermogenesis involves the burning of fat to create heat and it is one the body’s most basic metabolic processes. When you turn up your thermogenic fires, you start burning stored fat at an accelerated rate. Thus, the weight you lose is exclusively from fat, not lean muscle mass.
The primary regulatory mechanism for thermogenesis is controlled by the hypothalamus through the release of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline. Noradrenaline release and, consequently, thermogenesis, are stimulated by a number of factors, including exposure to cold temperatures, strenuous exercise (a mere 30 seconds of peak exercise, such as sprinting, can increase the amount of noradrenaline in the blood by a factor of six for 2 to 4 hours), and consumption of nutrients known to promote fat burning.
Enhancing Thermogenesis
First Tea contains ephedra, a natural herb that has been safely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for over five thousand years as a tonic, nasal decongestant, and for relief of gastric cramps and asthma. Durk and Sandy formulated First Tea after studying a large body of research that shows that the ephedrine naturally contained in ephedra acts as a safe and natural thermogenic agent at the intracellular level by stimulating the body’s mitochondria (those found mostly in skeletal muscles in humans) to burn excess body fat and release heat.
Used on a regular basis, First Tea can help with weight control two ways. First, taken prior to meals, First Tea increases the feeling of being full and satisfied, thereby helping most people to naturally eat less food. The result is a steady and noticeable loss of stored body fat, at a rate of about one pound per week, while eating full, balanced meals. Second, First Tea accelerates the burning of stored fat by the body.
Ephedra is safe when used as explained on the label for most people. There are people, however, who have certain medical conditions or who use certain prescription medications who should not use an ephedra herb-containing product. Read the label before use.
Conclusion
VRP is excited to be offering these state-of-the-art Designer Foods® formulas to our growing line of supplements. Next month we will feature an exclusive interview with Durk and Sandy, focusing on the myriad health benefits of arginine and nitric oxide.
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