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Where Does Your
Money Go?
Every time you purchase
a product from Life Extension you support valuable research.
Research supported by The Foundation has documented the value
of various nutrients and hormones in preventing and reversing
cell damage caused by oxidation. This type of research is leading
to the ability to save the lives of millions of people who would
otherwise die, and to improve the quality of life of all of us
as we grow older.
The Life Extension Foundation
also funds the only scientific program in the world dedicated
to the development of new medical uses for advanced low temperature
technologies. Fundamental breakthroughs in cryobiology and ice
control made by Foundation-funded scientists are leading to remarkable
new methods of cryopreserving cells, tissues and organs for transplantation.
Over the next 10-20 years, the use of cryo-preserved tissues
for the treatment of aging will revolutionize the practice of
medicine.
The long-term goal of
LEF's low temperature research program is the development of
perfected human suspended animation, which will enable physicians
to transport dying patients through time for treatment by the
super-advanced medical scientists of the future.
The heart of LEF's efforts
to extend the healthy human life span is its unique research
programs to identify, measure, and develop advanced, new therapies
to slow, reverse and, ultimately, eliminate the across-the-board
deterioration characteristic of the aging process in humans.
Today, aging is the underlying cause of most deaths in the United
States and other developed countries. The control of human aging
will reduce and, eventually, enable us to remain healthy and
vigorous at any age, and allow us to live in good health for
centuries.
The Foundation is funding
an innovative high-tech research program, which aims to pin-point
the genetic and biochemical changes associated with aging. Our
objective is to use these data to develop a validated method
to measure aging over short periods of time. This method will
then be used to screen and evaluate (in highly rapid fashion)
the safety and effectiveness of vast numbers of therapies with
antiaging potential.
The Foundation is currently
the only source of funding for lifespan studies in mice to determine
the effects on aging and life span of potential antiaging therapies.
These studies are being conducted by experimental gerontologists
at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, the University of
California in Riverside, and the University of Arkansas in Little
Rock. The studies have been designed to test the anti-aging potential
of vitamins and hormones now being used by life extensionists
to counteract biochemical processes proposed (by gerontologists)
as primary causes of aging. Some of these mechanisms of aging
include oxidative stress (induced by free radicals), declining
energy production (mitochondrial disorder), glycosylation (pathological
binding of protein and glucose molecules), and loss of methylation
capacity (required for DNA maintenance and repair enzymatic actions).
As soon as The Foundation's
revolutionary research programs lead to the discovery of authentic
antiaging therapies, we seek to incorporate these therapies into
clinical medicine and in the products you buy as quickly as possible.
Why Pharmaceutical
Grade Quality In Supplements Is Important
Most health conscious
consumers fail to understand the importance of using pharmaceutical-grade
supplements. For example, many discount products use low-grade
vitamin C imported from China that contains traces of toxic arsenic,
lead and iron. Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does
not believe anyone should take more than 100 mg a day of vitamin
C, the agency permits the importation of this contaminated vitamin
C. However, health-conscious people often take 2,000 to 10,000
mg a day of vitamin C every day, so it is crucial that they use
a pharmaceutical-grade vitamin C that has gone through 18 purification
steps to remove all possible contaminants. The Buyers Club only
uses this pharmaceutical-grade vitamin C.
If you take high doses
of nutrient supplements over an extended period of time, it is
critical that the nutrients contained in these supplements be
of the highest purity. Consistent purity can only be obtained
by mandating that the nutrients contained in the supplement are
manufactured to meet pharmaceutical standards.
Since the FDA does not
regulate dietary supplement manufacturing, The Foundation employs
an independent quality control expert to verify that only good
manufacturing procedures are followed for its products. The Life
Extension Buyers Club has access to a state of the art laboratory
where trained chemists conduct innovative assays of its products.
The Life Extension Foundation
has gained such a solid reputation for its quality control standards,
that the news media have asked The Foundation to assay commercial
dietary supplements to verify that the products meet label potency.
When we inform the media that we are not an independent testing
laboratory, we are told that the independent labs do not have
the technical competence or confidence to assay for unusual ingredients
such as SAMe, lycopene and lutein.
While the primary goal
of The Life Extension Foundation is to support research aimed
at extending the healthy human life span, we have also assumed
the obligation of helping our members to achieve optimal health.
In taking on this enormous responsibility, it's hard to ignore
the fact that some unscrupulous companies sell fraudulent products.
In April 1999, we were
asked to analyze seven different brands of SAMe by a national
news magazine. The results of our assay showed that two of the
seven had no SAMe present whatsoever. One brand used the wrong
form of SAMe, while two other brands had less than 100% potency.
Only Life Extension (our brand) and Nature's Made products had
100% of the right form of SAMe. Many consumers who trusted the
reputations of some very well known companies were clearly not
getting what they paid for.
SAMe is not the only
unique product The Foundation has assayed and found that the
potency of the product did not meet label claim. When members
buy products from the Life Extension Buyers Club, they have assurance
that the quality of the product is backed by the organization's
commitment to achieving an indefinitely extended life span. Members
receive large discounts that enable them to purchase premium-grade
nutrient supplements at discounts that are substantially below
the prices charged by commercial companies.
Choosing A Supplement
Supplier
There are thousands
of commercial supplement companies in the United States. Many
of these suppliers offer top-quality products, while others sell
bogus concoctions that have zero efficacy because the ingredients
listed on the label are not contained in their products.
The FDA stopped regulating
dietary supplements in 1994. This has been mostly good news for
the consumer. Prices have come down for many products, and there
is now a greater selection of dietary supplements available in
the United States than in any other country.
The Life Extension Buyers
Club was created to provide pharmaceutical-grade supplements
at near wholesale prices to Foundation members.
The purity of dietary
supplements is critical if one plans to take them throughout
life. For example, there are several different manufacturers
of coenzyme Q10, but the Buyers Club restricts its purchases
to a pharmaceutical company whose coQ10 is sold in Japan and
meets the rigorous standards of the Japanese Ministry of Health.
This Japanese coQ10 consistently assays out at 100% purity, while
lower-cost brands do not. Through our unique "buyers club" concept,
Foundation members pay significantly less for this premium quality
coenzyme Q10 that is packaged in highly absorbable softgel caps.
Many commercial supplement companies package their coQ10 into
dry powder capsules that do not absorb as well into the body
as oil-based softgel caps.
All kinds of nettle
root products are being sold by commercial companies in the United
States, but the Buyers Club imports a pharmaceutical grade nettle
root extract. There is a huge difference in efficacy when using
pharmaceutical herbal extracts like nettle root compared to products
that often don't provide the active constituents of plants.
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