B vitamins for eye health

A heart disease study sponsored by the NIH has also yielded some interesting information about the relationship between B vitamins and eye health. The research study, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, found that taking a mixture of B vitamins, including B-6, folic acid and B-12, lowered the chance of middle-aged women developing macular degeneration (a common form of vision loss in older adults) by one-third. The study, which tracked more than 5000 women age 40 and older, was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Feb. 23, 2009.

Note that NYBC stocks this B vitamin supplement:

B-right (Jarrow)

B-right includes folic acid, B-6 and B-12; one of the rationales for its formulation is to prevent buildup of the chemical homocysteine, which in studies has been associated with heart attacks.

Easy Swallow Opti-Energy multivitamins from Super Nutrition

NYBC is now stocking SuperNutrition’s “easy swallow” multivitamin, which, like their Optipak, comes as a month’s supply of individually wrapped doses. Very convenient, and the small-format pills do make them easier to swallow. Read the complete list of ingredients on the product description page of the NYBC website:

A MULTI: Opti-Energy Easy Swallow (iron free) (90 packets/4 pills per packet)

June 24: NYBC 5th Anniversary Birthday Party!

New York Buyers’ Club Presents:

 “Supplements and Other Smart Strategies for Longer Living”

 A Free Panel Discussion with Experts on Both Eastern and Western Approaches to Treating HIV
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DATE: Wednesday June 24th, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
PLACE: The Center, 208 West 13th Street, New York City
MORE INFO: www.NewYorkBuyersClub.org/5
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The New York Buyers’ Club (NYBC), a nonprofit nutritional supplements information exchange and purchasing co-op, celebrates its fifth anniversary with a free public forum entitled “Supplements and Other Smart Strategies for Longer Living.” Co-sponsored by Gay City News and POZ magazine, this event promises to be both informative and lively, with panelists including Sunil Pant, the first openly gay Member of Parliament in Nepal and an internationally recognized advocate for people with HIV/AIDS; Tim Horn, President and Editor-in-Chief of AIDSmeds.com; noted NYC physician Paul Bellman, who has specialized in caring for people with HIV since 1986; Ann (”Alex”) Brameier, a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist; and George Carter, Director of the Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research and Treatment Director of NYBC. The forum will be moderated by NYBC President Carola Burroughs, who has worked in the field of HIV education for two decades.

Since its inception in 2004, NYBC has been a source of information on alternative and complementary therapies, especially for people with HIV and/or hepatitis (see its comprehensive website at www.NewYorkBuyersClub.org). It has also functioned as a buyers’ co-op, making a unique catalog of supplements available to its US and international membership at very low cost. NYBC endorses a holistic approach to health and healing, embracing both traditional bodies of botanical knowledge and modern evidence-based research findings, and in general stressing the need to integrate diet/nutrition, mental health and physical health, appropriate supplementation and standard pharmaceuticals. Like its predecessor DAAIR (Direct Action Alternative Information Resources), NYBC also believes that everyone has the right to actively engage in researching and understanding their healthcare options, and that we all gain by learning to critically evaluate healthcare information provided by the media, the government, “Big Pharma,” or supplement manufacturers.

After statements from the participants and a moderated panel discussion, the floor will be open for a Q&A session, followed by champagne (or cider) and cupcakes in celebration of New York Buyers’ Club’s fifth anniversary.

Supplements and Other Smart Strategies for Longer Living
Wednesday June 24th, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
The Center, 208 West 13th Street, New York City
www.NewYorkBuyersClub.org/5

Meet the Panelists:

Guest of Honor Sunil Babu Pant is the first openly gay Member of the Constituent Assembly (Parliament) of Nepal, and the Founder and Director of the Blue Diamond Society (BDS), a community-based organization that has worked for the rights of sexual minorities and people with HIV since 2001. BDS played an active role in Nepal’s transition from a conservative (and homophobic) monarchy to a federal republic in 2006-7, and subsequently has been successful in several advocacy campaigns, including the effort to legalize gay marriage, making Nepal the first Asian country to do so. Now counting more than 150,000 members, BDS continues to provide care and support to Nepalis with HIV/AIDS, while also working to reduce stigma and discrimination against the Himalayan nation’s sexual minorities. In 2007, BDS received the Felipa de Souza award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which called it “one of the most effective human rights groups in the world.”

Paul Curtis Bellman, MD is a physician whose private practice in Greenwich Village, New York, has specialized in caring for HIV-positive patients since 1986. Dr. Bellman is a board certified internist and currently an associate attending in the Department of Medicine at St. Vincent’s Manhattan and a senior lecturer in the Department of Immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. He is a 1982 graduate of the New York University School of Medicine and has been involved in the clinical care of HIV-positive people since the epidemic began. Bellman actively participates in clinical research as well as the clinical practice of HIV medicine.

Ann Brameier, L. Ac. (known by all as Alex) is an herbalist and acupuncturist, licensed in New York since 1992. Certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in both acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, she practices an individualized combination of acupuncture, acupressure, tuina and Chinese herbal medicine. Says Brameier: “Combining these modalities can address a myriad of health complaints to achieve a speedier resolution of the patient’s issues than might be achieved by application of only one of these ancient traditions.”

NYBC’s George M. Carter is the Director and Co-Founder of the Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research (FIAR), and has been an AIDS activist for nearly 20 years. His work has focused on research on the use of integrative, traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine therapies for HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, as well as the pathogenesis of HIV disease. Mr. Carter has attended numerous national and international conferences on HIV/AIDS, and has served as a civil society delegate for UNGASS sessions at the United Nations. Mr Carter serves as Treatment Director for New York Buyers’ Club.

Tim Horn is president and editor-in-chief of AIDSmeds.com. He has worked as a writer, editor and educator for a number of other AIDS organizations, including Physicians’ Research Network (PRN), the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), the AIDS Treatment Data Network, and the PWA Health Group. Tim is a member of the AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition and has also done an extensive amount of HIV education and advocacy-related work in Mexico, where he lived for 18 months, and was a founding board member of Aid for AIDS. He has been living with HIV since 1992.

ARE YOU READY TO JOIN THE FOOD REVOLUTION?

 Maybe it was the glory of our neighborhood community garden in June that inspired us to write this piece for the next issue of the New York Buyers’ Club newsletter, THE SUPPLEMENT:

 

Is it just our imagination, or have we detected a growing public interest in the impact of food on our health? Maybe you’ve heard about our new first family, the Obamas, and the vegetable garden they’ve planted at the White House to supply their kitchen with locally grown, healthy vegetables and berries. Or—not such cheerful news–maybe you’ve read about the obesity epidemic sweeping the US, caused largely by mass consumption of fast food and highly processed food products, and linked to devastating increases in diabetes and cardiovascular disease across the population. Or maybe you’ve dipped (or dug) into the writings of food revolutionary Michael Pollan, who’s become celebrated for urging us to eat real food (like our great-great-grandparents ate), shun the supermarket and shop the greenmarket whenever possible, and even plant a garden.

Though the New York Buyers’ Club is a nutritional supplements co-op, we understand very well that food is first. The food we eat every day, what kind and how much, has an enormous impact on our health, and research on diet has brought to light ever more clearly the effects of nutrition on both our physical health and our mental well-being. A few things have been obvious for a while: traditional diets, such as the “Mediterranean diet” or the “Chinese diet,” are much better for you than the standard modern American diet with its refined carbohydrates, bad fats (saturated or trans), excessive salt, super-sized portions of red meat, and mighty rivers of high fructose corn syrup. It’s simple epidemiology: populations that eat lots of whole grains, fruits, nuts, vegetables, moderate amounts of fish and poultry (and little red meat), and rely on traditional seasonings (from rosemary to turmeric) and good fats (like olive and fish oils) end up having significantly lower rates of heart disease, cancer, and even mental health conditions like depression.

Can the clear health benefits of traditional diets be translated in any useful way to the field of supplements? (Supplements are, to repeat, a supplement to food, not a replacement.) One obvious “yes” comes in the increased study and use of fish oil/omega-3 fatty acid supplements over the last few decades, first of all for cardiovascular health, but also—as has been highlighted more recently—to reduce susceptibility to depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Here’s a case in which an individual nutrient within a healthful diet has been isolated and can be delivered as a supplement that bestows health benefits. (Fish oil supplements have a particular advantage over food sources, too: they can be refined to eliminate mercury or other contamination, a growing concern these days, whether you’re eating fresh or canned fish.)

We also know that it’s possible to extract a component from food and use its particular properties to confer a health benefit, while leaving behind other parts that you don’t want or need. This is the case with whey protein powders, which leave behind milk fat, but keep the whey protein with its high nutritional value.  It’s not news that whey protein can help to build and sustain the body’s lean muscle mass (crucial for maintaining long-term health, and especially important for people with chronic conditions like HIV that may impair absorption of nutrients), but research has uncovered as well several important indications of its value in supporting immune function, decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, and even serving as an anti-cancer agent.

Foods found in traditional diets continue to be the focus of scientific research on what’s healthy in what we eat, and why. Recently, we looked into a study showing that Chinese women who regularly ate mushrooms and drank green tea had lower rates of breast cancer, or less severe manifestations of breast cancer, than those who didn’t. This kind of nutrition research is about putting two and two together. It was known that the rate of breast cancer in China is four to five times lower than that in most Western industrialized countries; and there had been previous lab studies suggesting the anti-cancer properties of green tea and mushrooms—so why not investigate more rigorously the relationship between breast cancer rates and consumption of these traditional foods?

And here’s another bit of evidence-based food advice. A few months ago our hometown newspaper, The New York Times, featured a piece entitled “The Power of Berries” (Jan. 22, 2009), which detailed the accumulating research on how these fruits help ward off cancers of the colon, esophagus, and mouth. This research built on the well-documented association between diets rich in berries (including black and red raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and elderberries) and lower rates of cancer. One new suggestion emerging from the recent studies is that berries may exert a “genome-wide” anti-cancer effect, meaning that, unlike many current cancer treatments that target only one cancer-promoting gene at a time, berries may target a whole spectrum of cancer-promoting genes, causing them to shut down development of pre-cancerous and cancerous growths. Exciting stuff from the berry researchers! And, there’s a further, practical note: investigations have demonstrated that freeze dried berries and berry powders are as effective as fresh fruit in terms of anti-cancer effect. So even if you can’t eat fresh berries several times a week (an obvious problem for those of us who don’t live where the growing season is year-round), mixing a powdered berry supplement into a smoothie could be just as useful to your health. 

We gave this piece a somewhat tongue-in-cheek title, asking if you, dear reader, were ready to join the “food revolution.” Actually, it strikes us that the current revolution in thinking about our eating habits in many ways involves returning to the old days—to the traditional diets of previous generations, to the old-fashioned idea of raising your own food, or to shopping for locally-grown produce at a greenmarket. Of course we return to these older ways armed with a store of advanced knowledge about why some dietary traditions are healthful, and how they can be adapted to our modern lives. If that’s the definition of the “food revolution,” we at NYBC heartily encourage you to sign up—for your health!

Cholesterol-lowering dietary supplements: views from the Mayo Clinic

The Mayo Clinic has posted on its website an interesting podcast entitled “Cholesterol-lowering supplements: which work and which don’t.” This broadcast interview features the views of Dr. Brent Bauer, director of the Complementary and Integrated Medicine Program at Mayo Clinic.

Here are some of the highlights from the podcast:

–Plant sterols, particularly beta-sitosterol and sitostanol. These plant products act much like cholesterol and can reduce the absorption of cholesterol. Can be found in margarine or spreads. (Also included in some supplements, such as Douglas Labs’ Cardio-Edge.)

–Fish oil (omega-3 fatty acids). Strong effect on lowering triglycerides, one measure associated with cardiovascular risk.

–Flaxseed. 40-50 grams per day can have a substantial impact on cholesterol.

–Pomegranate concentrate. Needs more study, though recent research found that diabetic patients taking pomegranate concentrate were able to lower their cholesterol significantly.

–Policosanol, a waxy residue from sugar cane. Much positive data from Cuban researchers a few years ago, but no one outside Cuba has been able to replicate these studies, so there is now a great deal of skepticism about its effectiveness.

– Garlic. Once regarded as interesting for reducing cholesterol, but subsequent studies have shown its value to be very limited.

–Dr. bauer has some good advice concerning mixing supplements and prescription drugs: “whenever you mix a dietary supplement and a medication, there’s always potential for interactions, what we call drug-herb interactions, so we’re very cautious about doing that. The one exception in this realm would be using one of those plant sterols that we talked about earlier — beta-sitosterol or sitostanol. Those have been studied in conjunction with statin medications, and what those studies show is that you can achieve further reduction, beyond what you’ve got just with the statin medication, by adding one of those plant sterols to your regimen.” We would also add that, among the dietary supplements, niacin has also been studied in conjunction with statins as a means to manage cholesterol. (Niacin is especially noteworthy in that it can help to raise levels of HDL (”good cholesterol”), which, in more recent years, has come to be seen as an important part of reducing cardiovascular risk.)

Listen to the Mayo Clinic podcast at

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol-lowering/CL00038

Long-term L-carnitine supplementation to prevent liver cancer development

This is a research report published on March 21, 2009 in World Journal of Gastroenterology.

The study looked at the role of L-carnitine in the development of hepatocarcinogenesis. The researchers suggest regarding carnitine deficiency is a risk factor and a mechanism in hepatic carcinogenesis, and found that long-term L-carnitine supplementation prevents the development of liver cancer. They conclude that L-carnitine supplementation alone or in combination with other natural chemopreventive compounds could be used to prevent, slow or reverse liver cancer.

We read about this research at

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/wjog-lls032409.php

Vitamin D and bone loss in people with HIV

Here’s still more research on Vitamin D and its particular importance for people with HIV, who experience low levels of the vitamin and also appear more susceptible to bone loss (osteopenia and osteoporosis), possibly leading to increased risk of fractures. (See other entries under Vitamin D on this blog for details.)

The recent piece of research was reported at a British HIV conference, and focused especially on supplementing with Vitamin D to counter tenofovir-related bone hormone deficiency. (The “bone hormone” in question is parathyroid hormone, or PTH, which causes loss of calcium from the bones.) The research team measured Vitamin D and PTH levels in 45 men who were taking HIV drugs. They found sub-optimal vitamin D levels in 71% of the men and higher-than normal levels of PTH in 41%. All the patients with high PTH were taking tenofovir, and no subject whose levels of vitamin D were normal or above had high PTH.

A small study followed some of these participants as they supplemented with Vitamin D. Supplementation increased D levels, and also showed considerable effectiveness in reducing high PTH. Although this research is preliminary, it does certainly suggest that further
study of Vitamin D supplementation to counter bone loss in people with HIV is warranted.

Reference: Childs K et al. Vitamin D and calcium supplements reverse the secondary hyperparathyroidism that commonly occurs in HIV patients on TDF-containing HAART. Fifteenth BHIVA Conference, Liverpool. Poster P89. 2009.

We found information on this study at

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/AA992216-3C05-4F6F-93EB-3423DEC33FA9.asp

Organic hemp protein powder from Jarrow

Studies of hemp protein in mice conducted in China showed improvements in energy, less fatigue and some immune system modulation. This included increases in CD4 numbers in the spleen (though of course whether this would have any relevance to people living with HIV is unknown; see Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 2008 Mar;37(2):175-178). Lactic acid levels were also seen to decrease. A rat study showed a significant decrease in LDL (the so-called bad cholesterol) and an increase in the good cholesterol, HDL, over a 20-day period. Again, whether this is relevant to humans or what dosage daily would be needed to achieve this is unclear.

In any event, this products offers another alternative for a good protein source with a favorable amino acid profile. It has an innocuous flavor and is great in juice! If you are able to assess your energy level or start this around the time you get blood work, get a fasting lipid panel–and let us know what happens (improvement, no change or any problems).

Each 2 scoops contains: Total protein – 15 g
Total fat – 4 g
Sat fat – 0.4 g
trans fat – 0 g
Omega 3 – 0.7 g
Omega 6 – 2 g
Cholesterol – 0 mg
Sodium – 1 mg
Total Carbohydrates – 7 g
Dietary fiber – 6 g
Sugars – 1 g
Calcium – 39 mg
Iron – 6 mg
Vitamin A – 49 IU

Suggested use: Add 2 level scoops to water, fresh juice or other beverages, or your favorite smoothie recipe. May also be used as a topping for salads, cereals, and soups. For a low-carb, high-protein baking alternative, substitute hemp protein for flour (up to 25%) in your favorite recipe.

Contains no wheat, no gluten, no soybean, no dairy, no egg, no fish/shellfish, no peanuts/tree nuts. Suitable for vegetarians/vegans. Certified Organic by QAI.

See the NYBC entry for further details:

Hemp Protein Powder (organic)</a>

Supplements studied for diabetes: multivitamins, fish oil, lipoic acid, chromium and biotin

We were at a health fair in Brooklyn recently, and, because there is a high rate of diabetes in this area of NYC, we decided that we should produce a short list of the most important supplements that have been studied for diabetes:

Multivitamin/multimineral

Regular use of a multivitamin/multimineral supplement helps people with diabetes maintain good health (for example, by reducing the number of infections they experience).

Reference: Barringer, et al. Effect of a Multivitamin and Mineral Supplement on Infection and Quality of Life. Annals of Internal Medicine. 3/4/2003.

Omega-3 fatty acids (Fish Oil)

Many people with diabetes have high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. (Two out of three people with diabetes die of heart disease or stroke.) Omega-3 fatty acids have shown benefit for cardiovascular health in recent randomized controlled clinical trials. The FDA has also approved a health claim for fish oil: “supporting but not conclusive evidence shows that the consumption of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”

Alpha-Lipoic Acid

Alpha-Lipoic Acid (ALA) has the ability to assist with glucose metabolism, and also promotes healthy nerve function. A recent study concluded that ALA (600mg) could be useful in helping to treat the symptoms of diabetes-related neuropathy (= generally, pain, tingling, numbness in feet and hands).

Reference: Ametov et al. The sensory symptoms of diabetic polyneuropathy are improved with alpha-lipoic acid: The SYDNEY Trial. Diabetes Care. 2003, 26 (3)

Chromium

See entries under Chromium on this blog for additional information about this mineral and its potential benefit for people with diabetes.

MMS Botanicals at NYBC

NYBC carries selected botanicals from the manufacturer “MMS Pro,” which has been a supplier of “phytomedicines” (=plant-derived remedies) for 80 years. We like the fact that this supplier subscribes to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), an industry-recognized standard for quality control, and that its botanicals have been used in numerous clinical trials. MMS Pro also posts on its website independent certificates of analysis for many of its products. (Certificates of analysis provide evidence of independent verification of the purity and potency of a botanical.)

Here are the MMS Pro botanicals currently stocked by NYBC. Please
read carefully the descriptions on the NYBC website.

Astragalus

Echinacea

Eleuthero – also known as Siberian Ginseng

Garlicin Pro

Gingko-D

Horsechestnut Pro

St John’s Wort – Perika Pro

Mushroom and green tea: parts of a diet that may protect against breast cancer

The International Journal of Cancer has published a study by an Australian researcher that found green tea and mushroom consumption was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer, and less severe cancer in those who did develop it.

The research examined the diets of about 2,000 women from the southeastern Chinese city of Hangzhou — half of whom had breast cancer — over a 14-month period. Higher consumption of mushrooms was related to decreased risk of breast cancer; and those women who consumed mushrooms and green tea were found to have the most reduction in breast cancer development.

The main reason for focusing this study on Chinese women’s diets is that, while breast cancer is the most common type of cancer for women worldwide, the rate of this cancer in China is four to five times lower than that generally found in developed countries. Since both mushrooms and green tea are commonly part of Chinese diets, consumption of these foods might explain this strikingly low incidence of breast cancer. Furthermore, there have been previous studies of green tea and mushrooms and their nutritional components as potentially possessing anti-cancer properties.

We read about this study at

http://www.physorg.com/news156610089.html

Reviewing “Resveratrol Synergy” from Jarrow

Jarrow Formula’s supplement “Resveratrol Synergy” is a combination of several plant-derived nutrients that have been intensively researched in recent years, including resveratrol (the famous component of red wine), grape seed extract, and green tea. This phytonutrient blend provides the body with antioxidants, anthocyanins, polyphenols and catechins, which are generally acknowledged to support cardiovascular health, as the Jarrow label states.

But there is more to these plant-derived nutrients, as you may know from hearing news reports, especially about resveratrol. Typically found in the skin of red grapes and in red wine, resveratrol has been the subject of scientific investigations suggesting that it possesses unique life-extending and anti-aging properties. Some of the recent studies draw a causal connection between gene protection and high levels of resveratrol consumption; other research has focused on how resveratrol may switch on a particular “survival gene” that offers a whole host of health benefits, from cardiovascular support to diabetes prevention.

As far as product quality goes, NYBC noted that a recent Consumer Labs report found that the ingredients matched the label claim–one good measure of integrity for “Resveratrol Synergy.”

For more information, see the NYBC entry:

Resveratrol Synergy