Over the Counter Natural Cures (4 page)

STOP AGE SPOTS NOW

Sugar isn't always what you think it is. Most sugar has been replaced with a sweet impostor. Known as high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, this synthetic sweetener masquerades as being natural and healthy. But a chemical reaction discovered in 1914 proves otherwise.

Every time you consume the “corny syrup,” it acts as wrinkle fertilizer, courtesy of an icky process known as glycation. Discovered by the French chemist Louis Camille Maillard, glycation is the process by which sugars like HFCS bind to amino acids in the bloodstream and become advanced glycation end (AGE) products. This class of toxins has been linked to inflammation, insulin resistance, diabetes, vascular and kidney disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

Surprising to most people, the corny imposter is more likely to give rise to AGE products than old-fashioned sugar. Hardly natural, HFCS is made in a lab. Corn syrup is altered so that it becomes “high-fructose corn syrup.” This chemical alteration leads to a much higher rate of AGE production than occurs with plain old sugar. As sure as night follows day, AGE products bind to collagen, causing it to get twisted and tangled. This shows up as age spots, wrinkles, and everything else that makes skin look old and crumbly.

Fortunately, ALA can serve as an AGE blocker and reduce age spots.
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ALA is always on guard to interrupt the love making of corny syrup and amino acids. This prevents the wrinkle fertilizer from being made. Like a parent who separates two unruly children, ALA can help prevent sugar and amino acids from coming into contact, stopping glycation and annoying age spots. Personally, I'd just stop consuming corn syrup.

HOW MOTHER NATURE CONQUERS DIABETIC NEUROPATHY

Diabetics will want to make ALA their best friend. People who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, known technically as insulin resistance, often suffer from a painful condition known as neuropathy. Simply put, this painful condition results from damaged neurons—often from AGE products that run rampant within the bloodstream.

As neurons become damaged, they form lesions—like sandpaper creates on wood. These lesions initiate pain signals to the spinal cord that result in the sensation of burning, prickly itching, and even numbing. Fortunately, ALA can work at the molecular level to repair the damage, thereby halting pain signals.

As far back as 1959, German physicians treated diabetic neuropathy with ALA. While the latest research proves its effectiveness and safety, scientists are still trying to discover how ALA melts away the pain of neuropathy. ALA is believed to stop oxygen shock among sensory neurons, replacing oxygen-free radicals with healthy oxygen cells. This, in turn, can help cellular signaling and prevent cells from sending false pain messages to the spinal cord. Regardless of how ALA works, diabetics will want to start using it. It's among the best ways to live free from debilitating pain, even when compared to commonly used prescription drugs.

No other antioxidant has so many abilities. And ALA is finally getting the recognition it deserves.
Readers Digest
called it “the pill that can stop
aging.” Researchers writing in
Pharmacological Reports
stated that “lipoic acid will appear in the future as a key component of practically all drug formulations.” Commenting on ALA's skin-protecting qualities, the famed Cleveland Clinic announced that ALA is “a newer, ultra-potent antioxidant that helps fight future skin damage and helps repair past damage.”
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While you're taking ALA in supplement form, you'll also want to make sure that you get plenty of it from your diet. The best natural sources are spinach, broccoli, and beef.

ANTIOXIDANT MARKETING SCAMS

Eating broccoli or spinach may not seem very appetizing, or at least not as appetizing as a pizza and a cold beer. In this case, you'll have to supplement with ALA to ensure that you're getting adequate amounts. Supplements containing ALA are rampant. And so are the marketing scams that fuel high prices for it.

Supplement competition is steep. Therefore, companies must leverage marketing to acquire clients. ALA marketers usually play the “mine is more pure than yours” card. Their rhetoric insists that their ALA can be five to fifteen times more potent than the competitor's formulation. These are big statements that pull in higher prices. However, the statements are not validated by science.

The molecule of ALA has two different spatial orientations, just like your right and left hands. In nature, ALA exists in what chemists refer to as the R-form. In a supplement, ALA exists as a fifty-fifty mixture of the R-form and S-form. Like your hands, these two molecules are simply mirror images of each other—nothing too exciting. But the difference between the two can
sometimes
mean life and death.

Akin to a right hand fitting into a right glove, the natural form of a molecule fits perfectly into our body's corresponding receptor. This
neatly fitting match effectively inhibits, activates, and controls crucial biological actions. In sharp contrast, the wrong molecular form would be inactive and inert or, in some cases, lethal. Like putting your right hand into a left-handed glove, it just won't fit.

This is the argument for using the R-form of ALA by itself. R-ALA is thought to be better because the supplement form becomes simply inactive due to carrying the mixture of S- and R-forms. Historically and biochemically, this argument holds. But scientific research doesn't make it stick.

Both forms of ALA serve as effective antioxidants to ward off oxygen shock. This was proven in the early studies of ALA. The ALA mixture, rather than the isolated R-form, was the first to be studied. Thus, the positive results that followed came from mixed ALA, not R-ALA. The R-form wasn't even available.
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Furthermore, the spatial arrangement of ALA has little relevance to ALA's antioxidant and cellular-regenerating capacity. None of the health benefits derived from ALA are dependent on the molecule matching and subsequently activating a receptor site. There is no “ALA glove” for ALA to fit into—at least not one that's been identified to date.

These facts make the mixed form of ALA preferable to the isolated R-form. It's readily available and inexpensive.

THE OVER-THE-COUNTER NATURAL CURE TO VIBRANT, CANCER-FREE SKIN

I skipped most of high school. Not because I was a whiz kid and advanced to higher levels, but rather because I ditched for more exciting endeavors. Therefore, I didn't forge many worthy relationships. That's probably why I don't get excited over high-school reunions. But most people do—probably because they attended class and made some decent friends. And most
want to look younger than their peers who will be attending the reunion. By now, you know that the best way to achieve this is to use ALA. So, the next time you are at Wal-Mart, find Spring Valley brand ALA.

Spring Valley provides “mixed ALA” at Wal-Mart for about $12.00, which equates to $6.00 per month based on proper dosage. Spring Valley ALA is manufactured under FDA-approved good manufacturing practices (GMP), and my independent lab analysis showed it had no adulterants or excess fillers. This can be verified with the certificate of analysis (COA) found at my site, www.overthecounternaturalcures.com.

You want ALA to work fast. And the best way to ensure this is to get most of your dose into the bloodstream. Otherwise, it can pass through your body and into the toilet without being absorbed. The best way to achieve this is to take ALA on an empty stomach. A common dose is anywhere from 200 milligrams to 600 milligrams once per day, or about 4 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.

I weigh 175 pounds, so the optimal dose for me is about 300 milligrams daily. Taking ALA on an empty stomach guarantees that I get the best absorption of that 300 milligrams. The best time to administer ALA would be between lunch and dinner. Diabetics may want to take ALA twice per day between meals. If you become nauseous, you could be taking too much.

Don't worry about toxicity. Several million dosages of ALA have been administered worldwide, and toxicity appears to be nonexistent. ALA has never damaged a single organ, nor has it accidentally killed anyone. You will, however, want to watch out for the overt toxicity that comes from all those “reunion cocktails.” But at least you'll be enjoying them over compliments of how great you've aged over the years.

OVER-THE-COUNTER NATURAL CURE TO THE AGING HEART

It's hard to imagine that you could squeeze more benefits out of ALA. But if you want to spend a few more bucks, combine it with the nutrient acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR). The nutrient combo can become an asset to your heart and mental health.

One simple molecule helps your heart beat more forcefully, keeping you from feeling fatigued while increasing your lifespan. This energizing molecule is known as ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Your heart needs vast amounts of this energy to function properly… and, fortunately, it's easy to get your body to produce more ATP.

ATP is to your body what gasoline is to an engine. To repeatedly distribute oxygen and nutrients throughout your 100,000 miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries, your heart needs to pump 74 gallons of blood each hour. And what an engine your heart is. Consider that a small Cessna plane burns a mere 10 gallons of gasoline per hour. Without ATP, your heart doesn't have the energy required to maintain proper blood flow. And if energy demand exceeds supply, heart failure occurs.

The number of premature deaths from heart failure has been rising since 1980, probably due to a lack of nutrients like ALA and ALCAR in our diet that are required for the production of ATP.
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Drugs like Coreg (carvedilol) are often used to curb the trend, but not a single one of the symptom-masking drugs increases ATP production or even lifespan. Instead, users are put at great risk for adverse drug reactions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Fortunately, Mother Nature provides an inexpensive solution in ALA and ALCAR.

Working in unison, ALA and ALCAR help your heart process healthy fats and ultimately convert them into our biological fuel, ATP.
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This energizing process occurs within the powerhouse of the cell known as the
mitochondria. Without adequate amounts of these nutrients, both our cellular powerhouse and healthy fats fail to energize the heart—as well as the rest of the body. Without optimal energy, we grow old fast.

Admittedly, a deficiency in ALCAR is rare. Our body can make more when needed via the amino acids lysine and methionine. However, anyone with a stressed heart—those over fifty, athletes, angina victims, and survivors of heart attack and heart failure—should seriously consider supplementing with the energizing duo as an insurance policy against diminished ATP and subsequent heart damage. These energizing actions also help ensure a healthy mind as we age.

PRESERVING LIFE'S MOST PRECIOUS MOMENTS

It's no secret that mental decline occurs as we age. Whether that means common forgetfulness or the all-out scourge of Alzheimer's disease, poor mental health ruins quality of life. To the surprise of most people, age-associated “memory fog” can be slowed or even prevented with two to five grams daily of an ALCAR supplement.

In addition to boosting ATP within the brain, studies show that ALCAR increases neurotransmitters like acetylcholine while protecting neurons from oxidative stress.
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This is of paramount importance to Alzheimer's victims, making the combo a potent weapon against Alzheimer's-induced memory loss. In fact, I'd choose this combo over the commonly used Alzheimer's medications, known technically as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChE).

Little is known about what causes Alzheimer's disease. But what sufferers appear to have in common are low levels of the brain chemical acetylcholine. The obvious treatment approach is to increase that essential brain chemical. Using AChE inhibitors, the drug industry attempts to prevent acetylcholine from breaking down within the brain. Theoretically,
this should enhance or preserve memory. But if there is no acetylcholine to preserve, the drug is useless. It has nothing to work on. Perhaps this is why these drugs have only marginal benefit. The slight benefits that may come with AChE inhibitors do not outweigh their immense risk.

Believe it or not, AChE are synthetic copycats of naturally occurring poisons and venoms. Their use is rationalized with the mentality of “A lot kills, a little cures.” But evidence doesn't support this. Research consistently shows that users of AChE inhibitors suffer short-term side effects such as diarrhea, anorexia, vomiting, and tremors.
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Where these drugs fail, the energizing combo of ALA and ALCAR succeeds.

Using nutrient logic to help the brain produce more acetylcholine in Alzheimer's victims is proving to be safer and more effective than trying to prevent the breakdown of the brain chemical. And the energizing combo does just that, without a single side effect. Once ingested, ALA and ALCAR sail past the blood-brain barrier to protect and nourish the brain, helping it to manufacture more of the memory-preserving brain chemical.

Supplement companies have become aware of the benefits of ALA and ALCAR. Nature's Bounty brand sells the combo at Walgreens for about $15.00 per month. Manufactured under FDA-approved good manufacturing practices, the combo has no adulterants or excess fillers, based on my independent lab analysis. This can be verified with the certificate of analysis found at my site, www.overthecounternaturalcures.com.

PRESERVING QUALITY OF LIFE

Nobody wants to look old and crumbly. Nor do we want to suffer from rogue, malignant cells that destroy skin health along with everything else. Using ALA and ALCAR is an inexpensive defense against both of these
health problems. At the same time, the nutrient logic of this duo is a critical component for preserving life's most precious memories as we age. Try it for yourself, and you can have increased mood, energy, and focus within a matter of weeks.