mamapez's Xanga

McD's anyone?

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 04:40:31 GMT

I saw the link to this game on Adam Nash's blog (actually a good blog for those of you interested in finances). It is pretty hilarious to play...if you can get past the terrifying implications.

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:18:55 GMT

We are still alive and enjoying our new home. We had a nice visit from Devon on her tour of the world and enjoyed meeting her in person. I'm afraid we are pretty boring people to visit, though I'm sure I talked her ear off.

We have all the appliances except the hood installed, all the touch-up painting is done (for now), ceiling fans are up, master closet organizer is installed, and lots more boxes are unpacked. We just got our stucco color coat today - goodbye grey, hello Trabucco!!! We got an imperfect smooth texture and our house now reminds me of two scrumptious luxuries: milk chocolate and crushed velvet. Mmmmm...I just want to wrap myself up in my house.

Our internet is a little more available now, but only through Kevin's laptop. Our office computers aren't exactly up and running yet. And we haven't even touched the common area flooring. Kevin finished the cedar flooring and baseboards in all the bedroom closets. Our window treatments have been ordered and we should see everything but the draperies in about two weeks.

Kevin found the camera battery (after Devon's visit, of course - grrrr), so I'll be able to take some pictures of the house and hopefully upload them for you all to get a glimpse.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:01:44 GMT

Okay - we are finally in our new home!

It is not quite what I imagined. I have had images of a completed house with everything in its place. Instead we look like a warehouse: furniture and boxes everywhere with a half-completed floor. lol Kevin wants me to take pictures of our big mess.

We spent much of our time getting the old house ready for the renters. Man, that was a lot of work! We finished up the last of the yard work and garage clean-out yesterday while they were moving in. Even with all the work we did, we still coughed up more than $500 for cleaning of the house and steam-cleaning of the carpets! The nice thing about it, is that they have to leave the house in the same state we gave it to them.

We are slowly but surely working our way through the mess. I started with the livable issues first. The bathrooms are scrubbed, disinfected and clean (Especially the boys' bathroom that we didn't demolish. It is the original bathroom, was used throughout the construction, and was DISGUSTING!!! ). My MIL helped us clean up all the kitchen cabinets (and that is a lot of cabinets!), so all I had left to do was clean up the pantry and the countertops. Kevin installed the fridge two nights ago and is installing the dishwasher as I type this. Next he will do the Speed Oven (kind of like a fancy microwave), cooktop, and the washer & dryer (we have been using my in-laws' for our first loads of laundry). Clothes are all accessible, just hanging in the boys' closets. lol Our closet organizer systems (master closet and hall closet) are coming Tuesday in 20 boxes! I'm not sure where we are going to stick all those boxes, and we still have to finish the closet floor! I guess I know what else we will be doing today.

I'm sure I've got more to say, but I have a lot to do. So I will leave you with this for now. Thanks for reading!

Monday, September 03, 2007

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 16:13:48 GMT

My body reminded me of my priorities pretty quickly. House or no house, my baby needs me...or more accurately, I need him! *ouch*

I put Simon, and Andrew to bed at my Dad's house Friday night. That night, I slept great! The next day I pumped at lunch time and again right before bed. Saturday night I was up at 3am pumping, because I was engorged and hurting. I was pumping again by 6am. Oh boy, this was getting difficult! I called my Dad Sunday morning to tell him I was coming for the boys that night!!! My plan was to spend the night once I got there and come back in the morning, because I knew I would be too tired to come home that night. Instead, Kevin came with me and even drove both ways! I am sure glad he likes his coffee.

The boys did great at my Dad's house and had lots of fun. Andrew learned how to snap his pants by himself and Simon learned how to say "Meow." I learned not to be away from your nursing toddler more than 24 hours!

Kevin, his mom, his dad, his parents' neighbor Willie, and I worked hard on the house all day Saturday and Sunday. We installed wood flooring in the bedroom hallway and the entryway, and cleaned the kitchen cabinets inside and out. The wood flooring is very narrow and is slow-going, but is very worth it as it is so gorgeous! The carpet guys will be here Tuesday morning for the bedrooms and then we can start moving stuff in!!! I'm already going to start moving some kitchen stuff into the kitchen cabinets today.

Okay, I think we are all dressed and breakfasted, time to join Daddy at the new house!

Sorry I've been so absent...

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 13:33:36 GMT

...we've been spending most of our time on the house trying to get finished up and moved in and living there by September 15th, so our renters (who are being kicked out of their current house) can move in. The boys are spending the weekend at my Dad's and I miss them already. I'm crossing my fingers that this won't be too difficult, since Simon is still nursing. We are doing what it takes because we still don't have all our floors even!

We still have to polish all our wood (and we have lots of wood - all our trim, cabinets, everything) and clean out the cabinets (so we can start moving stuff over, yay!). Kevin hasn't even started laying the wood flooring yet, and it has to be finished in time for the carpet guys to lay the carpet Tuesday morning. Ack! Then comes baseboards and bath hardware, and the rest of lighting (Kevin has been doing this every night, so I think he is probably pretty close). Forget landscaping, back patio, and color-coat stucco until we are moved in! We still need to take delivery of and install all the appliances, and move in and be living there - all by the 15th!

I'm sure there are plenty of details I've forgotten, and time's ticking, so I am off to work on the house already!!

Anyone Following Baseball?

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 02:11:03 GMT

Love him or hate him, Barry Bonds beat the all-time homerun record - the greatest record in baseball. It is all over the sport.

...and guess who was there?!?

The Giants Community Fund sponsors Junior Giants, a non-competitive baseball league for kids. A couple of weeks ago, they announced free tickets to a game on August 7th. All we had to do was turn in a request for the number of tickets desired. So Kevin and I dropped Simon off with my dad, and took Andrew to the big time ball game. He got a kick out of riding on BART and MUNI and we even sat with a fellow teammate. We know his coach was there, because his teammate saw him, but we never got the chance to say 'hi.'

The last time I went to a baseball game with free tickets, Nolan Ryan hit his 6th no-hitter.

It was fun! It was amazing! It was fireworks, confetti, and a LOT of noise. We must have cheered for 15 minutes straight. He had a great night. Started with a double and followed with a single, both ending up as runs. And then came the 5th inning. My only concern is that Andrew will expect fireworks and confetti at every baseball game. lol

Not that I had anything directly to do with it, but there is something magical about being a part of history. What a night!

We'll pick up the commemorative pins they have just for folks who were there that night (you have to show your ticket), and save it all in our safety deposit box for the kids. My guess it won't be worth much, but the magic will still be there.

Response from USANA scientist Russ Barton

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:27:03 GMT

Amy:

We appreciate your inquiry. Basically you are both just oversimplifying things, but in a different way - you, by saying (or implying) that we are exactly the same on the cellular level, and her by saying that we are significantly different. Both are oversimplifications. Of course we are not exactly the same, but are we different enough that nutritional recommendations (including RDAs, food guide pyramids, etc) don't apply to the general public in a beneficial way? Honestly, there is no reasonable or simple way to determine an individuals exact nutritional status or needs. This would require appropriate testing of every nutrient, complete dietary records for a period of time, a stay in a metabolic ward to assess energy needs and basal metabolic rate, etc., etc. This is not only impractical, it is unnecessary. Although we have differences, there is enough history and clinical research to have a good idea of optimal ranges of most of the nutrients, especially in typically healthy individuals. Products like the Essentials are formulated to take into account known beneficial levels, when taken in addition to typical diets, and in keeping with safety levels. These nutrient would be beneficial, safe and appropriate for the vast majority of the population. Much like the RDAs, that are designed to prevent deficiencies and promote normal growth for 98.5% of the population, a person's nutritional needs will almost always be covered by the diet and ranges of nutrients found in the Essentials. Simplistic methods of analyzing nutritional status and then promoting individual products that are an exact match to the customer are nothing more than marketing. Of course there are some basic nutrients that can easily be arranged to better fit a person, like extra calcium or iron, but even these recommendations are based on lifestyle, diet and estimations of the "most likely." By the way, there is a vast amount of nutritional research (yes, even found in JAMA, New Engl J Med, Am J Clin Nutri, etc) to support supplementation such as that found in the Essentials and other Usana optimizers.

The following is kind of long, but it is hopefully helpful in supporting the scientific ideas behind our supplements:

Best Regards,

Russ Barton, MS, CNS, CISSN

USANA Science Information Services

The following response is somewhat long, but I hope it will be of some help in explaining what type of research we do and the attention to detail and quality that goes into our products. First of all, though, research on our products will never approach the type of research that is done by pharmaceutical companies to introduce a new drug. New drugs and medications are unique compounds with no history of use and are foreign to the body. Therefore, safety and efficacy data must be obtained to prove that these compounds are safe and effective. Formulation of nutritional supplements, on the other hand, may be based on literally hundreds of published scientific papers regarding the safety, value and combinations of nutrients known to have specific roles and benefits in the body. However, we are using nutrients and ingredients that have historical use, known safety levels, and are contained naturally at least to some degree in our food and drink. Usana, for example, does not need to prove that vitamin D is important and safe as recommended. This is published throughout the literature already.

I am going to provide a fairly long reply in basically 3 parts. The first part is some information about 3rd party research and testing. Then, there is some information regarding much of the research our scientists have done in the past and some on the products themselves. Of course, a lot of the research done at Usana currently is product related and not necessarily the kind of research that will be published. It should give you an idea, however, of the caliber of people working here and our experience and commitment to science. And finally, there is an explanation of quality and why we are different than most other dietary supplement companies. I hope this is all helpful information.

USANA does perform third party testing for each of our products and raw materials at least annually, to confirm the results we obtain in-house, and those listed on our suppliers' certificates of analysis. The reason that we do not do this on a frequent basis is that we have spent considerable time and resources to validate each of our in-house test methods. The validation protocols employ confirmatory testing, thereby assuring us that our in-house results should be comparable to any obtained by third-party laboratories. We also review all of the test results that are obtained and reported by our material suppliers. So for routine product release, our in-house results combined with the supplier results gives us a high level of confidence. For annual confirmation, we add third-party testing to the process. USANA has requested and received several audits by regulatory and quality assurance consultants in the past, as a method of self-evaluation. We also conduct a rigorous internal audit program conducted by our trained quality staff. Audits by regulatory agencies happen less frequently, even though they authorized to audit at any time. FDA has visited our site twice in the last five years for various purposes, but can only audit us to food GMP standards (even though we hold ourselves to a pharmaceutical quality level). Australia's TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) audits our facility every two years with compliance to the Australian GMPs. Health Canada has the authority to conduct a site audit, but has not chosen to do so, although they audit our Toronto facility and the products distributed there. USANA recently underwent an audit and gained certification by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF). NSF's certification service includes product testing, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) inspections, and ongoing monitoring.

Laboratories like manufacturers have different quality systems that may produce false information. We have implemented "Good Laboratory Practices" within our lab and audit outside sources to these principles to determine the likelihood of obtaining false results.

Pharmaceutical GMP requires that the testing methods used on products must first be validated. This includes accuracy of method, precision, limits of detection, specificity, ruggedness, identity, linearity, etc. If the method is not validated, then any result is very suspect. For example, if your test method will only detect an analyte greater than 5mg and you test a 1mg sample, your results will show no analyte present. If your test method is validated, you would know that you could not detect the 1mg sample and need to develop another method with greater limits and sensitivity. (This happens with contract laboratories).

Validation is also necessary to show that your tablet matrix is not affected during manufacturing and that the test method is applicable.

To measure the quantities of an active ingredient level, it must be compared to a pure standard. In addition, GLP requires the laboratory must have a stability profile on their pure standards. Many laboratories do not, so when pure standard happens to degrade over time, the test results may be suspect.

We currently have active clinical trial programs with several trials in progress. Unfortunately, since these trials are in progress I cannot give you any specific information regarding the subject and progress. Recently, we completed a study in corroboration with the University of Utah regarding our calcium supplement and bone density in teen girls. Keep in mind that to do real legitimate studies (that are worth anything) requires much time and money. We are a fairly small and young company. We hope to have results from studies based on several of our specific products soon. However, understand that we don't sell any products without extensive clinical research on the component. Every component in our products, as outlined in our Health Resources, has been thoroughly researched and published in peer-reviewed journals. We emphasize using proven ingredients and making them into high quality products that can be trusted. Our standards of quality are of the highest possible caliber. So we are working on doing several clinical trials of our own, but we are definitely not selling unproven products. Check the health resources on each nutrient to see a basic overview of research validating the inclusion of these ingredients in our products.

http://www.usana.com/dotCom/company/science/hir.jsp

Please visit our research section on our corporate website. This section contains clinical trial bulletins on specific USANA products as well as our health resources. It also includes a list of bibliographic references and selected abstracts from peer reviewed journals on recent scientific research that discuss the health benefits of nutritional supplements. All this and more can be found at the following link:

http://www.usana.com/dotCom/company/science/sci_crb.jsp

The following link is on our website where we have compiled a large amount of research papers associated with the benefits of nutritional supplementation. They are in PDF format. The entire document is 52 pages long and will be quite impressive:

http://www.usana.com/dotCom/company/science/sci_ref.jsp

We have also added ingredients such as Olivol which are unique to Usana. The following link contains an overview of the patents received on the new technology to extract polyphenols from the Olive fruit:

http://www.usana-nutritionals.com/bin/olive2.pdf

This may be more than you need, Here is a link on our website with a selection of Dr. Wentz' publications:

http://obs.usana.com/UPLOADS/usana/2005/236/236-1_GHA.html

The following are selected papers and presentations by scientists at USANA:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11460284

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9733212

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=1965948

Rabovsky A, Cuomo J, Eich N. Measurement of plasma antioxidant reserve after supplementation with various antioxidants in healthy subjects. Clin Chim Acta. 2006 Sep;371(1-2):55-60. Epub 2006 Mar 6.

Rabovsky A., Preobrazhensky S., Wentz M. - In vitro antioxidant activity of flavonoids measured using different procedures. (Abstract) - 3rd Annual Meeting of the Oxygen Society, Miami Beach, Florida, USA, Nov. 1996.

Rabovsky A., Preobrazhensky S., Wentz M. - Synergistic action of Ascorbic Acid and Bioflavonoids in protecting Apolipoprotein B from oxidation. (Abstract) - VIII Biennial Meeting International Society for Free Radical Research, Barcelona, Spain, Oct. 1996.

Rabovsky A., Preobrazhensky S., Wentz M. - Protection of cultured human cells from oxidative damage by Alpha-Tocopherol, Ascorbic acid and flavonoids. (Abstract) - VIII Biennial Meeting International Society for Free Radical Research, Barcelona, Spain, Oct. 1996.

Ivanov V., Rabovsky A. - Extracellular Matrix Regulates Proliferation Rate of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells. Role of Hyaluronic acid. (Abstract) - Becton Dickinson Symposium on Extracellular Matrix, Cell - ECM Interactions, London, UK, Oct. 1996.

McDonald J., Preobrazhensky S., Malugin A., Rabovsky A., Wood T., Wentz M. - Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on susceptibility to oxidation of isolated low density lipoprotein and apolipoprotein B-100 in unfractionated blood. (Abstract) - XI International Symposium on Atherosclerosis, Paris, France, 1997.

Preobrazhensky S., Rabovsky A., Goldmacher V., Wentz M. - Comparative study of cytotoxic action of low density lipoprotein and cumene hydroperoxide on various lymphoid cell lines. XI International Symposium on Atherosclerosis, Paris, France, 1997

Rabovsky A., Cuomo J., Wentz M. - Inhibition of fat absorption with grape seed antioxidants. (Abstract) - 5th Annual Meeting of the Oxygen Society, Washington D.C., 1998. - Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 1998, Vol. 25, Supp. 1, pg. 96.

Gamache P., Rabovsky A., Cuomo J. - Lipoic acid analysis in food supplements by HPLC with Coulometric Array Detector. -"Pittcon-99" - The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, March, 1999.

Rabovsky A., Cuomo J. - Olive oil: Direct measure of antioxidant activity. - (Abstract) - 6th Annual Meeting of the Oxygen Society, New Orleans, LA., 1999. - Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 1999, Vol. 27, Supp 1, pg S 42.

This is by no means a complete listing of all papers published or presented by our scientists. In addition, many are associated with numerous patents and continuously perform research as part of R and D (unpublished). I hope this is helpful and gives an idea of the type of individuals we have formulating our products.

One more reference for you is the Council for Responsible Nutrition which has some very good information regarding nutrition and the role of supplementation. The web address is http://www.crnusa.org

If you look at the bottom of our Essentials and other product labels, you will find the following statement, "Laboratory tested, quality guaranteed. Meets USP specifications for potency, uniformity, and disintegration where applicable." This standard holds true on all applicable products we manufacture.

The USANA tablets are formulated to meet USP standards requiring full disintegration within 30 min. Because of the disintegration time, the vitamins and minerals found in our supplements are properly absorbed and fully available to the body. Innovative formulations have been developed to optimize nutrient bioavailability. Each lot of USANA tablets is tested against finished product specifications to ensure that it meets standards for identity, target weight, hardness, thickness, disintegration, potency, purity (microbial counts). USANA is committed to providing its customers with the best nutritionals that money can buy. Our formulas are carefully designed with quality and safety in mind.

Pharmaceutical grade tablets and capsules must meet certain standards for quality as set by the United States Pharmacopoeia or USP. The USP is a non-profit organization that works closely with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the pharmaceutical industry and health professionals to establish authoritative standards. These standards are enforceable by the FDA and the governments of more than 35 other countries, and are recognized worldwide as the hallmark of quality. USANA chooses to manufacture its products according to these rigid quality standards.

Primarily what sets us apart from other nutritional supplement companies are our high standards of manufacturing. In 1994, Nutritional Supplements under food law were reclassified from "food" status to a new category called "Dietary Supplements" (DS). The law enacted by congress that caused this to occur is known as DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act). With this law, certain changes were made to the food law to regulate dietary supplements differently than food. The first noticeable change to dietary supplements was labeling. It changed the "Nutritional Facts" panels seen on foods to a "Supplement Facts" panel on DS. You will notice DS labels do not claim calories, fat, carbs, proteins etc., but claim nutrient values for vitamins, minerals, herbs, etc.

The second change was the use of health claims (claims normally associated with drugs) that were not permitted for foods. For example, FDA approved only 4 health claims for foods; high fiber and a reduction to cancer, Ca and Osteoporosis etc. With DSHEA, DS products could extend health claims in the area of structure/function. For example, Vitamin E nutritionally support good cardiovascular function. The last change with DSHEA focused on DS product quality. Under DSHEA, FDA was to establish GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) rules for the DS industry and model the rules using current Food GMP regulations. GMP is the minimum quality expectation for a given product used by the consumer. Since 1994, FDA has not established these GMP rules for DS. Therefore, DS products are monitored under food GMP.

When looking at the two current rules (Food GMP vs. Drug GMP) there are several dramatic differences. I use a pizza vs. penicillin analogy to help illustrate this point. But if you want to research the differences yourself you can find these regulation in the Code of Federal Regulations in a good library to verify my next statements. The reference is 21 CFR 110 (Food), 21 CFR 210 and 211 (Drug).

Food GMP focus more on the product as a "safe" food item. This means that no harmful poisons or pathogenic biological elements are introduced into the finished product. Food GMPs do not mandate you test each batch or its ingredients for these harmful elements. The only real stipulation for a manufacturer is that they used ingredients generally recognized as safe for human use and they maintain good hygienic practices. For example, think of a pizza. When order a pizza, the maker uses flour, yeast, salt, water, tomato paste, cheese, etc. None of the ingredients are tested for safety. They are generally recognized as safe. As long as the pizza maker runs a clean shop, i.e. washes hands, clean dishes etc., they are compliant with food GMP.

Because DS are regulated under those set of rules, it has created numerous problems for the industry. Remember, food GMP does not mandate that ingredients used in DS products be tested nor than finished DS products be tested to verify label claim. Therefore, if you manufacture a DS product, for example 100 mg Vitamin C, under current law you do not have to test the vitamin C ingredient you used or test the finished product to verify that in fact is contains 100 mg of Vitamin C. Many manufactures to not go to the added expense because it is not required. Therefore, cheap low to non-potent DS products have flooded the market place. Many independent studies and recent news articles have illustrated this quality problem by testing commonly retailed products that have yielded less then stellar results. Even the proposed GMP rule for DSHEA does not stop these practices. Therefore, the few manufacturers like USANA that have a high standard get unfairly compared to those that follow food GMP.

Now think of penicillin. You expect a different level of quality for penicillin than you do for pizza. Because of the difference in expectation, Drug GMP are more restrictive. Remember, earlier I stated the food GMP was focused on safety. Well drug GMP is focused on safety, potency, purity and efficacy. Drug GMP does mandate ingredient (raw material) testing to show safety, potency, purity and efficacy. It also mandates safety, potency, purity and efficacy testing on each batch of finished product. Hygienic practice is again more restrictive. Other items such as uniformity, validation, process controls, and stability are also required. These are terms never discussed under food GMP that are mandated requirements under drug GMP. Hence the difference between pizza and penicillin.

USANA product quality revolves around drug GMP not food. We do not endorse the philosophy of other DS manufacturer that follow food GMP. It makes no sense for USANA to do all the research and develop a potent product, and then give distributors pizza quality products.

Many distributors ask us whether FDA has audited our facility for drug GMP compliance. They want proof that we do follow drug GMP regulations. The answer is no, not by FDA. Because FDA considers our products as DS, the audit is to food GMP only. However, our products are considered over-the-counter drugs in Canada and Australia. We have been audited to drug GMP by FDA equivalents in those countries.

From: Amy Pezzoni [mailto:pezzoni@usana.com]
Sent: Wed 7/25/2007 9:24 AM
To: USANA Knowledge
Subject: cellular

Best Regards,

Russ Barton, MS, CNS, CISSN

USANA Science Information Services

Search Query: cellular

From: Amy Pezzoni<pezzoni@usana.com>
Phone: 209-527-7289
Associate ID: 2773130
Company: USANA
Position: Builder
Full Address: 3209 Siskiyou Way
Modesto, CA 95350

Message: In trying to explain that the Essentials are for everyone and the optimizers are to customize for individuals, I got into trouble with the statement that we are all the same on the cellular level.

I received the following response:

"Hmmm - how can we be the same on the cellular level? We all have unique DNA, right? And DNA codes for proteins, proteins are enzymes that metabolize differently - so I might make more of a particular enzyme than you, which are made by my cells = both in out. For example, if they put both of us on a birth control pill - one of us probably needs a higher dose of hormone than the other. In fact, if you look at our Brain chemistry, I know first hand we are all very different since I suffer from low seratonin levels and thankfully many others do not. On the cellular level, we all break down and metabolize enzymes at different rates from one another. I think also if they could prove some of these statements, wouldn't there be a wealth of journal articles showing this, like in JAMA? I do want you to know that I am very proud of you and your desire to make a difference for everyone, which you undoubtedly are - just don't want you to get swept up into any pseudoscience."

This person is obviously more versed in cells than I am. I have only a rudimentary knowledge of the cell, and so have passed on this point to you, in the hopes that you can provide me with the technically sound answer I can share.
I told them that I was looking to the experts in regards to the technical explaination, and I am confident that we are not dealing with a pseudoscience here. I said also, "Dr. Myron Wentz, USANA's founder, has been working with human cells most of his career and used these cells to create the gold standard of test kits for infectious disease prior to starting USANA. The company works closely with the Linus Pauling Institute. He has received much recognition for his work, most recently the Albert Einstein award (more about that here). He also founded Sanoviv, one of the most advanced medical facilities in the world. There are some quotes from Dr. Wentz, himself, here." (Some of the text were links to the appropriate web sites)

Any help you can offer me would be much appreciated. Thank you very much! :)
-Amy Pezzoni
pezzoni@usana.com

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:18:45 GMT

I received a message yesterday, with a really good point:

"Hmmm - how can we be the same on the cellular level? We all have unique DNA, right? And DNA codes for proteins, proteins are enzymes that metabolize differently - so I might make more of a particular enzyme than you, which are made by my cells = both in out. For example, if they put both of us on a birth control pill - one of us probably needs a higher dose of hormone than the other. In fact, if you look at our Brain chemistry, I know first hand we are all very different since I suffer from low seratonin levels and thankfully many others do not. On the cellular level, we all break down and metabolize enzymes at different rates from one another. I think also if they could prove some of these statements, wouldn't there be a wealth of journal articles showing this, like in JAMA? I do want you to know that I am very proud of you and your desire to make a difference for everyone, which you undoubtedly are - just don't want you to get swept up into any pseudoscience."

My layman's language has gotten me into trouble here. This person is obviously more versed in cells than I am. I have only a rudimentary knowledge of the cell, and so have passed on this point to the USANA scientists themselves. They are very good about responding to questions, and typically do so within a few days. I will post their response when it arrives.

I am confident that we are not dealing with a pseudoscience here. Dr. Myron Wentz, USANA's founder, has been working with human cells most of his career and used these cells to create the gold standard of test kits for infectious disease prior to starting USANA. The company works closely with the Linus Pauling Institute. He has received much recognition for his work, most recently the Albert Einstein award (more about that here). He also founded Sanoviv, one of the most advanced medical facilities in the world. There are some quotes from Dr. Wentz, himself, here.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:51:19 GMT

"Whats the difference between your product and the ones Dr.sears recommends, Juice Plus?"

I turned to my Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements for an answer. It is an unbiased compendium of over 1500 products available in the United States & Canada. I know a lot about USANA, but very little about Juice Plus. Unfortunately, I couldn't find Juice Plus in the Guide, nor anything for NSA. This surprised me and made me wonder if Juice Plus was not considered a broad-based vitamin/mineral supplement like USANA's Essentials. I went to the web site, but couldn't find label information. I actually found more information from Dr. Sears' web site, including an AskDrSears question regarding Juice Plus during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Dr. Sears says that a prenatal should continue to be taken to make sure the mama is getting "100% of each and every vitamin (since JP is a natural mix of fruits and veggies, the manufacturer cannot precisely quantify the amounts of specific vitamins in the product)." He then goes on to recommend taking both a prenatal and Juice Plus together as best.

This answered my question as to the likely reason why Juice Plus wasn't in the Guide. Juice Plus is a dietary supplement, but not a broad-based vitamin/mineral supplement, and so can not be compared to the products in the Guide (comparing apples to oranges - plus, forgive the pun).

USANA's Essentials is designed for optimal nutrition on the cellular level - this means the Essentials are a woman's vitamin, a men's vitamin, and a perfect prenatal. Because everyone is the same on the cellular level, this foundation works for any adult. Beyond that, people on the macro level are very different, and some need extra supplementation beyond the foundation for their particular body. For example, while pregnant with Simon and now while still nursing, I take additional calcium (some pregnant women will supplement with iron as well, but I didn't need to as my iron levels were perfect). When allergy season hits for me (March - May every year), I take additional grape seed extract. In this way, each person can customize their supplements to themselves on top of the foundation that everyone needs.

The only thing not in the Essentials that is needed by everyone is Omega-3's. It is too difficult to reliably package in a powdered form, so USANA offers BiOmega-3 (fish oil capsules), and OptOmega (cold-pressed seed and olive oils).

I hope I have fully answered your question. If not, please feel free to ask some more.

To my KVVS Pal...

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:46:13 GMT

I saw your comment - thank you. :) Sorry I have been MIA...dealing with a scumbag contractor who managed to extort money out of my husband. Very long and frustrating story. I hope there is much less drama for you.

...I am going to make a special trip to San Francisco to get some Ghiradelli chocolate for my vacation recipient and just in time to score me some chocolate therapy, too!!!