Dear Reader,
Last year I found something in Peru I want to tell you about…
I was walking with my friend Octavio on the outskirts of the Amazon basin in Peru late last year when he pointed out a plant to me. He called it a “miracle plant” that is found only in the wilds of South America. It has turned out to be a remarkable health secret when it comes to improving natural Vitamin E.
Vitamin E wards off age-related macular degeneration, reduces inflammation and recent research suggests it even prevents Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.1 Alarmingly, surveys taken over the past several decades show that majority of Americans don’t get nearly enough of it.2 But the fix is more complicated than popping a standard once-a-day vitamin.
The hitch is that vitamin E isn’t just one vitamin. There are actually eight related but different organic compounds that make up vitamin E. They fall into two categories: tocopherols and tocotrienols.
Vitamin makers include tocopherols but no tocotrienols (the second group). In other words, the ingredient listed on most multi-vitamins should read, “half of vitamin E.”
That’s a real problem. Because if you’re only getting half of vitamin “E,” you’re only getting half the health benefit.
Tocotrienols – the missing half of vitamin E – boost heart health by unclogging your arteries and keeping your cholesterol and soluble-fat blood levels in balance. They’ve also been shown to prevent stroke, breast and prostate cancer, and diabetes.
Think about that for a moment… With the current heart health crisis and the flood of prescriptions for powerful – and toxic – cholesterol lowering medications, tocotrienols provide a safe and natural alternative, without side effects and outrageous prices.
So why don’t manufacturers include “the missing half” in vitamins? And why don’t Americans get enough of it in their diet?
One reason is that doctors and nutritionists generally overlook tocotrienols. Even high-quality multi-vitamins don’t usually include them. Many doctors don’t even know that vitamin E isn’t just “one” vitamin.
But there’s another “probable cause”: Tocotrienols are hard to come by. You won’t find them in most foods. In fact, it’s almost impossible to get enough of them even if you do eat the few foods that contain them. For instance, palm oil is rich in tocotrienols. But who consumes a lot of palm oil? Even if you did, you’d have to drink a cup a day to get enough of the recommended amount.
Not any more: Under the guidance of Dr. Octavio Zolezzi from Lima University, I trekked over the Andean highlands and deep into the Amazon, where I met a group of tribal natives who revealed the centuries-old health secrets of the ancient Incas.
In addition to the Sacha Inchi plant, the “super food” that powered Incan civilization a thousand years ago, I found another equally vital botanical: Annatto.
It comes from the native achiote tree and is used in South America as a food coloring and a spice in many dishes (it’s got a peppery flavor, with a touch of nutmeg).
Annatto is one of the richest sources of tocotrienols in the world.
Until now, you would have to fly to South America to get the right kind of pure extract that has the most health benefit. But I’m currently working on the paperwork required to import them.
I’ve already succeeded in importing Sacha Inchi oil into this country and in the coming months, I’ll be making Annatto available as well.
Now you won’t have to worry about getting only “half” of vitamin E. And you’ll get a natural source of help for your heart and your cholesterol. Stay tuned…
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
1 M. Flint Beal, “Oxidative Mechanisms, Inflammation, and Alzheimer’s Disease Pathogenesis,” 9th International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders, June 2005.
2 Bialostosky K et al. “Dietary intake of macronutrients, micronutrients and other dietary constituents: United States 1988-94,” National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Health Statistics 11(245):2002