Global Medicine Hunter Rethinks High Potency Fruit Drinks

August 22 2006

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(San Francisco, CA---) A couple of weeks ago I reported on the overblown hype behind many exotic juice drinks—and I was practically run out of town by people who make very good livings selling those pricey bottles. After receiving dozens of emails—both rude replies and polite protests—I had to revisit the research, interview the physicians supporting the health claims, and listen to the reports of family members who watched a loved one suddenly recover from a chronic illness.

Granted, nothing is more gratifying than witnessing a remarkable recovery, but anecdotal evidence is not the same as well designed clinical trials. And for pointing that out in my original report, I also received quite a few letters of praise from medical doctors who supported my insistence that we still have insufficient research on human subjects.

Nonetheless, it’s time to admit I gave short shrift to an impressive assembly of basic science research and some positive studies on human cells in vitro. I went beyond the NIH online library citations often quoted by my letter-writing pals (and to all those who directed me to www.pubmed.org , please know that I practically reside on the cyberspot) however, I found much more valuable insights into the health-enhancing properties of fruits and vegetables through investigating direct sources, namely, public and private biochemistry and nutraceutical researchers in Europe, Asia, and throughout North America. The EU and Japan in particular seem to be light years ahead of the US in tracking the remarkable life-saving compounds in some botanicals.

As a result, I’m more convinced than ever of the exceptional wonders provided by fruits and vegetables that exhibit high phytonutrient and antioxidant values. Because of the way research in basic science builds momentum, we seem to be at the onset of an avalanche of findings. Hold on to your grocery carts, this is just the beginning.

MULTIPLICITY: WHY COMBINING PLANTS IS BETTER NUTRITION

It’s true that each of the exotic fruits (mangosteen, noni, goji, acai, etc., ) seems to feature a unique and powerful phytonutrient, such as xanthones, but what really intrigued me was the way in which a bushel basket of plants contain numerous nutrients that seem to work in concert with each other—a sort of “tag team” of health protection. In fact, some nutrients like antioxidants can only do their job if other antioxidants from different sources are around to assist in their free radical gang-busting fight. So while marketers will continue to promote the power of one particular fruit as the panacea of produce, I found that the newest research seems to point solidly to the clustering health benefit effect of phytonutrients from a multitude of sources.

In other words, it’s better to have a bowl full of different fruits and vegetables (or a fruit-and-veggie drink) than focus on one particular plant. In addition, as a medical anthropologist, I’ve also come to appreciate locally grown or regionally produced fruits and vegetables rather than seeking one exotic fruit from halfway around the world for many reasons: freshness, quality, organic assurance, less shipping damage, better ripening. Also, there is a growing body of anthropological evidence that looks at how regional qualities address health challenges inherent in that specific locale. Sort of a food counterpart to the wisdom of herbal cures growing next to poisonous plants or venomous animals.

Two plant foods in North America struck me as the most efficient and beneficial way to take advantage of hundreds of studies on key phytonutrients: a variety of berries (raspberry, blueberry, boysenberry, blackberry, black currant, etc., ) and several types of sea vegetables. Combined these two types of plant foods provide an abundant array of phytonutrients, minerals and vitamins. And among these phytonutrients, one shines very brightly: ellagic acid.

Researchers in Ohio, South Carolina, and British Columbia examined the cancer-fighting abilities of ellagitannin (the precursor to ellagic acid). The remarkable compound was shown to halt mutagenesis in tumor cells (both prostate and breast cancer cultures in vitro.) Ellagitannins in berries also prevent cancer cells from destroying the protective p53 gene, which holds center stage in cancer research. Ellagic acid does this powerful anti-cancer work without harming normal cells—something that chemotherapy is yet to achieve.

The other plant food that we should eat more of but rarely do is seaweed. Marine vegetables have been the preferred plant nutrient among the oldest living people on the planet, the Okinawans. New research centers on the detoxifying benefits of these aquatic plants, helping rid the cells of excess fluids, waste and enhancing biological processes. Together, sea vegetables and a variety of berries can work synergistically to deliver what cells require for optimal health and functioning. If you haven’t added them to your diet yet, find ways to do so immediately.

In summary, I’ve been asked many times to extol the virtues of the single-fruit drinks, and more often, to endorse or sell these products, and while I’m sure they significantly improve the health of people with customarily poor diets, I have declined to back them wholeheartedly because it still doesn’t make nutritional sense to selectively focus on particular plant.

But I have become convinced of the value of a potent juice drink for convenience’s sake, and I’ve decided to place my nutritional bets with a product that features multiplicity—the notion of combining a variety of nutrients from different plants. Featuring some of the most exciting phytonutrient research known today, a newcomer on the scene, a fruit-and-veggie drink known as Youth Juice™ and marketed through Our World Network in Vancouver, BC, was developed by renowned nutraceutical researcher Jay Ranatunga, PhD, who was awarded a grant to examine the anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial effects of over 37 special phytonutrients. Watch this drink capture some attention very soon.

In the meantime, trust the first law of nutrition, as trite as it may sound: balance, variety and moderation are the keys to lasting good health.


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Dr. Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, is known as the Global Medicine Hunter, hosts a nationally syndicated radio show, is founding editor of American Fitness Magazine, author of The Fitness Instinct and teaches holistic health at San Francisco State University. Reach her at www.megjordan.com

(constjohn@aol.com)
St. John Group
1750 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone : 415-454-2243
Fax : 415-4593165

Global Medicine Hunter Leaks Juicy Details

I had saved this article; “Juicy” Overblown Stories: Don’t Fall for the Hype Behind Exotic Fruit Drinks, to post to MonaView blog a few weeks ago. I waited as I wanted to add some personal comments. However, in our recent offline efforts to acheive the rank of Ruby Executive; with MonaVie, my blogging time took a back seat.

Ironically, some of the points I intended on making in my personal comments on Dr Jordan's article, are included in the authors own follow-up to the original piece, released a few days ago. Therefore, I will let Dr Meg tell you some of her own findings in her follow-up article; Global Medicine Hunter Rethinks High Potency Fruit Drinks, which proceeds this post in its entirety on this blog.

Original Post:

Today, I found Dr Jordan's article snipplet below, where she made some valid points. The main thing that I got from original article; was that Dr Jordan wanted to be sure that her audience understood that not "one single" fruit is as awesome as it often promoted, by itself, and that most juice stories were overblown and exagerated at best.

Even as a marketer of a functional beverage, that is the technical name for the juice industry. I must agree with much of Dr Jordan's title; that many of the stories of one fruit are overblown.

However, it is something amazing to understand what/how companies like Tahitian Noni and Xango have penetrated the market place, with BILLIONS of dollars in sales.

Look for variety, balance, and moderation when considering a liquid supplement, as with any supplement.

“Juicy” Overblown Stories: Don’t Fall for the Hype Behind Exotic Fruit Drinks

San Francisco, CA 94111 July 25 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2006
Global Health Media

Snipplet~

By now, if you haven’t been approached by Goji, Noni or Xango, you’ve been living under a rock. Marketers are in full force, spinning tales of “ancient healing” and “miracle cures” usually by far-away natives who depend on the incredible life-giving, youth-preserving properties of one exotic fruit.

Nonsense. Humanity was not meant to survive exclusively by one small berry from the Himalayas or one exotic, foul tasting fruit from the South Pacific. This is a hyped-up marketing pitch that’s undergone a facelift: about two decades ago, we were all supposed to be eating pond scum algae from one lake near Klamath Falls, Oregon—no matter where you lived on the planet.

Obviously the earth’s inhabitants didn’t evolve by being dependent on one nutrient 10,000 miles away. Wide-scale nutritional research remains consistent: humans benefit most from a diet that reflects variety, balance and moderation among a wide selection of nutritious vegetables, grains, fruits and protein sources. Epidemiologic analysis has yet to find evidence for one particular nutrient that prevents premature aging, cures cancer, or any other chronic disease.

Paltry amounts
Often there is not a sufficient amount of the fruit juice or extract contained in the pricey bottles to even amount to anything significant intake. A quesitonable fraction of the fruit in most drinks can sell from $38 to 50 dollars for one liter—about ten times the price of gasoline in most parts of the world. The bottles contain mostly water, with varying amounts of everything from apple and pear puree to the equivalent of Ocean Spray cranberry juice, along with preservatives,

Lack of science
Only a few among a dozen or so fruit drinks have one or two animal studies behind them, and those companies manage to extrapolate findings from rat, bats or bugs to human beings, which is bad enough, but they also make the mega-leap to concluding health and longevity benefits for humans, which is solid junk science.

False scales
Companies selling the “single fruit juice” story often post an ORAC value to their berries, supposedly indicating antioxidant amounts, but ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance capacity, the ability of substances to suppress oxygen free radicals in test tube findings. These charts are replete with fabricated data, comparing one fruit to another. You’ll find misleading statements, scales with no references points, unnamed and unsubstantiated laboratories

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