All B-Vitamins, are nature's "feel-good" nutrients. The B-Vitamins found in CholestinEX® in daily amounts proven to support their clinical structure/function claims, provide the nutritional support your body needs for:

• Increased energy and stamina
• Increased mental clarity
• Decreased dangerous homocysteine levels, which lessens the risk of developing heart disease and Alzheimer's Disease
• Restored emotional balance
• Restful sleep

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Chromium Polynicotinate
Patented chromium complex is the most potent form of chromium and has been clinically proven to be significantly more bio-available than any other form of chromium. This is clinically proven to help maintain normal cholesterol levels. The research suggests that chromium may even help in maintaining normal cholesterol levels and that inadequate levels of the trace mineral chromium play a role in cardiovascular disease.

Of the 16 minerals currently deemed essential, none plays a more important role in blood glucose control than chromium. However, the benefits of chromium, a trace mineral, are not limited to modulating errant blood glucose levels. Obesity, coronary heart disease, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia often have a common denominator: insulin insensitivity, a condition worsened by a chromium deficiency. It is estimated that 90% of Americans consume less than the recommended amount of chromium each day, a shortfall that may eventually terminate in some form of ill health. (Note: No recommended dietary allowance (RDA) has been established for chromium, but the ESADDI (estimated safe and adequate daily dietary intake) is 50-200 mcg.)

Typically, chromium decreases total cholesterol and triglycerides 10% and increases HDL 2%. These changes are most observed if initial body chromium levels are very low (Murray 1996). For most individuals, 200-400 mcg of chromium (divided throughout the day) is adequate; higher (supervised) doses may be required if used for Type II diabetes (turn to Niacin in this section to read about the boost chromium gives niacin, requiring lesser amounts of vitamin B3 to manage blood lipids).

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L-Arginine
L-Arginine is an amino acid that has been clinically proven to help form nitric oxide and helps to support healthy blood vessel function. Arginine is a key component of the nitric oxide pathway – and important cascade of reactions involved in vasodilation and related to cardiovascular function. Arginine supplements have been associated with reductions in symptoms associated with coronary artery disease and may be capable of slowing the progression of atherosclerosis. L-arginine has been clinically tested to be safe and well tolerated with long-term use.

Related Claims are:
Protection from heart disease

Reduces cholesterol

Lowers blood pressure

Improves poor circulation

In people with elevated cholesterol levels, it is common to see a reduced ability of the endothelium to produce NO and, therefore, to dilate effectively. In addition, because NO production may be limited, blood cells such as monocytes and platelets are more likely to attach themselves to the inner vessel wall and lead to blockages.

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Proprietary Phytosterols Blend
This blend delivers naturally occurring, high purity phytosterols. (40% beta - sitosterol, 30% campesterol, and 30 % stigmasterol) Clinical studies have shown that phytosterols act to block cholesterol in the intestines and inhibit excess cholesterol uptake into the bloodstream. Phytosterols compete with cholesterol for sterol receptor sites in the intestines, but unlike cholesterol, phytosterols are poorly absorbed and excreted out of the body never entering the bloodstream. All the function without the fat! Nearly 50 years of clinical trials demonstrates the effectiveness of phytosterols. Phytosterols have a proven safety record through toxicity testing as well as a long and stable shelf life.

In terms of cholesterol control, several human feeding studies have shown that phytosterol-containing margarine (40 grams of phytosterols in a mixture of beta-sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol), consumed for 3-4 weeks, can reduce total and LDL cholesterol concentrations by about 20%. Smaller doses (2-6g/day) have also been associated with a reduction in total and LDL cholesterol levels of about 5-15% in subjects with elevated cholesterol levels.

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Pycnogenol
Pycnogenol® is a natural plant extract originating from the bark of the Maritime pine that grows along the coast of southwest France and is found to contain a unique combination of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic acids, which offer extensive natural health benefits. The extract has been widely studied for the past thirty-five years and has more than 120 published studies and review articles ensuring safety and efficacy as an ingredient.

According to a new clinical diabetes study, scientists discover that type 2 diabetes patients had lower blood sugar and healthier blood vessels after supplementing with French maritime pine tree bark extract, Pycnogenol® (pic-noj-en-all).

Printed in the current issue of Diabetes Care, published by the American Diabetes Association, the open, controlled, dose-finding study demonstrated that patients with mild type 2 diabetes, subscribing to a regular diet and exercise program, were able to significantly lower their glucose levels when they supplemented with 50-200 mg of Pycnogenol®.

"Seventeen million Americans living day to day with type 2 diabetes, caused by a resistance to insulin, require a careful daily routine including blood sugar monitoring, physical exercise and counting carbohydrates. Many patients look for complementary therapies, such as natural ingredients, to further reduce their risk of long-term complications from this condition," said Peter Rohdewald, Ph.D. Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Muenster and one of the authors of the study. "The favorable research results on the glucose-lowering effect of this natural extract encourages further mechanistic and clinical studies with Pycnogenol® to explore its potential in obtaining metabolic control in patients with mild type 2 diabetes."

High blood sugar damages blood cells and blood vessels. Diagnostic blood chemistry in this study suggests that entailing problems arising from elevated blood sugar are significantly reduced. Pycnogenol® did not affect insulin levels in diabetic patients.

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Oat Bran
A soluble fiber, is a well-studied natural component that can help support cardiovascular system. Consistent intake, in conjunction with a healdiy low fat diet, may offer significant nutritional support to maintain normal cholesterol levels.

In populations with reported higher incidence of elevated cholesterol, fiber may be of benefit as found in a 1998 study conducted in Mexico City.

Oat bran has been shown to lower plasma LDL cholesterol levels in different populations. Hypercholesterolemia is prevalent in the Northern part of Mexico and might be associated to dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle. These results indicate that oat bran is efficacious in lowering plasma LDL cholesterol in both normal and hypercholesterolemic individuals from this population (Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Dec. 1998, 17(6):601-8).

Another study contradicts this as follows:

Various soluble fibers reduce total and LDL cholesterol by similar amounts. The effect is small within the practical range of intake. For example, 3 grams soluble fiber from oats (3 servings of oatmeal, 28 grams each) can decrease total and LDL cholesterol by approximately 0.13 mmol/L. Increasing soluble fiber can make only a small contribution to dietary therapy to lower cholesterol (Am. J. Clin. Nutr., (United States), Jan. 1999, 69(1):30-42).

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It has long been accepted throughout the scientific community that calcium acts to prevent osteoporosis and decrease the bone loss that occurs with age. Recently, calcium's role in preventing and managing obesity has come to the forefront of scientific research. In response to America's obesity epidemic, a number of studies have focused on this health dilemma and the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that are involved in its mechanisms. Recent clinical studies have shown that as dietary calcium intake increases, it acts at the cellular level to alter energy metabolism so that more food energy is burned and less is stored as fat. Studies show that calcium may have favorable effects on body weight in both children and adults, with implications for obesity and insulin resistance. In addition, the mineral may decrease the risk for hypertension, coronary artery disease, and stroke.

Researchers at the University of Tennessee's Department of Nutrition, led by Michael B. Zemel, PhD, director of the University's Nutrition Institute,studied the effect of dietary calcium levels in mice. The mice were genetically engineered to express a human obesity gene called "agouti" in their fat cells, making them useful models for the study of diet-induced obesity. The researchers found support for their conclusions in data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), which shows an inverse relationship between calcium and dairy intakes and body fat in adults. The researchers concluded that low calcium diets lead to increased fat storage and higher calcium diets favor increased burning of fat. The authors propose that calcium in fat cells "is a logical target for pharmacological and/or nutritional regulation" of overweight and obesity.

It is stated in the introduction to the report on The CARDIA Study, a study of 5115 subjects documented in the Journal of the American Medical Association, that epidemiologic and experimental studies suggest that dairy products may have favorable effects on body weight in children and adults. In addition, dairy and/or calcium may decrease the risk for hypertension, coronary artery disease, and stroke. In the recent CARDIA Study, which studied dairy consumption, obesity and the insulin resistance syndrome in young adults, inverse associations were found between frequency of dairy (and therefore, calcium) intake and the development of obesity, abnormal glucose homeostasis, elevated blood pressure, and dislipidemia in young overweight black and white men and women.

Additionally, in support of calcium's role in bone mineralization, a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found calcium supplementation to have a beneficial effect on bone loss in postmenopausal women. The researchers studied 122 normal women at least three years after they had reached menopause who had a mean dietary calcium intake of 750 mg per day. The women were randomly assigned to treatment with either calcium or placebo for two years. While the placebo group lost bone at a rate of approximately 1% per year, this rate of loss was reduced by one-third to one-half per year in the calcium group (a significant amount).

Hang Shi,Douglas DiRienzo, and Michael B. Zemel. Effects of dietary calcium on adipocyte lipid metabolism and body weight regulation in energy-restricted aP2-agouti transgenic mice. Jun 2000.

Reid, Ian R. Effect of Calcium Supplementation on Bone Loss in Postmenopausal Women. The New England Journal of Medicine. Feb 18, 1993-Vol 328, No. 7, p.460-464.

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