My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 5 – Pillars of Health

Free Radicals, Antioxidants and Health: A Summary

Before getting into the details of balancing each pillar of health, let’s recap the process of oxidation and cellular stress discussed in previous sections. For our discussions, we’ll consider oxidation as the “first pillar” of metabolism that can interfere with and disrupt other metabolic or biochemical pillars (inflammation, glycation, and allostation) leading to cellular stress. As such, managing this process is one way to both directly strengthen this key pillar of health, as well as to indirectly support and strengthen other important aspects of cellular metabolism.

Overexposure to free radicals—and the cellular “oxidative” damage they can cause—leads to tissue dysfunction, DNA damage, reduced mitochondrial-energy production, and the ill health that you generally recognize as aging, illness and burnout. Too much oxidation and the resulting cellular stress is bad.

Free radical damage can be reduced by the balanced activity of internal antioxidant enzymes and dietary antioxidant nutrients—remember, not too few or too many, but “just right.” The sum of the antioxidant network is more effective than its individual components. In practical terms, this means you want to consume a variety of antioxidant nutrients every day.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we especially want to focus on naturally inducing our body’s own protective pathways—particularly the CDR pathway. Consuming more brightly colored vegetables and fruits help do this by virtue of their high content of flavonoids, carotenoids, and other phytonutrients. But triggering CDR pathways is perhaps best done by consuming concentrated herbal extracts such as pine bark, quercetin, green tea, turmeric, and ginger (among others) to increase levels of protective antioxidant enzymes as well as induce a range of housekeeping “cleanup” proteins to facilitate cellular repair. The CDR pathway, which triggers the release of these ultra-powerful antioxidant enzymes, also helps switch on DNA-repair enzymes and regulates chronic inflammation and immune function—all key areas of human health.

For those of us striving to be our “best selves” in terms of how we feel, look and perform, we need to understand that proper management of cellular stress is perhaps the most fundamental aspect of our biochemistry to get under control. Without cellular balance, we’re more likely to experience a wide array of detrimental effects, including excessive inflammation, problems with cell-to-cell communication, higher risk for DNA damage, disproportionate levels of fatigue, depression, and brain fog, and trouble maintaining both body weight and skin tone. The list of problems associated with unchecked cellular stress goes on and on, but the bottom line is that by restoring biochemical balance and properly managing cellular stress, we can put our bodies on a very strong foundation of cellular balance that can lead to us achieving that “best self” that so many of us have been striving for.

Thans for reading – please tune in for the next installment about “Inflammation – The World on Fire”

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 5 – Pillars of Health

In some of my earlier books, I’ve written about different aspects of metabolism and biochemistry that can become unbalanced and lead to ill health, weight gain, and poor performance. In many ways, harnessing the CDR pathway and its role as a “master switch” in directing the body’s response to cellular stress, brings many different aspects of biochemistry together under a concerted and coordinated approach to helping us feel, look, and perform at our best. I refer to each of these four major aspects of biochemical balance as “pillars” of health, including oxidation, inflammation, glycation, and allostation – with imbalances in any of them leading to elevated cellular stress and tissue dysfunction.

For example, scientists and doctors agree that excessive inflammation (due to an imbalance in signaling molecules called cytokines) can lead to accelerated tissue damage and breakdown, so it makes a lot of sense to control inflammation to reduce cellular stress and promote overall health.

But, if you look deeper to find the causes of inflammation, you quickly see other factors that you can control. Because oxidation (caused by free radicals) leads to inflammation at the cellular level, why not also control oxidation as another “trigger” of cellular stress?

Great idea—but why not look even farther up the metabolic chain of events to see if you can control or modulate the causes of oxidation? Doing this shows that glycation (cellular damage caused by overexposure to certain sugars) can lead to oxidation (which can, in turn, lead to inflammation).

Should you stop there? Of course not, because when you look even higher up the metabolic stream, you see that an imbalance in stress hormones such as cortisol and the resulting allostation (inability to adapt to and recover from stress) can lead to glycation, which can lead to oxidation, which in turn leads to inflammation.

Unfortunately, existing scientific or medical research doesn’t go any farther “upstream” with regard to the biochemistry of cellular aging and health promotion. Balancing stress hormones is about as far “upstream” as you can go at this time—but that’s still pretty good. In addition, we know from both laboratory research and clinical experience that such a coordinated approach to restoring biochemical balance can be very effective in reducing cellular stress through CDR activation. In fact, at the recent Cambridge University scientific conference on CDR metabolism, there were research reports linking CDR pathway activation to improvements in each of the four pillars of health.

Obviously, each of these four aspects of your body’s biochemistry is intimately intertwined and interdependent on the others, so saying that any one of these “pillars” is “first” is somewhat arbitrary and situation-dependent. That said, the important take-away message is that having an imbalance in any of the individual aspects (inflammation, for example) can set off a biochemical cascade leading to imbalances in another (such as oxidation) and ultimately increasing cellular stress. They’re all intertwined and interdependent. The different aspects of biochemistry act almost like a set of dominoes—when you touch one, you set off movement and changes in all the others. The good news is that when you restore balance in any one area, you can also get the benefit of restored balance in other areas, with the end result being reductions in cellular stress and optimal levels of health and well-being.

Thanks for reading – be sure to tune in for the next installment about, “Free Radicals, Antioxidants and Health: A Summary”

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 4 – Don’t Take Antioxidants— Make Antioxidants

How to Enhance CDR to Reduce Cellular Stress: A Summary

When it comes to optimally protecting your body—and actively improving how we feel/look/perform—we can all take a range of proactive steps to induce our body’s own protective mechanisms:

1. Stop Taking High-Dose Synthetic Antioxidant Supplements: The research shows that taking high doses of isolated, synthetic antioxidants (like vitamins A, C, E, beta-carotene, etc.) actually causes harm to the body.

2. Get Active: It’s clear that exercise “turns on” the CDR pathway and its family of internal antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cellular repair, and detoxification systems.

3. Practice Intermittent Fasting (IF): At least once per month consume nothing except water for 24 hours. Research shows that this type of intermittent fasting can turn on CDR pathways and increase the production of cellular survival genes.

4. Eat the Right Foods: Many foods have a general induction effect
on CDR, meaning they help spur the production and activity of cellular protection and repair. These foods include blueberries, tea, coffee, red wine, apples, onions, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, wasabi, and many others.

5. Boost CDR with Properly Balanced Herbals: As mentioned, there are several proven and powerful botanical ingredients that act specifically to induce and activate CDR for the production of antioxidant enzymes and protective proteins in the body. These herbals include pine bark, green tea, turmeric, quercetin, CoQ10, cannabidiol, and many others. The antioxidant enzymes and other protective agents activated by the CDR pathways provide far-greater safeguarding properties than “standard” antioxidants, which means you’ll enjoy a significantly wider spectrum of health benefits.

Final Thoughts

When you consider the studies outlined above (as well as the hundreds of similar studies being conducted, published, and presented every month), a very clear picture emerges whereby:

1. Free radical imbalances and related sources of environmental and other stressors lead to cellular stress and cellular damage within cells throughout the body and in every tissue measured.

2. Induction of the CDR pathways effectively reduce cellular stress, prevent tissue damage, enhance internal cellular protective mechanisms, and restore cellular balance (homeostasis).

3. The spectrum of health benefits created by CDR-activating herbs is extremely impressive, bestowing aid in the areas of skin, heart, brain, antioxidant activity, genetic expression, and general anti-aging benefits—the list goes on and on.

While it’s very logical to assume that cells that are “less damaged” and “more balanced” would also be associated with “superior function” as well as with feeling, looking, and performing at our best, such studies are currently underway and have yet to be reported in the scientific literature. It just makes sense that healthier cells equate to more efficient bodies and minds— but at this point, we simply don’t have specific research data to point to. These types of longer-term lifestyle studies are currently underway in research laboratories and universities around the world. We expect these studies to show a clear link between the prevention of cellular stress and the enhancement of myriad lifestyle factors including increased energy and mood, enhanced weight loss and beauty, and superior mental and physical performance.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not inclined (even as a scientist) to wait for the specific study that “proves” to me that it’s better to have cells with less cellular stress and lower levels of damage—I think there’s more than ample evidence for a health benefit of naturally inducing CDR pathways. I think you’ll agree with me that naturally “making” antioxidants is a healthier and more effective approach than “taking” antioxidants.

Thanks for reading – be sure to tune in for the next installment about “The Pillars of Health – oxidation, inflammation, glycation, and allostation.”

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 4 – Don’t Take Antioxidants— Make Antioxidants

CDR And… Anyone Who Breathes Oxygen?

Oxygen is indispensible to the lives of all mammals on earth, with energy-production and metabolism linked to oxygen-generated ATP production in the mitochondria. Mitochondria are the “energy factories” in each of our cells – every body has trillions of mitochondria – and more than 90% of the oxygen taken up by the body is used by our mitochondria to generate cellular energy from our food. It has been estimated that 1-4% of consumed oxygen is converted to damaging free radicals (super oxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical) and that the rate of free radical generation is proportional to the amount of mitochondria and our rate of energy production (so the more energy we generate, the more damaging free radicals).

All cellular membranes and cellular components (as well as our genetic material, and the mitochondria themselves) are susceptible to attack by free radicals, but the cells of all mammals have a built-in protective pathway that senses cellular stress, minimizes cellular damage, performs a “housekeeping” cleanup/repair function, and reduces cellular stress (CDR pathways). Nutritional antioxidants, from our diets, are referred to as “non-enzymatic” antioxidants (factors such as vitamins C & E, beta-carotene, etc) because they function in a “one-to-one” relationship to quench or counteract free radicals and interrupt the chain-reaction spread of free radical damage. The type of antioxidants that our cells can manufacture themselves are “enzymatic” proteins such as super oxide dismutase (that fights the super-oxide radical), catalase (that fights hydrogen peroxide), and the family of glutathione enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase/transferase/reductase (that fight a range of peroxide/hydroxyl radicals and perform a wide range of detoxification functions).

Among all mammals, management of oxidative stress is important for long-term health. When oxidative stress is low, the body’s own internal protective mechanisms (CDR-mediated enzymes), coupled with dietary antioxidants (non-enzymatic) from a balanced diet high in brightly colored fruits and vegetables, nuts, and whole grains, is likely to provide enough protection. However, when mammals are exposed to elevated levels of oxidative stress, our body may not be able to mount an effective level of protection. Consider some of the common factors that increase our oxidative stress:

• Low fruit/vegetable intake (reduced intake of dietary antioxidants)
• High processed food intake (increased intake of oxidizing factors such as simple sugars and refined carbohydrates)
• Being overweight (even by a few pounds, and especially if the fat is located in the abdominal area, can lead to higher levels of oxidative stress)
• Sunlight exposure (ultraviolet radiation)
• Air pollution (cigarette smoked, car exhaust, particulate matter)
• Exposure to pesticides, herbicides, and other toxins (including mold, phthalates in plastics, PCBs in farmed fish, asbestos, heavy metals, chloroform, chlorine, and even many pharmaceutical drugs)
• Exercise (increased demand for oxygen consumption and energy production)
• Stress (increased stress hormones such as cortisol, which can lead to higher free radical production)
• Aging (increases free radical production and reduces CDR activation)

When you look at the list above and think about which mammals are exposed to high levels of oxidative stress due to their high metabolism, high activity levels, pesticide/herbicide exposure, and,relatively long life – I hope you think about yourself as an example of a mammal who needs efficient CDR activation. How about man’s best friend – your dog? Numerous research studies have documented the range of age-related diseases, including arthritis, mental/memory deficits, and cancer – all of which are related to cellular stress, and all of which occur in both humans and canines. For example, the brains of aged dogs accumulate oxidative damage to proteins and lipids (fats), in the same way that occurs in humans – often leading to dysfunction of neurons (brain cells) and a wide range of behavioral and cognitive defects. Considering that the brain of both humans and dogs consumes approximately 20% of the body’s total oxygen, and has both a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (very high susceptibility to damage by free radicals) and a low endogenous antioxidant activity relative to other tissues (low ability to protect itself), it is quite logical for us to observe such high rates of age-related brain dysfunction in aged humans and aged dogs. With more than 50 million senior and geriatric dogs in North America (over the age of 7 years), there is a huge potential to help reduce oxidative stress and improve health by improving social interaction, restoring activity levels, and reducing senility associated with advanced age. Indeed, numerous studies have shown that reducing oxidative damage in the brain can lead to significant improvements in cognitive function in aged dogs.

For example, in a recent placebo-controlled study of 80 dogs (Experimental Biology Scientific Conference, April 2015), researchers found some important benefits of CDR-activating herbs for improving health and performance in older dogs. These dogs were 8 years old on average, and were supplemented with the herbal blend or a placebo for 60 days. The group taking the CDR-activating herbs had a dramatic 36% increase in catalase levels (one of our body’s most powerful protective enzymes), while the placebo group showed an 11% reduction in catalase levels. This tells us that in a similar manner to how CDR-activation works in humans, the herbal blend is increasing cellular production of our natural internal protective antioxidant enzymes. It’s also noteworthy that with this heightened level of cellular protection in the CDR-herb group, the dog owners noticed a significant 23% improvement in their dog’s cognitive function and overall physical function. These results demonstrate an important wellness benefit of reducing oxidative stress in dogs.

Thanks for reading – be sure to tune in for the next installment about “How to Enhance CDR to Reduce Cellular Stress: A Summary”

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 4 – Don’t Take Antioxidants— Make Antioxidants

CDR and…Skin (and Aging)

Who among us, whether we’re young or mature, wants to look old and worn out? Nobody! Undoubtedly, women are the primary target market for cosmetic marketers because every woman wants to have beautiful, radiant, youthful, and healthy-looking skin. But so do men!

You’ve heard the old saying, “Beauty is more than skin deep” – and it’s true – especially when you realize that our body has a built-in “beauty protection” network inside of every cell, including our skin cells. You’ll often hear that the skin has “two layers” (the dermis and epidermis), but the epidermis (uppermost layer) is actually comprised of five distinct layers and the dermis (deeper layer) has two different layers – so our skin actually has seven different layers that protect our delicate (internal) tissues from the damaging (external) environment.

Emerging science is discovering a new approach to caring for your skin, one that addresses what goes on inside you and at the deeper layers of skin (not just the surface) in order to bring forth the most glowing, clear, healthy skin on your outside. Achieving healthy beautiful skin is truly an inside-out process. Looking better, feeling better, having more confidence, and causing your exterior to reflect your beautiful interior (and vice versa) is what the latest skin science in all about.

Nobody wants to look like they’re aging. Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on lotions, creams, and coatings to be applied to the surface of the skin (the dead part, called the stratum corneum). Many of these concoctions do a wonderful job of smoothing out wrinkles and giving the appearance of younger, healthier skin. The illusion of healthier skin, however, rapidly fades when the beauty cream wears off.

What we perceive as “aging” is actually a complicated and multifaceted phenomenon related to skin breakdown and repair—a cyclical process that we scientists refer to as “tissue turnover.” In the case of skin, we call it “collagen turnover.” The most effective solution to a multifaceted problem is a multifaceted solution, and that’s exactly what topical CDR activation is all about.

Today, the scientific community accepts the fact that chronic cellular stress leads to rapid breakdown in a variety of tissues, including brain neurons, blood vessels, muscles, immune cells, and many more – including skin. Cellular stress in skin cells inevitably leads to skin problems, such as wrinkles, acne, and uneven skin tone.

CDR regulates our body’s response to cellular stress and numerous studies have shown that both topical and internal/systemic activation of the CDR pathway can have a wide range of beneficial effects on skin, including reduced rates of skin cancers, protection from ultraviolet radiation, reduced inflammation, enhanced barrier function, and improved wound healing.

In a series of clinical and laboratory studies, various CDR activators (extracts of turmeric, green tea, brassica, pine bark, and plantain) have been shown to improve skin tone, reduce wrinkles, and generally enhance youthful appearance. These studies show how topical application of CDR-activating herbs results in dramatic improvements in key beauty benefits, including an extremely high percentage of women who felt that their skin was improved in the following ways: looking smoother, younger, firmer, more even tone, and with fewer wrinkles. In another series of laboratory studies to investigate the biochemical and genetic mechanisms underlying such rapid and dramatic clinical benefits, researchers treated isolated skin samples daily with CDR-activating herbs. Findings showed clear evidence of the CDR-activating herbs to:

• Increase CDR-pathway protein levels in skin (thus improving biochemical resistance to oxidative stress)
• Boost skin protection from ultraviolet (UV) light exposure (by reducing genetic DNA damage)
• Fight the signs of aging though all layers of the skin (resulting in the previously observed clinical benefits of superior protection, appearance, and healthy youthfulness)

The future of science and medicine is targeting the CDR pathways to not only protect our health, but also to actively improve how we feel/look/perform. CDR activation, especially when optimally-synergistic in nature, represents a huge and exciting advance in the pursuit of anti-aging benefits. These benefits extend from feeling your best (abundant energy, good mood, sharp mental focus), to performing your best (high motivation, balanced metabolism, strong body and mind), to looking your best (healthy youthful skin).

Thanks for reading – be sure to tune in for the next installment about “CDR And… Anyone Who Breathes Oxygen?”

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 4 – Don’t Take Antioxidants— Make Antioxidants

CDR and…Brain and Nervous System

Aging is characterized by a progressive decline in the efficiency of cellular function and the increased risk for disease and death – not a happy future! At the very heart of the aging process is the balance between cellular stressors and our ability to maintain biochemical balance and avoid cellular damage in the face of those stressors. The “free radical theory of aging” suggests that reactive oxygen molecules (free radicals) produced during cellular energy metabolism have damaging effects on all cells and across all tissue in the body – causing cumulative damage over time that ultimately results in aging, dysfunction, and death.

Each of our cells has a built-in system of defense to protect from damage by cellular stressors – the CDR pathways. In the aging (healthy) brain, as well as in the cases of several neurodegenerative diseases, there is a dramatic decline in the body’s ability to mount a robust defense against cellular stressors – which increases the vulnerability of the brain and the entire nervous system to damage. For example, oxidative damage to the DNA and cell membranes has been detected at levels more than 10 times higher in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients and 17 times higher in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients compared to healthy subjects.

Brain neurons and nerve cells in general are high in lipids (fats) that are highly susceptible to attack by free radicals. High levels of damaged fatty acids, as well as damaged proteins, have been identified in aging brains and associated with cognitive deficits. In the brain, such damage to fatty acids and proteins is known to set off an immune/inflammatory response that often leads to further cellular damage when prolonged. Elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines leads to a vicious cycle of further cellular damage that propagates through a chain reaction across tissues.

Natural plant-derived bioactive compounds (phytonutrients) have been shown to exert both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in brain tissue. For example, known CDR-activating phytonutrients such as EGCG from green tea, curcumin from turmeric, and quercetin from onions have been shown to reduce amyloid plaque accumulation (Alzheimer’s) and increase regeneration of dopamine fibers (Parkinson’s), suggesting a general neuro-protective benefit of natural CDR activators. Indeed, population studies have shown a dramatic protective effect of diets high in fruits/vegetables and healthy oils (Mediterranean and Okinawan diets) on risk for dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Although the range of brain and nervous system diseases is varied with distinct pathologic features, there is considerable scientific evidence to support oxidative stress as a common pathogenic mechanism in many neurological conditions. Oxidative damage occurs early in virtually all nervous system disorders, including chronic conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), as well as acute brain injury such as stoke and traumatic brain injury (TBI, including concussions), suggesting that oxidative stress plays a prominent role in disease progression. CDR activation is known to be disrupted in many nervous system disorders and brain levels of protective antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione, etc) are typically reduced in neurodegenerative disorders as well as during normal aging. For example, neurons with low CDR activity are more susceptible to oxidative and inflammatory stress, but cellular damage can be reduced through CDR activation. In both Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and University of Pittsburgh (J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2007) have described an insufficient and disrupted activation of the CDR pathways in neurons located in the areas of the brain affected by the disease process.

Other studies (Free Radic Biol Med. 2009) have shown that CDR-activating herbs often work synergistically. This means that when several CDR-activating herbs are used together on cells, their antioxidant effect is more than the sum of the effects from the individual ingredients. In a recent study funded by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the United States Department of Defense), CDR-activating herbs were found to induce CDR and protect brain cells subjected to the stress of high altitude. Results showed that CDR activation was effective in supporting a healthy response to “leaky” blood vessels in the lungs and the brain caused by being at high altitude. CDR-activating herbs were found to induce CDR at a higher degree than a range of prescription drugs for treating altitude sickness and reduce cerebral vascular leak by 62%, suggesting a promising approach to supporting brain health during various forms of cerebral stress.

These and other recent scientific findings have linked CDR activation not only to an elevated antioxidant capacity, but also to increases in other types of protective proteins such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF – a brain protein associated with stimulation of neuron growth and with anti-depressive effects). Interestingly, several established natural CDR activators such as curcumin, sulforaphane, spirulina, cannabidiol, and melatonin, have been shown to exert neuroprotective effects in brain and nerve tissue. While the brain-protective benefits of isolated phytonutrient bioactives is extremely interesting, even more interesting is the emerging approach of scientifically examining the synergistic combinations of nutrients to determine improved potency and efficacy for maintaining optimal brain health and preventing neurodegenerative diseases.

Thanks for reading – be sure to tune in for the next installment about, “CDR and…Skin (and Aging)”

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 4 – Don’t Take Antioxidants— Make Antioxidants

CDR and… The Cardiovascular System

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in the developed world. A critical component to the development – or prevention – of cardiovascular disease is proper balance of internal cellular defense systems, including antioxidant enzymes, detoxification proteins, and housekeeping proteins.

Several cardiovascular diseases are associated with suboptimal cellular defenses, (and thus with elevated cellular stress), including atherosclerosis (blockage of blood vessels), hypertension (elevated blood pressure), and heart failure (loss of contraction ability). Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease characterized by dysfunction of the blood vessel lining (endothelial tissue), leading to cholesterol blockages, narrowing of the blood vessels, and poor blood flow.

In a study from the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver (Free Radic Biol Med. 2009), researchers found a significant and synergistic increase in HO-1 (3-9 times) and glutathione (2-4 times) with CDR-activating herbs  compared to any of the individual ingredients.

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University published a study in Circulation, the scientific journal of the American Heart Association (Circulation. 2009), showing how CDR-activating herbs protect heart muscle cells. The study looked at the damaging effects of high blood pressure, finding that CDR activation increased HO-1 levels to reduce heart muscle damage, protect blood vessels, and improve heart function (despite continued hypertension).

Biomedical engineers from The Ohio State University (Free Radic Biol Med. 2011) have shown that CDR activation via CDR-activating herbs is effective in elevating protective enzymes including SOD (3-fold), HO-1 (7-fold), and catalase (12-fold) – leading to improved blood vessel health. Phytonutrient activation of the CDR pathways was able to keep blood vessels open by reducing overgrowth of the interior linings of specific blood vessels used in coronary bypass grafts (human saphenous veins). Prior to this study, only daily aspirin and anti-cholesterol drugs (statins) have been shown to keep these types of grafts open and unclogged.

Exercise scientists at Colorado State University have shown in two different studies that CDR activation protects coronary arteries (Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2012) and heart muscle cells (Free Radic Biol Med. 2013). In these studies, there was a significant increase in CDR pathway proteins as well as protective antioxidant enzymes, including HO-1 (+778%), SOD (125%), and GPx (120%) – leading to a significantly lower rate of heart cell damage and death.

CDR activation is important to maintaining the health and function of the endothelial tissue, and thus of the entire cardiovascular system. For example, CDR activation is know to directly protect blood vessel linings from cellular stress, but also to improve production of nitric oxide (which increases blood flow) and boost cellular energy levels (through mitochondrial support) – leading to an overall improvement if cardiovascular efficiency and function. In addition, CDR activation leads to increased production of specific anti-atherogenic (heart protecting) enzymes such as heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-1), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), which can protect blood vessels from inflammation, reduce high blood pressure, and improve the efficiency of heart muscle contraction.

It is interesting to note that individuals with insufficient CDR activation are likely to be at higher risk for not just cardiovascular problems, but also problems related to cellular damage throughout the entire body, especially those tissues with the highest energy needs (heart, muscle, and brain).

Thanks for reading – tune in for the next installment about “CDR and…Brain and Nervous System”

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 4 – Don’t Take Antioxidants— Make Antioxidants

CDR and…Cancer

More than one thousand scientific publications describe the relationship between CDR activation and various types of cancer. As described earlier, natural activation of CDRs is perhaps the most important approach to cell defense and survival, because of the simultaneous protection of cells and tissues from a variety of toxicants and carcinogens.

Because CDR activation increases dozens of cellular protective functions, several pharmaceutical activators of CDR are under study in clinical trials. For instance, researchers from the National Cancer Institute state in their review of several studies, that CDR pathways are, “a promising molecular target for cancer prevention” (Cancer Prevention Research, 2008). Researchers from China found that CDR pathway activation, “plays a critical role in the protective mechanism of cells” (Food Science and Human Wellness, 2013). Other findings from a study published in the July 2004 issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics suggest that CDR can positively influence the expression of genes linked to cancer inhibition. And recently, results from a Rutgers University-based study found that the defense enzymes mediated by CDR-signaling pathways can contribute to cellular protection against . . . carcinogens (Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2013). While more research is still needed, these studies and others comprise a growing body of evidence demonstrating that CDR activation is indeed a potentially powerful weapon against cancer.

Skin Cancer

Researchers from the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology & Neuroscience at Louisiana State University found that CDR-activating herbs could suppress both the development and spread of skin cancer. Elevated levels of protective antioxidant enzymes, including MnSOD (+21%) and SOD (+35%) led to a 57% reduction in number of skin tumors (PLoS One, 2009). In a follow-up study, the same research group found that CDR-activating herbs significantly reduced the development of skin cancer following exposure to carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals (PLoS One, 2010) – suggesting that the multiple modes of action in CDR-activating herbs could potentially be used as novel chemopreventive agents due to their ability to modulate underlying mechanisms involved in carcinogenesis (Enzyme Res. 2011).

Colon Cancer

Due to the multiple modes of action of CDR-activating herbs, researchers from the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver investigated effects on activation of CDR and dozens of cellular protection genes (Mol Aspects Med. 2011). CDR-activating herbs significantly modulated 25 of 28 (89%) colon carcinoma gene targets, leading the authors to conclude that CDR activators “may well spawn a new class of drugs to target the so-called ‘diseases of aging,’ including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases.”

Breast Cancer

CDR-activating herbs were shown to suppress the growth and spread of breast cancer by researchers from the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center at Louisiana State University (The FASEB Journal. 2012). The study compared the potential of CDR-activating herbs and Tamoxifen (an existing drug used to treat breast cancer) to reduce the growth/spread of human breast cancer cells. Results showed that CDR-activating herbs and Tamoxifen were effective in reducing breast cancer cell growth by many of the same biochemical signals (PGDF, IL-5, MCP-1, Angiogenin, GM-CSF, and IL-6).

Ovarian Cancer & Myeloma (Bone Marrow Cancer)

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine (Prasongsook, Biomedical Sciences Thesis, 2014.) showed that several CDR-activating herbs produced a range of significant anti-cancer effects against ovarian cancer and myeloma (bone marrow cancer). In a series of studies funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), CDR-activating herbs were shown to have anti-cancer effects in ovarian cancer cells and myeloma (bone marrow cancer) cells, while sparing normal healthy cells. CDR-activating herbs showed anti-tumor and anti-proliferative effects (reduced tumor formation and growth) across 8 different ovarian cancer cell lines, including both chemotherapy-sensitive and chemotherapy-resistant cells (Cisplatin/cisplatinum and Taxol/paclitaxel). CDR-activating herbs showed selective cytotoxicity (cell-killing) effects in ovarian cancer cells and myeloma cells – while sparing normal (non-cancerous) cells.

The Importance of CDR Balance for Cancer

In addition to the wide range of “anti-cancer” studies suggesting a chemo-preventive role of CDR-activation, there are a handful of recent studies pertaining to the role of one specific CDR pathway (Nrf2) in both cancer prevention and cancer development/progression. Some of the recent publications include effects on cellular metabolism due to mutations in certain genes that may increase the risk of some types of cancer (such as the human BRCA1 gene associated with risk for breast cancer).

What some of these mutation studies suggest, is that some forms of cancer can “hijack” different aspects of CDR metabolism, such as the Nrf2 pathway, to help those cells escape detecting and elimination. The way that this happens in certain types of cancer is by continuously activating the Nrf2 pathway (an abnormal process called “constitutive” activation). In this mutated scenario, the protective Nrf2 pathway is “always on” – which is an abnormal situation that is completely different from the temporary induction (transient or pulsatile), whereby the Nrf2 pathway and other CDRs protect cells. It is through the pulsatile nature of CDR-induction that many scientists feel that cells are optimally protected by natural dietary ingredients such as sulforaphane from broccoli, flavonoids from berries, and herbal constituents including pine bark, green tea, turmeric, and others.

It might help to think of the difference between abnormal constitutive (always “on”) activation compared to natural pulsatile (fluctuating “on/off”) activation of the CDR pathways as you might think of the light from a desk lamp. When you need more light, you flip the switch and the light bulb brightens the desktop until you flip the switch back off. This is all good—you get light when you need it and dark when you don’t. But, it can all go wrong when you flip the switch on and forget to switch it off—because the light comes on and stays on—and you end up burning the house down because the bulb got too hot and caught the drapes on fire!

In this light bulb example, the light is neither good nor bad—but it’s the balance of when we have it switched on or off that determines the ultimate outcome. CDR induction is something that has the potential to help virtually anyone to effectively manage and balance their biochemical balance and cellular stress, by transiently activating cellular protective mechanisms against damage caused by various stressors. But, like every biological system, it comes down to a matter of proper balance, which is where natural pulsatile induction of the CDR pathways really shines.

When it comes to people undergoing active treatment for cancer (i.e. chemo- or radiation therapy), it is typical for oncologists (cancer doctors) to want no dietary or herbal supplements in the mix. This is because every type of cancer, every regimen of treatment, and every patient is a unique collection of variables. As such, it’s prudent to remove the potential variable of any supplements and the potential for cancer cells to be “protected” by those supplements from the oxidizing effects of their chemo/radiation therapy. Another reason for discontinuing all dietary supplements during cancer therapy is that optimal chemotherapy and radio-therapy doses have been determined in groups of people who were not taking supplements, making it prudent for the patient to be in a similar condition to the clinical trial groups. Yet an additional reason for stopping supplementation during cancer therapy is that some chemotherapy agents require processing by liver enzymes, the levels of which might be changed by CDR induction in the liver, the body’s primary detoxification organ.

In many situations, the cancer doctors will want patients to stop any supplements during active therapy, but then allow the supplements to be added back into the mix after the therapy is completed to support the CDR induction benefits for immune system function, normal cellular defenses, etc. (but that is always a discussion for the patient/doctor to have and a decision for them to make together).

Thanks for reading – be sure to tune in for the next installment about “CDR and…The Cardiovascular System”

My 13th book, Best Future You, is out!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting excerpts from the book and blogging frequently about the main concept in the book – which is the idea of harnessing your body’s internal cellular biochemistry to achieve true balance in body, mind, and spirit – and in doing so, help you to become your “Best Future You” in terms of how you look, how you feel, and how you perform on every level.

Chapter 4 – Don’t Take Antioxidants— Make Antioxidants

CDR Synergy

Above, I discussed some of the powerful individual herbals that have been shown to enhance the activation of CDR. In a recent presentation that I delivered at the first-ever scientific symposium dedicated to understanding the coordination of CDR pathways (January 2015 it Cambridge University in England), I outlined the ability of certain combinations of phytonutrients to display “synergy” in the ability to activate CDR pathways. Synergy refers to the ability of a combination of ingredients to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. It’s like finding that instead of one plus one equaling two (what we call an “additive” effect), we find that one plus one equals five or ten (a “synergistic” effect).

At the Cambridge University conference, I presented a range of scientific data on  blends herbs with demonstrated effects in reducing oxidative and inflammatory stress.  The findings of these studies, which show a definite array of benefits for inducing CDR and significantly reducing cellular stress, have been published in several prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journals (many of which you can locate on research databases such as www.PubMed.gov).

The sections that follow will outline examples of CDR activation, reduction of cellular stress, and health benefits in several important areas: cancer, cardiovascular disease, brain & neurological conditions, skin, and other tissues and functions.

Thanks for reading – tune in for the next installment about “CDR and…Cancer.”