I'd appreciate your thoughts on this article criticising
Zyflamend...
CURE ARTHRITIS AND PROSTATE CANCER ONLY $21.95 By
Roger Mason
Remember when PC-SPES was touted the world over as a
scientifically proven cure for prostate cancer? Dr. Jesse
Stoff even wrote a book called "The Prostate Miracle"
telling everyone this was the Magic Supplement for prostate
cancer. The president of Kensington Publishing, who printed
the book, died soon after following Stoff's advice.
Your author was the only person in the world who kept
preaching that this whole thing was a scam for money and
anyone involved the promotion was either a criminal or, at
best, a damned fool. Wasn't it Mark Twain who said, "there
are fools and then there are damned fools"? It was
discovered that not only was PC-SPES worthless, but was
adulterated with rat poison (warfarin) and prescription
drugs and was pulled off the market. I told you so, I told
you so, I told you so……..
Now we have Zyflamend which is a mixture of ten different
herbs. First it was promoted as a natural COX-2 inhibitor
for arthritis. Now it is being promoted as well for prostate
cancer. Life Extension sells this, which should tell you
right there everything you need to know about
it. They have a "sale price" of $21.99- which is the regular
retail price! Other net stores have it for half that if
you want to buy some.
Somehow people think there is some real magic in putting
together a lot of herbs in a single product. The "more is
better" theory. There is not. In fact, the best way of all
to practice herbology is with single herbs and no mixtures
at all, much less ones with ten different plants. In my
files are the last 30 years of published research on both
arthritis and prostate disease from Chemical Abstracts (the
scientist's bible). If it ain't in Chem Abs it ain't worth
knowing basically. This reference is the alpha and omega of
science. Every six months I go thru the new volumes on 30
subjects including arthritis and prostate disease.
At least the people at New Charter are honest enough to
tell you how much of each herb is in the product. Give
them credit for that much. Let's take a look at just
what's in here.
This is based on two capsules and each bottle has 60
capsules or a one month supply.
Holy basil 100 mg with 2% ursolic acid. This gives you 2 mg
of ursolic acid which is biologically insignificant. Can
anyone show me one single clinical published study on the
benefits of holy basil or ursolic acid for either arthritis
or prostate cancer? Tumeric 100 mg of 7% curcumin. This
gives you 7 mg of curcumin. Yes, curcumin is a fine
supplement for both arthritis and prostate conditions. You
need about 500 mg to do you any good, so you'd need to take
almost three bottles a day of Zyflamend. Green Tea 100 mg of
45% polyphenols. This gives you 45 mg of polyphenols. First
of all ,it is not de-caffeinated. Secondly, you should be
taking a lot more than 45 mg. Ginger 100 mg with 20% various
ingredients and 4% zingiberere. This gives you 4 mg of
zingiberine. Ginger has no benefit for either arthritis or
prostate. Ginger is a relatively week herb and you have to
eat several grams of it if used to prevent seasickness or
calm your stomach. Rosemary leaf 100 mg with 23% active
ingredients. You get 23 mg. Rosemary is a fine herb but has
no benefit for either arthritis or prostate. You would have
to take a lot more than this to get any benefit. More
rosemary 5:1 extract 50 mg is also added. Polygunum
cuspidatum root 80 mg of 8% resveratrol. This gives you 6.4
mg of resveratrol. This is a well known Chinese herb but has
no benefit for arthritis or prostate and you would have to
take a lot more than 80 mg to get any benefits. Goldthread
40 mg (strength not given). Goldthread is a fine herb, but
has no benefit for arthritis or prostate, and you would have
to take a lot more than 40 mg to get any benefits. Barberry
root 40 mg with 6% berberine. You get 2.4 mg of berberine.
Barberry is a classic herb with many benefits for some
conditions, but it has no value in arthritis or prostate and
you would have to take a lot more than 40 mg. Oregano 40 mg
with 0.8% TPA. You get all of 0.32 mg (that is one third of
one milligram) of TPA. Oregano has been promoted recently,
but there are no published studies that show benefits for
arthritis or prostate. And you would need a lot more than
one third of one milligram of active ingredient to get any
value from this. Scutellaria baicalensis ("scute"😉 20 mg of
5:1 extract. Scute is a classic Chinese herb known for
centuries, but not for arthritis or prostate. Taking 20 mg
is biologically useless as it only equals 100 mg of whole
herb. Folks, if you feel any of these ten ingredients have
any value for you, just go out and buy them individually and
take the amounts you need. You can get sixty capsules of 500
mg curcumin, for example, for less than $25. Other than
curcumin and green tea it doesn't seem any of the other
ingredients have any value for these conditions. What about
this "study" that has been so prominently promoted? It isn't
published, it used the brand name and not a generic mix of
herbs, it was merely done in test tubes and it was obviously
funded by the manufacturer. Why even discuss it further?
If you have a serious condition like arthritis or prostate
disease there are no Magic Supplements to help you. Changing
your LIFESTYLE is going to cure you. Making better food
choices, taking at least 20 proven natural supplements,
balancing your basic hormones, fasting one day a week, not
taking prescription drugs, getting some kind of exercise,
and keeping bad habits to a minimum. This is what natural
health is all about and not Magic Supplements you see on TV,
hear on radio and read about on the internet.