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Some of The Science Behind The Benefits of
Zambroza and Paw Paw
By William J. Keller, Ph.D.
At Nature’s Sunshine, I firmly believe that original basic science
research is of paramount importance. I feel that this belief is
shared by my colleagues because everyone recognizes the important
correlation between company prestige and research that supports the
products that we well. We ask fundamental questions about product
benefits and then design experiments that provide the answers. This
approach separates Nature’s Sunshine from the competition. After
considerable thought, I have listed below salient points that define
the importance of original basic science research:
• Verifies and/or establishes the identity of actives from an
ingredient
• Correlates benefits with identifies actives
• Substantiates the science behind ingredient claims
• Establishes ingredient value
• Confirms Nature’s Sunshine as an industry leader through
publication in peer reviewed scientific journals
• Honors the scientific integrity of defining and characterizing the
highest quality products available
• Instills high degree of consumer confidence
Again, recognizing, embracing, and pursuing these points
distinguishes Nature’s Sunshine as a first class nutritional
supplement company.
I have known Professor Doug Kinghorn for 30 years. He is a world
class scientist in the discipline of natural product chemistry (Pharmacognosy).
Professor Kinghorn occupies an endowed research chair at the
prestigious Ohio State University. Professor Kinghorn and I have
collaborated on many projects that focus on Nature’s Sunshine high
quality products. Zambroza has been a major research effort for the
past four years. Mangosteen (Garcinia Mangostana), the core fruit of
Zambroza, has yielded some fascinating research results.
Xanthones are a class of plan chemicals that are found abundantly in
mangosteen. Not only are the xanthones powerful Antioxidants, but we
also believe that they possess many other beneficial effects. Our
first scientific investigation of mangosteen resulted in the
isolation of ten different xanthones in chemically pure form and
three of these were new from Nature. Once we determined the chemical
structure of these three xanthones, we knew no one else had ever
isolated them. These pure xanthones were then shown to having
outstanding antioxidant activity. Further evaluation of these
isolated xanthones suggested cancer chemoprevention potential. These
data were first published as in abstract presented as a poster paper
at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Pharmacognosy in
2005 and then published as a full paper in the peer reviewed Journal
of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
A follow-up study on mangosteen xanthones was recently published as
an abstract, presented as a poster paper, and a manuscript has been
accepted for publication in the peer reviewed Journal of Natural
Products. In this work, five additional xanthones were isolated in
chemically pure form and two of these had never been isolated from
Nature before. These isolated xanthones showed powerful cancer chemo
preventive activity in our quinine reductase induction bioassay
which suggests an inhibition of cancer initiation.
Focusing on another benefit of the mangosteen xanthones, several
researchers have published on their anti-inflammatory properties.
For example, it has been shown that by neutralizing free radicals,
the polyphenolic xanthones relieve oxidative stress which, in turn,
reduces inflammation. Other researchers have demonstrated that
mangosteen xanthones reduce the production of pro-inflammatory
prostaglandis by inhibiting COX (cyclooxygenase). My collaboration
with Professor Kinghorn recently revealed a new mangosteen xanthone
mechanism. We found that by inhibiting a nuclear factor called
NF-KB, the xanthones block the production of pro-inflammatory
proteins (cytokines) and enzymes (COX) to afford a powerful
anti-inflammatory effect. We now have three mechanisms that can be
used to explain how the xanthones suppress inflammation.
I am sure that many of you remember my seminars on Paw Paw (Asimina
triloba) as well as Paw Paw presentations by Dr. Jerry McLaughlin,
Spence Masson, and others. Recall that our product Paw Paw contains
a Paw Paw twig extract. This extract is composed of over 500 active
acetogenins. The fact that the twigs needed for extraction are
expensive to source (collect) prompted me to conduct more research.
A collaborative research project with Dr. Kirk Pomper from Kentucky
State University yielded some surprising results. We found that ripe
Paw Paw fruits contained higher concentrations of active acetogenins
as compared to the twigs. These findings may lead to a less
expensive product because ripe fruits are much easier to collect and
extract than the twigs.
For a long time it was assumed that Paw Paw could not be combined
with antioxidants. This old view suggested to avoid this combination
because the Paw Paw induced cell apoptosis (programmed cell death)
would be blocked by antioxidants. The current view, based on our
research efforts, is that antioxidants have no effect on Paw Paw’s
action. In collaboration with the Ford Cancer Center, we have
demonstrated that with cultures of HCT-116 (human colon cancer)
cells, Paw Paw, in combination with a wide variety of different
antioxidants, including Zambroza, showed the same effect as when Paw
Paw was used alone. Furthermore, it appears that antioxidants may
actually complement Paw Paw. Recently published data show that
antioxidants block cellular HIF -1 (Hypoxia Induced Factory) by
depriving this protein of needed free radicals. Without free
radicals HIF-1 cancer cells cannot grow in anaerobic conditions that
occur when tumors are rapidly growing. Therefore, it appears that
Zambroza and Paw Paw is a beneficial combination in most cases.
The science behind pharmacognosy is fascinating and in this article
I have presented a brief scientific tale of two products. I believe
that you can now see a correlation of ingredient actives with the
health benefits of these products. These correlations are supported
by scientific evidence, much of which came from our original
research. This original research contributes to the scientific
substantiations of product value and is a mark of distinction that
characterizes Nature’s Sunshine. And finally, through this paper you
have come away with an understanding of how an industry leader
creates knowledge that facilitates and development of their truly
outstanding products.
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