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New 4-in-one nutritional juice for optimum health at any age reveals the secret of endless ENERGY, VIM and VIGOR – defies aging – plus, recharge your brain's "batteries"
Innovative Cardiologist's Nutritional Formula Transforms feeble, ailing heart patients into healthy, robust, vigorous masters of their own future – without drugs or heart surgery....
More than 4000 studies by 450 researchers in 18 countries have PROVEN beyond a shadow of a doubt the ingredients in Ultimate Cardio Fusion really help to:
- Energize cells in your body
- Support the natural healing process of the body
- Increase your brain function
- Combat the aging process
- Protect you against America's number one killer... Heart Disease
- Support your vision
- Rejuvenate your mind, your body, and your spirit
UCF is a synergistic
mixture of supplements that give you the key benefits of Integrative Cardiology
- what I provide for my own patients, as discussed in Reverse Heart Disease
Now - and what I want for you (and I don’t want you to become a patient). These principles and how UCF provides
them are discussed below, first in outline form, later in a little more detail:
Energy Production – The
heart is our most energy intensive organ, and unless you want your heart to come
to a premature rest, you need to supplement with the molecules the heart uses to
generate energy. Co-Enzyme Q10,
Carnitine, Taurine, and Magnesium are all critical to energy production, all are
depleted in the heart under strain, and all have been proven to improve symptoms
and outcome in cardiac patients.
Endothelial Function –
Endothelial function, the ability of the cells lining our arteries to convert
Arginine into Nitric Oxide (the “Teflon coating” molecule), is the most
important determinate of functional status and outcome in the cardiovascular
(and in those who do not wish to become cardiovascular) patients. UCF contains Arginine, as well as the
co-factors needed to convert Arginine into Nitric Oxide and to optimize its
angioprotective actions.
Antioxidant Protection –
Free radicals oxidize LDL cholesterol, converting it from a nutritional
substance into the sticky, inflamed particle that layers out in our arteries as
vulnerable plaque. Mother Nature
designed us to mount a team defense against free radical attack, so that’s what
we provide you in UCF.
Inflammation – Age-related
degenerative diseases, ranging from arthritis to Alzheimer’s to atherosclerotic
vascular disease all involve inflammation, the result of chronic free radical
stress and recurrent infection. UCF
contains Fulvic Acid, Fish Oil, Vitamin D, and Sea Buckthorn, aiming to
stimulate your immune defenses while at the same time providing a comprehensive
anti-inflammatory effect.
Detoxification – Heavy
metals such as Lead and Cadmium poison our physiology, generate free radicals,
and lead to heart disease and cancer.
UCF contains agents such as Selenium, Vitamin C, and Fulvic Acid which
can bind to and/or partially neutralize the effects of the toxins present in the
world around us.
Calcification Control – An
exciting new area in Cardiology.
Vitamins K2 and D seem to synergize to keep calcium out of the blood vessel wall
and in bone where it belongs, while providing a number of additional health
benefits. UCF contains 2000 IU of
Vitamin D and 45 mcg of Vitamin K2.
Risk Factor Control – These are the
causes of heart disease (37 were listed in my last talk on heart disease
prevention). We can’t control every
risk factor with one nutritional supplement, but we tried our best.
Now for the detailed stuff
(for those of you who love biochemistry)
Energy Production:
Co-Enzyme Q10 - Our cells
burn sugar, fat, and protein to generate energy.
Electrons are stripped from their carbon atoms, then we transfer the
energy contained in the carbon-electron bond into the high energy bond between
the second and third phosphorus groups of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate). To capture the energy of the
electrons, we must first transport them along an energy generating assembly
line. Two steps in this electron
transport process involve Co-Enzyme Q10.
Without Co-Q10 we cannot transport electrons, we cannot generate ATP
energy, and we cannot survive. High
blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and heart failure all are associated
with Co-Q10 depletion and energy failure.
Co-Q10 supplementation has been shown to improve outcome (functional
status and mortality) in these conditions, to improve the results of bypass
surgery, and to improve athletic performance.
Co-Q10 also serves as a cell membrane protector and powerful antioxidant. Statin cholesterol lowering drugs
deplete your body of Co-Q10, not a good thing.
UCF provides you with 100 mg of Co-Q10.
Carnitine – The heart and
exercising muscle can burn sugar and protein, but they work best burning fat. For our muscle cells to burn fat,
carnitine is required. Carnitine
also allows our muscle cells to function better and longer in a low oxygen
environment, as is the case in coronary artery disease or heart failure. These disease states, where Carnitine
is needed the most, waste Carnitine, similar to the situation with Co-Q10. Supplementation with Carnitine has
been shown to improve functional status and/or reduce mortality in coronary
insufficiency, heart attack, cardiomyopathy, lower extremity vascular disease,
and following bypass surgery, above and beyond drug therapy. UCF provides you with 1000 mg of
Carnitine.
Magnesium – Magnesium is
needed to catalyze many of the steps needed to generate ATP energy, so we
included Magnesium in UCF. Magnesium
also has been shown to improve endothelial function, to quiet cardiac
arrhythmia, to lower blood pressure, and to improve outcome following heart
attack or bypass surgery.
Taurine – The heart
concentrates Taurine from the circulation at a 200:1 ratio, so we thought it a
good idea to include 1000 mg of Taurine in UCF.
Taurine is discussed here in the energetic support section, but it also
serves to improve endothelial function, buffer calcium, and to help cardiac
muscle cells hold on to Magnesium.
Above and beyond drug therapy, Taurine supplementation has been shown to improve
functional status and outcome in heart failure and heart attack.
Taken together, and
supported by the other components of UCF, Co-Enzyme Q10, Carnitine, Magnesium,
and Taurine will enhance energy production within the heart, and within every
cell of your body. As single agents
each component offers you a lot.
Taken together, as in UCF, we think they will provide you with much more. Remember, Mother Nature designed us
to take in high levels of all these nutrients.
Endothelial Function – The
“Endothelium” refers to the cells lining our great vessels, a mass of tissue
with the weight of your liver. Think
of the endothelium as a hormone producing factory, with Nitric Oxide as its most
important product. Arginine is taken
up by the endothelial cells and is converted by the enzyme Nitric Oxide Synthase
into Nitric Oxide. Nitric Oxide
dilates your blood vessels, prevents abnormal platelet clumping and vasospasm,
blocks plaque formation, and takes the vulnerability out of “vulnerable plaque”
(plaque lacking Nitric Oxide).
Nitric Oxide provides a “Teflon coating” to our vasculature. We can measure endothelial function,
the ability of the endothelial cells to generate Nitric Oxide and dilate
appropriately, and we know that this “endothelial function” is the most
important determinant of short, intermediate, and long-term outcome of the
cardiac patient. Endothelial
function determines who will and who will not develop cardiovascular disease,
and who will do well and who will do poorly.
It is better to have an 80% narrowing with retained endothelial function
that to have a 40% narrowing with a shot endothelium. All therapies, drug and/or
nutritional that improve endothelial function will improve your outcome. All conditions that cause
cardiovascular disease (Risk Factors) do so by compromising the endothelium, by
inhibiting the conversion of Arginine into Nitric Oxide or by accelerating the
degradation of Nitric Oxide.
Conversely, if we can restore endothelial function, we can neutralize, at least
in part, all the risk factors that cause cardiovascular disease; we can
stabilize plaques, and we can improve your outcome.
Nitric Oxide Synthase
Arginine ——————————> Nitric Oxide
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NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE
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Sea Buckthorn
Grape Seed Extract
Folic Acid
B Vitamins
Vitamin C
Nitric Oxide Synthase
Selenium
Arginine ——————————> Nitric
Oxide Co-Q10
Sea Buckthorn
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Arginine,
taken from the diet or as a supplement, will be taken up by the endothelial
cells and converted into Nitric Oxide.inine ——————————> Nitric
Oxide Co-Q10
Sea Buckthorn
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Arginine,
taken from the diet or as a supplement, will be taken up by the endothelial
cells and converted into Nitric Oxide.
Arginine will improve endothelial function, and taken alone has been
shown to improve functional status and outcome in nearly all cardiovascular
conditions – but only to a degree.
Several components of UCF
stimulate the action of Nitric Oxide Synthase, such that it will do a better job
of converting UCF’s 5 grams of Arginine into Nitric Oxide. The Nitric Oxide generated can be
degraded by free radicals, so we included in UCF a host of nutritionals that
have been shown to protect Nitric Oxide and enhance its vasoprotective actions
(Sea Buckthorn does double duty here).
It’s not important for you to understand this biochemistry, but it’s
important that we and your doctors’ do.
We do, so we are giving you a better product, and a better outcome - UCF. Incidentally, erectile dysfunction is
essentially endothelial dysfunction within the pelvic organs. Arginine, especially when given with
Pine Bark Extract (essentially the same thing as the Grape Seed Extract provided
in UCF) has been shown to be of value in the treatment of ED.
Oxidative Stress – The
struggle for survival is really the struggle between the free radicals that seek
to oxidize the molecules that make you up and your antioxidant defense system. Free radicals are molecules with one
as opposed to two electrons in their outer orbital shell. Free radicals are unstable and
reactive. They will snatch an
electron from an adjacent atom, quenching its thirst for a free electron, but in
turn creating a new free radical, which will do the same. If an antioxidant (a molecule which
can donate an electron without becoming a free radical itself) is not
introduced, an oxidizing chain reaction will occur, damaging the region of the
cell in which this out-of-control renegade chemistry is occurring. If the cell powerhouse, the
mitochondria, is damaged, then the cell can no longer make energy; if the
nucleus, which contains our DNA template is damaged, then the cell can turn
cancerous, while an oxidized LDL cholesterol particle will layer out in your
arteries as plaque.
Our bodies generate free radicals such as superoxide and hydrogen
peroxide as a byproduct of energy generation.
Our white cells use these free radicals as bullets to kill microbial
invaders and cells that have turned cancerous, while our antioxidant defense
system mops up the rest to prevent oxidative damage to our healthy cells. One fifth of the protein in your body
is Superoxide Dismutase, which requires Zinc, Manganese, and Co-Q10 for proper
neutralization of superoxide, so we included all three in UCF. Hydrogen peroxide is neutralized by
Glutathione Reductase, a Selenium dependent enzyme. Selenium deficiency is associated
with an increased risk of free radical mediated disease states such as heart
failure, vascular disease, and cancer.
Selenium supplementation at 200 mcg/day has been shown to reduce the risk
of prostate cancer by two thirds over five years (ladies, read on to the Vitamin
D section).
Our environment generates
free radicals that Mother Nature did not prepare us for. Cadmium from cigarette smoke, Lead
from the water supply, and Mercury from contaminated fish generate free radicals
and rust us internally, setting us up for heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and
the other age-related degenerative diseases that plaque modern man. Vitamin C can neutralize some, but
not all of these free radical oxidants.
Vitamin E can neutralize some of the free radicals that escape Vitamin C,
but not all. The idea here is that
Mother Nature designed us to mount a team defense against free radical stress,
and all the players need be present.
Taking a high dose of one antioxidant alone is like fielding a foot ball team
with one all star and 10 players with broken legs. Antioxidants work together. Vitamin C restores spent Vitamin E,
which in turn interacts with Co-Q10.
Bioflavonoids such as Sea buckthorn and Grape Seed Extract can replenish the
front line antioxidants; think of them as the line backer and free safety of
your UCF antioxidant team. Taurine,
Arginine, and Carnitine all have antioxidant properties and contribute to the
UCF antioxidant effect.
Inflammation – Infection
leads to inflammation which in turn leads to cardiovascular disease. Your infectious burden (as quantified
by the number of organisms that you have formed antibodies against) correlates
with your risk of developing coronary disease, your risk of heart attack or
death, even your risk or renarrowing following an angioplasty procedure. Periodontal inflammation may be a
stronger risk factor for heart disease than is high cholesterol (these bugs can
be found in up to one third of plaque specimens).
Infection and inflammation raise your cholesterol, elevate inflammatory
markers such as C-Reactive Protein, and render your blood more viscous and prone
to clotting. We want you to have a
strong immune defense system. Fulvic
Acid is used in China, Poland, and South Africa as an antimicrobial. Unlike antibiotics, there is no
toxicity associated with its use so we included Fulvic Acid along with Vitamin C
in UCF to bolster your immune defenses.
There are many other sources of inflammatory stress, so we included in
UCF a number of nutritionals with anti-inflammatory properties such as Sea
Buckthorn, Vitamin D, and Fish Oil.
All cardiovascular disease conditions (from angina to post-bypass outcome)
respond to Fish Oil supplementation.
Fish Oils displace less desirable fats (saturated and trans-fats) from the
membranes that surround the cells of your body, leading to improved cell
membrane function and then improved overall cell function..
Detoxification – Mother
Nature didn’t anticipate that we would live in an environment rich in Lead,
Mercury, and other toxins, so she didn’t prepare us to deal with them – we
don’t, so we get free radical mediated diseases and die before our time (air
pollution shortens the life of Americans by two years). We do need to and likely will clean
up our environment over time, but for now we can fight back with nutritional
supplementation. Selenium can bind
to and at least partially neutralize Mercury, while Vitamin C has some effect
against Lead. While Fulvic Acid
increases the absorption of nutritional minerals, it is felt to blunt absorption
of toxic heavy metals. The
antioxidants present in UCF help to combat the free radicals generated by the
toxins that do enter our system.
Calcification Control –
You are going to hear a lot about Vitamin D and Vitamin K2 in the future, but
you are getting both right now in UCF.
Vitamin K1, found in green leafy vegetables, activates clotting factors
made in the liver. Vitamin K2, found
in meat and cheese, activates Osteocalcin, a protein that traps calcium and
incorporates it into bone, and Matrix GLA-binding Protein, which keeps calcium
out of arteries and heart valves. In
animals, K2 depletion causes vascular calcification, while K2 therapy
decalcifies diseased arteries.
Europeans in the upper third for
dietary Vitamin K2 intake (> 33 mcg/day) are 50% less likely to die of
cardiovascular disease or to display aortic calcification in comparison to those
in the lower third (< 22 mcg) of daily K2 intake.
– so we included 45 mcg in each daily dose of UCF. Human studies are ongoing, but so far
Vitamin K supplementation (high doses have been used, primarily of K1 but some
have used K2) has been shown to strengthen bones, lower cholesterol, and to
protect against vascular rigidity.
It may be that the presence of calcium within the vessel wall induces an
increased demand for K2. A
progressive K2 deficiency may explain why CT coronary calcium scores progress
inexorably at a rate of 40% per year.
*Safety note to patients
on Warfarin (Coumadin). Warfarin
works by blocking the recycling of Vitamin K in the body. In the absence of Vitamin K, liver
generated clotting factors are inactive, and our ability to form a clot is
lessened. We prescribe Warfarin to
prevent clot formation in patients at risk for abnormal clotting, such as those
with a mechanical heart valve or certain rhythm disturbances. K1 intake from diet or supplements
will not adversely affect clotting in the rest of us, but it will alter clotting
parameters and the need for drug therapy in Warfarin treated patients - thus we
tell Warfarin treated patients to avoid foods rich in Vitamin K1. UCF contains K2, not K1, in a very
low dose. The 45 mcg of K2 present
in UCF is not likely to effect clotting parameters in Warfarin treated patients,
but if you are on Warfarin and wish to take UCF, talk to your doctor first, and
have your clotting test (PT/INR) checked 1-2 weeks in to UCF usage. K2 will not have an effect on the
action of anti-platelet blood thinners such as Aspirin or Plavix. From the safety perspective, K2 doses
100 times that present in UCF have been given to humans with no side-effects.
Most Americans are
deficient in Vitamin D, and we are suffering for it. Vitamin D is created by an
interaction between cholesterol in your skin and the Sun’s rays – but we tell
you to avoid the Sun because Sun Light causes skin cancer – it does, but Sun
Light, or more precisely the Vitamin D that it generates, protects us against
cancer, infection, auto-immune disease, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular
disease. Every cell in your body has
a Vitamin D receptor. The farther
you live away from the Equator, the greater is your risk of cancer, heart
disease, and auto-immune disease states such as Multiple Sclerosis – all are
caused by, at least in part, by Vitamin D deficiency. Low Vitamin D status is predictive of
hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and kidney.
Coronary calcification is inversely related to one’s activated Vitamin D
level. Supplementation with Vitamin
D and calcium has been shown to provide an anti-inflammatory effect in heart
failure patients, to lower elevated blood pressure readings, and to blunt
progression of insulin insensitivity in to full diabetes. In a study of women residing in
Nebraska, supplementation with calcium and Vitamin D at a dose of 1000 IU/day
decreased four year cancer risk by 60% (7% of the placebo treated women
developed cancer vs. only 3% of those receiving Vitamin D plus calcium). One of the neat things about
Integrative Cardiology is that the treatments I prescribe to decrease your
cardiovascular risk also decrease your cancer risk, and your risk for ill health
in general. Drugs help one problem,
and then produce side-effects elsewhere, while nutritional supplementation
improves the function of every single cell in your body. This approach works for my patients
and I want it to work for you – that is why I spent so much time and energy in
the formulation of UCF.
James C. Roberts MD FACC
10/8/07
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