Nutrition Nutz, with Jim Wilk C.N.C.
Nutrition Nutz is a lively podcast delving into the latest health trends, trusted dietary supplements, and cutting-edge research. It features a diverse array of guests including national educators, health brand representatives, naturopaths, herbalists, and industry leaders - all "nutz" about healthy living.
Hosted by Jim Wilk C.N.C., Nutrition Nutz offers a unique blend of expertise and enthusiasm. Jim's journey in the health industry began in 1972 as a stock boy at The Last Carrot health food store in Coconut Grove, FL. Over the years, he has incorporated various health modalities into his professional career, including manufacturing tofu, and becoming a certified yoga instructor and a licensed massage therapist. With a wealth of experience as a nutritional counselor, Jim earned his C.N.C. credential in 1995 and currently advises customers at Holly Hill Health Foods in North Wales, PA. From 2005 to 2020, Jim also hosted the "Holly Hill Health Hour" radio show.
Jim's passion for health is also evident in his lifestyle, as he exemplifies his beliefs through bicycling, yoga, gym workouts, and continuous education. While he follows a keto and paleo diet, Jim also enjoys "vegging out" at times. He believes in the healing power of humor and laughter.
Whether you're looking to learn, laugh, or simply love what you hear, Nutrition Nutz is a podcast worth tuning into.
Nutrition Nutz, with Jim Wilk C.N.C.
Cognitive Boosters and Men's Prostate and Sexual Health with Dr. Vanessa Pavey, Life Extension
Discover supplements for a sharper mind and healthier brain with Dr. Vanessa Pavey, a distinguished naturopathic doctor and education scientist from Life Extension. There is an alarming rise in memory-related concerns as our population ages; learn how Life Extension's Cognitex formula is poised to combat these challenges with groundbreaking ingredients like phosphatidylserine and vinpocetine. Dr. Pavey reveals the power of natural supplements, paving the way for innovative strategies in cognitive function support.
Hear about nootropics and explore the promising potential they hold for cognitive enhancement. Mango leaf extract takes center stage, showcasing its ability to clear brain fog and enhance mental performance. As we unravel the mysteries of nootropics, ingredients like gotu kola and bacopa emerge as stars in the domain of cognitive improvement. Dr. Pavey shares insights into the safety and efficacy of these components, affirming their benefits for all adults eager to boost their mental acuity.
Shift gears as we explore the intricate relationship between brain health and men's health. Dr. Pavey introduces Life Extension's Memory Protect, featuring colostrinin and lithium, designed to support cognitive longevity. The episode also delves into prostate health and male vascular support, offering practical solutions with products like the Ultra Prostate Formula and Male Vascular Sexual Support.
Use coupon code "NUTZ" (in your cart) for 15% off your entire order of featured products on our sponsor's website: HollyHillVitamins.com.
Welcome to Nutrition Nuts, where we explore breakthroughs in nutrition science, wellness trends and dietary supplements. You'll hear from industry leaders, health practitioners and research scientists giving you cutting-edge insights and actionable tips for living your healthiest life. I am your host and also head nut, jim Wilk, certified nutritionist. Thanks to our main sponsor, hollyllyhillvitaminscom, the place for great selection, service and prices. Okay, thank you so much for joining us again today on Nutrition Nuts. I am your host, jim Wilk, and it's early fall.
Jim Wilk:What can I say? It'sI love this time of year. Love this time of year, love to go out hiking, love to look at the different colors and the trees and the earth and the sky and everything. It's a great, great time of year for me and I'm having on today an old favorite, vanessa Pavey. Well, she's not old, but Dr Vanessa Pavey. She's a naturopathic doctor and education scientist at Life Extension, one of the premier companies out there that I recommend and look forward to their fantastic magazines and get a lot of good information. They have probably the most medical staff, most amount of people doctors and naturopaths on their staff than all the other companies combined. I think it's just not well. They're just really into extensive research and things, so I like that. They do a lot of good studies and stuff.
Jim Wilk:So, vanessa, she enjoys discussing the mechanism of how nutrition influences the body and is committed to improving health through education. That's what she does and she actually was trained as a primary care physician and she was also very skilled in biochemistry and she earned her bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of St Francis before she started training in naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University in naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University. So she's been helping people and helping life extension customers with learning more about the science of a healthier life. She's been doing this for over 10 years there, so we appreciate it. Last time I had her on about a few years ago, it was vitamin K we talked about and bloating and a lot of digestive stuff and quercetin things. So today I don't know what I haven't talked to her yet. We haven't started the show yet with her, obviously. So I was going to bring up either men's issues all right, men have issues, just like other human beings we're going to discuss that and or brain stuff too.
Jim Wilk:So some of it's connected right guys.
Jim Wilk:It's that stuff that happens around the bedroom. They have a lot to do with what's going on in your head as well, so I'm going to maybe try to touch on both. Some of the good products from Life Extension and they have some unique things for different situations. So I wanted to make it clear for people. So it might be a good idea to get a pen and paper, as in the old days kind of stuff, and see what Vanessa has to say. She's fantastic, so you'll really enjoy it. And without further ado, here is Dr Vanessa Pavey.
Jim Wilk:Pavy
Jim Wilk:Dr Vanessa Pavey, thank you so much for joining us. It's been a few years. You were on a few years ago. I was looking back and we talked about some stuff and I got some new ideas I want to discuss with you. So how are you doing? First of all, Everything good.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:I'm doing fantastic. Thank you so much. It's good to be back.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, it's great. And are you still in Las Vegas, or where am I reaching you now?
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Actually I am. I'm still here in Las Vegas with Life Extension.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, okay, all right. And does it get like fall there? I've never been to Las Vegas in the fall. Do the buildings start turning colors or what's going on?
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:We do have a little bit of a fall. The weather starts to get a little bit cooler. We don't have the beautiful weather that you guys have and with all the trees turning colors, but we do get a little bit of that indication that the weather's changing.
Jim Wilk:You would think that with all the technology, and especially Las Vegas, they would do something to put some trees up with different colors somehow. You know, get that going there. That would be so cool. I mean, they do everything else technology-wise there, so I'm sure that's coming down the pike here.
Jim Wilk:I don't know if you noticed since we've talked last, which was a couple of years ago, that more and more people are interested in stuff to help with their memory and their brain. There's that pallor going over the earth here about are we losing our minds, so to speak? And dementia is becoming to the forefront and, of course, alzheimer's and things. And I guess we get every day somebody asking about what can I do to improve my memory? And maybe it's because we, as time goes on, we have an older generation that's lasting around longer here and we wanted to keep up with everything and keep our minds sharp.
Jim Wilk:So I know life extension and I told the people how much research you guys do. This is not really mom and pop kind of operation. You guys go into good, extensive research and studies and you have a fantastic medical staff there at Life Extension. So I know you guys have a few formulas and I'd like to go over some of them, and you know, obviously, the ingredients in them, because some of them are a little unusual that I think the public may not know about. So I'd like to start maybe. Well, one of your original ones was the Cognitex, which is a trademark, cognitex and comprehensive support for brain health. So what are the some of the key ingredients in there is phosphatidylserine and vinposantine, and wild blueberry and ashwagandha, and the sage extract too, which is interesting. I don't think that many people think of sage as far as the brain goes. So what was the genesis in coming out with this particular formula?
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Oh, actually the genesis is that this was one of our flagship products from the early 1980s when Life Extension first started launching supplements. So Cognitex has been with Life Extension for over 40 years at this point and, of course, as everything, life Extension does upgrade and change the formula at this time as new science emerges. So I might even argue that each extract that you brought up is the key ingredient. Now, this is not the same kind of stage that you can get at the grocery store or use in cooking. This is actually a very specifically cultivated stage, not a GMO, because I know when people hear you're kind of cultivated, that could give an implication of like GMO. Now, this is not genetically modified what it is, it's specifically hybrid and it is incredibly rich in the rosmarinic acid, which is a key ingredient in sage that helps to support memory, and how it does that is by slowing down the enzyme that breaks down one of our most important memory-enhancing neurotransmitters, which is acetylcholine. So this enzyme breaks acetylcholine down and the special stage slows that process down.
Jim Wilk:Ah, okay, and a lot of people are under the impression they can buy acetylcholine right. I've heard people ask for that particular ingredient.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:People can purchase like choline Usually, like there are multiple different types of choline on the market, like CDP choline. Also, you can get choline from your phospholipids, like in lecithin. But in terms of acetylcholine itself, which is the neurotransmitter, that acetyl group does not necessarily stay on the choline very long. It's not actually ideal to take an acetylcholine because the body needs to make it Right and it's consistently making and breaking it down. So it's actually more efficient to support body levels of acetylcholine with a choline type of ingredient.
Jim Wilk:Oh, interesting. Okay, and the vinpocetine, which has been around a long time as well, is a pretty cool type of herb there. That could also improve cognitive performance in people.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:There are studies showing that it does help to support, specifically, concentration and memory. And vimpocetine is a very interesting phytonutrient. It is an alkaloid that's derived from periwinkle so purple French periwinkle plant and what it's really doing? The mechanism behind it is helping to support blood flow to the brain, so this is a very actually important ingredient for helping to maintain cognition and memory as we age. Now there is a caution for those who are of childbearing age or pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant to maybe consult with a doctor before taking periwinkle derivatives like the venpostatine. But other than that, venpostatine is a really great option for those who are trying to maintain their memory and their cognitive function as they age.
Jim Wilk:Okay, another ingredient is phosphatidylserine, which I remember from back in the 80s. Also, folks, you might have seen PS. They use those two letters there to indicate it's phosphatidylserine. But that's an old standby. I mean it's still very popular today. Very good product, right? A very good ingredient. Excuse me, it is.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:I think a lot of people are pretty familiar with phosphatidylserine or, like you said, like PS, for supporting brain function, because it is a component of cell membranes, specifically the neurons of the brain. But another interesting mechanism behind the phosphatidylserine is that it also works on the pituitary level by blunting the amount of ACTH that's released from the pituitary gland. Now ACTH is adrenocorticotropic hormone glans. Now ACTH is adrenocorticotropic hormone and what it does is it tells the adrenal glands to create cortisol or stress hormones. So, fasted to the steering, helping to blend that process can actually help modulate the stress response. So it's also great, not just for memory, but also helping to keep us a little bit more cool during the day, or even a great way of supporting sleep at night, especially if stress helps kind of keep you up at night.
Jim Wilk:Cool beans. Okay, so that was one of their original brain formulas. Folks is Cognitex Elite, and they make a few different kinds of those. The other one I wanted to talk about too, is the brain fog relief, and I know most people use a cup of coffee for brain fog relief, right, but this particular product has a mango extract in there and some peppermint oil, which is pretty cool, because a lot of people don't think of like an essential oil to take internally. They use it for aromatherapy, and I know peppermint is very like you know a little bit. You put that in an aromatherapy situation. It kind of wakes you up, so to speak. But you also use a mango leaf. Well, I don't know, people love mangoes. They've been around forever, so I know the plant itself has been used in traditional medicine and stuff for forever. So talk a little bit about the peppermint and the mango in this brain fog relief product.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Oh yeah, I'm glad you started with the peppermint, because even just smelling peppermint seems to kind of wake up my senses and kind of give me a little bit more clarity. Really, when we take the peppermint oil internally, what we want are those monoterpenes. These are the active components in peppermint oil that actually improve the neurotransmitters that are associated with memory and attention, like acetylcholine. So monoterpenes in peppermint oil slow down the breakdown again of acetylcholine, kind of on par with the sage, because even just sage peppermint, these wonderful types of almost like the ramieaceae family of herbs, have such a strong impact on helping to support memory and focus and concentration. Peppermint also supports GABA, our calming neurotransmitter. So that one was a must-have in a brain fog kind of formulation.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:But I might argue, kind of similar to the sage extract in the Cognitex, that it's actually the mango leaf that's really our shining star in this formula. So it's not the mango fruit part, it's actually the leaf. And when I heard about it I thought oh gosh, can people consume the leaf? I've never heard of that and actually I was completely wrong. It's been used as a tea for many, many, many decades.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:So Berry has an excellent safety profile and what the mango leaf is rich in are polyphenols file and what the main relief is rich in are polyphenols, and it addresses the three main targets that we're trying to hit. When somebody says brain fog, Because really brain fog is not really technically a medical term, it's just kind of a constellation of symptoms and usually those symptoms involve like inflammation that can happen in the brain, kind of creating like a foggy feeling. Histamine release is typically another kind of target that people say, oh you know, during those types of seasons where pollen's in the air, people say, oh you know, I have a lot of brain fog due to that, because of the histamine release.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:And of course the third target would be like neurotransmitters, but the third target would be neurotransmitters, specifically the neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, which is part of focus and attention. So what's really amazing about the mango leaf extract is it helps to modulate the enzymes, modulate the histamine response and also helps to inhibit the excess inflammation that can happen and affect the neurological system. So it's really a great ingredient if we're trying to target all three components of what can contribute to brain fog.
Jim Wilk:To clear your mind kind of thing. I guess, if you're going to do a kind of a task or something and you need to just concentrate on something, this just takes the spiderwebs, so to speak Well, it's near Halloween, spiderwebs away from the brain there and just have a nice path to go down.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Absolutely. I love that analogy, kind of like clearing away the cobwebs, right, because the studies that Lake Extension-Centrum was looking at were actually looking at cognitive performance rather than just subjective measures of well, how foggy do you feel? Because that can be a little bit more difficult to utilize in a study. So they were actually using cognitive performance tests and finding that those who were taking either like the peppermint oil, which was one study, or the mango leaf extract, which was the second study the subjects that took those ingredients did perform better several hours after consuming it. So this is something that we can expect to have an impact within the same day, just a couple hours after consuming, because sometimes some of the nutrients do take a little bit of time to help the healing process. Sometimes we say, you know two to three months, but this one is one of those ingredients, or two ingredients, that work very quickly.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, that was my next question Because I seen some of the studies and you see these studies usually for some of your other products 15 weeks, something, you know, three months, that kind of a thing. So I have to remind the people out there that the natural stuff sometimes takes a little longer than maybe some pharmaceutical thing, but the safety aspect is tremendous in that. So you've got to give this stuff a little time. I mean, most people haven't lost their mind in overnight, so you got to give this stuff a little time. I mean most people haven't lost their mind in overnight, so it's not going to come back that quickly as easily. So that's a good point to make out there. The next one I want to talk about is quick Now we're talking about time right, Quick brain nootropic.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Explain to the folks what a nootropic is and explain some of these ingredients, which are also something I've seen for many, many years. Yes, so nootropics have been kind of making a splash in the last couple of years, sometimes associated with the terms like biohacking or neurohacking. So a nootropic is a little bit of a different ingredient than something that we would use for helping to support healthy cognition with age. A nootropic helps to enhance alertness, learning capacity, focus, attention immediately, right then and there. That's really kind of the gauge of a nootropic is helping to enhance cognitive abilities for all adults, whether you're 18 years of age or like 70 years of age. Trying to enhance that cognitive kind of giving you a little bit of an edge, I would maybe say. And now here's the caveat when Life Extension was looking at nootropics, we're all about safety and what we wanted were ingredients that have long-term safety studies. So these would be ingredients that it would be okay if you're taking them on a daily basis over a long period of time. So the ingredients that really shine in that category as nootropics were gotu, kola, bacopa, and the one that surprised me was lutein and zeaxanthin, which you usually think of for eyes.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:But the study that impressed me the most with the lutein and zeaxanthin was actually conducted in college students, which that's why I was pretty surprised, because I thought, wow, these are usually college students, they're already at the top of their cognitive genes. I thought, wow, these are usually college students, they're already at the top of their cognitive genes, right. So these students were given lutein and diazanthin, or, of course, the other group was given a placebo. Now they did take it for six months because they wanted the lutein and diazanthin to build up, but then they had the students come back and do just this battery of cognitive tests, had the students come back and do just a battery of cognitive tests and they found that the students that received the lutein and the zeaxanthin actually outperformed not just the placebo group but outperformed their baseline numbers. So we were seeing some improvement with that. So it's not just for the eyes, it's also supportive of cognition and could be considered. Well, life extension is considering it a nootropic.
Jim Wilk:Wow, that's really interesting. I can see, wow, college students use that because all they're using now is Adderall, I think mostly. So this would be something great to give to them. Maybe it would help with some of the protest things going on in the campus, I don't know. But so this has the Marigold and the picopa and the gotu kola. Marigold is also kind of a little bit of unusual thing too, right.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Oh yeah, the marigold is really a fantastic dietary source of not just lutein and zeaxanthin but also mesozeaxanthin, which is not typically found in our diet, and humans need to actually make mesozeaxanthin from the lutein we consume. If we're looking specifically at the eye which is great you could actually kind of give an assessment of how many of these important carotenoid pigments like lutein, zeaxanthin and mesozeaxanthin that we have by actually looking at the macula of the eye so your eye doctor can help to assess that. And half, like 50%, is supposed to be made up of lutein, 25% is made up of mesozeaxanthin and that last 25% is made up of zeaxanthin. So 25% of our maculose is made up of mesozeaxanthin and we're not getting it really from diet, unless you're eating marigolds, because that's where we can get it.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, wow, that's pretty cool. But folks go to hollyhillvitaminscom mention nuts and UTZ, our code, and get 15% off the Life Extension products we're talking about today. So we have the QuickBrain Nootropic. That sounds like a cool thing, something I might like to try here, and it's just a one a day, which is nice there. And again, they have the trademarked ingredients. Folks, I really look for that when I look at products out there. If you see a nice little asterisk near the product, it's usually a trademark sign, a copyright sign showing that there has been some research or some studies done into it and it's not somebody throwing something in from their garage, right, right, vanessa, I mean that happens out there.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Oh gosh, yeah, Not at Lathic, it doesn't happen with us. No, no. Yes, we do like to use yeah, no, actually the ingredient and standardize what we're looking for. But also, after it's put into like either a pill or a capsule or a tablet, we want to make sure that that potency is still there. So we'll always test the finished product as well. So lots of testing done at Life Extension.
Jim Wilk:Oh, definitely, folks. That's why I recommend them. Honestly. I like that research that they do there. The next one is a dopamine, and I guess people get a little confused when they see that word dopa and they're familiar with dopamine and things like that On the bottle. I'm looking at the bottle. Dopamine supports mental acuity and longevity, and the main ingredient in this product, folks, is wild green oat extract, which again has become more popular in the last few years. So talk a little bit about dopamine.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Yeah, that wild green oat extract. And why that's important to say? Because when I hear oats I'm thinking, oh well, if I just have my oatmeal in the morning it'll be covered. But actually it's the immature green prior to maturity of the oats that we eat for breakfast in the morning and it is standardized to the isobitaxin. That's the magic ingredient.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:And we might even consider this wild green oat extract a nootropic as well, because what it's doing is it's helping to support, well, as the the product implies, dopa supports dopamine and we also well, really dopamine, even though we kind of think of it as that feel-good neurotransmitter that's associated with, like the pleasure reward pathways of the body, also vital for cognition. And how this ingredient actually works is by slowing down again the enzyme that breaks down dopamine. We talked a lot about the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, but now weOB. This is the enzyme that breaks down dopamine. It has very little impact on the other neurotransmitters. It's really specific to dopamine, which is why if we're just targeting this one, we typically don't have the unwanted potential side effects that could arise if you're targeting other MAO enzymes.
Jim Wilk:Right, and this increases as one gets older, I'm assuming.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Absolutely. Life Extension wrote a really fabulous article a couple years ago talking about how this, specifically this aob enzyme, increases with activity, like you said, uh, which is really unnerving because, uh, you know, we're all about here at life extension, as our name implies, you know, extending healthy human life and supporting longevity, and it's a little unnerving to think that the longer we live, the faster this MAO-B enzyme starts to crank up, the less dopamine I have. So this is why we put supporting longevity, because really we want to support the longevity of our cognition and our memory as well, and dopamine is a very big, important piece of that.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, sounds like a great product to achieve Wiz. I wish you had all this stuff into one product Big, giant horse bill. That would be fantastic. But I can see the different levels and different avenues to help with brain health, so it's fascinating to me. Dopamine looks like a great product, folks, they also have Memory Protect too, which defends against memory loss, and that has an ingredient colostrumin and lithium those two ingredients Lithium also seems to be making a comeback. I get people asking about lithium more often now than I can't remember when come back. I get people asking about lithium more often now than I can't remember when. So I think a lot of them get them confused with the drug lithium as well for people who use for bipolar things. So go into a little bit about that. This is a product called Memory Protect from Life Extension.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Oh, I'm glad that you brought up the lithium and I do think there are connotations with that in the general public because, like you said, most people associate lithium with the pharmaceutical, and really lithium is well, it should be an essential trace mineral, but right now it's not considered an essential one, which is why you don't normally see lithium in your you know listing on your multivitamins with the different minerals that we typically need to get, like the magnesium and calcium and things like that.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Right, correct. In fact, the scientific community is arguing that the suggested daily requirement of lithium should be anywhere between 1,000 to 2,000 micrograms a day. And I said micrograms, which are really, yeah, that's a much smaller dose than what would be considered like a milligram dose, which is a little bit higher than that. That's where the pharmaceuticals come into play. They're in milligram doses, in almost gram doses, which are even bigger doses. So for a typical prescription of lithium it would be like 900 to 1800 milligrams a day. So really that's almost like one to two grams kind of an estimate, which is a huge, huge amount of lithium.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, it'd be like taking 20 of these per day. So yeah, I see what you're saying one to two grams kind of an estimate with a huge, huge amount of lithium.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Yeah, it'd be like taking 20 of these per day. So yeah, I see what you're saying An extreme amount of lithium, and where we typically get lithium in you know tiny little trace amounts is really in water is where we're supposed to. I bet most of the listeners, like myself, are drinking filtered water, like bottled water, which actually does filter out some of the lithium, so we're probably not getting as much lithium as we think we are for everyday health.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, I didn't realize that. And the colostronin also. I read about it coming from colostrum, which is the first milk produced after childbirth and most people think of that for their immune system. The mother giving some of that immune that first 40 hours of breastfeeding. When a baby is born it transfers the immune system of the mother to the baby. So I found it pretty cool that it also helps with brain functioning.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:It does. Isn't that fascinating how immune and brain, the whole body, is interconnected. And the cholesterol specifically. It is kind of a complex of peptides. It's really rich in proline and there are studies showing that it does enhance cognition, memory and mental function.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:But here's what's kind of interesting the study that well, actually several studies that Life Extension were looking at did not use colostrinin every day. They actually used it every other day for two weeks and then take a week off and then start off again. So it's a little bit of a complex way of taking cholesterol in. Especially with busy lifestyles it's hard to kind of say, wait, did I take it yesterday? Did I have to take it every other day? But then, oh wait, has it been two weeks. So what Life Extension did was we put the pills in a blister pack that's numbered by day. We did the thing before you. You just pop each day, you know and go in order. So you're kind of matching what they did in a study that gave the best efficacy. The other study that Life Extension was looking at was the lithium they were using. Again, that's a small dose, that's 1000 micrograms a day, but they were using that one every day. So in the blister packs. You're getting every day lithium and every other day cholesterol in.
Jim Wilk:Interesting. Wow, that's so cool. It's very rare you'd find that in a supplement. That kind of precision there. That's pretty cool.
Jim Wilk:All right, folks, all right, you got your memory down right. You know where you have to be. You know who you're talking to. So we're going to switch over to some men's health. You know, because I'm a man and I like to know and I know Vanessa knows her stuff, so I'm going to be listening as well as talking at the same time here.
Jim Wilk:So, vanessa, of course we have to talk about at least my number one selling life extension product is the Ultra Prostate Formula, and this is the one I recommend to most of the men out there when they're having some issues. And over the years you guys which I love about you guys you kind of change a few things, you add a few things, more knowledge comes out about these things, so you're always up on what's going on. That's why I love you guys. So most prostate formulas have the salt palmetto and the stinging nettle and the pumpkin seed and things like that. But you guys put some extra things in there that I thought were very beneficial. So I'm sure you guys get good reports back at the office there about the prostate formula.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:We sure do. In fact, this is our number one selling product in the men's health category and we have gotten probably more feedback from this product than any other one. I mean, it really is a well-designed one. Now, one of the feedback I do get sometimes outside of wow, this has been really supportive is the size of the soft gels. The product is two soft gel serving size. Please do make sure you're getting the two soft gels daily with food or, of course, is recommended by your healthcare practitioner. But the reason why is because this is one of our multi-ingredient formulas. You might notice that Life Extension doesn't do a lot of formulas with multiple, multiple ingredients like 10 or more ingredients, because we're not about just sprinkling a few.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:You know, a milligram here and two milligrams there. No, no, no. We want to make sure that we're providing the same dose that was used in the study that provided efficacy. So unfortunately, that creates we're not skimping on dosing. We're trying to minimize how many pills you're consuming. Unfortunately, that kind of makes for a larger softball. So I really apologize. I apologize in advance, but that's the rationale for why.
Jim Wilk:I got you. I'd like you to talk about some of the unusual things. And we also have a standalone. One of the ingredients folks is flower pollen extract and you guys also make a standalone flower extract as well, the prostopal and the triple strength prostopal. So we can kind of kill two birds with one pill here and talk a little bit about the flower pollen that's in the prostate formula and your triple strength prostopal.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Great segue there, because sometimes when people are looking at the label and they see flower pollen extract and it is from rye, some people might say, oh, you know, will that have an impact on you know?
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Kind of the idea of you know, I don't do well with pollen during, you know, the pollen season.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Well, actually, what we do, this specific flower pollen extract the part of the pollen that creates the problems during those kinds of seasons is on the outside. It's the inside of the pollen that has a really important impact on supporting the health of the prostate gland and promoting healthy urination patterns. There's some really nice studies showing that it does help to regulate healthy urination patterns, especially at night, and helps to keep inflammation in check. So it helps to inhibit the inflammatory response in that prostate and urinary area. So what we did for the ultra prostate formula was in the two soft cell serving size there is 63 milligrams of the flower pollen extract, which is the ideal daily dose. But for those who are having trouble, like, for example, especially getting up multiple times during the night, that can be really problematic for the next day if you're not getting good sleep. We did add what we call the triple strength to toss the pollen out from the rye and it's providing 378 milligrams in one soft gel.
Jim Wilk:so this was specifically designed to pair with the ultra prostate formula I didn't even realize that, and so I'm glad you pointed that out. Yes, it can be used with the. Uh yeah, excellent, that's a great, great idea. So I know a lot of guys what they say, like when you hit 70 or so, about 75, 80% of the men out there have problems at night and to enlarge prostate or prostatitis and things like that. So this is interesting. I might add that to my mix there as well. And again, it's a trademarked Graminix is your patented or flower extract. So again, you're using stuff that's been scientifically looked at or studied right.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Right and it's consistent in its standardization. So the Graminix flower pollen extract and ultra prostate formula is standardized to 7% phytosterols, again from rye, so really great ingredient, especially for supporting healthy urination patterns. But there's some other ingredients that help also target inflammation and healthy urination patterns in terms of the prostate arena, like for example, a standardized extract of Boswellia, which we call Aprafl hygeum, which is also known as African cherry tree, so that one is a bark extract which also helps to keep inflammation and healthy urination patterns going, and some additional phospholipids that pair really nicely with pumpkin seed extract.
Jim Wilk:Okay, and you also have the lycopene in there as well. That's becoming a little scarce out there. I've noticed the lycopene. Do you know anything about that at all?
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Oh, it's really a potent antioxidant, and Y-Life Extension added it to this specific product. Now, of course, women can benefit from lycopene too, but there's really nice research showing that it helps to support healthy prostate size and healthy prostate function. Now the interesting thing about lycopene is that we are deriving it from tomato extract, and just eating tomatoes may not be the best way of getting your lycopene, because actually the lycopene is concentrated in tomatoes when they're cooked down almost into like a tomato paste. So a plug for adding a little bit of tomato paste to your tomato sauce is to get a little extra lycopene. But for daily intake it's probably a good idea to add the lycopene to a prostate-supporting formula.
Jim Wilk:Of course, and I see that the ultra-prostate formula also has the pumpkin seed oil in there and Life Extension also makes a standalone just for added support, kind of does what, maybe in the same vein as—that wasn't a pun— in the same vein as the prostapollin helps with urinary functions and things like that Same vein, as the prostapollin helps with urinary functions and things like that.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:The pumpkin seed oil specifically does have an impact on prostate health, but the studies did show that it supports prostate health when it's complemented or added with cell palmetto, so making sure that you're getting them together Now. The flower pollen extract can work as a standalone all by itself right when you're doing pumpkin seed oil, you might want to consider making sure that you're getting some of those like beta-cetosterols that are from salt palmetto and even kaijam, to really have the full-on effect for prostate health.
Jim Wilk:Good to know. Okay, all right, folks, we got two more here I'd like to discuss, and again hollyhillvitaminscom and look up some of these great products from Life Extension. It's worth it Mention Nuts and UTZ and get 15% off our already low prices on that. So that's why we do this. We do a show, so you guys learn more about the stuff just as well as I'm learning all the time and you make your buying decisions more prudent there. So the last two I want to talk about is the male vascular sexual support, and I've gotten a lot of good feedback on this product. Vanessa, this is a one a day, folks. It's a special trademarked form of black ginger and I'm just getting good feedback. I can't really explain how it works to people, but I know people are coming back and saying this does a job here and you know, give it a little time, it's really a good support for men.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:This is another one. I would say this is probably the second in the men's category that we get the most feedback on and it is a type of ginger, but not the typical ginger you get at the grocery store. It's actually Thai black ginger that's been used historically. It's native to Southeast Asia and it's been used historically to support and enhance male sexual health, and it does so on several different pathways. First, it helps promote nitric oxide synthesis, which helps to support the blood vessel dilation, to get more blood flow to the area. It also helps to relax the blood vessels and, of course, enhance the blood flow and there was actually a study that also showed that it has a potential impact on neurotransmitters to help the brain respond a little bit more quickly to sexual stimuli.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:And really the underlying kind of mechanism, especially for supporting, like nitric oxide and healthy blood flow, is that it does help to slow down one of the enzymes that winds down the malsexual response. So if we inhibit this enzyme it keeps that malsexual response going longer. And what's really nice now we're not going to see, probably, effects in the first day like we would see with a nootropic or the quick brain, but this one we would see, with consistent use results seen after 30 days. So taking, you know, taking it every day for a month, that's when we're really going to start seeing things kind of balance out in the body and having a more robust sexual response yeah, folks.
Jim Wilk:So if you're, you know, looking for, like a natural alternative, some of the viagras and things out there which can have some side effects, I mean mean it's still a possibility. There's been heart issues, vision issues with Viagra, so this might be a good alternative to try, but give it that 30 to 45 days to really start seeing something. And just I know men have told me that it really does a great job for that. All right, that's the male vascular sexual support, and the last one I'd like to talk about is the testosterone elite.
Jim Wilk:I think a lot of guys maybe Vanessa worry too much about their testosterone. They feel like they should have it without them getting themselves tested, and what I've always read is that you can have high testosterone levels and feel crappy and vice versa. Right, and it's a good idea, and I know Life Extension does fantastic testing. I always get my blood work done through Life Extension because they offer a lot more than what your general practitioner can offer and they will actually sit down with you, the medical staff, and go over things over the phone with you. So testosterone elite has some pomegranate in it, which has always been known to help with those kind of levels, so this is supposed to promote free and total testosterone right.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Correct and I'm so glad you brought that up about the lab testing. I think it's so important because if you're looking at just free testosterone or total testosterone, you might be missing a bigger picture of balance in the body. Men also need to test estrogen Because, like you said, sometimes the testosterone is up but you still feel a little bit off. Well, testosterone can be turned into estrogen. So if you have a lot of testosterone, it might be turning into a lot of estrogen, Specifically that potent form called estradiol. So when we're testing it's really important to get the big picture, looking at testosterone, estrogen and maybe even the precursors to testosterone like DHEA, and also looking at prostate health too, so kind of getting a full round picture. Life Extension offers a panel called the Male Basic Hormone Panel that measures DHEA, sulfate free and total testosterone, estradiol and PSA. You're getting your full spectrum of what could be happening.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:But I'm also glad that you brought up the pomegranate, because when I first saw the proposal of this product I thought pomegranate, Could that really have an impact on testosterone? And yes, it can. In fact there was a study with both men and women who were just taking pomegranate juice and their saliva. They tested saliva testosterone and everyone's testosterone went up with pomegranate. Of course, men are going to have higher levels of testosterone go up because of the fact that men tend to have more testosterone.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:So this really is a formula that was designed to be almost like an herbal approach for supporting the natural production of testosterone. So it's not providing any hormones per se, but what it's doing is it's helping the body to produce the maximum that it can, and we do have clinical data showing that it does support both free and total testosterone. But we also added another ingredient to help balance that estrogen piece of the puzzle, and that is the luteolin. Luteolin is found in multiple plants like, for example, like parsley and cilantro. We're extracting it from the Japanese sephora flower, and what luteolin does is it slows down the enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogen, and some men are familiar with this enzyme. It's called aromatase, so men don't need too much aromatase activity. So the luteolin was a really great addition to the formula to keep that under control.
Jim Wilk:Wow, and that's found in plants and stuff. The luteolin right, it's in green broccoli and stuff like that.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Yeah, the richest source in terms of the vegetables would be celery. Like that, yeah, the richest source in terms of the vegetables would be celery. But if you're really wanting to get luteolin, having your parsley salad like tabbouleh can be a really rich source of your luteolin.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, and you throw a little cocoa in there. Right, cocoa there, a little chocolate never hurt anybody, right.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:We did, actually, and it's standardized to the theobromine found in the raw cacao and I was kind of wondering. You know we're talking pomegranate and chocolate, so if I eat a, chocolate bar with some pomegranate in there.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Am I covering my basis? Well, honestly, probably not to the extent that we probably need this particular standardization of the pomegranate and the cacao are very concentrated, specifically the prunicalagins in the pomegranate and the field bromine. I wouldn't discourage anyone from enjoying some chocolate, but make sure it's not too much sugar, because I would imagine that would probably have a negative impact not just on hormone status but just overall health.
Jim Wilk:Yeah, folks, they're extracting the good ingredients out of those products and plants and things and concentrating a little bit so you don't have to sit there and eat 10 pomegranates at once there. So I can appreciate that. Great stuff Again, folks the Ultra Prostate Formula for Men, the Triple Strength Prostapolin, the Male Vascular Sexual Support and the Testosterone Elite, as well as all the great products from Life Extension. You can go to lifeextensioncom. You get a lot more information, their magazine. I've always depended on their magazine for information and what's happening in the news A lot of times. Vanessa, I'll start the show here with some articles from Life Extension and latest research on certain things, latest studies on certain ingredients. So you guys still do a great job and I always appreciate you being on and the other experts at Life Extension. It makes my job a lot easier. So thank you so much for being on today.
Dr. Vanessa Pavey:Thanks for having me. It was a lot of fun yeah it was a lot of fun.
Jim Wilk:We'll do it again, folks. I promise Vanessa's got a wealth of wisdom out there and we're going to tap it as much as we can, so we'll talk to you guys real soon. Take care everybody. Please subscribe to the channel so you can get our latest episodes, and if you want to contact me with any questions or comments, try jimwilkcnc at gmailcom. Thanks again.