How Shaklee Guarantees Purity
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Another example of Shaklee integrity is how they produce their prostate friendly
Saw Palmetto Complex. As we age, men develop an enlargement of the prostate gland, known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The prostate gland surrounds the urethra, or the tube that carries urine from our bladder. As the prostate enlarges, it begins to squeeze, and then partially block the flow, of urine. Regular use of Saw Palmetto has been shown to reverse prostate hypertrophy with continued use.
[21],
[22]
What a blessing for men over the age of 40!
Unfortunately, to extract Serenoa repens from the waxy saw palmetto plant, manufacturers use dangerous and toxic solvents like hexane, toluene, or benzene.
[23]
Shaklee chose a safer approach. They use a technique called supercritical fluid extraction.
[24]
When carbon dioxide (CO2) is compressed to the supercritical state it becomes a liguid, and is an ideal solvent for extracting lipophilic (fatty) compounds.
Further, supercritical CO2 is 100% non-toxic, it's non-flammable, isn't especially expensive, and is easy to remove at the end of the process, so it's very eco-friendly!
[25]
Hexane is also used by most soy manufacturers, and recent lab analysis has shown that some health food store brands contain as many as 13 different hydrocarbon residues in their soy products.
[26]
Hexane is registered as a neurotoxin by the FDA
[27]
so I am very grateful that Dr. Shaklee developed the 100% safe and non-toxic water-wash method to capture all the health benefits of soy, with none of the adverse risks associated with exposure to hexane.
Shaklee Excellence
Shaklee nutrients have always been sourced from organically grown fruits, vegetables, flowers and grains. Many plants produce protective phenolic compounds called phytoalexins as a defensive reaction to assault by mold, mildew, bugs, and an assortment of viruses and micro-organisms. These unique compounds rarely appear at any appreciable concentration in conventionally grown, or “bug-sprayed” produce; they are only found at clinically-relevant levels in organic produce.
[28]
Shaklee’s organic Alfalfa Complex contains a phytoalexin called medicarpin that has been shown to be so beneficial that that Merck Pharmaceutical patented a synthetic version of it as a therapeutic agent to treat allergic conditions, asthma, cardiovascular disorders, and inflammation.
[29]
This helps to explain why Alfalfa Complex has always been so popular with the Shaklee Family for addressing respiratory and allergic disorders.
[30]
Shaklee has always been a leader in improving nutrient absorption
through natural means.
A perfect example is Shaklee’s B-Complex Although all eight B vitamins are important for our daily energy production, they are also required for cell replication, and the production of proteins and neurotransmitters.
However, folic acid is especially difficult to absorb.
Because deficiency of folic acid is associated with neural tube defects during pregnancy
[31],
Shaklee developed a unique and patented way to double the absorption of this key nutrient.
[32]
Their same zeal led Shaklee scientists to develop the patented gel diffusion time-release delivery system
for the B&C Complex capsule that comes with every serving of
Vitalizer and
Shaklee Life Strip.
Shaklee was also the first company to produce an all-natural time-release
Sustained-release Vita-C tablet back in 1980.
They were also the first company to add vitamin C to their
Iron Plus C Complex tablet, improving the absorption of iron for every menstruating woman and for anyone suffering from anemia.
While other manufacturers pander to fads by releasing mega-dose (and usually synthetic) specialty nutrients like beta-carotene, Shaklee was carefully crafting a balanced carotenoid formulation CarotoMax.
C-Max contains ALL of the important carotenoid nutrients, including lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-carotene and astaxanthin to protect our eyes, lungs, heart, skin, prostate and cervix. Why settle for less?
While the tabloids raved about Coenzyme–Q10 for treating heart disease, Shaklee crafted the gel-diffused CoQHeart which has been shown clinically to be 500% better absorbed than the powdered variety sold everywhere else.
[33]
Shaklee also went one step beyond by tripling the dose (to 100 mg.) while also protecting it en-capsule with Q-Trol, an all-natural proprietary blend of natural vitamin E
and resveratrol.
While most health food store’s vitamin E contains nothing but alpha-tocopherol (α-tocopherol), Shaklee’s Vita-E Complex softgels contain ALL eight natural forms of the mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols.
NOTE: On supplement labels, natural vitamin E is listed as
d-alpha tocopherol. In contrast, synthetic forms of vitamin E are labeled with the dl-alpha prefix.
That's why we need to carefully read those labels.
In a series of 4 human trials, scientists demonstrated that synthetic vitamin E is very poorly absorbed, and is preferentially and rapidly excreted, compared with the natural form.
[34,
35,
36,
37]
Our body DOES notice the difference!
These are just a few of the reasons why I don’t get hoodwinked by each and every new nutrient fad, or new super juice that rolls off someone's assembly line.
Even though there’s bound to be some reputable companies out there, its a safe bet that NONE of them have invested hundreds of millions into the purchase of complex lab equipment, while also shelling out fat weekly paychecks for the highly trained lab technicians who must reliably operate all that equipment.
Trust in Shaklee.
They have an unblemished 70 years in the business, with not one FDA product recall in ALL those years! You just can’t say that for the competition.
Here’s to your health!
In Closing
I had the pleasure of touring Shaklee’s Norman, Oklahoma manufacturing plant back in 2002. The tour guides were Shaklee employees from both the research and manufacturing divisions. Our progress paralleled the path of raw materials, as they pass from quarantine, to purity testing, to the extraction of active ingredients, the production of powders, and their formation into tablets. During this tour, we saw first-hand the pride and excellence of the Shaklee workforce. That experience still warms my heart today.
This is why we proudly invite our Shaklee friends to explore the newly updated Shaklee website for all your shopping needs, and to refer to your Shaklee Product Guide to learn a lot more about Shaklee research excellence.
