Shaklee has never been one to rest on their laurels. Since they first introduced Vivix, the revolutionary cellular anti-aging tonic, back in 2008, they have conducted 6 different laboratory and clinical studies to reveal the health benefits provided by this remarkable supplement. [1]

Most recently Shaklee scientists improved and enhanced the Vivix formula again, increasing its potency by another 30%. They also just released the delicious new Vivix Gummies to protect our DNA and cellular energy production, while also reducing infammation, and inhibiting the formation of AGE Proteins that threaten cellular function. It is all about enabling us to live younger (and healthier !) for longer.

When Vivix was first released, the scientific literature was awash with studies about a powerful polyphenol compound called resveratrol. First discovered in 1940, resveratrol remained unremarkable until 1992, when it was credited with the heart-health benefits of red wine (known as the “French Paradox”). [2] Although the French diet is very high in saturated fats, the French experience much lower incidences of cardiac (or heart) disease than we Americans do. Researchers determined that *something* in their wine was the cause, and they finally settled on resveratrol as the culprit.

Interest intensified in 1997, with the discovery that resveratrol also appeared help prevent cancer. [3] Then in 2003 researchers at Harvard Medical School discovered that resveratrol was a key longevity molecule, due to its ability to switch-on the sirtuin gene Sir2). [4], [5] We will revisit Sir2 story again shortly.

The ongoing research over the last 20 years has clarified so much more about the spectrum of anti-aging molecules. As more active components and other polyphenols were discovered in grapes, the question arose:
was resveratrol, by itself, responsible for all those reported health benefits?

In 2014 Shaklee scientists ran a series of tests, comparing identical concentrations of resveratrol to a combination of resveratrol plus the other polyphenols, as found in the Vivix formulation. [6]

They compared those two formulas for their antioxidant capacity (ORAC), their inhibition of AGE protein formation (advanced glycation end products or AGEs), their impact on mitochondrial density in human muscle (myotubes), and their Sirt3 mRNA expression in human myotubes, and the protection they provided against oxidative DNA damage in human pancreatic cells.

The results demonstrated that the combination of Muscadine grape polyphenols PLUS resveratrol (the Vivix formulation) was 10 times more effective at preventing AGE protein formation, and the synergistic effects of the phenolic mixture provided dramatic support in preventing oxidative damage to DNA (COMET assay) in human pancreatic cells.

NOTE: Back in 2014 running a series of COMET assays cost about $1,500, which is why most supplement manufacturers DO NOT run them. The price has declined over the years, but I suspect it is still not being used to support claims that their products can deliver DNA protection.

The COMET assay, a gel electrophoresis process, measures DNA damage within tissue cells. DNA contains ALL the genetic information for an organism's function. Damage to our DNA can cause a variety of health issues, including cancer, cell death, and various genetic disorders. In this test, IF DNA strands are damaged, it looks like the lower-right picture, forming a shape like a comet's tail. That is what Shaklee's Vivix and other antioxidants are designed to prevent.

The next year (2016), scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden (the home of the Assembly that awards the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine) confirmed those results, concluding that:

“resveratrol required red wine polyphenols
for optimum antioxidant activity.” [7]

This truly reveals how far-sighted Shaklee is. Remember, they released Vivix eight years before the Karolinska Institute published their resveratrol findings.

Shaklee had already spent 2 years before that (2006) working with scientists from the University of Georgia to develop an extraction method that could preserve the full potency of all those powerful Muscadine grape polyphenols to create Vivix.

That far-sightedness was possible because Shaklee has maintained a full-time staff of research scientists ever since the 1980s, who among other things, constantly review the published research results on nutrients and their impact on human health. As my Pop liked to say, they “kept their nose to the wind.”

This does not always mean that Shaklee will always be the very first to develop a brand-new product. As with the case of their coenzyme–Q10 product (CoQHeart), when it was released, it was 500% better absorbed than the original powdered version, and was almost twice as well absorbed as the newest gel version on the market.

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