Aa
anyone heard about Monavie - acai berry?
I am an advocate of vitamins/supplements, however, I do know that not everything that's purported as "good for you" or "natural" is really true. I've been reading on health benefits of Monavie, which has acai berry in it. I was looking into it this supplement for nutritional purposes only.
not a great study, (and I think this points to why there are hindrances with getting these elements studied properly) but got this from cnn...this is why one should use caution when using "some" herbs with medication, - cause they clean certain pathways of the liver...which is good when youre not on meds to begin with...not all herbs have this effect though..just my take from my own specialists....
Echinacea may not only help reduce the symptoms of a cold but may help prevent infection with some cold viruses, U.S. researchers said Monday.
People who took echinacea had a 58 percent lower risk of catching a cold, according to the researchers, who did not study the herb's effects directly but looked at the results of 14 studies in an approach called a meta-analysis.
Dr. Craig Coleman of the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, who led the research, cautioned that the studies involved only 1,600 people. They also involved various echinacea products, so it was still difficult to know for sure whether and how echinacea might work to prevent colds.
"All the studies trended toward reducing a patient's odds of developing a cold. But none of them was large enough -- they didn't have enough patients -- to prove it statistically," said Coleman in a telephone interview.
Coleman's study, published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, is one of the few to take a look at the efficacy of echinacea, a widely used product derived from several different species of flower.
"Someone needs to do a really large, well-done, randomized trial. That is unlikely to occur because there is a lack of funding," Coleman said.
Drug companies cannot patent such a widely used herbal product, he noted.
Findings differ from 2005 study
In 2005, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found echinacea was of no benefit in stopping colds. Coleman said it looked at only part of the picture.
"In that study what they did was they took healthy volunteers and they inoculated them, put a little Q-tip (cotton swab) up their nose. The problem is there are more than 200 kinds of viruses that cause colds," Coleman said.
The team that did this particular study only looked at a rhinovirus.
"So maybe it doesn't work against that kind of virus, but it does against the other 199 kinds."
Coleman said it also appeared as if echinacea reduced the duration of a cold by 1.4 days on average.
One of the studies looked at echinacea used together with with vitamin C, another common cold remedy, and that one showed the two together reduced the number of colds by 86 percent.
The term echinacea refers to parts taken from nine related plant species indigenous to North America. It was used originally by Native Americans and is now the most commonly used "nutraceutical" product -- a catchall term that refers to herbs and some supplemented foods.
Coleman, a pharmacist, said it appears to stimulate the immune system, although no one quite knows how it works.
It might also cause harmful effects, he said.
"While echinacea is generally regarded as safe, it hasn't undergone any long-term safety evaluation," Coleman said.
"So you should use it with caution."
Patients with autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis should be particularly careful, he said. In addition, echinacea affects a liver enzyme that breaks down some drugs, so using it with prescription medications could cause drug interactions.
Echinacea may not only help reduce the symptoms of a cold but may help prevent infection with some cold viruses, U.S. researchers said Monday.
People who took echinacea had a 58 percent lower risk of catching a cold, according to the researchers, who did not study the herb's effects directly but looked at the results of 14 studies in an approach called a meta-analysis.
Dr. Craig Coleman of the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, who led the research, cautioned that the studies involved only 1,600 people. They also involved various echinacea products, so it was still difficult to know for sure whether and how echinacea might work to prevent colds.
"All the studies trended toward reducing a patient's odds of developing a cold. But none of them was large enough -- they didn't have enough patients -- to prove it statistically," said Coleman in a telephone interview.
Coleman's study, published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, is one of the few to take a look at the efficacy of echinacea, a widely used product derived from several different species of flower.
"Someone needs to do a really large, well-done, randomized trial. That is unlikely to occur because there is a lack of funding," Coleman said.
Drug companies cannot patent such a widely used herbal product, he noted.
Findings differ from 2005 study
In 2005, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found echinacea was of no benefit in stopping colds. Coleman said it looked at only part of the picture.
"In that study what they did was they took healthy volunteers and they inoculated them, put a little Q-tip (cotton swab) up their nose. The problem is there are more than 200 kinds of viruses that cause colds," Coleman said.
The team that did this particular study only looked at a rhinovirus.
"So maybe it doesn't work against that kind of virus, but it does against the other 199 kinds."
Coleman said it also appeared as if echinacea reduced the duration of a cold by 1.4 days on average.
One of the studies looked at echinacea used together with with vitamin C, another common cold remedy, and that one showed the two together reduced the number of colds by 86 percent.
The term echinacea refers to parts taken from nine related plant species indigenous to North America. It was used originally by Native Americans and is now the most commonly used "nutraceutical" product -- a catchall term that refers to herbs and some supplemented foods.
Coleman, a pharmacist, said it appears to stimulate the immune system, although no one quite knows how it works.
It might also cause harmful effects, he said.
"While echinacea is generally regarded as safe, it hasn't undergone any long-term safety evaluation," Coleman said.
"So you should use it with caution."
Patients with autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis should be particularly careful, he said. In addition, echinacea affects a liver enzyme that breaks down some drugs, so using it with prescription medications could cause drug interactions.
forgot to say, as far as berries? berries are just berries, I fail to see how they could harm anyone...they are chock full of anti-oxidants....or there is some rasberry jam I better throw out...
I stopped a a golf driving range on the way home from work today to pick up my kid who works there. Imagine the driving range in 'Tin Cup' and then imagine a place 10 times dumpier. There on the booger-covered and cracked plexiglass window was a small, but very stained poster for Monavie. What caught my eye was that the meeting to discuss it was focused on the income-generating potential for people who wanted to be distributors. I don't know much about this stuff, but I know Tupperware. This place is about a dozen steps below the local do-it-yourself tattoo parlor/pawn shop. Still, maybe a good place for for a healthy elixir or at least some decent kitchenware. Bottoms up!
I think I get the gist of what you are saying...most of these products (berries, etc) are just high-powered anti-oxidants, are they the elixer for a longer life? Or can they rev-up your immune system? they can help -along with a lot of other factors...they are just plain good for you -that's all, yet they're turned into ponzi schemes cause everyone is fraid of disease...if the banana weren't around, and somebody just discovered it, the same thing would happen to nanners, there'd be Nanner-Distributors...why get these products from a distributor when many of them are on the grocery shelves...
The new XXX Vitamin water has acai - blueberry -pomegranate juice.
It's yummy. (triple anti-oxidants)
It's yummy. (triple anti-oxidants)
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