Description
Astragaloside IV is our flagship product. In fact, the prospect of providing it to the public was the inspiration for our company.
Chitosan
It has been known for some time that Chitosan can increase absorption generally by opening the tight junctures between cells in the small intestine. In
this study, a few scientists decided to see if this would increase absorption of Astragaloside IV. Here is a quote from that study:
Chitosan and sodium deosycholate have long been recognized as effective enhancing agents
to open tight junctions between cells. Several studies have highlighted the potential use of chitosan and sodium deoxychoate as
absorption enhanding agents. So chitosan and sodium deoxycholate were investigated in this study to explore the possiblity of enhancement of absorption
of Astragaloside IV. Results showed that chitosan and sodium deoxychoate both increased the permeation coefficients which were significantly different from
those of the control group.1
And here is a chart of the results2:
The chart shows that with only a .1% mixture of Chitosan, the absortion increase was dramatic. For this reason, we offer our Astragaloside IV product to our customers that
wish to be particularly aggressive with their treatment. However, this product should be used with caution for several reasons:
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The 50-100mg per day recommendation is in the context of the unenhanced absorption of Astragaloside IV, and Astragaloside IV is known to become not only less effective,
but actually inhibit cell growth beyond a certain threshold.3
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Chitosan increases absorption of any substance present in the small intestine, not just Astragaloside IV.
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Chitosan is derived from shellfish, so ANYONE WITH A SHELLFISH ALLERGY SHOULD NOT TAKE THIS PRODUCT.
Telomeres and Telomerase
Telomeres are strands of repeating non-encoding DNA fragments ('TTAGGG' in vertebrates) at the end of each chromosome. In this picture, they are the little yellow dots:
When a cell divides, the telomeres of one of the daughter cells is shortened. Once the telomeres reach a critically short length, the cell enters 'replicative senescence', where it can no longer divide, and in fact is dysfunctional and excretes enzymes and proteins that are toxic to neighboring cells. As Dr. Oz says, in this link from Oprah's website, "when your cells can't divide, you age".
There is even more to the picture of aging and telomeres, however. Far before replicative senescence is reached, through a phenomenon known as the telomere position effect, the shortening of telomeres are changing the gene expression patterns of the chromosomes they cap. 'Older' cells, far before they hit replicative senescence, are known to divide less often, harbor mitochondrial DNA that are more prone to mutation, repair DNA damage less effectively, secrete enzymes and proteins less effectively, and generally perform their job less effectively than younger cells as a result of this change in gene expression patterns.
Astragaloside IV - the New Fountain of Youth
Telomerase is an enzyme that extends telomeres. The gene that codes for this enzyme exists in every single one of our cells, but in normal somatic cells it is not expressed, or 'switched off'. In adult stem cells, it is regulated in such a way that it is expressed, but not enough to stop gradual telomere erosion as those cells divide over the course of our lives. Astragaloside IV, found in minute traces in Astragalus Membranaceus extract, is known to turn this gene on and 'activate' telomerase.
We believe that aging is by design and that telomere shortening is in fact the primary mechanism by which this design is carried out. You can read more on that here. But even for those that do not hold that belief, the role of telomeres as at least key players in the process of aging is now undeniable.
Consider these facts:
- 1
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Cells that maintain telomere lengths whether in vivo (germs cells, most single-celled organisms) or in vitro (Geron's famous skins cells transfected with hTERT, the gene that codes for telomerase) are immortal. They divide endlessly, suffer no wear-and-tear damage that is not resolved by repair and renewal processes of the cell and are indistinguishable from cells that came before them.
- 2
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Premature telomere shortening or dysfunction is now highly implicated in Progeria, a set of accelerated diseases of aging.
- 3
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A truly remarkable experiment has been performed by Geron, where the telomeres of old human skin cells were re-extended, allowed to divide in vitro, and and then grafted onto the backs of mice. The skin grew back as young skin, with an increased division capacity and youthful skin structures such as a robust juncture between the underlying fibroblast layer and the upper keratinocyte layer.
- 4
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Geneticist Richard Cawthon and colleagues at the University of Utah found shorter telomeres are associated with shorter lives.
Recommended dosage
50-100mg per day. We also recommend at this time a pulsed program of 3 months on, 3 months off for no longer than one year.
Purity - 98%
The purity of our current batch of Astragaloside IV is roughly 98%, almost five times
higher than anything else available retail in the world.
* See explanation of purity test result along with a record of all our recent batches here.
Lower purities are sometimes coupled with exagerated claims of enhanced bioavailability. In fact the bioavailabilities are almost identical, but the effects of high daily doses of impurities are unknown. Read more
HPLC Tested... and More
Our raw material has been HPLC-tested at an independent US Lab. <%--, which is necessary for Astragloside testing. --%>
But because HPLC testing is only as good as the 'standard' against which it is compared, and particularly because in our opinion a reliable, reproducible and widely accepted HPLC analytical method has yet to evolve in the industry for Astragaloside IV, our samples are further tested periodically using NMR.
NMR is a technique which directly analyzes the structure of the Astragaloside IV molecule
by comparing the relative positioning of the (in this case, using H-NMR) hydrogen atoms in the tested material against what is known to be the structure of the Astragaloside IV molecule. The testing was done by an independent lab based in the United States.
In our opinion if you do not at least periodically supplement HPLC testing for Astragaloside IV with NMR or Mass Spectrometry, than it is difficult to know if you have an Astragaloside IV molecule on your hands.
Here you can see our NMR results and analysis on the A60 batch.
Money Back Guarantee
If you are not completely satisfied with our Astragaloside IV for any reason, simply return the unused portion to us and we will refund your money in full, no questions asked.
Light Resistant Capsules and Storage
Our capsules are light-resistant and our product is stored below room temperature.
Astragaloside IV and Resveratrol
Because Resveratrol is known to be a telomerase inhibitor, we do not recommend that you take Resveratrol if you are taking Astragaloside IV, as it may counteract its effects. Also, these supplements are known to be telomerase inhibitors:
- Curcumin
- Quercetin
- Melatonin
- Cacao
- Alliicin (Garlic)
- Silymarin
Because there are no studies telling us to what degree these telomerase inhibitors may or may not counteract Astragaloside IV, we recommend that you do not take them while taking Astragloside IV.
Health and Safety
We do not recommend Astragaloside IV for continual use at this time. It is a new supplement, and little is known about
its long term effects. Until more is known, we believe the safest
regimen would be to alternate between three month cycles of Astragaloside IV and Resveratrol for no longer than one year.
At that point we recommend that you stop Astragaloside IV usage all together until more is known about this supplement.
We also suggest that our customers keep an eye on TA Science's "Patton Protocol", a protocol designed with safety in mind for TA-65, another telomerase activator. This protocol began as a pulsed program
with three months on and three months off, but has now migrated to a one year on program with several two week breaks. TA Sciences was the first company to release a telomerase activator and we have a lot of respect for their expertise in that area.
Telomere Effect en Vivo
We want to be clear that there are NO PUBLIC STUDIES supporting the hypothesis that Astragaloside IV activates telomerase. There is only Geron's private work supporting that assertion in vitro.
And there are no studies, public or otherwise as to what the effect on shortening telomeres would be like in vivo by Astragaloside IV.
There are anecdotal reports from TA Sciences about TA-65, another telomerase activator, that its use resulted in lengthened telomeres, but no data has been published in that regard.
Do we think that Astragaloside IV would lengthen telomeres in vivo? We don't know. The evidence is not in. If forced to guess, we would say no, because that would just be too good to be true at this early stage. We are hoping instead to slow down the shortening.
The type of person that would be a good candidate for this supplement would be an 'early adopter' who is convinced by Geron's work alone that it has enough potential to be worth trying.
Telomere Length Testing
How can you tell if Astragaloside IV is working? We are proud to announce our Telomere Length Testing. Just add it to your cart, follow the instructions in the kit that you receive and within 4-6 weeks, you'll have a baseline measurement of your telomere lengths that you can check online. Then perform the test 1-2 years later and see if the your telomere loss rates are below average. A related compound, TA-65, has been reported by TA Sciences to have actually lengthened telomeres in some of their clients, so this may be a possibility with Astragaloside IV as well. The standard deviation of the test, .1-.2 kilobase pairs, is large enough that at least one year between tests would be necessary to get a meaningful result.
Supplement Facts
| Supplement |
Amount Per Serving |
% Daily Value |
| Astragaloside IV |
40 mg |
* |
| Chitosan |
2 mg |
* |
| From Astragalus Membranaceus extract † |
|
|
| * Daily value not established |
|
|
Other ingredients: rice powder, hide bovine gelatine, water, titanium dioxide.
† Varies by batch. See our current batches