The Secret to Clean Arteries

Paraoxonase-1, better known as PON-1, is the secret to clean arteries. This enzyme plays a critical role in protecting arteries from plaque build-up by enhancing the removal of cholesterol from the walls of arteries. PON-1 is attached to high-density lipoproteins (HDL).

PON-1 does more than just cleanse arterial walls of plaque, it also protects against lipid oxidation. Oxidized fats and cholesterol are more prone to stick to artery walls, creating unstable plaques. Unstable plaques rupture, causing rapid occlusion of blood flow to vital organs such as the heart and brain.

PON-1 helps to stabilize plaques by inhibiting chronic inflammation and platelet activation—factors that can all lead to plaque rupture.

As humans age, PON-1 levels markedly decline, thereby reducing the ability of HDL to protect against heart attack and stroke. This phenomenon helps explain the onset of accelerated atherosclerosis; where within a period of only a few years, an aging person’s healthy arteries rapidly occlude with plaque.

The age-related reduction in PON-1 may also explain studies showing that statin drugs lose their benefit in certain aging populations, since the effects of statins are no longer sufficient to protect against the multiple factors involved in the development of atherosclerosis in the elderly.^1-3

How to Boost PON-1 Activity

1. Pomegranate

The most recent research indicates that pomegranate and its extracts can significantly elevate levels of PON-1 activity in the body. Pomegranate does this through a number of distinct biomolecular pathways that include combating inflammation and LDL adhesion and favorably modulating gene expression.

Pomegranate extracts reduce oxidation and inflammation largely through their effect on PON-1 activity, intervening at each step in the development of atherosclerosis.⁴

2. Resveratrol

Strong evidence has recently emerged for several compounds with known cardio-protective effects that may also favorably increase your PON-1 levels.

Moderate consumption of wine, beer, and spirits is associated with an increase in PON-1 activity. Red wine polyphenols increase PON-1 activity and reduce LDL oxidation.

Resveratrol is the best-known of the red wine polyphenols. It exerts powerful control over the PON-1 gene, increasing PON-1 expression in human liver cells and protecting against atherosclerosis in animal models.⁵

3. Quercetin

Quercetin is another polyphenol found in red wine and many other plant sources. It also up-regulates PON-1 gene expression, protecting against fat and cholesterol oxidation.

Quercetin possesses numerous mechanisms that help stabilize and preserve PON-1 activity against oxidative stress.⁶

References

1. Okumachi Y, Yokono K. Anti-aging medicine: the evidence to the value of the antihypertensive drugs, hypoglycemic drugs and statins. Nippon Rinsho. 2009 Jul;67(7):1372-6.
2. Kekes E. Combined antihypertensive and antilipemic therapy as one of the pillars in the poly-pharmacologic preventive strategy for patients with high cardiovascular risk. Orv Hetil. 2008 Sep 28;149(39):1827-37.
3. Gouedard C, Koum-Besson N, Barouki R, Morel Y. Opposite regulation of the human paraoxonase-1 gene PON-1 by fenofibrate and statins. Mol Pharmacol. 2003 Apr;63(4):945-56.
4. Aviram M, Dornfeld L, Rosenblat M, et al. Pomegranate juice consumption reduces oxidative stress, atherogenic modifications to LDL, and platelet aggregation: studies in humans and in atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 May;71(5):1062-76.
5. Do GM, Kwon EY, Kim HJ, et al. Long-term effects of resveratrol supplementation on suppression of atherogenic lesion formation and cholesterol synthesis in apo E-deficient mice. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Sep 12;374(1):55-9.
6. Aviram M, Rosenblat M, Billecke S, et al. Human serum paraoxonase (PON 1) is inactivated by oxidized low density lipoprotein and preserved by antioxidants. Free Radic Biol Med. 1999 Apr;26(7-8):892-904.

Summer is Here … Protect Your Skin from the Inside Out

Excessive sun exposure can lead to premature aging of the skin; which means more wrinkles and discolorations. Although topical sunscreens remain the top choice of consumers, there is a new oral method for protecting your skin … Polypodium leucotomos.

Much has been written about how the sun’s burning ultraviolet rays harm our health and appearance. Yet despite the warnings, more than two million people in the US will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year alone. Rates of melanoma — the most dangerous form of skin cancer — have not only doubled over the past 10-20 years, but continue to rise 3% to 7% annually.¹

A recent study found that a new oral supplement sourced from the fern, Polypodium leucotomos, could potentially become an important anti-aging ingredient for the skin.²  Extracts from the fern have been used in South America for many years to protect against the damaging effects caused by excessive sun exposure.

This amazing fern also protects skin cells from the consequences of excessive ultraviolet radiation by reducing sun-induced injury.3 Additionally, it helps ease skin inflammation and blocks protein-destroying skin enzymes.^3,4

Polypodium leucotomos extract also contains a high percentage of potent antioxidants (phenolics) which block the formation of dangerous free radicals and the oxidative damage that results from excessive sun exposure.⁵

Remember, for long periods of sun exposure, you should defend your skin against premature aging with an oral extract from Polypodium leucotomos and a topical sunscreen to ensure complete sun protection.

References

1. Available at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/470300_2. Accessed May 3, 2010.
2. Philips N, Conte J, Chen YJ, et al. Beneficial regulation of matrixmetalloproteinases and their inhibitors, fibrillar collagens and transforming growth factor-beta by Polypodium leucotomos, directly or in dermal fibroblasts, ultraviolet radiated fibroblasts, and melanoma cells. Arch Dermatol Res. 2009 Aug;301(7):487-95.
3. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2006 Mar 1;82(3):173-9.
4. J Dermatol Sci. 2003 Jun;32(1):1-9.
5. Ann Intern Med. 1971 Dec;75(6):873-80.

Ageless Skin from a Pill? A Secret to Save Your Skin from Accelerated Aging

By Steven V. Joyal, MD

You want flawless, smooth skin.

You don’t smoke, you drink plenty of water every day, and you eat a diet low in refined starches and sugars. You consume adequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids from fish, walnuts, and flax seed. You apply expensive skin cleansers and moisturizers that promise ageless, beautiful skin. Of course, you’ve heard about the dangers of excessive sun exposure and the veritable explosion in cases of diagnosed skin cancer within the past decade, so you are prudent when venturing outdoors. You wear sunscreen whenever you go to the beach or spend extended time outside, wear a broad-brimmed hat, and minimize time spent during earth’s peak period for solar radiation (generally between 11AM and 3PM in late spring,  summer, and early fall). You obtain the benefits of vitamin D from supplementation with low-cost cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) as well as ingesting foods (e.g. salmon, mushrooms) rich in this critical hormone-vitamin rather than subjecting your skin to age-accelerating solar radiation.

However, do you guard against incidental solar radiation?

Most people are completely unaware that over 80% of lifetime sun exposure occurs unintentionally. Furthermore, those unsightly brown and tan age spots that occur on exposed areas of the skin are caused by accumulated sun exposure over many years.

Unless you never the leave the house if not slathered in high sun protection factor (SPF) sunscreen or make-up, ultraviolet radiation is aging your skin (not to mention increasing your risk of skin cancer). And don’t think that just because you use a so-called “long-lasting” topical sunscreen that is “water-proof” you’re safe – close scrutiny of scientific data reveals that although newer sunscreen formulas offer enhanced resistance to the effects of sweat and swimming, these topical formulas must be re-applied frequently for maximal protection.

However, an amazing, natural plant extract, when orally ingested, offers the promise of additional protection against the damaging effects of incidental solar radiation exposure with a strong scientific portfolio of evidence.

Polypodium leucotomos is a type of fern native to certain tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas such as Honduras. Experimental studies with extracts of polypodium leucotomos have shown potent antioxidant effects. Other experimental studies show that Polypodium leucotomos extract reduces pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemicals that damage tissues when produced in excess. For over thirty years, extracts of Polypodium leucotomos have been used in Europe, Central, and South America to protect against the damaging effects of skin sensitizers and ultraviolet light therapy for the treatment of patients with psoriasis, an inflammatory skin condition characterized by silvery plaques on the skin. A clinical study showed that psoriasis patients’ skin had significantly less damage from ultraviolet light when these volunteers were given an extract of Polypodium as compared with those study volunteers given placebo. Another clinical study in patients with vitiligo (a skin condition characterized by areas of unsightly skin color mottling) showed improvement in areas of skin depigmentation when treated with ultraviolet light and 250 mg. three times daily of Polypodium leucotomos extract compared with placebo.

Make no mistake – supplementing with Polypodium leucotomos extract will not protect your skin from sunburn if you decide to spend ten hours at Fort Lauderdale beach after hibernating indoors for three months of winter. However, this natural ingredient is a wonderful adjunct to an over-all skin saving regimen that helps preserve youthful skin tone and texture. Although Polypodium will not reverse the appearance of heavily sun damaged skin, this fern extract offers the promise of lessening the impact of incidental sun exposure, now and in the future, on our skin. Since about 80% of our lifetime accumulated sun exposure is incidental, Polypodium extract represents a breakthrough strategy in the form of a dietary supplement that can help guard our skin from accelerated aging.