 |
 |
|
 |
||||||||||
I have evaluated Wysong products over the years and find them to be manufactured well. I have questions as to the choices of ingredients, especially when a better choice prevails. I am interested in your "Un-Cereal" specifically. My question is to what extent your research shows the quinoa sprouts as contributing something that would otherwise be not noticed were the quinoa missing from the recipe. I feel that it is an ingredient that detracts from the overall nature of your product. On the "Chocolate Therapy" I am distressed at the utilization of soy by food manufacturers without thought of the total consequences of a large scale reaction. As a credentialed Diplomate in Nutrition I have seen the population shift in health caused by the over utilization of pro-estrogenics. As a physician I must deal in the real world. Since you are not the largest nor sole provider of foods that utilize soy you are only responsible for your market share. Given the abandon that has saturated the current society I would have thought that a company originated by Dr. Wysong would have taken note of this fact and refused to contribute any responsibility. As they said in the 60's, " If you're not part of the solution...then you must be part of the problem." In examining the remainder of the ingredients, I find that due to the nature of magnesium inherent to this compound that you would want to keep fatty nutrition to a minimum. I believe that those treats could be utilized and marketed better without the soy, as well as the E and Carotenes found in the Oxherphol. My suggestion would be to add the full C compound and chelators so as to maximize the mineral uptake without the crosslinks formed by fatty nutrition and minerals at the food level. I will be subjecting your "Un Cereal" to testing in our national non-profit organization of doctors around the country and it will be interesting to me to monitor the feedback. Of course I will share it with you as well. The Chocolate Therapy is of course not going to be handled as it is disqualified by recipe. Respectfully, Dr.__ (DC, DACBN) |
||||||||||
Thank you for your letter and suggestions. To speak in general terms, the value of OriginsT is primarily in its unique combination of rawness, absence of grain and refined sugar carbohydrates, and its spectrum of natural nutrients. We attempt to duplicate the diet humans are genetically adapted to, and Origins is the closest processed food meeting this criterion yet developed. Additionally, please understand that any substance is toxic if consumed at high enough levels. That would include water and oxygen. A study can also be found demonstrating that every food - or component thereof - is potentially toxic or a potential contributor to disease. But, as you will recall from toxicology classes, "the dose makes the poison." All Wysong products are developed with great care to remain true to the principle that all health ultimately comes from nature, and using the best of science. We are staffed by PhD and other doctorate level researchers in medicine, nutrition and food science, and have been producing health educational, medical, and nutritional products for over 25 years. Here are further thoughts addressing your specific comments: |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
|
Contain over 40 amino acids, minerals, high levels of B Vitamins, iron, fiber, calcium and more. Quinoa has ancient origins to the Incas. It is known for building strength and endurance and contains the highest protein levels of any known grain. Sprouting converts the indigestible grain to a fruit/vegetable that neutralizes anti-nutritional factors, and renders the contained nutrients highly digestible. Sprouting permits us to incorporate the seed as a raw ingredient. We are unaware of any scientific evidence that quinoa sprouts at the low levels used in Origins do anything other than benefit health. |
||||||||||
|
We do not advocate soy, or any other legume or grain product that must be cooked, as a mainstay in the diet. However, eaten in low dose and in variety there are many potential benefits. In our chocolates it exerts a processing functionality and, arguably, a health one. Also, one must consider the low levels used in the chocolate, and the fact that our chocolates are not intended to be, nor would they be, a mainstay of the diet. As such, and in consideration of all features of the Wysong Chocolate TherapyT, there are no chocolate products that offer so many healthful advantages. The soy controversy is driven by political and commercial vested interests, rather than hard science. Soy has been used in various forms since it was first harvested in the 11th century BC in China. Farmers in the U.S. first grew soybeans in 1829. During the Civil War, soldiers enduring incredible physical stress used soybeans as "coffee berries" to brew coffee. What one needs to discern from studies (as opposed to sensationalized sound bytes) is the difference in the types and doses of soy used in the protocols. Data from studies on processed soy (meal, isolates, and proteins) cannot be extrapolated to whole extruded soy (such as used in Wysong Foods). Whole soy foods contain complex mixtures of bioactive compounds, which provide a variety of functional roles. Daily consumption of whole soy in moderate amounts has not shown any adverse reactions, only benefits. 1.4 billion Chinese eat it every day and their health exceeds nations who do not use it. Moreover, it is one thing to feed experimental animals massive doses of soy isolates. To extrapolate these results to humans on lower doses and different forms of soy, is quite another...and is scientifically invalid. In comparison, cow's milk contains 35 different hormones and 11 growth factors, which can exert an estrogenic effect 20,000 times stronger than phytoestrogens. Studies can be found showing that these compounds have been linked to breast, ovarian, prostate, and colon cancers. This simply demonstrates that studies can be cited that argue the toxicity of anything, not that milk should be universally avoided. The same applies to soy. Here are extracts from some of the most recent literature archived in our in-house database. Note that these are unbiased, non-industry sponsored, university-based research studies: |
||||||||||
Broccoli and soy could cut cancer risk - shown to have potential prevention activity against hormone-responsive tumors, such as breast, ovarian and prostate cancer. This study targeted breast cancer genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. British Journal of Cancer (vol. 94, pp.407-426) |
||||||||||
|
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, evaluated the dietary intake of lignans for 1499 men with prostate cancer (cases), and 1130 healthy men (controls) using a food frequency questionnaire. They concluded that - "High intake of food items rich in phytoestrogens (flaxseed, sunflower seeds, berries, peanuts, beans and soy) were associated with a monotonically decreasing overall risk (26 %) of prostate cancer." |
||||||||||
Soy may help prevent prostate cancer and baldness A little-known molecule created in the intestine when soy is digested is a powerful blocker of a potent male hormone involved in prostate cancer and male pattern baldness. Kenneth Setchell, PhD, director of Clinical Mass Spectrometry at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, who first identified equol in humans 20 years ago states in fact, the molecule, equol, completely stops in its tracks the male hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which normally stimulates prostate growth and causes male pattern baldness. The significance of equol's ability to specifically bind and sequester DHT from the androgen receptor has important ramifications in health and disease and may indicate a broad and important usage for equol in the treatment of androgen-mediated pathologies. Biol Reprod, Apr 2004; 70: 1188 - 1195. |
||||||||||
Plant estrogens in soy do not increase breast cancer risk - Charles E. Wood, D.V.M., lead researcher, from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. "The findings should be especially interesting to women at high risk for breast cancer who take soy products." Wood and colleagues measured how a diet high in soy isoflavones affected markers for breast and uterine cancer risk in postmenopausal women. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., Jul 2004; 89: 3462 - 3468. As mentioned before, there most certainly are negatives based on isolated proteins, but the key insight here is the conclusion the author draws below - |
||||||||||
Soy processing affects tumor growth - This study has shown that highly purified soy foods and soy supplements may stimulate the growth of pre-existing estrogen-dependent breast tumors. The soy products investigated included soy flour, two crude extracts of soy, a mixture of isoflavones, and genistin in pure form. The degree of soy flour processing affects the estrogenicity of products containing a constant amount of genistein. "Isoflavone-containing products consumed in the U.S. may have lost many of the biologically active components in soy, and these partially purified isoflavone-containing products may not have the same health benefits as whole soy foods," said William G. Helferich, professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois. Collectively, these findings suggest that for postmenopausal women with estrogen-dependent breast cancer, the consumption of foods containing soy flour is more advisable than consuming isoflavones in more purified forms. Carcinogenesis; 2004 25(9):1649-1657 At the same time, even similar isolates but at optimal doses have yielded positive results - |
||||||||||
Soy protein shown to benefit type 2 diabetics Isolated soy protein added to the diets of 14 military veterans under treatment for advanced stages of type 2 diabetes, significantly lowered unwanted proteins in their urine and slightly raised desired HDL cholesterol levels in their blood. The two improved areas are linked to kidney disease and coronary heart disease, respectively, in patients with type 2 diabetes. "Our most remarkable result was that soy protein added to the diet, compared to animal source protein, in this case casein, resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of protein in the urine," said John Erdman, a professor of nutrition in the College of Medicine at the U. of Illinois. Erdman, J.W. et al. (2004). Not All Soy Products Are Created Equal: Caution Needed in Interpretation of Research Results. J. Nutr. 134:1229S-1233S |
||||||||||
Oxherphol - Vitamin E and Carotenes Oxherphol, containing vitamin E and carotenoids, is designed primarily to stabilize the in vitro healthful fats in the chocolate. (See Dr. Wysong's book, Lipid Nutrition Lipid Nutrition ) But as a spin-off benefit, it also is an excellent in vivo antioxidant. Vitamin E complex contains natural mixed tocopherols of the alpha, beta, gamma and delta epimers, which assure superior antioxidant protection, compared to d-alpha tocopherol or other antioxidant vitamins alone. Vitamin E plays a beneficial role in the cellular respiration of cardiac and skeletal muscles in addition to being a vasodilator. Further, vitamin E plays a role in protein metabolism, mitochondrial function, nucleic acid repair, and hormonal production. It protects and supports all physiological functions through its free radical scavenging activity, especially cardiovascular functioning. Carotenoids are long chained, 40-C molecules with conjugated double bonds, making them particularly effective for quenching free radicals. They are also believed to possess anticancer properties, which could be due to their antioxidant potential. It also plays an integral role in vision health due to its ability to convert to retinol. Most importantly since Chocolate Therapy is essentially lipid based (Americans get too much of the wrong fats, and too little of the right ones), your suggestion (add the full C compound and chelators so as to maximize the mineral uptake) of using a water soluble vitamin (vitamin C) would not create functionality in that vitamin C is not miscible in fat substrate. Of course, one could argue the use of an ester, but why would we take such an approach when solid science clearly demonstrates the superior synergistic benefits of mixed tocopherols and beta-carotene. See esp. Heinonen OP, et al. Prostate cancer and supplementation with alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene: incidence and mortality in a controlled trial. J Natl Cancer Inst (1998); 90:440-6. The minerals in all of our products are naturally chelated. |
||||||||||
We hope this helps explain the rationale for these products. Please let us know if there are further questions we can help with. |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
|
|
Copyright © 2008 by Wysong Corporation. This information may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, without express written permission of the copyright owner, Wysong Corporation. Address: 7550 Eastman Avenue, Midland, MI 48642 • Phone: (989) 631-0009 • Ordering: (800) 748-0188 |
Dear Wysong: 
Dear Dr.__,