PRESS RELEASE:

May 12, 2007

Healthy Longevity
It’s all about balance

By Brad J. King, MS, MFS (nutritional researcher and author)

Remember when you were young? Remember when you were really young? Do you remember what you felt like? If you’re like most of us, you probably took your excess energy for granted. Looking, feeling and performing great were things that just happened; you didn’t have to think twice about them. The reason everything worked so well was because your body invested a lot of time and energy on repairs. It was as if you had a full-time mechanic on the premises.

If you take time to watch a child, you will soon understand the miracle of life—life in the truest sense of the word! A child lives every moment to the fullest. Children contain the essential mechanics of life that keep them in a constant state of rebuilding and renewing their bodies as they are always in perfect balance with their internal systems. A child is the most incredible self-repairing organism of all.

Our bodies are in a constant mode of regeneration, or at least they should be! The cells that comprise our organs, the bones that frame them, the muscles that hold up the frame and the skin that covers the structures are all being renewed at an astonishing rate when we are young and vital on a biological level. It doesn’t necessarily matter how old we are on a chronological or liner level (yes, you can stop crying every time you see those birthday candles on your cake), as what matters most is how we are aging on a cellular level (biological aging). Optimal aging, as opposed to premature aging, is what I call healthy longevity and healthy longevity is all about maintaining balance within the body’s internal systems.

When we are healthy, we can rebuild and replace our structures at the rate of almost 200 million cells a minute, which equates to nearly 300 billion repaired, replaced and replenished cells per day. In a sense, we wake up as a different person each morning!

The Anabolic State

The human body is constantly shifting through various metabolic states during the day and night. It is through these various states that biological aging makes its biggest impact. The anabolic state of health is where the cells are constantly renewing and rebuilding themselves. In the anabolic state, all of the body’s systems are in a constant mode of regeneration.

The process of renewal is controlled by our anabolic metabolism, the rate at which our 100 trillion cells rebuild, replenish and repair themselves. In a sense, anabolic metabolism is our repair budget. The more anabolic we are, the more we can afford the repair bills. When we are young and healthy, our repair budget is extremely high. We regenerate ourselves on the cellular level at incredible speed and efficiency. As we get older and neglect to make the healthy choices our bodies need us to make, we start to break down. Once this delicate balance is interrupted, we move into the catabolic state.

The Catabolic State

The catabolic state—in longevity research—is when your repair mechanisms start to slow down and become out of balance with the body’s destructive mechanisms. This catabolic process depletes the body systems, especially the bones and muscles. Thus health and vitality begin to degenerate regardless of age. Many longevity researchers now believe that premature aging really begins the day your body breaks down faster than it can rebuild itself.

Experiencing Healthy Longevity by Restoring the Natural Balance

Balance or as it is referred to in health circles—homeostasis, is what the human body continuously strives for. Anything that moves us away from this natural harmony causes a disruption within our internal systems, making it more and more difficult for us to experience healthy longevity.

Even before Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon set out to find the “Fountain of Youth” in 1513, people have been infatuated with the possibility of growing younger. Perhaps it is our keen sense of vulnerability as we reach that certain age that causes us to panic and realize that aging as we know it is more often than not, less than graceful!

The question is what if a so called “Fountain of Youth” did exist? Perhaps if Ponce de Leon searched for it on land instead of water (and on a different continent), he may have found something that ancient Oriental medical texts called: Nature’s rarest and most beneficial herb.

The Real Magic Mushroom

Red Reishi (Ganoderma Lucidum), commonly known as Ling Zhi in Chinese, has been used for over 2000 years in Chinese medicine—making it the oldest herb known to be used for medicinal purposes.

Even though there are numerous varieties of mushrooms that are revered for their unique health enhancing qualities, no other mushroom—or herb for that matter—is believed to be more powerful in helping to balance and restore the body’s systems to their natural state than the Red Reishi mushroom.

The balancing and restorative quality of Red Reishi is believed to be attributed to its unsurpassed levels of phytonutrients called polysaccharides (a specialized group of water-soluble complex carbohydrates that have anti-tumor, immune modulating and blood pressure lowering effects), triterpeniods (plant chemicals that have powerful anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory effects), proteins and amino acids.

The polysaccharides contained in Red Reishi—especially beta-1,3-D glucan—have an incredible ability to enhance immune health and exert protective anti tumor activity. This is extremely important when you consider that 80 percent of all cancers occur after age sixty-five, making cancer a disorder associated with advanced biological age.

Aside from the incredible protective and health benefits associated with the polysaccharides within Red Reishi, triterpeniods also have benefits pertaining to healthy longevity. Research indicates that these bitter phytonutrients may be able to protect us against excess inflammation (which is a known indicator of premature aging), cancer, diabetes, allergies and help enhance liver health—the body’s chief detoxifying organ.

The combination and quantity of powerful phytonutrients found in Red Reishi is what makes it stand out from all the other herbs—including mushrooms—when it comes to re-balancing our body’s systems and helping to maintain healthy longevity.

A personal experience

I am not one to simply write about a specific nutrient unless I am willing to try it myself. Such is that case with Red Reishi. After reviewing many brands of medicinal mushrooms, there is only one brand I would recommend—and consume — due to its unsurpassed levels of beneficial phytonutrients—Mikei Red Reishi. I have found Mikei Red Reishi to be, by far, the most concentrated red Reishi available today.

References: Abe H, et al. Eiyo to Shyokuryo, 33, 169, 177 (1980). • Cherniske, S. The Metabolic Plan. Random House Publishing Group. 2003, Pg. 172. • Crescenzi V, et al. Carbohydr. Polymer, 9, 169 (1988). • King B., Schmidt M. Bio-Age: Ten Steps to a Younger You. CDG Books Canada. 2001 • Mayazaki T, Nishijima M. Carbohydr. Res., 109, 209 (1981). • Miyazaki T. et al. Pharm. Bull., 29, 3611 (1981). • Nishitoba et al: Agric. Biol. Chem., 51, 619, 1149 (1987). • Sporn MB. New Approaches to Chemoprevention of Breast Cancer. - Annual report. 1 Sep 97 Dartmouth Coll., Hanover, NH. • Takeuchi T, et al. J. Antibiotics, 24, 631 (1971). • Tomada M. et al. Phytochemis¬try, 25, 2818 (1986). • Valisolalao J. et al. Bull. Soc. Chem. Fr.,1980, 473. • Walford, R.L. and R.H. Marantz. “The Quest to Beat Aging, the Battle Against Aging,” Scientific American (September 6, 2000)

This article is for informational purposes only. Consult your health care practitioner for any medical advice. The information found in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.