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History of Nutrition Investigator

ORIGINS IN ORIGINAL, PATENTED RESEARCH

I started as Chair and Professor of Biochemistry at Beloit College. When I considered the major mysteries in science then, the biggest question I found was "Why do humans age?" Why do we get older, why do so many of us develop cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, and other age- associated diseases as we age? Thorough review of the scientific and medical literature showed that the "free radical theory of aging" offered the best explanation. Covered in a separate essay, this hypothesis states that we essentially rust out, just like a car, from chemical reactions in our bodies caused by the oxygen we breathe. Today, there is substantial evidence that this theory is correct. Scientists and physicians can detect these free radicals, and measure DNA mutations, clumps of protein and lipids, damage to cell membranes, and other harm caused by free radicals.

There was also substantial evidence that this rusting process can be slowed dramatically by nutrients called antioxidants, especially vitamins C and E. People who take vitamin C and E supplements have dramatically lower rates of heart disease, cancer, and other age-associated diseases than those who do not (ref). But how much should I take?

Surprisingly, there were only two dosages of vitamin C suggested then, 60 mg per day recommended by the Food and Nutrition Board of the U.S. Government to prevent scurvy, and up to 10,000 mg per day recommended by Dr. Linus Pauling. How could I decide between 60 and 10,000? To determine the answer, I began nearly a decade of research, culminating in 1993. By giving people various doses of vitamin C at different times, I determined that the amount needed to saturate the body with vitamin C is approximately 500 mg twice a day. In another essay, I go into the details of why this dosage is the most sensible, safest, most proven dosage to reduce the risk of age-associated diseases. The important thing to note is that I would have to eat 16 oranges every day to get this in my diet. It was clear a supplement was important to my long term good health!

Having determined how much vitamin C to take, the next question was, what other nutrients are useful to obtain in a supplement? There were numerous carefully-controlled clinical trials showing that vitamin E is also a completely safe and helpful nutrient. Here there are many important studies which demonstrate two important points. First, 400 iu is the safe, proven dosage to take. But second, it is important to get natural vitamin E, which contains a mixture of forms of the nutrient know as tocopherols. Almost all supplements contain only the alpha form, but studies show that the pure alpha found in most supplements displaces other important forms, especially gamma-tocopherol. My Personal Health supplements contain the mixed natural tocopherols that are essential to optimal health.

Thinking about my mother, who was over 80, the next nutrient I studied was calcium. Osteoporosis is a major illness in mature women, and I was surprised when I read that it also affects many older men. That's why so many older men appear hunched over. It's not just from bad posture, their bones are degrading from osteoporosis. But again, how much should people take? Among other things, I was concerned because just as too little calcium can cause osteoporosis, too much can lead to numerous unpleasant and even dangerous side-effects, from diarrhea to high blood pressure.

Once more I was surprised to find no answers in the medical literature. While a great deal of research has been done to determine how much calcium we need daily, there was no answer to how much is effectively absorbed from a supplement. So I recruited groups of young and post- menopausal women, gave them different dosages of calcium, and determined how much calcium is actually absorbed by these different groups, research for which I currently have a patent pending.

THE BEGINNING OF PERSONAL HEALTH CORPORATION

The vitamin C research was so significant that it was reported as the banner headline of USA Today, above the Middle East Peace Pact on page 1! A few months after the headline appeared, a manufacturer called and invited me to disclose my discoveries to him, and he would make me "the Orville Redenbacher of nutrition". I was fortunate to have been selected as a Kellogg National Fellow back in 1985-88. The Kellogg Foundation selects 50 people in the nation to encourage to become national leaders and provides them with 3 years of experiences and a wonderful network of expert advisors. I called a number of distinguished advisors, including pharmaceutical company officers and marketing experts, and eventually located an outstanding CEO who assembled an excellent corporate team.

We met for the first time in April, 1996 at Beloit College and formally incorporated Personal Health Corporation.

With the help of investors who believed in the cause of "providing the average person with 7 to 10 years of additional good health and saving $20 billion each year in health care costs", this management team built Personal Health Corporation to fulfill its mission and goals, and to provide people with the best in health-related products, starting with the finest in safe, proven nutritional products.

It also resulted in a U. S. Patent, again so significant that it was the patent of the week featured in the New York Times.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF PERSONAL HEALTH CORPORATION TO NUTRITION INVESTIGATOR

Thanks to a remarkable accident, PHC has changed its goal from making a fortune to helping people maintain optimum health. As a professor, I profess good nutrition, which requires that I cite relevant evidence to support my opinions. Thus, PHC evolved to become NUTRITION INVESTIGATOR. Welcome to a web site dedicated to improving personal nutrition and health through effective delivery of nutrition information for non-profit purposes.