About four years ago, my wife was diagnosed with abnormal cellular growth of the bone marrow. At the time, she was completely symptom free and it was found by accident. The diagnosis was confirmed with a bone marrow biopsy. Needless to say, the entire family was devastated. Although there have been advances in this type of abnormal cellular growth, no definitive solution has been found with either drugs or surgery. We decided that the best way to approach it was with a raw food diet. For moral support, I joined in on the diet. Her blood counts appeared to improve quite well with this diet, although it was extremely difficult to maintain. I then recommended various nutrients with variable results.

About one to one-and-a-half years ago, I suggested to my wife a new product called CellBooster from NSI® (Nutraceutical Sciences Institute®). This patent pending product was developed by Dr. Faz Sarkar, a world respected nutrition researcher from Wayne State University Medical School. By doing multiple animal experiments, Dr. Sarkar found that a certain combination of nutrients seemed to inhibit abnormal cell growth and also induce apoptosis (cell death) in these abnormal cells. He even published a paper last year regarding some of this work. I recently spoken with Dr. Sarkar and he told me that an additional paper will be submitted shortly. To give you some sense as to his level of knowledge and prestige, Dr. Sarkar has almost three hundred publications in the medical literature.

My wife and I recently visited her doctor in New York and I am extremely pleased to report that the abnormal blood counts have been improving. They have not been this good for well over a year. Fortunately, my wife remains completely symptom free with normal energy levels. I certainly cannot say it was CellBooster that made the difference, but I do believe there is a reasonable chance it played some role. When I told her doctor that she was taking this product, he was intrigued and actually recommended it to the next patient he saw with this same health concern.

Dr. Sarkar combined four important nutrients in CellBooster, including standardized curcurmin, standardized green tea extract, resveratrol and standardized soy isoflavones. It is the exact amount and concentration of each of these nutrients that makes this product so powerful. The recommended dose is two capsules twice a day. I have been so impressed by what I've seen happen in my wife, that I've actually started taking this product myself and have also been recommending it to family and friends. I will continue to monitor my wife's blood tests with the goal of continued improvement.

There were two articles in the medical literature that I thought were worth highlighting in this week's newsletter. The first article¹, appearing in the April 1, 2009 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, detailed a study in which a group of almost 30,000 people from China between the ages of forty to sixty nine participated. The group was given one or more of four different combinations of minerals and vitamins including selenium, vitamin E and beta carotene. They took the supplements for five years and then were followed for another ten years thereafter. Those individuals who took a combination of 50 mcg of selenium, 30 mg of vitamin E and 15 mg of beta-carotene reduced overall mortality, mortality from abnormal cellular growth, and specifically, the risk of developing abnormal cellular growth of the stomach, which is extremely common in China. Even ten years later, researchers found that those who took this combination of nutrients were still 5% less likely to die from any other cause than those who did not take the nutrients.

Interestingly enough, the second article² also featured a study involving a group of individuals from China. Published in the April 2009 edition of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it focused on 64,000 women free of elevated blood sugar or other chronic health concerns at the onset of the study who were followed prospectively. The individuals were monitored in terms of their dietary patterns. It was found that those women with the highest intake of calcium and magnesium had a statistically decreased incidence of subsequently developing elevated blood sugar. The researchers indicated that from their data, calcium and magnesium intake may protect against the development of elevated blood sugar in this population.

Numerous studies suggest that calcium, magnesium and potassium are essential minerals that support good health including healthy cardiovascular function, bone health and favorable blood pressure already within normal range. In contrast, the high sodium diet most of us consume can be very harmful to our health. We need to reduce our sodium intake to about 1,200 mg per day. The average person consumes several thousand mgs of sodium per day, way too much. In fact, the average fast food meal or boxed/processed food can have 2,000 – 3,000 mg of sodium per meal. I recommend 3,500 mg per day of potassium, 1,000 mg per day of calcium (500 mg if you take calcium citrate malate, which has superior absorption) and 500 mg per day of magnesium. I also recommend 2,000 – 4,000 IU per day of vitamin D3 for similar health reasons.

If you are interested in supporting your immune health, I strongly urge that you get started by choosing an NSI Synergy multi-vitamin; Mega EFA® ultra-distilled, purified and concentrated fish oil; calcium; magnesium (if the Synergy you choose does not contain it); and NSI CellBooster for added antioxidant and cellular benefits.

To review all NSI Synergy click here.

1. Qiao YL, Dawsey SM, Kamangar F, et al., Total and Cancer Mortality After Supplementation With Vitamins and Minerals: Follow-up of the Linxian General Population Nutrition Intervention Trial, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Published online March 24, 2009.

2. Villegas R, Gao YT, Dai Q, et al., Dietary calcium and magnesium intakes and the risk of type 2 diabetes: the Shanghai Women's Health Study, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2009, Pp 1,059-1,067.