Im for herbals and prefer the Buhner method of combinations rather than Cowden which Nutramedix is married to
as for Nutramedix theyre admittedly using Peruvian adn other south american herbs and refuse by email or phone to verify if they practice sustainable and conservation methods. a large portion profits goes to a Christian Ministry--Im not against this necessarily BUT Id want to know what that ministry is funding and then if I agree with it before I give them my money--but thats ME
as for the claims of the TOA stuff--youre conveniently quoting the company who has a bit of conflict of interest--I did a LOT of digging bfore I started Cats claw for Evan last year:
I and Buhner ( who doesnt sell anything like Cowden btw and is a very experienced herbalist) checked the literature about the TOA controversy--at least lets all have the accurate info with which to mak our own decisions
-there was a SINGLE series of in VITRO ( test tube) studies that used isolated Cat Claw constituents and only in SOME of these, the TOA had negative affects on the POA activity.
this is what happened
a blend of the POA's was extracted from the herb and placed along with human endothelial cells in a medium called RPMI-1640. This medium as all us lab bench jockeys know has fetal calf serum, glutamine,penicillin and streptomycin in it!!
this was allowed to stand for 7 days to produce supernatants ( liquid layer floating) which was filtered and stored for later. THIS adulterated liquid POA fraction was then used to test what TOAs did to the activity of POAs on cells.
a similarly adulterated prep of TOAs was done and tested.
NOTHING can be generally and legitimately be assumed from these tests except that TOAs MAY inhibit POA on specific cancer cell lines IN VITRO and after being prepped that way.
and the MAY is due to NO one being able to repeat the tests and a lot of conflicted conclusions within their own papers!
TWO papers were published and possibly backed by Nutramedix outlining the very same tests and by overlapping authors and these were then cited by 3 others in future publications. No one else did their own tests or in a way within the human body .
these very same 5 papers are quoted and requoted to "prove" that TOAs arent good
and theyre partially quoted above again by another poster
btw ONLY 2 of the TOAs in the plant were used and the AMOUNTS were far over whats in the plants themselves. When left in the whole plant -the many chemicals- act in synergy ( together)
matter of fact SCORES of other studies on the whole plant show that it stimulates the immune response and has NO adverse effects as described by those faulty papers
and the TOA parts HAVE been found to stimulate immune function especially phagocytosis!!
be aware that there are at least TWO and maybe even 3 types of Uncaria tormmentosa plants- the natives distinguish between them and they may therefore have different properties.
the plant harvested by natives and used for medicine for millenia?? the one with BOTH TOAs and POAs and they keep it whole
final intersting note thats IMPORTANT when deciding what to believe--and how to find possible conflicted interests--follow the MONEY
2 of the papers authors that say TOAs arent good, hold a PATENT on the process for removing the TOAs and have been linked to the company making the final product ( shares in Nutramedix)--what does THAT tell you??
when the TOAs impact the nervous system there are studies and experiences with humans showing thats its good--it HELPS the neurological functioning!!
Im a beleiver in knowing the WHOLE truth and th inside story and then letting others judge for themselves!!!
use whichever product that helps you--BUT know the truth about it!!
be well and MY own opinion is to get the whole herb and see if you can tolerate it.
F
