Extraction & Absorption

- I've seen several mentions now about the limited solubility of astragalosides in water, and that most extractions use a combination of ethanol and water. I may have to adjust how I produce the "astragalus tea" for more efficient extraction.

- Low-dose chitosan supplementation in the T-on phase is planned. Apparently, it greatly increases absorption of astragalosides.

Subtle distinctions

Turns out that "Vitamin E" is in fact a family of compounds, consisting of (at the very least) tocotrienols and tocopherols in alpha, beta, delta, and gamma varieties, along with a few more exotic variations that are currently being studied by Real Scientists. Some are slightly different, some are very different. That makes it easier to separate the dietary sources for the two different uses of "Vitamin E", but might make finding the right sort of vitamin E in a supplement a little more difficult.

Nice to see that the Canadian Nutrient Database does not sort peanuts into the "nuts" category, as common-sense would (wrongly) do. Currently probing that (the database), along with the USDA Database for the Flavonoid Content of Selected Foods. Useful stuff, with a bit of table-filtering.

Lysine and alpha-lipoic-acid added to the schedule.

What did I just say?

Looks like I'm not the only one who's got concerns about excessive antioxidant loading. I'll probably still take antioxidants, just not megadoses of them.

Fooling around a bit with the blog layout. More links added to the sidebar, including a rough draft of the cyclic telomerase activation plan I'll be following.

I'm starting to see some problems with the dietary portion of this plan. Whole grains, many seeds, and dairy, for example, contain acetyl-l-carnitine (in the telomerase-on phase) and vitamin E (in the telomerase-off phase). So...both? Neither?

I may need to research and collate the following:

- degree of effect of target nutrients/substances on telomerase activation/suppression

- concentration of target nutrients/substances from various foods

- bioavailability of target nutrients/substances when ingested

From there, I should be able to build more comprehensive information about what foods are phase-neutral or should be restricted to one of the two phases.

Strangely, it looks like my previous research into protein combining and the chemical food-pairing aspects of molecular gastronomy will be useful.

Subjectively, I'm feeling pretty good physically. Possibly better than I've felt in a couple of years. Not so much massively energetic, just...capable, if that were a bodily feeling. It's probably too early for my (incomplete) implementation of the CTA protocol to be having an actual youthening effect, so I'm blaming the reishi for now. Seriously craving tuna and tomato, though.

Absorption

Wish I could read this paper in full. By the looks of the abstract, this paper not only confirms the 2.2% stomach absorption figure of astragaloside IV, but also indicates that absorption is greater in a solution of astragalus root, versus just astragaloside IV in water. But is that "absolute bioavailability of astragaloside IV" taken from the pure-in-aqueous solution, or from the root-and-all-in-aqueous solution?

On another note, I've found what might be a better way to consume active ingredients from astragalus root. Grinding (Magic Bullet, flat blade) until a mixture of fine yellow powder and short fibers is produced, followed by mixing with hot water and microwaving until just-barely-boiling, then letting steep like tea, then straining out the fibers. Not bad tasting, maybe with a little cinnamon... Definitely produces a foamy, soapy layer - so I'm fairly sure that saponins are being extracted by this method. Still not sure how much, though...enough for about a centimeter-thick layer of fine, persistent foam in a two-cup Pyrex cup, at least. (Real scientific, yeah.)

Notes

- Astragalosides are considered saponins. Assuming 0.1% saponins and 10% polysaccharides in dried astragalus root, a 70% polysaccharide extract might contain 0.7% saponins, if the saponins and polysaccharides come out in the same proportion (which I have no particular reason at this point to believe, other than convenience of calculation). Thus, the NOW tablets might contain...200mg x 0.7% = 1.4 mg of saponins per tablet. Further assuming 10% of the saponins are astragaloside IV, that leaves 0.14 mg astragaloside IV per tablet... Interestingly, the Solaray astragalus root tablets are listed as being 70% polysaccharide as well, and they're claimed to be about 0.83 mg of astragaloside IV per 200mg tablet. I may need a purer source...

Just got word back from NOW Science & Nutrition - they don't measure the saponin content of their astragalus extract. However, they did provide me with two links about astragalus polysaccharides and polysaccharides in general. The first - okay, nice, but not really what I was looking for. The second - gee willikers, let me google that for you. Really, Mr. Salesman, it's okay if you don't know off-hand what the rotational speed difference cutoff is on the anti-lock brakes - you don't need to give me detailed specifications about the cupholders to make up for it. On the plus side, the response to my query was very prompt.

Let's see if I can follow these calculations... for 1 molecule of astragaloside IV per cell, allow 0.05 mg of root / 2.2% passed through the stomach = 2.27 mg of consumed root, per molecule that makes it into the bloodstream, per cell. That seems...really low. 10 grams of raw root should in theory deliver an average of 4,400 molecules of astragaloside IV per cell, which seems way higher than the 14.52 molecules per cell noted as an "effective dose" using the old GAIA herbs astragalus extract formula. I feel like somewhere there's either an extra milli or a missing milli. 30 grams of raw root, by the same calculation, works out to about 13,200 molecules per cell. ...yeah, that's about a factor of a thousand. Hrm. Come back to this later.

Another angle: Target astragalosides consumption per day = 5 mg. Average astragaloside concentration = about 28 mg/100 grams astragalus root. Target astragalus root consumption per day = about 17 grams, or about 7,480 molecules per cell.

Well, heck.

It turns out that commercially prepared astragalus extract might be more economical than consuming astragalus root directly, after all.

NOW "Immune Renew", $24.99/90 capsules, @ 2 capsules/day, = $0.56/day

vs.

Astragalus root, $3.75/150g, @ 30 g/day, = $0.75/day.

And the NOW product also has a bunch of musroom and fungus extracts, particularly reishi, which I was planning on adding to my diet anyhow. They also carry just the astragalus extract by itself, but it wasn't in stock when I picked up the "Immune Renew". This seems to fly in the face of what I've grown accustomed to w.r.t. health supplement product pricing.

However, the "min. 70% polysaccharides" might be a touch misleading. I've requested feedback from NOW regarding more precise information about any and all astragalosides present. Heck, I can't even find information on whether astragalosides are considered polysaccharides. Hopefully this product contains sufficient amounts of what I'm looking for, as it's much more convenient than 30 grams of boiled or powdered wood* per day.

*Not literally wood. See previous posts.

Reading up about mitochondrial hormesis raises some concerns regarding mega-doses of antioxidants. It appears that I might want to reduce, but not entirely eliminate, free radicals from my body, now that I know what they do. Sure, free radicals may tear my DNA to snippets of ribbons, but they also (a) encourage DNA repair, in low concentrations, and (b) are an important part of a functional immune system. Hrm. Still considering supplementing with idebenone, as a "tweaked" alternative to CoQ10.

Carnosine is a bit pricey, but beta-alanine might be a better way to go anyhow - it's apparently the rate-limiting factor in carnosine synthesis.

Today's revision of supplements:

NOW "Immune Renew", 2x525mg capsules (=280 mg astragalus polysaccharides)

B12, 1x500 mcg

B Complex, 1x500(?)mg

Vitamin C, 2x500g

Protocol Notes

I will be coming up with my own variant of the Green protocol, based on local availability of supplements and any other factors my own research turns up. Such as...

- A "telomerase-off" phase is clearly necessary to balance the "telomerase-on" phase, in order to reduce the impact of cells manifesting the runaway-replication aspect of cancerous behaviour. Cancer is likely to be the result of two simultaneous processes: runaway replication and extended Hayflick limit (as described here). Many foods are proclaimed as being "cancer-fighting"; I should try to examine how these purported anti-cancer properties work. If certain foods fight cancer due to suppression of telomerase expression, they may need to be added to the list of things to avoid during the "telomerase-on" phase (and consume more of during "telomerase-off").

- Foods in the opposite category will likely be a much shorter list. Foods and substances which reduce fertility and immune system adaptability (two areas where mature humans continue to express telomerase in their cells) might be somewhere to start looking for telomerase-suppressing foods and substances. Must use caution, of course - it won't matter how young I feel if the common cold can strike me dead.