Wellness

[VaBelle35]

I live in a Townhouse community so I always have to look at my mail and packages before I open them.

Too many people with the last name "R" for the delivery folks.

[bebe777]

---

@HappyDaze wrote:

@bebe777 I take trunature vision complex which contains 25 mg of Lutein and 5 mg of Zeaxanthin isomers in one softgel. I see AL's has less than that of each for 2 capsules. Why do you like his formula? Have you tried others? I've been really happy with the Trunature and it gets great reviews but wanted your take on AL's. TIA!

---

@HappyDaze sorry it took me so long to get back to you. FYI, I also emailed you and there is more info in my email.

First off, Andrew runs his Ultimate Eye Support TS in April (just before the damaging summer sunlight days kick in). At that time he offers a 720 capsule supply for around $150 if I remember correctly. You need to take 2 capsules daily, so it's a year's supply. 

Also, you need to take your Omega-3 with Andrew's Ultimate Eye Support because lutein and zeaxanthin are both fat soluble and they preferentially search out the DHA fraction of the Omega-3s. The fat in the eye is mainly DHA (and DHA is the primary Omega-3 fat in the brain... which is right behind the eye).

With regard to Procaps Labs vs. TruNature, I don't know their brand so I can only talk very generally. 

Lutien and zeatanthin are preferentially concentrated in the Macula region of the very center of the back of the eye. I think I remember hearing andrew say that zeaxanthin was 1,000 times more concentrated in the Macula than in any other part of the body. The macula is yellow (which is the color of these two supplements). 

These two supplements effectively neutralize some of the damaging UV blue light that comes into the lens of the eye.

While lutein is very important, zeaxanthin is even more important. This is because zeaxanthin concentrates in the center of the Macula, while lutein forms a circle around the outer edge of the Macula. 

So zaexanthin it the main rate limiting factor to prevent eye damage. I think Andrew says that the eye needs about 10-14 mgs of lutein daily, so TruNature may be supplying more of the less expensive antioxidant (when compared to zeatanthin) than is necessary. 

Also, Andrew's supplement contains the bilberry and black elder purple pigments which both support night vision. 

And Adnrew's supplements always contain all the other cofactor ingredients that allow the active ingredients to do their jobs most effectively.

I'm going to get the following cost figures wrong because I'm working from memory. Andrew frequently talks about how zeaxantin, lutein and bilberry are three of the most costly active ingredients that are in any of his supplements. These prices are either for a pound or a kilo (2.4 lbs), but I'm pretty sure they are for a pound: zeaxanthin is $6000, lutein is $4000, and bilberry is $1000. -- Of course, there are any number of ingredient suppliers that will sell vitamin manufacturers lesser quality ingredients more cheaply, but Andrew always gets the top quality active ingredients. -- His prices are higher than other vitamin suppliers, but they get more competitive when you purchase the largest size... and even better when you purchase the TS values.

The main reason I go with Andrew's supplements is simply because they've all been "My Body" tested. Essentially, my body can frequently "feel the difference" and I have gotten a number (at least 5-6) crazy good "see the difference" results with Andrew's supplements. 

Some of that makes Andrew's supplements unique: 

* Fussy, type A personality Andrew. He owns Procaps Labs lock, stock and barrel. This means that he gets to make all the final decisions on all of his products, from start to finish. -- And he does... a lot. As Andrew is very fond of saying, he starting making his vitamins for himself because he couldn't find any other vitamin brands that he liked... or that would make (back in the 1980s) some products that had great research behind them like CoQ10 and glucosamine.

* Andrew went to med school but moved on to law after a few years. He was a Food & Drug lawyer for a while before he became a vitamin manufacturer. So he has an excellent educational background for what he does. 

* Andrew has his own manufacturing plant and vitamin assay lab right on the Procaps Labs premises. -- This is unusual because most vitamin manufacturers farm out the manufacture process, so they don't have real control over their ingredients. -- At Procaps, every batch of ingredients is assayed. For certain ingredients, Andrew is fond of mentioning how frequently shipments are rejected because they don't have the level of key active ingredients promised by the supplier. I doubt that that goes on at other facilities most of the time. 

* Andrew sources out the best suppliers of active ingredients for his supplements. Much like with Chaz and Wen hair care products, with Andrew I don't worry, because I know that I'm always getting the very best. 

* Andrew doesn't put any binders, fillers or other compromising ingredients into his supplements. The only thing that goes into those capsules are the supplement ingredients. This makes his supplements much more easily absorbed by the body. -- This goes back a number of years for me, but I did do some experimenting between various Procaps Labs supplements and other brand supplements which had more of the active ingredients. I only experimented with supplements in which I could feel/see the difference. -- In every case, even though Andrew's supplements had less of the active ingredients, the positive results were more pronounced with Andrew's supplements. So that's how Andrew's supplements became my "go to" brand. 

* I like to call Andrew the Bill Gates of Vitamin information. Andrew is a vitamin geek -- lol, I'm a bit like that too -- and he spends hours each day pouring over the very latest research on active ingredients. lol, this if fun for Andrew: his vocation is his passion. I really believe that he knows more about the benefits of each ingredient and the best manufacturers for each ingredients than anyone else in the world. 

Let me know if this fully answers your question or if you'd like some additional info. 

-- bebe