Phytosterols

Clinically Proven Immune Modulator…

“Muti” Miracle (Note: This article is a reprint; the product we now make is Immune Modulation)

“Big Medicine” from South Africa was discovered in the little Hypoxis sprout…

Sterols and sitosterolins are plant fats that provide a growing list of health benefits. They are responsible for the therapeutic actions of some of our favorite herbs, including saw palmetto, pumpkin seed, pygeum, Devil’s claw, milk thistle, ginkgo, and ginseng.

The structure of these special plant fats resembles animal fat cholesterol but their function is remarkably different. They occur naturally in fruit, vegetables, seeds, sprouts, and nuts, as well as root tubers. Essential for the life process, they are especially concentrated in seeds and sprouts. These unique phytonutrients modulate the secretions of lymphocytes, thereby having a profound, and sometimes seemingly miraculous effect on the immune system.

The world’s most potent combination of sterols and sterolins is produced from 8 different beneficial sprouts, including Hypoxis, a species of African potato. This herb has long been used in Zulu medicine for chronic viral conditions, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), TB, and cancer. The combination is becoming known in Africa as “Muti”, which is Zulu for “Big Medicine” because even the scourge of AIDS seems to be no match for it.

Seeing clinical studies of AIDS patients gaining weight and improving in health is truly a “Muti” Miracle of modern medicine. In fact, 200 subjects are still being studied, and their CD4 lymphocyte counts are stable. Their Interleukin-6 levels are reduced. They show a decrease in total viral loads and they are feeling well. In fact, they have shown no overt signs of disease progression since they began taking the supplement in 1992.

Very little of these plant fats in our diet is bioavailable because they firmly bind to plant fibers. One would have to eat approximately 240 pounds of fresh whole foods a day to get the amount of these valuable plant substances in 2 capsules of Muti Miracle. With refining, heating, processing, and storage, the level of sterols and sterolins in our diet is reduced even further. Even freezing destroys these sensitive oils by breaking cell walls, thus releasing enzymes that break down glycosides.

These fats were first isolated as early as 1922, and have now been studied for two decades in over 130 double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trials. For example, decreased cytokine levels in the synovial fluid of Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferers confirm their anti-inflammatory properties. Sterols and sterolins correct the underlying dysfunctions found in auto-immune conditions like RA. They increase T-cell secretions which then regulate the overproduction of antibodies by B-cells.

Plant fats are now being used in Africa to manage cancer, hypoglycemia, chronic arthritis, asthma, sinusitis, auto-immune diseases and to reduce susceptibility to infection. They are also being studied for their effects on arthritis, tuberculosis, psoriasis, allergies, and cervical cancer.

Results with the HIV

In the April 2, 1998 issue of The Nation published in Nairobi, research was reported to the Kenya Medical Society that”…plant fats – sterol and sterolin – stabilized and maintained HIV positive patients’ capacity to fight off infections over a period of 27 to 36 months. Prof. Bouic said another group of patients who had opted out of the open-ended trial however developed and died of Aids 18 months into the trials. He said the sterol-sterolin mixture had also been shown to slowly reduce the viral load of seropositive patients over a nine-month duration.”

“At nine months,” he said, “there was a major reduction in the viral load, down to a level that the body could manage.” Even Dr. Luc Montagnier, who identified the AIDS virus 20 years ago, has now shown interest in the ability of sterols and sterolins to boost the body’s defense mechanisms.

Clinical trials on the Feline Immuno-deficiency virus have proven that sterols/sterolins stabilize the immune responses of cats infected with the FI virus.

Sterols and sterolins have been shown to modulate the functions of T cells by enhancing their cellular division and their secretion of important soluble factors called lymphokines. Sterols/sterolins promote the activity of the cytotoxic cells. The activities of these cells are crucial in viral diseases like herpes and chronic fatigue syndrome as well as diseases involving bacteria that live inside the cells, such as tuberculosis.

Sterols and sterolins do not stress the body. They are non-toxic and free of common allergens. In fact, they seem to reduce stress. Stress suppresses the immune system via hormones such as cortisol. With extreme physical stress, such as in marathon running, pro-inflammatory factors are also released adding to tissue damage. Plant sterols and sterolins decrease both cortisol and inflammation.

As with any product that enhances immunity, these natural food substances are not recommended for anyone with an organ or bone marrow transplant. Diabetics should also keep an eye on their insulin levels, as they must when taking chromium or other supplements that can enhance sugar regulation.

Sterols and sterolins protect the bone marrow, and thus the immune system, from the damaging effects of radiation and chemotherapy. Clinical trials have been conducted on BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia), HIV, and pulmonary tuberculosis. Clinical trials are also being developed in cervical cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and ME (yuppie flu).

One effect of these compounds is that they prevent absorption and facilitate the excretion of cholesterol. This is important because oxidized cholesterol in the diet is one of the most potent carcinogenic and atherogenic toxins known, making it an important risk factor for the top 3 killer diseases of our culture.

Oxidized cholesterol is found in all meat and dairy products, especially when cooked or processed. Meats do not have to be fatty to be high in cholesterol. In fact, turkey is the highest, due to a high cholesterol content in its muscle cell membrane (ed: there goes another tryptophan source). Cooking in a low oxygen environment also helps. This can be accomplished by using a pressure cooker, for example, or poaching eggs.

Sterols and sterolins have been tested on over 25,507 human patients and in animal studies at doses 2,500 times higher than those used in humans. No toxicity or adverse drug reactions occurred in any of these trials.

Product Comparison

Muti Miracle is the most concentrated known source of plant sterols and sterolins. No chemical extractions are used, so no residues contaminate the product. Commercial extraction-based products on the market combine soy sterolins with readily available sterols from oil pine (used for lamp fuel) to achieve a patentable combination product.

We use the whole food Hypoxis (African potato) source used in the original studies, which has now become available through hydroponic technology, together with the maximum potency oilseed sprout and six other sprouts. The others are wheat, barley, lupin, fenugreek, soy, and African sunflower.

Hypoxis is guaranteed to make up 10% of the total blend. All our sprouts are freeze-dried at low temperatures within one hour of harvesting to maintain optimum potency. Added enzymes activated by ionic minerals increase the bioavailability of the sterols and sitosterolins.

Here’s a brief analysis of what you will find in the available products at about the same price:

Competitor ‘Muti’ Miracle

Sterols 20 mg (pine oil) 18 mg (Hypoxis sprout, etc.)

Sterolins 0.02 mg (soy) 4.5 mg (Hypoxis sprout, etc.)

Bioavailability .5 to 10% 80 to 90%

As you can see, our product is over 200 times more potent in sterolin content. The sterols are responsible for effects like immune cell proliferation and decreased cholesterol levels. But the sterolins are important for effects on T cells. The natural whole food sprouts in our blend have a ratio ranging from 4:1 to 10:1 (average 6:1) of sterols to sitosterolins. Research also shows a synergistic effect between sterols and sterolins in the absorption process of each. That is, sterols are needed for optimum absorption of sterolins, and vice versa.

So why would a company use less sterolin? The sterolins are lost from the pine oil (lamp fuel) when the sterols are extracted with solvents, so they replace some with sterolins from soy. Also, to patent a formula it had to have a ratio of sterols to sterolins (100:1) an order of magnitude different than that found in nature.

Directions:

They should be used on a continuous basis 2 capsules per day on an empty stomach. For the first month, to build up body levels faster, it is suggested to double the dose to 2 capsules twice a day. Effects are cumulative over the first weeks and months. Do not take sterols and sterolins together with animal products or fibers as these inhibit the absorption of the plant sterols.

Topic Studied: Summary of Results:

AIDS no disease progression, weight gain, feel better

Allergies increased lymphokines that inhibit IgE secretion

Atherosclerosis prevents absorption of oxidized cholesterol in diet

Autoimmune conditions corrects underlying immune dysfunction

Breast Cancer 66% cancer cell growth inhibition in vitro

Cardiovascular disease decreased LDL cholesterol

Cervical Cancer study planned

Chemotherapy protection of bone marrow

Cholesterol reduced absorption of dietary cholesterol

Colon cancer cancer cell growth inhibition in vitro

Contraindications none known

Coronary disease decreased LDL cholesterol

Cortisol reduced blood levels

Endurance athletes decreased inflammation, prevent infection

Herpes increased cytotoxic cells

HIV stable CD4, decreased viral load after 9 months

Immune dysfunctions normalizes high and low immune responses

Immunity increase lymphokines, NK & T cells in vitro/vivo

LDL lowers blood LDL levels

Lupus Erythematosus case studies

ME (yuppie flu) study planned

MS case studies

Parasites case studies

Prostate Hypertrophy BPH successfully treated

Prostate Cancer 28% cancer cell growth inhibition in vitro

Psoriasis case studies

Radiation Therapy side effects prevented or greatly reduced

Rheumatoid Arthritis decreased inflammation & cytokines in synovium

Safety no animal toxicity at 2500 times the human dose

Side effects no side effects or drug interactions (25,000 cases)

Stress reduced blood cortisol level

Tuberculosis increased weight gain and T-cell count

Veterinary applications stabilizes immune system in FIV

Viral infections increased cytotoxic cells

“It’s the remedy of the future. People will take it to prevent colds and infections, the way they now take vitamins.”

– Professor Piet van Jaarsveld, Head of the Dept. of Pharmacology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

“It seems incredible that the sterols/sitosterolins plant fats have such potent immunomodulatory advises in both humans and animals. But, then, to think that these molecules are totally absent from our basic foodstuffs due to the refinement processes…”

-Dr. Patrick J. D. Bouic, Head of the Immunology Department, Medical Microbiology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Endnotes (see the print version for placement in text):

These fats include such compounds as b-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol. The sitosterolins are fatty alcohols and are also commonly referred to as glycosides.

Six studies at the University of California, Davis, show that enzymes in green barley extract may accelerate detoxification of malathion, an organophosphate pesticide.

According to Natal University

Research performed at the State University of New York at Buffalo with b-sitosterol showed that estrogen-independent MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell proliferation is inhibited by a different pathway than that found in colon and prostate cancer research (enzyme PP2Ar). Campesterol did not inhibit breast cancer cell growth.

First shown by D. W. Petersen at the University of California, Berkeley

Eli Lilly introduced the cholesterol-lowering drug Cytellin containing sitosterol in 1957.

Research at the State University of New York at Buffalo led by Atif Awad, Ph.D., found that b-sitosterol replaces cholesterol in the cell membrane, enhancing intracellular communication by transduction to a secondary messenger that signals cells not to divide. Earlier research identified the sphingomyelin cycle as a biocommunication pathway that regulates cell division. b-sitosterol increased the activity of two enzymes in this cycle by 31% and 50% respectively. This may help explain why vegetable fats, such as virgin olive oil which is rich in b-sitosterol, can reduce the risk of certain cancers. Prostate cancer risk is low among Asians eating a vegetarian diet but increases with migration to meat-eating countries. Research published by Awad in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry (1998) showed that plant fats also reduce prostate cancer risk by reducing levels of testosterone and the enzymes that metabolize testosterone into more active forms.

A 6-month study of 43 patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis taking conventional multi-antibiotic treatment

In two studies of cats expected to die from FIV, all those on placebo continued to deteriorate or died, while all on the sterolin supplement stabilized and remained healthy.