ShieldsUp™ TR (60)
ShieldsUp™ TR contains resveratrol, the amount of which in daily dose of ShieldsUp™ TR is equal to the amount of resveratrol in several bottles of high quality wine. The formula contains natural beta-caroten, natural form of vitamin E, standardized grape seed (95% proanthocyanidins) and green tea leaf (98% total polyphenols) extracts, High-ORAC blend, 5 different forms of vitamin C.
The product is manufactured using the state-of-the-art (Timed Release™ (TR) Technology) that is designed to release nutrients in a controlled pattern promoting prolonged action and optimal assimilation.
The product has been manufactured using high quality pure raw materials and the technology that ensures all their beneficial properties intact, in strict compliance with GMP and TÜV regulations.
There was always a great interest to the topic of aging and to the search for a theory that can explain what aging is and why and how it happens. Can we live longer?
Throughout history, scientists have sought strategies for warding off the seemingly inevitable processes of aging and death. In recent decades, the free radical theory of aging has shed light on the degenerative changes that occur as people grow older.
This theory holds that the body produces reactive, unstable agents known as free radicals during normal metabolism and following exposure to ultraviolet light or environmental toxins. While natural antidotes to these free radicals – internally produced antioxidants –are abundant in youth, their levels decline with age. The imbalance between free radicals and the antioxidants needed to inactivate them leads to a generalized state of oxidative stress that can damage lipids, proteins, DNA, and mitochondria throughout the body. Oxidative stress has been associated with many disease processes, including cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s.
Scientific research suggests that minimizing deleterious free radical reactions by ensuring optimal antioxidant levels may hold the key to extending the healthy human life span. Studies have shown that people who live to be 100 years or older often demonstrate higher blood levels of antioxidants than their much younger counterparts. (1)
ShieldsUp™ TR – is a unique Santegra®’s product - exclusive complex of potent antioxidants.
ShieldsUp™ TR is developed on the basis of the latest scientific researches and has no analog in the world.
Biologists have found a class of chemicals that they hope will make people live longer by activating an ancient survival reflex. These chemicals are designed to mimic the effect of a very low-calorie diet, which is known to lengthen the life span of rodents.
A calorically restricted diet includes all necessary nutrients but has some 30 percent fewer calories than usual. The diet extends the life span of rodents by 30 to 50 percent, and even if it is started later has a benefit proportionate to the remaining life span.
A similar mechanism exists in simpler forms of life, making biologists believe that they are looking at an ancient strategy, formed early in evolution and built into all animals. The strategy allows an organism, when food is scarce, to live longer, postpone reproduction and start breeding when conditions improve.
Two experiments to see if caloric restriction extends life span in monkeys are about at their halfway point — rhesus monkeys live some 25 years in captivity — and the signs so far are promising.
Biologist Dr. David Sinclair, assistant professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and his chief co-author, Dr. Konrad T. Howitz, say they have succeeded in finding a class of drugs that mimic caloric restriction. Dr. Sinclair and his colleagues have shown that resveratrol prolongs life span in yeast by 70 percent.
Later studies showed that resveratrol prolongs the lifespan of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
In 2006 it was shown by A. Cellerino and colleagues (Lay Line Genomics), that it also extends the maximum lifespan of a short-lived fish, Nothobranchius furzeri, by 59% and the median lifespan by 56%.
The authors wrote "the observation that resveratrol’s supplementation with food extends vertebrate lifespan and delays motor and cognitive age-related decline could be of high relevance for the prevention of aging-related diseases in the human population. (2)
Scientists involved in the research say that human life spans could be extended by 30 percent if humans respond to the chemicals in the same way as rats and mice do to low calories.
Even someone who started to take reservation at age 50 could expect to gain an extra 10 years of life.
Resveratrol has been found, in a number of studies, to provide a wide range of health benefits:
• Powerful antioxidant;
• Cancer-preventing agent;
• Reduces cardiovascular disease risk;
• Helps to prevent hardening and thickening of arteries;
• Prevents the formation of blood clots in the blood vessels;
• Lowers the cholesterol level;
• The first-ever supplement known to activate a longevity gene.
Resveratrol has been tested for its ability to stop pain (3), stop the growth of the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers (Helicobacter pylori) (4), protect immune cells (5), protect DNA (6), and many other conditions.
Resveratrol is synthesized by plants in response to stress, like a lack of nutrients or contracting a fungal infection.
Resveratrol is naturally created by certain vines, pine trees, peanuts, grapes, and other plants. One of these plants (Polygonnum cuspidatum) is an ingredient in traditional Asian medicines that are prescribed for liver and heart conditions.
The finding could help explain the so-called French paradox, the fact that the French live as long as anyone else despite consuming fatty foods deemed threatening to the heart. This can be explained by traditionally high consumption of red wine in this country.
How much resveratrol is in a glass of wine depends, first, on whether the grapes were grown organically, and, second, how the wine was made. Organic red wines from certain areas of Europe contain the highest level of resveratrol. But most wines contain either no resveratrol at all, or very little (less than a milligram per glass).
Although red wine has been shown benefits, it must be noted that excessive consumption of alcohol can be dangerous to one’s health.
Alcohol is the most socially acceptable addictive drug that has life-threatening health hazards.
The only sure way to obtain a certain amount of resveratrol daily is to take a standardized extract.
ShieldsUp™ TR contains 2 mg of resveratrol (from Polygonum cuspidatum root extract), which is the same amount that can be found in several bottles of high quality wine!
The summary of the latest scientific researches shows, that there are several ways to prolong life:
• A calorically restricted diet, which seems unreal, if you take in consideration the amount of overweight people in the modern society!
• Regular consumption of large amounts of red wine, which could be dangerous because of alcohol;
• Maintaining high blood levels of antioxidants.
Santegra®’s scientists have found a new way by inventing a unique new generation product - ShieldsUp™ TR – a powerful antioxidant, containing a standardized amount of resveratrol!
The best ever created antioxidant formula contains also:
Vitamin A (100% as natural beta-carotene from palm oil) - have anticarcinogenic, immunomodulatory and antioxidant activities. Vitamin A is important to maintain eye health.
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, supports cardiovascular and immune systems, is essential for body’s defense against infections. A composition of five different forms of vitamin C (ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, ascorbyl palmitate, acerola 4:1 fruit extract, rose hips powder) helps optimize your body’s usage of this nutrient.
Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant - it scavenges the free radicals, helps prevent heart problems. ShieldsUp™ TR contains vitamin E in a form of d-alpha-tocopheryl succinate - the natural form of vitamin E, which is more active and better absorbed. Natural vitamin E may be as much as twice as bioavailable as synthetic vitamin E.
Selenium is a very potent antioxidant. It helps to boost the immune system and fight off infection, providing a general increase in the body’s defense against dangerous bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells, may protect against heart attack and stroke, guards against cataracts and macular degeneration.
Grape seed extract is rich in flavonoids, phytochemicals that have antioxidant properties. The most valuable flavonoids in grape seed extract are proanthocyanidins. ShieldsUp™ TR contains grape seed extract standardized to 95% proanthocyanidins. Grape seed extract and proanthocyanidins clearly possess remarkable antioxidant properties. Their effects on reducing free radical damage and oxidative stress suggest that they may be particularly effective in a number of the chronic diseases associated with aging, can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, macular degeneration and cataracts.
Green tea leaf extract is an amazingly powerful antioxidant. It is one of the most popular herbal supplements in the world. It has been used for thousands of years, especially by Asian cultures for its many health benefits, which include lowering cholesterol, healthy cardiovascular system, increased immune function, and weight loss.
The active constituents of green tea - polyphenols, known to be very effective scavengers of free radicals.
Green tea extract is beneficial for cardiovascular system. Studies indicate that the antioxidant properties of green tea may help prevent atherosclerosis, particularly coronary artery disease.
Green tea has demonstrated an ability to lower total cholesterol and raise HDL ("good") cholesterol in both animals and people.
The cancer-protective effects of green tea have been reported in several population-based studies. Cancer rates tend to be low in countries such as Japan where green tea is regularly consumed. Animal and clinical studies suggest that polyphenols may play an important role in the prevention of cancer.
Researchers believe that green tea may slow the effects of normal aging and its associated brain regression. Green tea polyphenols play an important role in various cellular mechanisms related to neuroprotective activity.
Green tea extract possesses antimicrobial properties, supports the immune system.
Green tea may help to normalize and maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
ShieldsUp™ TR contains green tea extract with 97% of total polyphenols, which guarantees its efficacy.
High-ORAC blend is a source of natural antioxidants from green tea extract, grape seed extract, apple powder, blueberry powder, broccoli powder, cranberry powder, kale powder, orange powder, prune powder, raspberry powder, spinach powder, strawberry powder, and blueberry extract.
ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is the way scientists measure antioxidant activity. Studies suggest that consuming fruits and vegetables with a high-ORAC value may help slow the aging process in both body and brain.
High ORAC blend in ShieldsUp™ TR provides the most powerful, natural antioxidant benefits, promotes healthier aging, supports healthy cardiovascular and immune function.
ShieldsUp™ TR is manufactured using the state-of-the-art Timed Release™ (TR) Technology. This process is designed to control the rate at which the formula’s nutrients are released into the body. Timed Release™ provides a more efficient delivery system.
Tablets are designed to release nutrients in a controlled pattern to prolong release and promote optimal assimilation.
As a dietary supplement take 1-2 tablets twice a day with a large glass of water.
Contraindication
In the early ‘90s, after wine was pinpointed as the probable answer to the “French paradox,” researchers realized that the resveratrol content of wine might be the secret ingredient behind the healthy heart effects attributed to it.
The “French paradox” says that a person can eat a lot of fat, yet not get heart disease. Why? One of the reasons is that the wine they drink contains resveratrol, which is a powerful antioxidant. By now, many people have heard that oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is a problem in heart disease.
One of the serious complications of free radical damage is hardening and thickening of arteries. A “vicious cycle” of radicals, artery damage, and narrowing due to scar tissue that, in turn, promotes more free radical activity and more damage, has been described. (8)
Resveratrol’s antioxidant action helps stop free radical damage and opens the arteries by enhancing nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a critical component of heart/artery function. It allows blood vessels to “relax,” which enhances blood flow. In a recent study, a high-cholesterol diet decreased nitric oxide by about a third. Resveratrol supplements significantly reversed the trend. (9)
Resveratrol also stops the proliferation of cells in blood vessels that narrow the arteries (10), and it also keeps blood cells from sticking together. Both are very important for preventing heart attacks.
It was shown recently that resveratrol possesses a “novel mechanism” for scavenging radicals. Although the research is very preliminary, studies indicate that resveratrol may be particularly important for those at risk for Alzheimer’s, or those who have it. It is theorized that free radicals might initiate the process that leads to the disease. (11)
The study from China showed that resveratrol reversed the signs of inflammatory response to spinal cord injury. It’s possible that if a person regularly takes supplemental resveratrol, they will be more likely to withstand a stroke or other injury to the brain. This has been demonstrated in rodents pretreated 21 days with resveratrol. Less brain damage occurred post-stroke. (12)
Cancer is, perhaps, the most dynamic area of resveratrol research. It has solid evidence showing that resveratrol not only prevents cancer, it’s being proposed as an additional treatment. (13,14)
In a widely publicized report, researchers at Harvard Medical School and BIOMOL Research Laboratories have demonstrated that resveratrol activates a “longevity gene” in yeast that extends life span by 70%. The effects mimic those of calorie restriction, the only proven way of extending maximum life span. Resveratrol activates one of the same “sirtuin” genes as calorie restriction. Although the research has only been done in yeast, flies and worms so far, humans have their own version of the same life span-extending gene.
One of the known causes of aging and death is that older cells lose their ability to perfectly replicate DNA in every new cell. DNA “mistakes” accumulate and allow little pieces of DNA to become active and print themselves out, so creating a type of “DNA debris” that eventually stops a cell from functioning.
Resveratrol reduces the frequency of “DNA debris” by 60% through the longevity gene that it stimulates.
Research has uncovered a diverse range of activities that may make resveratrol one of the most useful agents ever discovered for a wide range of human health problems.
In a study published in Free Radical Research (7), resveratrol was put to the test against vitamin E and a synthetic antioxidant. All three were very good at scavenging artery-damaging radicals, but resveratrol emerged as the best defense against certain types of radicals. This points out the importance of using a multi-approach to antioxidants.
Resveratrol represents a novel solution to many common problems encountered by aging humans. (15)
Resveratrol Prolongs Lifespan And Delays The Onset Of Aging-related Traits In A Short-lived Vertebrate
Recently, the seasonal fish Nothobranchius furzeri, a small fish species with captive lifespan of only three months, was described by Cellerino and colleagues; Lay Line Genomics a company focused on neurodegenerative and ageing related diseases, has developed this organism into a unique animal model to isolate new molecular targets controlling aging in vertebrates and for screening anti-aging compounds
The researchers used this short-lived fish as an animal model to test the effects of resveratrol on aging-related physiological decay. They added resveratrol to daily fish food and found that this treatment increased longevity and also retarded the onset of aging-related decays in memory and muscular performance. (16)
Resveratrol Fights Brain Plaque
Studies with resveratrol were conducted recently by scientists at the Litwin-Zucker Research Center for the Study of Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, New York, and reported in a not-yet-finished paper. Using a variety of sophisticated biochemical techniques with cultures of human embryonal kidney cells, they were able to establish that resveratrol did not affect the production of amyloid-beta molecules inside the cells but resveratrol promoted the clearance of amyloid-beta molecules that had already formed. (17)
Neuroprotective effects of resveratrol against beta-amyloid-induced neurotoxicity in rat hippocampal neurons: involvement of protein kinase C
Resveratrol, an active ingredient of red wine extracts, has been shown to exhibit neuroprotective effects in several experimental models. The present study evaluated the neuroprotective effects of resveratrol against amyloid beta-induced toxicity in cultured rat hippocampal cells and examined the role of the protein kinase C (PKC) pathway in this effect. Pre-, co- and post-treatment with resveratrol significantly attenuated amyloid beta-induced cell death in a concentration-dependent manner, with a concentration of 25 microM being maximally effective. Pretreatment (1 h) of hippocampal cells with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, a PKC activator, at increasing concentrations (1–100 ng ml-1), resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in amyloid beta -induced toxicity, whereas the inactive 4 -phorbol had no effect. Pretreatment (30 min) of hippocampal cells with GF 109203X (1 microM), a general PKC inhibitor, significantly attenuated the neuroprotective effect of resveratrol against amyloid beta-induced cell death. Treatment of hippocampal cells with resveratrol (20 microM) also induced the phosphorylation of various isoforms of PKC leading to activation.
Taken together, the present results indicate that PKC is involved in the neuroprotective action of resveratrol against amyloid beta-induced toxicity. (18)
Effects of red wine and wine polyphenol resveratrol on platelet aggregation in vivo and in vitro.
Low to moderate consumption of red wine reportedly has a relatively greater benefit than other alcoholic beverages in the prevention of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (CHD). This beneficial effect is increasingly attributed to the polyphenol resveratrol, present in red wine. In the present study, we investigated the effects of resveratrol and red wine on aggregation of platelets isolated from healthy, normotensive male volunteers and in rabbits with experimental hypercholesterolemia. Platelet aggregation rate (PAR) was measured using Born’s method. The results showed that aggregation of platelets from healthy subjects induced in vitro by collagen (5 microg/ml), thrombin (0.33 units/ml), and ADP (4 microM) was significantly inhibited by 10-1000 microM resveratrol, in a concentration-dependent manner. Hypercholesterolemic rabbits showed enhanced ADP-induced platelet aggregation; the average PAR increased from 39.5+/-5.9% in normal animals to 61.0+/-7.0% in the high-cholesterol fed group (n=8, p<0.001). Resveratrol (4 mg/kg/day) inhibited ADP-induced platelet aggregation in vivo by maintaining the PAR at 35.7+/-6.3% (vs. 39.5+/-5.9% for control rabbits, n=8, p=0.228), but had no effect on serum lipid levels. Similarly platelet aggregation in hypercholesterolemic rabbits was also inhibited when animals received intragastrically Chinese red wine (with or without alcohol, 4 ml/kg/day). These results suggest that resveratrol can inhibit platelet aggregation both in vitro and in vivo, which conceivably could be one of the mechanisms by which this red wine polyphenol exerts its cardioprotective effects. (19)
A new study shows obese, middle-aged mice fed a fatty diet supplemented with resveratrol , an antioxidant found in red wine, seemed to be spared most of the unhealthy effects of their extra weight and lived longer than those fed the same fat-laden diet without resveratrol.
"After six months, resveratrol essentially prevented most of the negative effects of the high calorie diet in mice," researcher Rafael de Cabo, PhD, of the National Institute on Aging’s Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology, Aging, Metabolism, and Nutrition Unit, says in a news release.
In the study, researchers compared the effects of feeding middle-aged mice three different diets for a year (the mouse equivalent of progressing to old age).
One group was fed a standard diet; another a high-calorie diet with 60% of daily calories coming from fat; the third the same high-calorie diet supplemented with a large dose of resveratrol.
At the end of the study, 58% of the mice fed the high-calorie diet had died, compared with 42% of those fed the standard diet or the resveratrol-supplemented high-calorie diet.
On average, researchers found the resveratrol supplementation reduced the risk of death for the mice eating the high-calorie diet by 31%. (20)
The first large randomized trial on antioxidants and cancer risk was the Chinese Cancer Prevention Study, published in 1993. This trial investigated the effect of a combination of beta-carotene, vitamin E, and selenium on cancer in healthy Chinese men and women at high risk for gastric cancer. The study showed a combination of beta-carotene, vitamin E, and selenium significantly reduced incidence of both gastric cancer and cancer overall. (21)
1. Antioxidants, Mitochondrial Damage, and Human Aging By Edward R. Rosick, DO, MPH, MS, LE Magazine. February 2006.
2. Valenzano et al.: "Resveratrol Prolongs Lifespan and Retards the Onset of Age-Related Markers in a Short-Lived Vertebrate." Publishing in Current Biology 16, 296-300, February 7, 2006.
3. Torres-Lopez, J.E. et al. Comparison of the antinociceptive effect of celecoxib, diclofenac and resveratrol in the formalin test. Life Sci. 2002;70:1669-76
4. Mahady, G.B.et al. Resveratrol and red wine extracts inhibit the growth of CagA+ strains of Helicobacter pylori in vitro. Am. J.Gastroenterol. 2003;98:1440-1.
5. Yen, G.C. et al. Effects of resveratrol and 4-hexylresorcinol on hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative DNA damage in human lymphocytes. Free Radic. Res. 2003;37:509-14.
6. Revel, A. et al. Resveratrol, a natural aryl hydrocarbon receptor antagonist, protects lung from DNA damage and apoptosis caused by benzo[a]pyrene. J. Appl. Toxicol. 2003;23:255-61
7. Tadolini, B. et al. Resveratrol inhibition of lipid peroxidation. Free Radic. Res. 2000;33:105-14.
8. Simonini, G. et al. Emerging potentials for an antioxidant therapy as a new approach to the treatment of systemic sclerosis. Toxicology 2000;155:1-15.
9. Zou JG, et al. Effect of red wine and wine polyphenol resveratrol on endothelial function in hypercholesterolemic rabbits. Int. J. Mol. Med. 2003;11:317 20.
10. Haider, U.G. et al. Resveratrol increases serine 15-phosphorylated but transcriptionally impaired p53 and induces a reversible DNA replication block in serum-activated vascular smooth muscle cells. Mol. Pharmacol. 200;363:925-32.
11. Draczyska-Lusiak, B. et al. Oxidized lipoproteins may play a role in neuronal cell death in Alzheimer disease. Mol. Chem. Neuropathol. 1998; 33:139-48.
12. Sinha, K. et al. Protective effect of resveratrol against oxidative stress in middle cerebral artery occlusion model of stroke in rats. Life Sci. 2002;71:655-65.
13. Sinha, K. et al. Protective effect of resveratrol against oxidative stress in middle cerebral artery occlusion model of stroke in rats. Life Sci. 2002;71:655-65
14. Ding, X.Z. et al. Resveratrol inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells. Pancreas 2002;25:e71-e76.
15. Resveratrol: Cutting-Edge Technology Available Today by Terri Mitchell, LE Magazine. December 2003
16. Marambaud P, Zhao H, Davies P. Resveratrol promotes clearance of Alzheimer’s disease amyloid-b peptides.
17. J Biol Chem 2005 [unedited online preprint].
18. British Journal of Pharmacology (2004) 141, 997–1005. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705688
19. PMID: 11745001 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
20. Nature 2006; advance online publication.
21. Blot WJ, Li JY, Taylor PR, et al. Nutrition intervention trials in Linxian, China: supplementation with specific vitamin/mineral combinations, cancer incidence, and disease-specific mortality in the general population.