b'The list grew as more universities through- lus, L. bifidus, L. bulgaricus, and many out the World studied these nutrients. Moreothers. Minerals got their biggest push in studies have been done on nutritional sup- the 1980s when, for the first time, medical plements than any other area of medicine.doctorsbeganextollingthebenefitsofa With that has come their high degree ofnutrient and it was calcium. Unfortunately, safety and proven efficacy. they were not extolling magnesium at the Vitamin C became available in a mul- same time.titudeofformssuchasascorbateswithBy the 1990s many of the essential ami-variousmineralsattachedtoretainitsnoacidsbecameavailablewithmoreto health-giving properties longer in the body.come. Those were L-Glycine, L-Phenylal-Then came the big change for Vitamin C anine,DL-Phenylalanine(DLPA),L-Ty-possible to envision. ascorbyl palmitate, an oil-soluble form ofrosine, L-Taurine, L-Carnitine, L-Inosine, Vitamin A initially was lauded as theVitamin C that the body can store in the or- and the big seller that outshone them all mostimportantnutrienttohelpprotectgans, skin, and brain, and can support cel- was L-Tryptophan.against cancer. That brought about its vil- lular health. This was further promoted forL-Tryptophan was the new kid on the ificationbythepharmaceuticalindustry.its topical use for skin to reduce wrinklesblock and so effective and remarkable that However, as new genetic research emerged,alongwithDMAE(Dimethylaminoeth- allcompetitionfellinitswake.Itaided VitaminAappearedmoreimportanttoanol),althoughitsprimaryusewasforrestful sleep, it helped make menstrual cy-health than ever thought before and it re- brain-function enhancement. cles comfortable, it helped reduce stress, it gaineditsimportance.Then,VitaminDAll the while three new fronts of sci- helped stop binge eating, aiding weight re-finally got its recognized place under theentific work were simultaneously generat- duction as well. In a very short time it took Sun as well. This continuing recognitioning exciting new worlds of their own, stillover the market. It quickly became the big-was insured by the Vitamin D Councilsdeeply interconnected with the rest of thegest success story in nutritional history and wealth of thousands of published researchworld of nutrition. These three categoriesquickly saturated the whole marketplace: studies extolling its benefits ranging fromwere amino acids, hormones, and new nu- health-food stores, drug stores, and grocery bone and mental health to reduction of vi- trient discoveries. stores. It could be found everywhere.ral infections. Amino acids seemed to break all bound- Then, its dark moment came. The major Meanwhile, new research was revealingariesofnutrientexpectations.TheywereJapanese supplier of L-Tryptophan changed that some vitamins werent doing anythingfound to be the very essence of our physi- itsfilteringsystemsatsomepointand for certain people. Something was wrong.cal being and the basis of natures genome.somehowe-colibacteriapassedthrough There seemed to be a barrier to their ef- Probably the most important one for us isthe filters and into the product. Only one fectiveness. So, scientists dug deeper andL-Glutamine.Geneticallyitisourbase.batch of food-grade L-Tryptophan had the found that aging had a far greater impactThere are hundreds of amino acids. Pres- problem; but it was enough to shut every-on health. Almost universally, the bodysently science recognizes that their numberthing down and vilify L-Tryptophan alto-ability to convert basic nutrients, such aswill grow with time and has some under- gether, eradicating it from the market. Not PantothenicAcid(VitaminB5)intoitsstanding of the approximately 26 essential,coincidentally,atexactlythesametime, co-factor,isimpaired.Inthisexample,and thus most important ones for the hu- thepharmaceuticalindustryintroduced manufacturers recognizing the need beganman body. Prozac; and ultimately this synthetic drug producingco-factorproductsprovidingL-Arginine,L-Lysine,andL-Orni- notL-TryptophanbecameAmericas Pantethine,enablingthebenefitspanto- thine were the first amino acids to hit theanswer to stress. Hospitals, of course, were thenic acid alone had failed to provide formarket in a big way. It all stemmed fromstill using it. L-Tryptophan is so powerful the aging population. bookssuchasThomasMannsAnti-ag- and important that there is no real alter-Other nutrients then also became avail- ing on longevity and Durk Pearson andnative. We do get it in our food as well. In-able as co-factors. The general health of ev- Sandy Shaws book Life Extension. Theterestingly enough, pharmaceutical grade eryonewasenhanceddramaticallywhenbody-buildingcommunityinparticularL-Tryptophan was used to cure people who VitaminB6becamepyridoxal-5-phos- sought these nutrients for physical fitnesssuffered from e-coli attacks. So, for the past phate (P5P), and one by one other B-vitaminand enhanced release of growth hormone. 20 years it has been absent from the market, cofactors and other enhanced forms of the BL-Lysine, of course, was highly soughtbut it is now back with surging popularity.vitamins appeared in the marketplace. as the country went through what seemedOne of the clear successes for the health This also spurred on special forms ofto be an epidemic of the herpes virus inindustrywastheunanimouspassagein Vitamin E, creating a whole new scientificthe 1980s. Due to the AIDS epidemic in the1994 by Congress of the Dietary Supple-understanding of its benefits. As it turnedsame decade many nutrients became recog- ment Health and Education Act (DSHEA), out, the tocotrienols are high antioxidantnized for their immune benefits, especiallywhich, among other things, prohibited the performers, while the d-gamma tocopher- propolis, zinc, and one of the most import- Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from ols greatly benefit against prostate cancer.ant categoriesprobiotics of L. acidophi- regulating dietary supplements as food ad-14 H ealtHF reedomN ews /w iNter2020'