Saving Water Never Looked So Beautiful - USANA Green

Anyone who knows me is aware that water is very dear to my heart. I would do anything I can to protect her as she is the very source and sustainer of life. Even those who are interested in going to other planets the discussion soon turns to the need for water. We cannot live without it and this precious resource needs to be conserved, cherished and skillfully used even more  now and forever. Usana Health Sciences has done much to conserve and preserve water in the state of Utah, one of the driest states in the nation. In this article that serves as a guest post, Usana goes into detail as to why and how they are doing this. This responsible approach towards resources used is just one of the many reasons I am so very proud to be a part of this company sharing Dr. Wentz and his son Dave Wentz's vision for True Health for all mankind and our dear Mother Earth. Let us take nothing for granted and be blessed.  - Ekayani

USANA Green: Saving Water Never Looked so Beautiful

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Spring comes in stages, replacing the yellow of winter with an optimistic new green one piece at a time. It starts with the grass, blade by blade accepting the new season. Then there’s the trumpet of leaves budding on trees, which, in their fullness, sound the coming arrival of flowers.

Such is springtime outside USANA’s Home Office. The award-winning landscape that surrounds the building comes to life with the longer days and occasional spring showers.

But spring also signals the approaching end of the wet season. Utah is the second driest state in the United States, and in a few months the green promise of spring will be washed away by the waves of the unrelenting summer sun. To preserve the bloom of April and May, many turn the sprinklers on, opening the floodgates to a season of high water usage.

At USANA, there’s no need to choose between beauty and water conservation.

“If you want to save water, there’s a lot of different options,” said USANA Green Coordinator Jeff Robertson. “We went with xeriscaping because we wanted to provide a space that was not only water-efficient, but was beautiful and functional as well.”

Xeriscaping is a technique designed to maximize water savings by using native plants that thrive in dry climates. USANA’s xeriscaping—done by the facilities team—uses Utah’s indigenous wildflowers, native grasses, shrubs, and swaths of rock to save a million gallons of water a year and provide added aesthetic benefits. The one million gallons saved accounts for about 10 percent of USANA’s total usage.

Even with the growth the company has experienced, the xeriscaping—one of the first projects to come to life through the green efforts—is still allowing USANA to stay water-wise. More employees mean more toilets flushing, more hands being washed, and more water bottles being filled up. The addition of a new manufacturing line has also added demand for water. But USANA has been able to keep usage to 800,000 gallons a year—still under the baseline level established in 2007.

  Water-saving improvements inside the building haven’t made the same visual splash as the xeriscaping, but USANA has rolled out various projects to keep interior usage down. Sinks operated by motion sensors have been installed in the restrooms. And a small, but impactful, step was taken when USANA changed out old 2.2-gallon-per-minute aerators in favor of more efficient 1.6-gallon-per-minute versions. Aerators attach to the bottom of a faucet and add air so there isn’t a steady stream of water, which saves in the long run. Robertson said USANA has also looked at other measures, including water-free urinals, but hasn’t pulled the trigger yet.

Not only is USANA saving water, it’s minimizing the impact its manufacturing has on ground water. The wastewater created by the production of USANA’s products has no significant contamination in it. Robertson said the local organization that tests wastewater had to come back and test again because they couldn’t believe USANA didn’t have anything significant going into wastewater.

In the arid Western U.S., water is a precious commodity—one to be cherished, not wasted. That’s why USANA is making the most of its water usage, and, in the process, showing that conservation and beauty aren’t mutually exclusive.

Dr. Oz Health Corps Teens Spotted at Brooklyn Food Conference

In the middle of two Health Corps Teen Battle Chefs at the Brooklyn Food Conference Saturday May 12 in Ft. Greene Brooklyn

It was with great delight that I attended the Brooklyn Food Conference this past Saturday. There were  eight floors of activities, talks, demonstrations, education, vendors on all food related topics. In fact it was so large that  I was only able to attend just a couple of talks as I wanted to be sure to stop by as many booths as possible including the Kid's Corner downstairs where a "food fight" was being held that encouraged kids to play with food as a teaching tool! (Check out PlayHarvest.org).
The Future of New York City Food Policy was a panel discussion and with solid suggestions from Ana Garcia, MPA and co- director of NY Academy of Medicine, Joel Berg, Executive Director of New York City Coalition Against Hunger, and moderated by Dr. Freudenberg, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Public Health Program at CUNY. There were two other panelists along with Joy T. Wang, producer at WNYC who covers food and culture. A lively and impassioned talk with solid suggestions and revelatory facts on how New York is failing and succeeding at making real food accessible to all. A heartfelt and informative speech from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer who has been a tireless advocate for local and sustainable followed. To give you just a small  idea of all the talks and demos I didn't make it to see a list of the agendas covered below.

School Food - How to make it delicious and sustainable
Economics & Business Development - How food is an engine for local economic development
Food & Culture - How the multicultural landscape of New York/USA has on our food  through the lens of race, country of origin, gender, region and even sexuality
Food & Policy - Learning the political landscape of food policy; It's positive and negative effects of people and the planet.
Farming & Agriculture- How Brooklyn urban farms and gardens and rural farms can sustain the population.
Faith- Varied roles that faith communities can play in the food movement by addressing hunger, poverty, land, community & policy. One church that is stepping up to the plate is The Congregational Church of South Hempstead.  There is a Conference for 21st Century Pastors and Church Leaders being held Wednesday,  May 23 from 8:30am to 2:30pm on the topics of Jobs and Investments through Church based social enterprise; The Energy Efficient Church- Stewardship to the Max; Sustainable Agriculture- Next Level Food Ministry. The conference is $40 and in, 416 Woodland Dr., 11550. Includes breakfast and lunch. Call (516) 489 - 3610 to register  learn more or visit CCSH.
Environment - Explore how factory farrming,GMO's and extreme energy exploration create toxins in our food supply
Hunger & Emergency Food - Hunger is a persistent problem right here in the USA & New York. I learned that 1.5 million New Yorkers are missing meals daily with half of them children.
Labor & Social Justice - Inadequate wages are paid to over 2 billion food workers today. Ironically much of the fresh fruit and vegetables they grow are out of reach due to low wages with the incidence of diabetes,heart disease,obesity and more affecting these people. How do we support sustainable jobs in this sector?
Health Nutrition &  Education - A new wave of interactive and educational activities are on the rise teaching children, parents, families how to eat better and why it's important.
To Learn More About the Conference & Support Their Work go here!

Teen Battle B Chefs at BFC

HEALTH CORPS  with Dr. Oz and Usana Health Sciences Represent!

Really for me the most exciting moment for me at the conference was finding myself on the elevator with the Teen Battle B Chefs on the way to the Youth Summit area. I got a jumping up and down in approval and big smiles in a way that only teens can do when I told them I was with Usana Health Sciences. Usana has partnered with Dr. Oz to make learning about where food comes from, how to prepare food in a peer to peer relationship with teens inside schools fun and inspiring. Chef battles, fashion shows -   all food related activities -  catch teens at the critical time when they start laying the foundation for the rest of their lives. Teens learn how food,  nutrition and physical activities (or lack thereof) affects everything from their mood, energy level and weight. The idea is to get them on a path to a healthy and happy life instead of taking shelter of drugs,alcohol and cigarettes to feel better. As we know these habits  are ultimately empty as they rob the human organism of life.  Learn more about Health Corps here
Watch a video of the verdicts on a recent Teen Battle with Dr. Oz, Dr. Wentz and Dave Wentz

Mother's Day Celebrations Galore Loving Mother Earth

We are completely dependent on Mother Earth for the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we bathe, drink, and water our crops with. The assaults on our Mother Earth or Gaia or Bhumi have been ruthless and brutal. Ask the average citizen and they can name several top of mind - The Fukushima Nuclear Power plant meltdown in Japan, the BP Oil disaster and the reckless use of corexit in the Gulf of Mexico or the burning of the Tripa forest in Indonesia one of the last homes of Orangutans on the planet and what little remains of the precious lungs that helps keep us cool and balanced and the weather in check.
8 Ways to Love Mother on Mother's Day
In the face of all this madness, I have compiled a proactive list of the many positive and healing activities you can partake of this Mother's Day whether you want to get your hands in some dirt or donate to those who are! Let's celebrate the Greatest Mother of all who is even Mom to our Mom's. To Life!
1. Make a Solar Charger - Using Solar Energy to charge that cell phone or those batteries @ The Commons located at 388 Atlantic Avenue in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn. Near A C @ 3 4 5 trains. Learn how in this  hands on workshop! This half day workshop taught by Traci Fitz. Registration limited to 12.  Call City Solar at (347) 254 - 0019 or register online here

2. Save an Acre of Land on Mother's Day

The facts are simple; No Farms No Food!

Every minute, America has been losing more than an acre of farmland to urban sprawl and development. You can help. Save an acre in your state for $10 and American Farmland Trust will  send you or your gift recipient an ecard and certificate of adoption. Learn more and Donate here so we can keep eating!

Save an Acre

3. Become an Urban Farmer! Join a Farm meetup! Learn how to compost, grow flowers, keep bees and much more! This list is for New York City but don't let that stop you! There are food movements all over the country and MeetUp is a great way to find them! Find a Farm Meetup Group Near You!

4. Save a Honey Bee, Songbird or Polar Bear! 
The NRDC has got some great Mother's Days gifts here! Check em out!

5. Get to the Brooklyn Food Conference in Fort Greene! It's Free! Food Exhibits Family Friendly!

Register here to avoid lines  Saturday, May 12, 2012 from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM (ET) Food served from 11am to 3pm Brooklyn Technical High School on S. Elliot

6. Help the Mom's of Erie County keep fracking away from their kids school! 
 We Love Water....don't you? SOS

Thanks for taking action with Food and Water watch

In California? 

7. Head to Shakti Fest in Joshua Tree California for a weekend of Ommersion & good food with Sahadeva!

My friend Kristin Olson is leading a 9am Mother's & Daughters/Mother's & Son's yoga class at gorgeous Joshua Tree.

Live Music and Yoga to Celebrate your Grace with Masood Ali Khan, Prajna Viera and Daniel Paul. Come with your Mother, Partner or your Self Honor the magnificence. All Levels!  Beginners~Intermediate~Young~Old

No experience necessary.

Bring your Mother...Bring your Self!

$25 off Tickets use Code: 2012olson

8.  Attend Wildflower Week in the 5 Boros! 
Meet Native New Yorkers of the plant variety and learn what you can do to preserve them! Check http://nycwildflowerweek.org/index.html

Love Your Mother!  Happy Mother's Day!

Miss Bike's A Lot - My Encounter With Red Bull Cyclist

Yesterday I was biking up Sixth Avenue on Manhattan's West Side. I was doing a fairly good job navigating the rush hour traffic when I came to a stop light. Ahead of me at a jaunty angle was a fellow biker sporting a protective helmet with a Red Bull insignia on it. He nodded at me approvingly as only people sharing similar interests do - in this case biking. I found myself ogling at his flashy looking Red Bull helmet and wondered if he drank the stuff. I also noticed he had a can of Coca Cola dangling in his left hand. Being a health nut and perhaps a tad too maternal, my heart sank. This is where he was getting his energy from? While he was certainly lean and on the surface appeared healthy I was trying to find a smooth way to tell him that the taurine in Red Bull - originally taken from the bile of bulls (!),  was a  now a synthetic product whose long term effects on the cardiovascular system and the brain were dangerous. I tried shouting this to him from behind. He couldn't hear me so I peddled faster and shouted it again. Then he asked me what medical study I was referring to. I was taken aback as I thought this fact was common knowledge. I said I was sorry I didn't have a study to refer to off the top of my head but asked him to please look into it. And with that, the approving look turned into disapproval and off he peddled with an eat - my-  dust acceleration. I had clearly failed in the smooth department offending someone I wanted to help. Lesson learned: Have your scientific references in place when going at high speeds. Try complimenting the persons awesomeness first before offering information. Don't be shocked when you encounter sponsored athletes who may not be making the best choices for their long term health.
Dear  Cool Biker Dude on Sixth Avenue Here are some facts and a link to said research.
 Dangers-of-taurine

Rev3 The Clean Energy Drink Alternative by from Ask The Scientist by  Usana Health Sciences
Why doesn't Rev3 contain taurine?
Answer:
"Taurine has traditionally been classified as a non-essential amino acid, but by strict chemical definition it is actually an amino sulfonic acid. As a derivative of another amino acid (cysteine), taurine is synthesized by humans in both the brain and the liver. However, its most important role in humans is its role in digestion, since taurine is a major component of bile acid.
In recent years taurine has become a common ingredient in energy drinks, partly due to findings in mice that it alleviates muscle fatigue during strenuous workouts. However, these findings have not been duplicated conclusively in humans. Taurine levels in the body also remain relatively constant so typical oral dosages have little effect on overall body levels. Presently, despite being included in many energy drinks, taurine has not been proven to be energy-giving or beneficial in generally healthy non-deficient adults. For that reason it is not currently provided as part of the Rev3 products. As always, USANA scientists will continue to monitor the best available research on this subject."

My Testimony and More Facts About Rev3
I used to work in a retail store where I had to be on my feet from 9 to 12 hours at a time. It was brutal. In order to try and stay awake and have some energy I would bring Starbucks Double Espresso, Red Bull and Arizona Iced Tea. It was an all day cocktail of these different drinks. When I started feeling myself crashing from one, I'd switch it up and take another. To say I was exhausted by the end of it all would be an understatement. I'd go home and crash out for ten hours and felt just as tired when I got up.  By contrast when I got to try Rev3 in both versions - the pomegranate Rev3 in the can and the more honey lemon tea tasting surge pack I experienced none of the jitters, crash and extreme fatigue. I had mental clarity for hours which really came in handy during writing marathons that could go on all day long.

What Makes Rev3 Different
Cleaner—crisp, light pomegranate taste
No artificial flavors
No artificial sweeteners
No artificial preservatives
No artificial colors
Smarter—smart source of nutrients
Natural caffeine from blends of teas for mental alertness and stamina* derived from green tea, black tea and Korean ginseng
Supplies beneficial ingredients, with powerful antioxidants*
Uses low-glycemic sugars for sustained energy*
Provides vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to support energy metabolism at the cellular level*
Stronger—powerful, energy-producing ingredients
Uses more than just sugar and caffeine
Contains a complete and proprietary Energy Complex with L-carnitine, tea, ginseng, rhodiola, cacao, ribose, citrate, malate, and coenzyme Q10  
Why not energize with something that is good for you? Cleaner. Smarter. Stronger. Rev 3 Energy® is all the power of an energy drink—refined. Rev3 is a great alternative to crash-and-burn energy drinks. What makes Rev3 Energy unique is that it contains a significant amount of L-carnitine. This ingredient offers two important functions in energy production: first it shuttles fatty acids into the mitochondria where they can be turned into energy, and secondly L-carnitine helps transport the toxic byproduct of energy combustion out of the mitochondria to prevent accumulation. Rev3 is also distinguished by its low-glycemic formula. The total glycemic load from Rev3 is three to four times lower than traditional energy drinks. Typical energy drinks spike your blood sugar levels for a quick burst of energy, but lead to a crash soon after, leaving you feeling drained. Rev3’s proprietary formula creates more of a sustained feeling of energy. Rev3 Energy—join the healthy energy revolution.*

Scientic Method: Advanced Applied Nutritional Science In House

Scientific Method: Advanced Applied Nutritional Science
By David Baker
this is a "guest post' taken from What's Up Usana?  a series addressing the solid science behind the manufacture of nutritional supplementation at USANA Health Sciences.
Science carries a certain amount of mystique. The lab coat seems the cloak of a secret society operating just out of reach of the layman’s understanding—not quite magic, but certainly not mundane.

Pull back the curtain and you’ll find science is much less clandestine than you might imagine. In fact, USANA’s in-house team of scientists is just working hard trying to produce the best science-based products available.

That’s not to say there aren’t things USANA’s research and development (R&D) team wants to keep under wraps. Some of the information—tucked away in the unremarkable piles of paper around Brian Dixon’s office—might be the next big thing in nutritional science. As USANA’s director of product innovation, it’s Dixon’s job to turn those piles of scientific literature and USANA’s 27 studies into the next game-changing product or upgrade.

Transforming information into effective products isn’t easy, so you’ll have to forgive Dixon and his colleagues for keeping some secrets. Especially when those secrets turn into patented technologies and products.

From Page to Test Tube

What starts in stapled stacks on the desks of USANA’s third floor transforms into something that rattles inside bottles that end up on so many kitchen counters through a process more work than wonder and more moxie than magic.  

It starts in the pages of the scientific literature that make up a roadmap of sorts. They don’t predict the future, but the literature does indicate the direction science is heading, knowledge that’s essential to staying on the cutting edge.

With scientists from so many different backgrounds constantly studying diverse areas of the literature, USANA covers a lot of ground. The R&D staff contains a doctor of naturopathy, an expert in sports science, molecular and cellular biologists, nutritional biochemists, pharmacists, nurses, biologists, and chemists. Since all of the members of the R&D team focus on different areas and approach problems from different points of view, they create a huge, robust way of looking at things, which is important.

When the team finds something of interest in the journals, they are able to run with it. Depending on the type of finding, they will either design an in-house study, or consult the experts at research partners like the Linus Pauling Institute (LPI) or The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH). Research partners are currently working on 22 of USANA’s studies.

“We yield to the experts whenever we need to, which I think is smart,” Dixon said. “It’s working smarter, not harder.”

A good example of the role USANA’s scientists play in external research is a recent study about bioflavonoids. The R&D team found a paper that suggested bioflavonoids could blunt a spike in blood glucose. They asked a postdoctoral researcher at LPI if the findings had any validity. She looked into it and said the bioflavonoids in USANA’s line theoretically should have the same effects found in the paper.

Knowing LPI had more expertise in the area, USANA had them take the lead on the study. The project found itself in a time crunch, so Dixon and another USANA scientist went to LPI to work side by side at the lab bench with the postdoctoral researcher. Their findings were recently submitted for publication.
 
Although USANA will defer to the experts they partner with, the company’s R&D team contributes its own expertise to external research. “USANA brings speed, efficiency, and passion to any project we’re involved in,” Dixon said. The in-house team also has an experienced, hard-working, well-qualified human clinical research and analytics team, and top-notch facilities available on-site.

“We’re working with a group of physicists and chemists at the University of Utah,” Dixon said. “They don’t have much human clinical experience, so they can develop technologies, and we can test them in human beings. We’re combining efforts for the greater good.”

The Basics of Applied Science

Expertise isn’t the only consideration when deciding if a study should be handled in-house. USANA prefers to do applied research—applying basic research done by institutions to humans, and using it to develop or improve products.

“We’ll do basic research when we think it could pretty quickly dovetail into applied,” Dixon said. “But we like working as closely with the human, with our customers, as possible.”

Basic research isn’t always so basic. It explores the mechanisms of a phenomenon, and establishes the scientific understanding needed to apply groundbreaking research to the human condition. So USANA’s research partners are out looking for next greatest thing in nutritional science, and in-house experts leverage that basic research and apply those cutting-edge techniques and technologies directly to human health.

Translational research is the term Dixon uses. And there’s plenty of it going on in-house at USANA. There are currently five human clinical studies in different stages that Dixon said should be finished this year—an impressive number, to be sure.

The first study is an effort to find a medical device that can quickly show USANA’s products are yielding real health benefits. From research they’ve done, the R&D team knows antioxidant status is increased after taking the USANA^® Essentials™, but that increased status doesn’t feel or look like anything. The study, which is in the process of data analysis, looked at five different medical devices to assess their ability to measure biomarkers that can show the health benefit of taking USANA products.

Another study examines whether the phytosome technology used to raise the bioavailability of the turmeric extract in USANA’s upgraded Procosa^® can be used with other core ingredients. Phytosome technology uses healthy fats to encase nutrients to protect them through digestion and deliver them more effectively to the cells. They are currently investigating if this can help different nutrients and antioxidants get into the blood and the cell, increasing their effectiveness.*

USANA was one of the first supplement companies to put advanced doses of vitamin D in its core products. “We didn’t stop there,” Dixon said. “USANA being USANA, we wanted to actually prove that our customers were experiencing a real benefit. So what we did is conduct a study.”

Actually, two studies. Both are about vitamin D status in USANA product users, and are currently being written up. The R&D team, with the help of Associates, found almost 1,000 people, half who used USANA products, and half who didn’t. One study measured the vitamin D status of participants at the end of winter, when levels should be at their lowest. The other measured levels at the end of summer, when participants should have the most vitamin D.

The winter study found that those taking USANA products, on average, had a 47-percent higher vitamin D level than those who were not taking USANA products. The summer study yielded almost the exact same results, which is odd because a person’s body can typically make tens of thousands of International Units (IU) of vitamin D in about 20 minutes of moderate sun exposure. But contribution from the sun only equated to study participants taking a supplement with 300 IUs, which results in a negligible amount of vitamin D in the blood.

Dixon and the team attributed the results to a modern lifestyle that doesn’t allow for enough sun exposure during peak times between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. This is especially true for people who live above 37 degrees north latitude or below 37 degrees south latitude—where the tilt of the earth causes much of the essential UVB radiation from the sun to be filtered out by the planet’s atmosphere.

The data suggests people shouldn’t just be worried about vitamin D status in the winter, Dixon said. To achieve optimal levels, they should be supplementing with vitamin D all year.

The final in-house study is shrouded in some mystery. It involves a possible discovery that could impact USANA’s products and their effectiveness. All Dixon would say was that it’s a technology that could keep antioxidant levels in the blood higher for a longer period of time, providing more protection against oxidative stress. After further study, USANA is hoping to file patents.

Publications and Products

The conclusion of a study doesn’t mean the end of the work. Researchers write papers for presentation at scientific conferences or to submit for publication in scientific journals—just like their peers at major research institutions. The peer-review process the research goes through means studies are evaluated by experts, who check the papers’ scientific validity.

“We’re still held to the same standards of scientific excellence that any university or research institution is,” Dixon said.

Including papers that come out of research collaborations, Dixon said USANA scientists have about 10 papers published a year. Publications are a good metric for evaluating researchers, and almost one a month is an output even larger labs would love to have.

Getting journal articles published raise the credibility of USANA’s research, but the ultimate goal for any study is to make better, more effective products. It’s long, less-than-magical work taking science and turning it into something to keep the USANA family—and the world—as healthy as possible. But it’s totally worth it.

“Simply put, Associates get the best science-based health products in the world,” Dixon said.

Go back and read all the Scientific Method articles, and learn about all the research going on at USANA and its partner institutions.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

“We’re still held to the same standards of scientific excellence that any university or research institution is.” — Brian Dixon, Ph.D., USANA director of product innovation

Tatami Sleeping from Q Bedding - Product Review

Beautiful Tatami style mat and pillow cases from QBedding

Keeping Cool and Sleeping Soundly Toxin Free

During our last 86F degree freak heatwave in the middle of April, I was tossing and turning struggling to sleep. It was too darn hot and my bedding, consisting of a flannel sheet and comforter had me sweating. I live on the top floor of a house where the sun beats down upon the roof. We had no time to place an air conditioner in the window and  with the weather's pendulum swinging from extreme hot to frigid within days and often within hours  I wasn't sure if it was worth the trouble. I was caught off guard so it was with relief that I received the Full Size version of the tatami style bedding from the QBedding company days later. I was told it would keep me cool and I was eager to try it out.

Acorus gramineus or Rush Grass

 

Soothing Aroma Beautiful Design

After wresting the package open I was struck by the green aroma emerging. The grass like smell of the mat was strong yet soothing and somehow reminiscent of green tea. Another surprise was the beauty of the mat and the pillow covers. A lovely detail of a green maple leaf pattern was sewn on the mat. The pillow cases were trimmed with a mint green silk like fabric. Laying the tatami on top of my Italian style day bed I lay down to sleep. I found the bed to be remarkably cooling and went to sleep easily.  I found myself asking why a Chinese owned bedding company was producing a product so strongly associated with Japan. The answer may be found in the year 712 AD in the book "Record of Ancient Matters"  which makes mention of tatami. The Empress Gemmei reigned in Nara, the capital of Japan during the years 710 to 794 AD. The city, modeled after the Chinese Chang'an the capital of Tang Dynasty borrowed heavily from the culture and customs from the continent. The Japanese upper classes adopted the fashions, writing style and Buddhist religion of the Chinese ruling class of the day. Nara was a largely agrarian based economy and someone somehow figured out the multiple benefits of using green rush grasses for bedding and insulation. For those millions of us who are dismayed with the idea of sleeping on toxic petroleum mattresses, consider the health benefits of tatami bedding;
1. Flame resistant  - A traditional tatami mat is hard to catch on fire. In Japan where earthquakes and fires are frequent this is a plus. In the West, it provides an option to the toxic bedding we sleep on aside from eliminating concern of ones bedding catching on fire spontaneously due to the combustive nature of commercial mattresses made out of solidified gasoline.
2. Cooling in the Summer  - With adequate circulation you may not need to crank up that air conditioner this summer to stay cool while sleeping. Tatami is made out of rush grasses that naturally breathe. I did find the temperature of my bedding cooler.
3. Hygroscopic - Tatami absorbs humidity so kiss those night sweats goodbye. An average size mat can absorb up to 500 cc of water effectively acting the way wicking does in clothing.
4. Air purifier - The material of the tatami has the ability to absorb nitrogen dioxide in the environment. If you live in a heavily polluted city or like me next to an expressway where car exhaust is spewed into the atmosphere 24/7 you'll breathe easier. One can only imagine how this natural technology would benefit asthma sufferers.
5. Anti - Bacterial - Tatami mats are purported to be anti bacterial in nature. It is said that they help keep E Coli at bay. Sounds like a perfect indoor playing field for your toddler.
6. Sound Proof - Tatami absorbs sound so placing it on the floor helps keep noise down to a quiet roar.
QBedding tatami style bedding also comes in queen size. The items are sold in combination or separately. Visit QBedding

Scientific Method: Teaming with TOSH to Break New Ground

Scientific Method: Teaming with TOSH to Break New Ground

This is a guest post By David Baker exploring the scientific partnerships USANA has formed with leading institutions to further human health. There is a video link at the end. Be sure to watch! - Ekayani Chamberlin

“USANA has brought TOSH to a whole new level. TOSH is world renowned for its surgery and physical therapy, and the research, but I feel like the collaboration with USANA on research has taken that research to a whole new level.” — Tyler Barker, Ph.D., physiologist and clinical researcher at TOSH

Leave the USANA Home Office headed east toward the towering Wasatch Mountains and any one of three routes will put you at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) in less than 20 minutes. There are 12 measly miles of road between the corporate headquarters and the medical campus—road that represents a connection deepened by, but not built upon, proximity.

Collaboration is the vocabulary word Tyler Barker, Ph.D., a physiologist and clinical researcher at TOSH, would use to describe the research relationship with his neighbors to the west. It’s a collaboration manifested in shared interest, workload, and desire to be better through a two-heads-are-better-than-one philosophy.

“USANA isn’t just supporting the research, they’re doing it,” Barker said. “It would not be possible without USANA. Sometimes I feel bad because I’m always bugging Brian.”

He’s talking about Brian Dixon, Ph.D., USANA’s director of product innovation, and one of the members of USANA’s Research and Development team Barker works with most closely. Dixon and Barker should be familiar with each other. Both logged time at the Linus Pauling Institute (LPI). They kept in touch after their time in Corvallis, Oregon, and have fostered the collaborative spirit both point to as a strength of the partnership, which officially started in 2009.

But Barker’s relationship with USANA actually goes back further. As part of a research partnership with LPI, USANA funded Barker’s dissertation.






A Recipe for the Perfect Collaboration

Although the research partnership between USANA and TOSH is fairly new, the collaborative nature of the relationship is already bearing fruit.

“USANA has brought TOSH to a whole new level,” Barker said. “TOSH is world renowned for its surgery and physical therapy, and the research, but I feel like the collaboration with USANA has taken that research to a whole new level.”

None of it would be possible without the unique expertise and resources Barker and TOSH bring to the table. And since TOSH is a world-class facility on the forefront of orthopedics, their contribution is by no means paltry. There’s the medical-campus setting with physicians, surgery, physical therapy, athletic training, and research under one roof. Then there’s the constant stream of patients that make up a large, varied population—everything from kids getting ready for their first football practice to osteoarthritis sufferers in need of a total knee replacement. Everything adds up to the perfect setting for human clinical research about nutrition and orthopedics, and the perfect partner for collaboration.

“Tyler and his team bring a specific skill set and expertise to a problem, and our team at USANA brings another skill set. It works well,” Dixon said. “You have a physiologist working with a molecular biologist, and Tyler can do things that we can’t do. We can do things that they can’t do. Those are the perfect collaborations.”

Like with anything, the research collaborations between USANA and TOSH start with a good idea. Conversations between Barker and USANA’s team produce ideas that could work for both parties. USANA and TOSH then work to turn those ideas into mutually beneficial research. That means designing a study, manufacturing the supplements, working on blinding and randomization—important steps to assure scientifically valid results—recruiting subjects, and collecting and analyzing the data. So the collaboration runs from conception to publication or presentation of the findings.

“I feel like it’s more on an academic level, as opposed to something marketing-driven,” Barker said of the relationship between the two groups.

Teamwork in Action

The relationship between USANA and TOSH materializes in the four human clinical studies currently underway—all of which explore the convergence of orthopedics and nutrition.

The first study examines whether low vitamin D status impairs recovery from muscle damage, and whether supplementing increases vitamin D levels and improves recovery. Data is only collected in the four winter months, but TOSH has finished subject recruitment and enrollment. Barker is ready to start data analysis, and he’s excited about what he’s seen so far. There have already been presentations at international scientific conferences, and the first manuscript from the study is in print now.

Barker was also able to leverage USANA’s resources to secure $40,000 in additional grant money for the study, getting even more research out of the company’s investment.

Knees are the focus of two other USANA-TOSH collaborations. One study builds on Barker’s dissertation, investigating the role vitamins E and C play in strength recovery following ACL injury and surgery, and whether multivitamin/multi-mineral supplements have an influence on strength recovery, as well. The ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. The study is approaching 50-percent subject recruitment, and Barker expects to do an interim analysis soon.

The other knee study explores whether multivitamin/multi-mineral supplements influence strength recovery, inflammation, and wound healing following a total knee replacement—a procedure that is increasing in frequency, especially in women. Barker said they are halfway to their goal of 30 subjects.

Data collection is continuing on both knee studies, but is just underway in the final USANA-TOSH collaboration—a vitamin D-osteoarthritis study. There are already 20 subjects, and five have finished their 12 weeks of supplementation—either a custom pack of vitamin D, fish oil, and joint-health supplements, or placebos. It’s a big study that involves several end points and outcome measures. But it’s important because, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, osteoarthritis affects an estimated 26.9 million adults in the United States, and is currently the leading cause of disability. This study is so important USANA has committed $250,000, plus the cost of supplements and other sample analysis.  

There are other things Barker has going on as well, like a case study exploring vitamin D status in the first subject to enroll in the total knee study. “We’re funding four studies and we expect four conclusions to come out of it,” Dixon said. “But Tyler goes above and beyond. He is consistently reanalyzing the samples he and his team have already collected as new research comes out to verify findings or even make new ones. So we get a lot of bang for our buck.”

And the fact that these studies are happening in humans, in a medical setting, makes the research even more valuable. 

“Subjects are coming here to get better—they have a bum knee or a bum hip or something—we want to make their lives better,” Barker said. “But at the same time, let’s do a little research to find out what’s going on and see if we can improve that.”


A Bright, Busy Future

When USANA evaluates which research to support, the phrase “cutting edge” is always part of the conversation. Working with researchers pushing the frontier of science is paramount, and the research with TOSH definitely fits USANA’s cutting-edge mantra. Crossover between orthopedics and nutritional science has been infrequent, but it’s quickly becoming an emerging area of interest—one where TOSH and USANA are already making advances.

“You can probably count all the studies that have examined vitamin D and inflammation in orthopedics on one hand,” Barker said.

Most of the research in orthopedics involves surgery, physical therapy, and biomechanics. There have been a few studies with vitamin C, iron, and folate, but most have been observational, not experimental, in nature. USANA and TOSH are trying to do both and, in the process, produce truly groundbreaking work.

And by no means is that work done. In fact, Barker and Dixon think the future looks bright. USANA funding has already allowed Barker to hire two research assistants to help shoulder the burden of running numerous clinical studies at the same time. Barker usually has about five studies on the backburner, too, and there are indications that some of those might be of interest to USANA.

“We’ve talked about a couple of possible studies, and there’s some additional funding that’s going to be coming TOSH’s way,” Dixon said. “Who knows where nutritional science and patient care is going to go in the future? But we’ll obviously be on that cutting edge.”

Barker would like to get to a point where USANA and TOSH are doing larger phase two and three clinical studies. The specifics aren’t clear, but what is—judging by the glowing way he talks about the collaboration he’s had with USANA—is Barker’s excitement about what the future holds for the partnership.

“USANA has quality supplements and quality people,” Barker said. “And then, with all the subjects and patients that walk through the doors here, basically, what we can do is endless. There are always questions and hypotheses.”
USANA Takes You On A Tour of TOSH

Next week, don’t miss the final Scientific Method story, which looks at research going on inside the USANA Home Office.