USANA :: Science

	Why do Athletes Trust USANA? Because of USANA's quality manufacturing, potency and athlete guarantees, Informed-Choice screening program approval and 40 years of scientific research. Read below to find out more about the science behind USANA and its stringent manufacturing standards. In the lead up to the 2012 Olympics, the UK medicines regulator banned 84 products containing 'dangerous ingredients' showing the importance of quality manufacturing. Read here for details.
	Optimal Health "The principles of good nutrition are universal. If we can nourish the human body in a comprehensive way on a daily basis with the full spectrum of essential nutrients in the right forms, amounts, and in the proper balance, we can sustain long-term health and effectively avoid degenerative disease. Health, after all, must begin at the cellular level." "The skyrocketing amounts of free radicals that are being generated from the toxins that we have created in this century, the synthetic chemicals, drugs, pollutants, stress, and so on are overpowering our dietary sources and innate production of antioxidants. The body's antioxidant systems cannot stop the chain-reaction of excessive free radical activity that barrages it day in and day out. That's why we need better nutrition than our grandparents and our parents had. We need doses of natural, dietary antioxidants that are far larger than what the government has established as recommended daily amounts. We need supplements because our bodies require more of these nutrients than we could possibly get in our foods." - Dr Myron Wentz The levels of nutrients in USANA's products are not based on RDA's. Recommended Daily Allowances were set many years ago to represent the minimum amount of a nutrient that you require every day to prevent a deficiency disease like scurvy! Medical research shows that these levels are insufficient for preventing degenerative disease today because of nutrient depleted food and an increase in free radical damage from stress and pollution. USANA's products supply optimal levels of nutrients appropriate for today's lifestyles. Did you know: Stress [both mental and bodily] is a major cause of free radical damage! Proper supplementation is therefore essential for athletes whose bodies undergo enormous amounts of stress and those of us in stressful jobs or situations!
	The USANA Story A large part of USANA's success can be attributed to the company's founder Dr Myron Wentz, an internationally recognised pioneer in the use of human cell technology for the diagnosis of infectious disease. Dr Wentz founded Gull laboratories in 1974 where he and his team developed some of the first diagnostic tests for infectious diseases including the Epstein-barr virus assay which remains the gold standard for diagnosing the virus today. In 1992 Dr Wentz founded USANA using his knowledge of cell-culture to research the prevention of degenerative disease which had surpassed infectious disease as the primary cause of health concerns worldwide. He found that by giving cells in the lab proper nutrition he could keep them healthy indefinitely with no sign of degeneration. By testing nutritional products available on the market on healthy cells in the lab he realised that none were capable of doing the same. USANA has therefore spent the last 20 years developing products which prevent degeneration at the cellular level, unlike any others on the market.
	Scientific Research USANA's partnership with a multitude of institutions including the Linus Pauling Institute, several Universities, the Orthopaedic Speciality Hospital [TOSH] and the Glycemic Index Foundation ensures that USANA uses cutting edge technology and continually tests the effectiveness of their products. USANA's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility ensures that poor manufacturing doesn't destroy exceptional science. Each of USANA's supplements carry a Potency Guarantee ensuring that what is on the label is in the product. USANA voluntarily adheres to pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practices [GMP] which are more stringent than the GMP for foods which most supplement companies follow. Its products meet the British Pharmaceutical Standards and are used in the Physicians Desk Reference. According to the NutriSearch Cooperation's "Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements" by Lyle MacWilliams, which recently awarded USANA its highest distinction possible—the NutriSearch Gold Medal of Achievement™—and selected USANA as its Editor’s Choice, USANA offers the best nutritional supplements guaranteed in potency, purity, bioavailability and disintegration/dissolution. “At USANA, scientific research is at the heart of every product we offer. Whether in studies conducted by top scientists in our on-site laboratories or findings from the many research partnerships we have across the globe, USANA is fully committed to the research and development of cutting-edge nutritional technology." Dr Myron Wentz - Founder and Chairman - Meet the Founder
	Definitions degenerative disease - diseases such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis and osteoperosis which involve deterioration of cells and tissue. antioxidant - a substance that protects the body's cells from the damaging effects of oxidation and free radicals free radical - an unstable atom or group of atoms which cause a chain reaction of oxidative damage that harms healthy cells in the body causing degenerative disease Good Manufacturing Practice [GMP] - a production and testing practice used worldwide that helps ensure the quality of a product. Nutritional supplements are requires to meet GMP for foods but USANA also voluntarily adheres to pharmaceutical GMP to ensure that its products are of a pharmaceutical standard. Physicians Desk Reference - the PDR is used by Doctors and contains only pharmaceutical grade products. potency - what is on the label is in the product purity - a substance is pure if there no adulterants or contaminants present in it bioavailability - ablility to be absorbed by the cell. This requires substances to be in the right amounts and combinations. disintegration/dissolution - indicates how fast and to what degree a supplement is broken down by the body/dissolves so that the nutrients can be absorbed