I had heard of fellow USANA associates doing the experiment described below, but I had never done it myself until this past Thursday morning (June 11, 2009). I decided to step out on a limb and perform the experiment for my BNI group. I’ll report back to them after a week at next Thursday’s meeting.
The photos below illustrate the essence of the experiment. Three jars are filled with tap water. Into one is placed a leading store-bought multivitamin, the sort that people depend on for their health day in and day out. (I borrowed one from a woman in my group who has not yet made the switch to USANA.) Into the second is placed USANA’s award-winning Essentials™. The third is left with just water as a control. Then a slice of apple is placed in each jar.
Here are the results after 48 hours.
I’m not surprised that the apple in the Essentials looks almost the way it did when freshly sliced. What I find remarkable is that the apple in the leading multivitamin solution looks actually worse than the apple in the control jar of just water.
Herewith my analysis thus far.
USANA Essentials
The photo at right shows the slice of apple floating in the water with the USANA Essentials. It is significant to note that I dissolved two tablets in the water, one Mega Antioxidant and one Chelated Mineral. As it turns out, together this actually represents only one-quarter of the recommended daily dosage of four tablets each.
The photo at left shows the two tablets fully disintegrated. Indeed, pieces started floating upwards within minutes of dropping the tablets in the water. The fact that the water is such a deep color (which also happened quite rapidly) attests to the ability of the tablets to disintegrate. We call this bioavailability. After all, if the nutritional supplement never fully disintegrates, how will its ingredients make their way into your cells?
Finally, it would be immaterial to have supplements that dissolve effectively if they don’t also do what they claim to do: protect from free radical damage. Hence the apple. When you cut into an apple and just leave it lying out on the counter, it begins turning brown within minutes. This is free radical damage. The apple is oxidizing before your eyes. The fact that the apple in the USANA Essentials solution looks freshly sliced attests to the product’s efficacy. At least, this is my interpretation. Feel free to come to your own conclusions.
Leading Multivitamin
The photo at right shows the slice of apple floating in the water with the leading multivitamin. I dissolved one tablet in the water, which represents the recommended daily dosage of this particular brand. Compare this with the USANA Essentials solution containing one-quarter of its recommended daily dosage.
The photo at left shows the disintegrated tablet still in a pile along the edge of the bottom of the jar. I was pleasantly surprised to see it start disintegrating almost as fast as the USANA Essentials. Still, not nearly as much of it colored the water. So where does the green come from? It actually developed in the past 24 hours. Until then—and I wish I had taken photos before now—the water was slightly discolored but not lime green. Also, note that the white tablet turned into a pile of grey grit. I can only imagine what actually went into the tablet.
But what is truly remarkable is that the apple in this solution has actually oxidized more than the apple in the control solution of just water (see below). I had expected the apple to deteriorate at the same rate as the control apple, not faster than the control!
Control
The photo at right shows the control slice of apple floating in water. It has started to discolor, yet not nearly as fast as if it were simply exposed to the air. Evidently water alone has some antioxidant properties—another leap of logic on my part, but it agrees with studies that recommend that we drink more water throughout the day than we typically do.
The photo at left shows nothing sitting in the bottom of this jar, as expected.
I don’t wish to pretend that this was a perfectly controlled scientific experiment. Many factors could account for the extreme results. Perhaps there was a contaminant on the outside of the leading multivitamin tablet that I happened to use. Of course, if that’s the case, it’s probably a good thing that my networking colleague didn’t ingest that particular tablet, herself!
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Now it’s up to you. When it comes to protection from free radicals, which brand do you have more confidence in? Don’t sell your health to the lowest bidder. Give me a call today and take the first step towards improving your health dramatically:
- 1-866-964-9025 extension 1 (toll-free U.S.)
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Try this experiment for yourself and see if you don’t get the same results. Then post a comment below and report back what you found.
Here’s to your health!
