A BETA-CAROTENE BASED DIETARY SUPPLEMENT

 

The contained in the palm oil beta-carotene, which is actually provitamin A, is a must in avitaminosis A, related to poor diet or disturbed liver resorption. Lack of vitamin A disturbs the function of the body and may lead to serious conditions. Palmcarotenol® improves and regulates the metabolism of epithelial cells. It exerts positive effect on the development of the embryo, regulation of growth and metabolism. Stimulates development of the bone tissue, increases and maintains the resistance of the immune system.
Sopharma AD manufactures Palmcarotenol® in the form of mild gelatinous caplets. Each caplet contains Palm Carotene Oil (30% beta-carotene) 100 mg, vitamin A-palmitate 1,250 IU and sunflower oil 250 mg. Package of 40 caplets.

• Application: For adults only, one caplet a day, usually 2 to 3 caplets weekly. Swallow the caplet with water.
  
• Contraindications: Allergy to beta-carotene.
  
• Side effects: When overdosed yellow coloring of the palms of the hands and feet may appear. Also, change of the color of urine and diarrhea in some instances.

Palmcarotenol® is an oily suspension containing Beta-carotene extracted from palm oil; vitamin A palmitate and sunflower oil.

It is common knowledge that rational nutrition requires daily intake of a fixed quantity of vitamin A. Axerphtolum (Vitamin A) is a non-specific term. It covers two different groups of food factors. One of them contains various types of "presynthesis vitamin A" - mainly retinol esters, as well as retinol and retinal.

The other group covers various types of "provitamin A" - mainly Beta-carotenes, as well as some other carotenoids. Vitamin A, in a pure form, occurs only in animal products. In the human body, it is formed in the liver and intestinal way from the pigments - carotenes.

Carotenes are widely synthesized in plants. Carotenes have first been isolated from carrots. Hence the word carotenes - from the Latin carota - carrot.

The chemical characteristics suggest that this is an unsaturated hydrocarbon - C₁₀H₅₆ - a pigment with orange color. Three isomeric forms - alpha-, beta-, gamma-carotenes are known so far for carotene.

The long-term studies of all three isomers revealed that the b-isomer of carotene, which was actually provitamin A, had the greatest biological importance and was the most common among them.

Man's daily need of vitamin A is about 1 - 2 mg. In normal nutrition, 25% of it are formed in the body out of the vegetables taken and the other 75% - out of animal products. Vitamin A is present mostly in fish oils, pork and calf liver.

The plants that the population in various parts of the world uses to satisfy the needs of Beta-carotene are many. Carrots in Europe and North America. Yellow-green are the vegetables on the Japanese dinner table. Oil or red palm is used in Western Africa. The dark-green leafy vegetables are used in Singapore. Bulgarian consumes carrots containing about 13% Beta-carotene, nettle (Urtica dioica) 9.4 mg%; spinach (Spinacea oleracea) 4 mg%, etc.

The use of raw plants containing carotene as food throughout the year is practically impossible because of the seasonal character of their production. This is why, the offer of Palmcarotenol® on the market is a good solutio of the problem.

Palmcarotenol® is a nutritional additive improving and regulating the metabolism in the epithelial cells, protecting them from degenerative alterations, enhances and maintains the status of the immune system.

Numerous experimental studies have proved the anticarcinogenic effect of Beta-carotene. It has been confirmed experimentally on animals treated with DNA-bound carcinogens that retinol and Beta-carotene can retard and prevent the advancement of cancer. Beta-carotene as especially been stressed to have tumor-suppressing and mainly protective effects in experiments on tumor induced in animals.

The inquiries (prospective and retrospective) carried out so far on the nutrition of the population in different regions of the world confirmed the experimental data on the interdependence between food rich in vitamin A, retinoids and carotenoids respectively - Beta-carotene primarily, on the one hand, and the risk of carcinogenic diseases, on the other. Comprehensive studies and inquiries in that aspect have been carried out at the Park Memorial Institute in the USA. Particularly representative in that aspect proved to be the retrospective inquiry carried out at the institute, on several thousands of cancer patients and the same number of controls. Milk was selected as the only retinol source, carrots and some kinds of vegetables - for carotenes. The analysis of the data of 282 inquired patients with pulmonary cancer, standardized according to sex, age, smoking habits, etc. with a view to their nutrition, in three classes, namely high, moderate and low Beta-carotene content in the food, used for a long time, could be regarded as risk factor for cancer diseases. The same institute carried out an extensive study on 569 patients with urinary bladder cancer, 122 with esophageal cancer and 421 with cancer of the larynx. The conclusions drawn by the researchers raise hopes as regards the role of Beta-carotene containing food and the risk of cancer diseases of the above-mentioned organs and tissues.

The studies in that aspect continue. More reliable data are still needed for the final firm conclusion about the anticarcinogenic action of Beta-carotene. As a nutritional additive Palmcarotenol® is a very good prophylactic agent, improving the regulation of the metabolic processes in the epithelial tissue (skin, mucous membrane of the respiratory pathways, digestive and urinary system, etc.), protecting them from degenerative alterations.

Palmcarotenol® is an agent that contains Beta-carotene as a natural component of palm oil, unlike its synthetic analogue. No doubt, the products containing natural Beta-carotene are the products of choice.

Palmcarotenol® - mild gelatinous caplets are produced by Sopharma AD with 40 capsules in each package.