Firm introduces antioxidant drink to beat diseases mature ageing

AN indigenous company, Foods Force West
Africa Limited (Sportron Nigeria), has
introduced an antioxidant drink, VIVA, into
the Nigerian market. The product is
registered with the National Agency for
Food Drug Administration and Control
(NAFDAC) as dietary supplement.
Antioxidants are substances that may
protect human cells against the effects of
free radicals. Free radicals are molecules
produced when the body breaks down
food, or by environmental exposures like
tobacco smoke and radiation. Free radicals
can damage cells, and may play a role in
heart disease, cancer and other diseases.
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer
of Foods Force West African Limited, Rev.
(Dr.) Lawrence Awolade, at the launch of
VIVA in Lagos last week said the product
has very high Oxygen Radical Absorbance
Capacity (ORAC).
ORAC is a way to measure the antioxidant
power of a product. The higher the ORAC
value, the more capable a product is of
helping to combat free radicals and the
effects of ageing.
Awolade said: “VIVA is the world’s most
advanced and powerful antioxidant drink. It
is the newest exclusive proprietary Nobel
Piece Prize product. VIVA will mop the floor
killing millions of free radicals. Free radicals
are responsible for attacking our immune
systems causing us to get diseases. VIVA
kills free radicals that cause cancer, heart
disease and diabetes.
“We now have within our reach the
fountain of youth, the easiest way to regain
our health and slow the ageing process.
Studies show it can increase our life span
by as much as 70 per cent. VIVA contains
FoodMatrix nutrients that are whole-food
complexes, not synthetic chemical isolates
like most other supplements.”
Awolade said Sportron Nigeria is a
subsidiary of Sportron Worldwide in
Melissa, Texas, United States of America.
FoodMatrix nutrients, a concept of Sportron
Worldwide, are vitamins and minerals
embedded in a food matrix. In the edible
portions of our natural foods, vitamins and
minerals are always found in protein
complexes. They are never found as
isolated pure molecules and they are never
found to be embedded into other chemicals.
Vitamins and minerals, which are present in
food are contained within a complexed
matrix of proteins, lipids, enzymes,
bioflavonoids and trace elements.
Meanwhile, couples who struggle to
conceive could find baby-making help from
antioxidants such as vitamin E and zinc,
hints a new review of more than 30 studies.
The researchers focused on men who were
subfertile — less fertile than average but
still capable of making a baby — and found
that those who took antioxidants were
more than four times as likely to get their
partners pregnant than subfertile men who
did not take the supplements.
The New Zealand team stops short of saying
that antioxidants actually improve fertility,
however. More research is needed to be
sure.
Subfertility affects one in 20 men and is
responsible for half of delayed conceptions.
Up to 80 percent of cases are thought to be
due to the effects of oxidative stress on
sperm cells, lowering both their numbers
and their quality.
Oxidative stress happens when molecules
known as free radicals, byproducts of cell
metabolism, damage DNA and cells ’ ability to
function. Antioxidants, including certain
vitamins and nutrients, help to protect cells
by stabilizing free radicals.
This has led some experts to wonder if
antioxidants might help sperm stay
swimmingly healthy.
“Oral supplementation with antioxidants
may go some way to improve a couple’s
chance of conception,” lead researcher
Marian Showell of the University of
Auckland, in New Zealand, told Reuters
Health in an e-mail.
To see if the research to date backs up that
idea, Showell and her colleagues reviewed
34 studies that involved nearly 3,000
couples undergoing fertility treatments,
including in vitro fertilization and
intrauterine insemination — two of the
most commonly used methods of boosting
conception odds when sperm-related issues
are involved. Each study investigated the
potential role of one or more antioxidants.
Based on 96 pregnancies among 964
couples in 15 of the studies, the researchers
found that antioxidant use by the male
partner increased the odds of conception
four-fold.
Further, men taking antioxidants improved
the likelihood of their partners giving birth
to a live baby by a factor of five, the
researchers report in The Cochrane Library.
Only three of the studies contained data on
live births, however.
“The findings of increased live birth rates
with antioxidants are based on a total of
only 20 births — a relatively small number,”
Dr. Mark Sigman of Brown University, in
Providence, R.I., who was not involved in
the review, told Reuters Health in an e-mail.
Sigman, whose research found no
improvement in semen quality with the
antioxidant carnitine, was cautious about
making too much of the review ’s results.
The included studies did not use the same
types or numbers of antioxidants, he
added. As a result, the researchers could not
determine the effectiveness of individual
supplements.
In addition to oral supplements,
antioxidants can be found in a range of
foods, from cranberries to collard greens,
tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.
Both Sigman and Showell cautioned that
couples should not count on antioxidants to
overcome their fertility challenges. Even if
certain supplements prove effective, further
research is needed to determine which
couples could reap the specific benefits.
“It is unrealistic to think one treatment will
be good for most couples,” noted Sigman.
“There is no evidence that antioxidants
cause harm,” he added. “But since we also
don’t know which antioxidants or doses are
beneficial — and none have FDA approval
for infertility — consumers are left with
purchasing these based on very limited
data. ”