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Are there any safety issues with
Glucosamine and Celedrin in the MonaVie Active Product?
Although there is no scientific evidence that glucosamine or
celedrin are harmful to any population groups, we recommend that
children, and pregnant and lactating women consume the MonaVie
instead of MonaVie Active, since there are no long-term safety
studies. Extremely high levels of glucosamine (much, much higher
than the dosage in MonaVie Active) can lead to gastric
fluctuations, soft stool, diarrhea, and nausea, and extreme
cases, Abdominal pain, dyspepsia, diarrhea, increased blood
pressure, decreased blood pressure, fatigue, depressed mood,
dizziness, increased CPK, and photosensitivity.
Are individuals with allergies to
shell fish able to consume the MonaVie Active?
Glucosamine comes from shells of lobsters, crabs, and shrimp.
People allergic to shellfish are usually allergic to the protein
portion. Glucosamine is derived from chitin, a carbohydrate. The
process used to extract glucosamine destroys proteins and
antigens that the body would normally react to.
Are diabetics able to take the
MonaVie Active?
Technically glucosamine is a carbohydrate. The body is not able
to convert it into glucose so it does not provide additional
sources of glucose. If you are a diabetic, check first with your
doctor and always monitor your blood sugar. In diabetes, many
factors can lead to changing blood sugar levels. Studies show
glycosamine did not affect insulin sensitivity in humans. (Pouwels
2001).
Is MonaVie pasteurized? What is
the significance?
MonaVie is flash-pasteurized. This is for safety reasons, to
ensure that that are no harmful bacteria, etc. transmitted in
the product.
Pasteurization, when warranted, is important to rid one of the
very real risks of pathogenic contamination and health
threatening diseases. Avoiding this very real threat to our
health takes precedent over the theoretical and unlikely risk of
inactivating food enzymes, which have no recognizable purpose in
human nutrition (See next question and answer). As to the effect
of pasteurization on heat labile vitamins, it would not matter
since measurements are made after the process of pasteurization
is complete. You are guaranteed getting the amounts listed.
Minerals are heat stable and are not influenced by the
pasteurization process.
What is the nutritional significance of plant enzymes?
There is an undocumented belief, by some, that the body’s
ability to produce enzymes is exhaustible and that we need to
ingest plant enzymes to do the work of digestive enzymes.
However, humans continue to produce enzymes into their nineties.
Perhaps there is a reduction in the ability to produce enzymes,
but the inability to replicate secretory cells would be a more
sound explanation than exhaustion of the cell’s ability to
synthesize enzymes.
Even
if our bodies’ were unable to produce digestive enzymes,
ingesting plant enzymes would not help. Food enzymes do not
digest food in the stomach, as they are destroyed during
digestion and therefore fail to enter the body.
Are preservatives added to MonaVie?
Sodium Benzoate is the preservative used in MonaVie. Once the
bottle is opened, the fruit mixture would be an ideal medium for
pathological organisms were it not for an insignificant and
harmless addition of 0.1% sodium benzoate.
Foods containing this preservative are much healthier than
non-preservative foods since harmful microorganism growth are
inhibited, food oxidation is prevented, and food nutrients are
preserved. Sodium benzoate is completely out of the system
within ten hours of consumption. It does not cause cancer. The
limit of sodium benzoate in foods is not because of its toxicity
or potential ill effects; rather, it is a taste issue -- levels
higher than 0.1% will leave an unacceptable aftertaste.
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