Q Why does Växa use milk proteins instead of soy products in the Nutritionizer -- Aren't they bad for us?

A Milk has been a nutritious stable food source for the last 5,000 years upon this planet. It has alone been more responsible for civilizations' survival than most other foods. Man, being a mammal with a pancreas which makes lactase (the enzyme which breaks down lactose, a simple carbohydrate), has the biochemical capacity to digest milk protein and other dairy products throughout life, being genetically predisposed to do so. Unfortunately, much has been marketed about the "evils" of milk simply because there are occasions of milk and dairy product intolerance, ignoring the genetic and biochemical facts that mankind has been amply predisposed to digest all dairy products. Most intolerances to milk and dairy products are caused by allergies, not a missing penchant to digest dairy products. Food allergies are faulty Immune Responses to specific foods generally caused by using too high of a concentration, or too much of that food in one's diet over an extended period of time. In other words, imbalances within the diet due to either using too much or too little of any of the food groups will lead to eventual allergies and intolerances. This problem is easily remedied by simply fasting from the food that is suspected of causing the allergy for 7-14 days, and then slowly reintroducing the food back into one's diet. The same procedure can be practiced for those who suffer from allergies to wheat products or any other food for that matter.

Some intolerances are also caused by the fact that a person's pancreas can no longer produce lactase, or produces so little that milk becomes difficult to digest. Generally, this problem has been caused by the overactivity of the pancreas (often by years of an unbalanced diet) so that it becomes "worn out." If this is the case, it's likely that there are other important enzymes produced by the pancreas that will also be in short supply. Here, we recommend adding Digestin, which supplies lactase as well as other digestive enzymes, to the diet. Supplementation of Digestin with each meal will aid in Milk/Dairy product digestion, as well as help the body preserve pancreatic function. Other intolerances can also be caused by an unclean colon. Many foods including milk and dairy products will have a difficult time being appropriately digested and assimilated if the colon is not clean and stocked with the appropriate "good" bacteria. So, here of course, we recommend a colon cleansing strategy such as Växa's Colon-Aid+ and ReFlora+.

Lastly, milk proteins simply taste better for the vast majority of people. Soy protein is often bitter and sour tasting, yielding an aftertaste that is difficult to mask. Also, the milk protein that Växa specifically uses, Casein, has the highest ratio of Total Essential Amino Acids to Total Nitrogen of all foods (including soy protein) reported by the FAO/WHO Expert Group. This high ratio makes milk protein one of the easiest to digest and assimilate for the vast majority of people, ironically, far easier and more efficient than soy, as well as milk being one of the most nutritious foods on the planet.

Q Why does Växa use a blend of "artificial and natural" flavors, and are they truly natural or synthetic?

A Blends of artificial and natural flavors are used in the Nutritionizer so as to enhance the "Olfactory-Response-Factor," or ORF, to taste. In other words, it's known that the sensation of smell plays an important part with what we taste. If the smell is weak or somewhat undefined, taste becomes modeled and less acute. Unfortunately, many natural flavors lack sufficient strength in the olfactory realm. Thus, in order to compensate, natural flavors are processed by adding an oxygen or hydrogen atom to its molecule to specifically enhance the smell of the flavor. Yet, when this is done, the FDA insists that we now call it an "artificial" flavor because the molecule has been changed. In actuality, the molecule remains the same, adding to its structure only. It is, therefore, not a "synthetic" molecule, only one which has been improved upon.

Q What is the "yo-yo syndrome," why do so many of us experience it, and how are Växa's products formulated to prevent it?

A One of the major reasons so many people experience the "yo-yo syndrome" in dieting is because the needed nutritional balance just isn't there. With most diet drinks and dieting plans, reducing caloric intake subsequently means reducing nutritional intake as well. Stores of amino acids, peptides, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and cofactors are generally depleted while dieting. Even though we may not be experiencing an actual famine, it mistakenly believes otherwise because the body is experiencing reduced caloric and nutritional intake. When this happens, the body is triggered into actually believing or experiencing that it is in a state of "famine." It actually "categorizes" this, and any other previously experienced weight-loss period, as a time of "famine, and begins to build a chemical "memory" of these events - events which are to be guarded against at all costs. Accordingly, it enters into a mode of self-preservation. Believing that a famine is upon itself, the alarm sounds and it deliberately begins to hoard any calories that the system takes in. Now, under the body's biochemical response to a perceived famine, other biosystems shut down as energy stores are being conserved. Under this new famine-induced biochemical response, the less we eat, the more calories our body hoards and stores, converting every spare calorie it can into fat rather than burn it.

And then, as we innocently return to a more normalized eating pattern, the body quickly adapts an even more precautionary measure of converting even more "food-energy" into fat stores with an efficiency that's scary. For fear of being caught unprepared for yet another untimely "famine" or dieting period, the body "learns" to anticipate the possibility of other "famines" occurring without warning and is directed to rebuild its fat reserves. In other words, the body, acting in a way that it "thinks" is lifesaving and beneficial, begins to overcompensate for the earlier "famine" or dieting periods, by converting every spare calorie it can into fat while it has the chance. Herein the frustrations and realities of the "yo-yo syndrome" begin. We first lose weight only then to gain it back, and in the process gain more fat as the cycle dogmatically and tirelessly repeats itself over and over again.

Ironically, the key behind breaking the "yo-yo syndrome" doesn't lie in caloric management alone. The real solution is found in understanding that the nutritional value of foods, not just their caloric content, is that which seems to more specifically and speedily govern the body's famine-alarm system. Nutritional values of our meals, then, are much more important than the calorie content alone. This is a critical point most often overlooked by other diet companies, products, and plans. It's not just low caloric values that sound the body's alarm systems. In fact, the alarm sounds first because trends of low nutritional values have been experienced. Indeed, when most people diet, the nutritional values of their meals drop in parallel to their caloric level. And when the nutritional value of incoming food repetitively falls below maintenance levels, biochemical alarms then sound their warning of an impending "famine." But, because caloric values have also dropped, the body is led to believe that a certain number of calories only means so many nutrients. This ratio of "nutritional values to caloric values" becomes a biochemical metric or standard. It becomes the basis of establishing the "fat set-point," and then continues to dictate how much and how often food energy will be converted into fat reserves.

But when the nutritional value of food can remain stable during dieting (and throughout life), or indeed be increased even though caloric values decrease, then the body's biochemical metric and "fat set-point" are changed, and subsequently, the need to hoard additional calories is circumvented. When no competition exists for nutritional resources and stockpiles, nothing out of the ordinary regarding "feast or famine" is suggested biochemically to the body's safeguard systems. The body has no reason to believe that it's experiencing a "famine" when it is given what it needs nutritionally. So, even though we may be consuming less calories, as long as the quality and the proportion of the nutrients being supplied to the body remains superior, the body's rhythms will not become upset, nor be thrown into a life-threatening biochemical scenario of "famine/caloric-hoarding." Therefore, when the nutritional value of our food increases while the caloric value proportionally decreases, there will be no "yo-yo syndrome" experienced. Lost weight will remain lost, and lean muscle tissue will be retained.

When protein and carbohydrate sources are adequately supplied, balanced and matched with all the vitamins, minerals, cofactors and synergistic agents necessary, as they are in the Systemex meal replacement shake, the body will remain biochemically and nutritionally satisfied, despite the fact that caloric intake has in effect been reduced. Thus, by consuming Växa's Health-Pac (Systemex and TriCardia+) and reaping the additional benefits offered in the Ultra CitriSlim and other Växa Weight Loss & Shape-Up Formulas, proper nutrition will be guaranteed to the body even during times of dieting.

With Växa's nutritional advantage, the body doesn't even know it's "dieting." Because nutritional values being supplied by the Health-Pac are so high, it doesn't seem to mind that caloric content is reduced. Despite reduced caloric intake, with Växa, all the nutrients that the body needs to carry on normally have been supplied and indeed have been increased, and thus the body's normal cycles of operation have not been disturbed. Under these conditions, the body will less likely experience the time of the diet or reduced caloric intake as a "famine" period, (especially when coupled with exercise) and thereinafter, not likely compensate by over-storing fat-energy for fear that a "famine," as perceived by the body, will strike again. Indeed, then our body can safely begin to burn fat stores, especially when coupled with an appropriate exercise program. (Please remember that all dieting and exercise programs should only be started after consulting with your Physician.)

Q Why does Växa choose ChromeMate® GTF instead of other Chromium sources, such as the picolinates?

A Växa chooses ChromeMate® GTF because it is the only biologically active yeast-free chromium source which exhibits true Glucose Tolerance Factor (GTF) activity, and the only chromium source which has demonstrably satisfied "Mertz's Law" (unlike the other chromium sources including the picolinates, which do not exhibit true GTF activity). Dr. Mertz, who was a past director of the U.S.D.A., is the scientist who actually discovered and defined for us what "GTF activity" is and how it works in the body with the hormone, insulin. Often misunderstood, insulin is in fact a "fat" hormone. Insulin actually makes fat "sticky," making it "stick" to body cells and become stored within the body. If too much insulin is produced, as is generally the case in any unbalanced diet, an increase of unsightly fat will be deposited. And when insulin metabolism can be regulated, less fat is inappropriately manufactured and stored. Mertz discovered that it was a niacin-bound chromium source which demonstrated insulin regulation, one which he later acknowledged reflected the same activities as chromium polynicotinate (or ChromeMate®). ChromeMate® GTF has repeatedly been shown by independent research to be a potent fat metabolizer. Moreover, it alone has been able to demonstrate true GTF activity which regulates and manages insulin production, and aids in the whole process of energy transfer within the body. This is why we will use no other source of chromium than ChromeMate® GTF. Of all chromium sources now available, only chromium polynicotinate (or ChromeMate®) exhibits true GTF activity. It's considerably more expensive than other forms of chromium, but it's worth it.