Medicinal Mushroom Ingredients

Green coffee Bean – Studies have shown that green coffee has a number of potential health benefits. These include reduced blood pressure, increased weight loss, and improved skin. “

Preliminary research has shown that green coffee stimulates weight loss. One study found that it suppressed weight gain and fat accumulation in mice. Studies in humans seem to confirm this finding. Another study found that people drinking coffee enriched with chlorogenic acid, the main active ingredient in green coffee, lost more weight and abdominal fat than people drinking regular instant coffee. They also had smaller waists at the end of the study. This is especially good news because having a large waist size increases your risk of developing a number of serious diseases, including cancer and heart disease.

Another way chlorogenic acid stimulates weight loss is by increasing levels of a hormone called adiponectin. Adiponectin helps your body burn fat and boosts your metabolism. It also reduces blood glucose and lipids, which may lower your risk of getting diabetes and heart disease. So green coffee not only aids in weight loss, but it also reduces your risk of developing chronic diseases.

It Can Lower Your Blood Pressure

Green coffee has been shown to significantly decrease blood pressure in both hypertensive rats and humans. Green coffee also reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is known to increase blood pressure and cause other problems like weight gain. High doses of green coffee bean extract are most effective. So consider taking a few pills a day if you want to experience these benefits.” “

Research has also shown that chlorogenic acid increases blood flow to the skin. This increase in blood flow can give your face a more radiant appearance and even tone. So if you start taking green coffee bean extract, you might not need highlighter or foundation anymore!

Coffee extract also improves fine lines, wrinkles, and pigmentation, since it contains powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants fight free radicals that damage the skin and contribute to aging.”

Glutothione Reductase and Glutathione Peroxidase

“These are enzymes that have antioxidant effects in biological and biochemical systems. The antioxidant defense system protects the cell against oxidative damage of free radicals or other reactive molecules.”Jan 31, 2020  This is in turn helps to prevent lipid peroxidation and maintain intracellular homeostasis as well as redox balance

First line defense antioxidants

These are a collection of antioxidants that act to suppress or prevent the formation of free radicals or reactive species in cells. They are very fast in neutralizing any molecule with the potential of developing into a free radical or any free radical with the ability to induce the production of other radicals. Three key enzymes: superoxide dismutase, catalaseand glutathione peroxidase are top on the list. These enzymes respectively dismutate superoxide radical, breakdown hydrogen peroxides and hydroperoxides to harmless molecules (H₂O₂/alcohol and O₂). The class also includes metal ion binding proteins like transferrin and caeruloplasmin which chelate or sequester iron and copper respectively, consequently preventing them from free radical formation.

2.2. Second line defense antioxidants

This group of antioxidants is often referred to as scavenging antioxidants. They scavenge active radicals to inhibit chain initiation and break chain propagation reactions. They neutralize or scavenge free radicals by donating electron to them, and in the process become free radicals themselves but of lesser damaging effects. These ‘new radicals’ are easily neutralized and made completely harmless by other antioxidants in this group. Most antioxidants including ascorbic acid, uric acid, glutathione, which are hydrophilic and alpha tocopherol (vitamin E) and ubiquinol which are lipophilic belong to this category.

2.3. Third line defense antioxidants

This category of antioxidants only comes into play after free radical damage has occurred. They are de novo enzymes which repair the damage caused by free radicals to biomolecules and reconstitute the damaged cell membrane. They are a group of enzymes for repair of damaged DNA, protein and lipids. They also do a sort of ‘clean up duty’, they recognize, breakdown and remove oxidized or damaged proteins, DNA and lipids, to prevent their accumulation which can be toxic to body tissues. Common examples include The DNA repair enzyme systems (polymerases, glycosylases and nucleases), proteolytic enzymes (proteinases, proteases and peptidases) which are located both in cytosol and mitochondria of mammalian cells.

2.4. Fourth line defense antioxidants

The action of these ‘antioxidants’ basically involves an adaptation mechanism in which they utilize the signals required for free radicals production and reaction to prevent the formation or reaction of such free radicals. The signal generated from the free radical formed induces the formation and transport of an appropriate antioxidant to the right site.⁸

Superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase are antioxidant enzymes which do not only play fundamental but indispensable role in the antioxidant protective capacity of biological systems against free radical attack. The superoxide radical (^∗O₂) or singlet oxygen radical (¹O₂⁻) generated in tissues through metabolism or reactions in cells is catalytically converted to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and molecular oxygen (O₂) by superoxide dismutase (SOD). H₂O₂ when accumulated is toxic to body tissues or cells. Also, in the presence of Fe²⁺ it is converted to deleterious hydroxyl radical (^∗OH) through Fentonreaction. In order to prevent this phenomenon, catalase (another antioxidant enzyme) which is abundant in the peroxisomes breaks down H₂O₂ into water and molecular oxygen, consequently curtailing free radical-induced damage (Fig. 3). However, catalase is absent in the mitochondria, hence the reduction of H₂O₂ to water and lipid peroxides to their corresponding alcohols is carried out by Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx). This collective protective effort is termed first line antioxidant defense, and the antioxidants involved are referred to as first line defense antioxidants. The role and effectiveness of the first line defense antioxidants which basically include superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) is therefore important and indispensable in the entire defense strategy of antioxidants, especially in reference to super oxide anion radical (^∗O₂) which is perpetually generated in normal body metabolism through several processes.

Glutathione peroxidases (GPx, EC 1.11.1.9)

Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) is an important intracellular enzyme that breakdown hydrogen peroxides (H₂O₂) to water; and lipid peroxides to their corresponding alcohols mainly in the mitochondria and sometimes in the cytosol.³⁹ Most times, its activity depends on a micronutrient cofactor known as selenium. For this reason, GP_X is often referred to as a selenocysteine peroxidase. The enzyme plays a more crucial role of inhibiting lipid peroxidation process, and therefore protects cells from oxidative stress.²⁵

According to Morón and Cortázar, there are at least eight GPx enzymes in human, GPx1–GPx8. The GPx 1–8 genes are mapped to chromosomes 3, 14, 5, 19, 6, 6, 1 and 5 respectively.⁴⁴ Among the glutathioneperoxidases, GPx1 is the most abundant selenoperoxidase and is present virtually in all cells.⁴⁵GPx2 is found much more in the gastrointestinal tract primarily in the intestine.46, 47 The kidney relative to other tissues is the primary location for GPx3, though; the enzyme is also present in extracellular fluids as a glycoprotein.⁴⁸ Most forms of GPx are tetrameric in structure but GPx4 which is often regarded as phospholipid hydroperoxide is a monomer and differ in substrate specificity. This is because Gpx4 is the only GPx enzyme that breaks down phospholipid hydroperoxides. The enzyme also has a mitochondrial isoform that mediates the apoptotic response to oxidative stress⁴⁹ and has a peroxidase independent structural role in sperm maturation.45, 50 GPx5 from both humans and rodents and Rodent GPx6 differ from other glutathione peroxidases in that their activities are independent of Selenium.⁵¹ This invariably implies that these forms of GPx may not be able to effectively scavenge H₂O₂, a feature which is characteristic of the selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidases.⁵²

The clinical importance of GPx has been underlined by a number of studies. Chabory et al. postulated that individuals with lower GPx activity are predisposed to impaired antioxidant protection, which leads to oxidative damage to membrane fatty acid s and functional proteins (Fig. 5), and by inference, neurotoxic damage.⁵³ Forgione and colleagues had previously hypothesized that GP_X1 deficiency directly induces an increase in vascular oxidative stress, with attendant endothelial dysfunction.⁵⁴ Glutathione peroxidases, particularly GPx1 have also been implicated in the development and prevention of many common and complex diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease (Fig. 5).⁵⁵

8. Conclusion

The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase(CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) constitute a first line antioxidant defence system which plays a key and fundamental role in the total defense mechanisms and strategies in biological systems.

“Rhodiola has long been known as an adaptogen, a natural substance that increases your body’s resistance to stress in non-specific ways.

Consuming adaptogens during stressful times is thought to help you handle stressful situations better (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source).

Rhodiola has long been known as an adaptogen, a natural substance that increases your body’s resistance to stress in non-specific ways.

Consuming adaptogens during stressful times is thought to help you handle stressful situations better”

May help with fatigue

In one study, 100 people with chronic fatigue symptoms received 400 mg of rhodiola every day for 8 weeks. They experienced significant improvements in:

• stress symptoms
• fatigue
• quality of life
• mood
• concentration

May improve brain function

“Exercise, proper nutrition, and a good night’s sleep are sure ways to keep your brain running strong

Some supplements may also help, including rhodiola.

A review of 36 animal studies concluded that rodiola may improve learning and memory function.”

May improve exercise performance

“Rhodiola has been claimed to improve sports performance by reducing physical and mental fatigue and increasing antioxidant activity (12).

However, research results are mixed.

On the positive side, one animal study found that rhodiola could improve muscle power and strength performance in rats. In the study, the rats were given Rhodiola rosea extract combined with another compound in rhodiola called Rhaponticum carthamoides (Rha) after resistance exercise (13Trusted Source).

Another study found that ingesting rhodiola shortened reaction time and total response time in young, healthy, physically active men. It also increased antioxidant activity but had no effect on overall endurance (14Trusted Source).

In other studies, rhodiola has been shown to improve exercise performance by decreasing perceived exertion, or how hard participants felt their bodies were working (15Trusted Source).

On the skeptical side, research points to studies showing that rhodiola supplementation did not change oxygen uptake or muscle performance, and it didn’t enhance the immune system of marathon athletes (16Trusted Source).

Also, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health warns that there is insufficient evidence from human studies to conclude that rhodiola is helpful for any health-related use (17). Part of the reason for this may be that researchers do not yet understand exactly how rhodiola affects human performance (18).”- Healthline.com