Protease
  FUNCTIONS -  This proteolytic enzyme is isolated from animal pancreas.  Pancreatic protease has been used for many years in individuals who have pancreatitis and are unable to produce enough of their own protease.  Also by having a variety of proteolytic enzymes in the AMC formula more complete protein digestion is ensured since each enzyme tends to be specific to break between specific amino acids which make up our food proteins (216).
  THERAPEUTIC ACTIONS - Protease can enter the bloodstream in its native configuration (i.e. bypass digestion) when taken orally (217).  One study found that protease injected directly into the bloodstream could relieve chronic arterial obstruction (218).  Another study found that oral protease can be used in the treatment of milk and other food allergies (219).


WHOLE FOOD CONCENTRATES
General
  Since science has not learned everything there is to know about human micronutrients, the addition of some special whole food concentrates can fill in the gaps.  Whole foods contain individual micronutrients known to be essential for human health.  They also contain constituents that we have yet to fully study but they may have a therapeutic action (220).  The addition of whole food concentrates also means the AMC formula can rely on nature to know the proper combinations and proportions of nutrients.
 
Alfalfa juice concentrate
  Alfalfa is high in chlorophyll, vitamins A, D, B-6, K, and E.   Alfalfa contains all the essential amino acids and is a good source of calcium and phosphorus.  Both these minerals are important in proper bone and teeth formation.  Alfalfa can decrease blood cholesterol levels and may help reduce atherosclerotic plaque formation (221).

Bee pollen
  Bee pollen is collected from bees after they come into contact with large amounts of flowers and the pollen sticks to them.  This substance may be helpful to enhance energy .

Dunaliella salina extract
  This is an extract from an algae harvested from the South Pacific ocean.  This algae is considered the finest source of natural beta carotene.

RNA
  One theory of aging is that as our bodies age they are less capable of forming new healthy cells as the old cells die.  Most of the cells in our body have a life span of two years or less (222).  We must constantly be making new cells and to make healthy cells we need to have adequate amounts of raw material available.  To make new cells not only does the body have to make copies of our DNA, but it has to make many structural proteins for the new cells.  In order to make lots of proteins dividing and replicating cells need to make and use lots of RNA.  RNA is the crucial component needed by the cell to transcribe and translate the genetic code within the DNA into working proteins.  So in order to have optimum lifelong production of healthy cells adequate amounts of RNA are needed.  RNA in combination with  arginine and omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to improve immunosuppression which accompanies a major physical trauma (223).


Spirulina
  Spirulina is a highly nutritious algae.  It is considered an excellent source of all minerals and vitamins as well as a particularly good source of plant protein.  Spirulina has also been found to contain gamma linolenic acid (GLA), a known essential fatty acid.  See the discussion of GLA in the Thera Blend Oils monogram to appreciate the critical importance of adequate GLA to human health.

Wheat grass juice concentrate
  Wheat grass is considered a highly nutritious "green food".  It not only contains concentrated levels of vitamins and minerals, but may also have antioxidant properties (224).  Antioxidants are so important to health that Natural Science Corporation has developed a separate formula, Anti-Ox 18.  Free radical damage (which antioxidants can protect against) have been implicated in rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, cataracts, and Parkinson's (225, 226).  Please see the monogram for this formula and the discussion under the botanicals below to understand more about the important role of antioxidants in health and aging.

BOTANICALS
General
  Because everyone living in the twentieth century is literally bombarded with oxidizing or free radical producing substances, it may be important to ensure an adequate intake of antioxidants.  High air pollution, destruction of the ozone layer, and primary or secondary smoke from any source can all contribute to our free radical burden.  This may mean that every person in American should be consuming supplemental of antioxidant substances.  Although a number of vitamins and minerals in the AMC formula have antioxidant activity, they may not be as potent as the antioxidant activity of the botanical (herbal) medicine extracts listed below.  For example silymarin, a flavonoid complex of milk thistle, and the procyanidolic oligomers from grape see skin extract have profound antioxidant activity.  Studies have shown that they are 20-50 times more potent than vitamin C and 200 times more potent than vitamin E (227, 228).
  Plant derived antioxidant compounds may also have the advantage over vitmain and mineral antioxidants because they can be organ specific.  An example if that procyanidins found in grape seed extract  seem to have a specific affinity for veins and connective tissue.  Whereas the polyphenols (catechins) found in green tea seem to have a special affinity for the pancreas and stomach (229).  This means that free radical damage of a specific tissue could potentially be targeted by ingesting one or more of these plant antioxidants.

INSERT TABLE:  TISSUE SPECIFIC HERBAL ANTIOXIDANTS  

Tumeric standardized extract (97% curcumin)
  Curcumin is a potent antioxidant isolated from tumeric.  It is the yellow pigment of tumeric, an ingredient of curry powder and prepared mustard.  Studies have shown that the level of suspected cancer causing mutagens in the urine were significantly reduced in the groups that received 30 mg of tumeric daily (AMC has 50 mg) (230).    Another study found that curcumin was more effective at preventing chemically induced tumors in test animals compared to the same amount of vitamin C (231).  While higher levels of vitamin C can be effective in preventing cancer in test animals, much smaller amounts of tumeric are needed to achieve the same result suggesting that curcumin is a more potent antioxidant or