When Prof. Dan Burke lectured to the Health Action Network www.hans.org (Latest Developments in Salvestrol Therapy, March 15, 2006) he impressed upon the audience the need to schedule Anthony Daniels as a future speaker.

Anthony Daniels is the Managing Director of Nature's Defence (manufacturers of salvestrols), a founder of The Herbal Apothecary, Nature's Defence and Global Botanical Research as well as a respected expert from the UK herbal industry. Fortuitously the International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine (www.orthomed.org) was hosting their 'Nutritional Medicine Today' conference at the end of April with Prof. G. Potter (the medicinal chemist who discovered salvestrols) as one of their guest speakers. This provided HANS with the opportunity to schedule Anthony Daniels for a lecture.

Anthony Daniels was accompanied at the lecture by Prof. G. Potter, Prof. Dan Burke (the pharmacologist who discovered that the CYP1B1 enzyme was only found in cancer cells) and one of Prof. Potter's Ph.D., students, Ms. Somchaiya Surichan, who is investigating the properties of new salvestrols.

The following provides a brief summary of some of the key points made during Anthony Daniels lecture.
"There has to be a significant change in the way that we approach food, in the way we grow food and the way that we see our diet." (Anthony Daniels, 2005).

Anthony Daniels is very concerned about the state of our food supply. A variety of factors contribute to a reduction in the food value of our food supply and this, of course, has direct implications for the levels of salvestrols that are available through our diet. We have become more concerned with taste than substance with our foods and consequently lose out on other properties of our food.

By way of example, Anthony pointed out that vanilla was originally added to ice cream because it has an appetite suppression property that limited the amount of ice cream eaten. This was a very beneficial addition when ice cream was first introduced as refrigeration was  poor and quantities produced were small. As refrigeration improved, manufacturers moved to artificial vanilla which reproduced the taste without the appetite suppressive properties with the consequence of more ice cream being sold.

This concern with taste over substance has direct implications for the salvestrol levels of food. Cranberry juice should be high in salvestrols yet when popular brands were analysed they were not. Only the unfiltered organic juices contained the salvestrols. The reason is that many of the salvestrols have a sharp and bitter taste. In order to sweeten the juice without adding extra sugar, manufacturers filter out bitter tasting compounds to arrive at a sweet product that is still "100% pure fruit juice".

Another similar example comes from analysis of modern versus historic varieties of fruit. The older varieties, when organically grown, have much higher levels of salvestrols than do the modern varieties. Modern varieties have been selectively bred for sweetness with the previously unknown consequence of dramatically reducing the salvestrol content.

Olive oil represents an example of how the desire to have perfect looking foods can interfere with nutritional content. Organically grown olives should be high in salvestrols yet analysis of olive oils shows very low levels. We all want clear, virgin olive oil – the clearer the better. Yet, when traditionally produced olive oil is analysed, it is very high in salvestrols.

Traditional production utilises a stone grinding process that tears the skins apart thus releasing salvestrols into the oil. Traditional production also leaves the oil unfiltered thereby preserving these nutrients in the oil for extra taste and nutritional value.

The quest for perfect looking food has led to growing a single variety (mono-culture) with the benefit of efficient harvesting and consistency against the economic, ecological and nutritional cost of having to manage the mono-culture with fungicides, pesticides and herbicides in order to achieve a viable crop.

Salvestrols are the plant's defence against fungal pathogens. Plants that do not go into stress from pathogens do not produce salvestrols. The implication being that our monoculture approach to growing limits the salvestrol levels of the food in our diet.

After analysing fruits from traditional farms where abundant varieties were grown in the same orchard, it was found that a broader array of salvestrols were found in the fruit. Further research has indicated that specific salvestrols are produced in response to different fungal infections within the same fruit. This research has direct implications for  production of foods that provide a broad array of salvestrol protection to those who consume them.

In addition to the ongoing salvestrol research, Nature's Defence is currently working on a training program for health practitioners. This program would involve lectures on all facets of salvestrols, CYP1B1 and the resultant metabolites as they apply to supporting the health of those who use these food supplements. Practitioners would come away with an in-depth knowledge that would assist them in providing the necessary support to their patients.

A DVD of this lecture is available from the Health Action Network (Tel 604 435-0512 or email hans@hans.org ). Further information is available from www.salvestrol.ca

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