[BernardMaree]

Hi everyone,

I received this from a fellow TriVita Affiliate. Worth reading.

Which one should I take - Nopalea? Or Adaptogen 10 Plus?

Well, that question has Brazos Minshew, our Chief Science Officer and developer of both products scratching his head. He says one does not substitute for the other. They are completely dissimilar. The only thing the same about Nopalea and Adaptogen is that they are both liquid.

Brazos himself takes 4 ounces of each mixed together every morning. The flavors blend very well and the combo helps you deal with trauma and stress and in turn, the resulting inflammation. As a triathalon athlete, a man with a stressful job and being over the age of 50, Brazos believes that is what his body needs.

Adaptogen minimizes the antecedent of stress and to some extent the antecedent of deficiencies. This prevents inflammation from getting a foot hold and in some cases from even getting started.

Adaptogen helps your body make the best of a bad situation

Your body is saying, "I'm reaching a point of collapse..." so it will move resources from one part of the body to another to shore it up. An example of this is how when you're not getting enough calcium through your diet, your body extracts calcium from bone to make sure that high priority organs such as your heart are getting enough.

Your body starts grumbling, "Hey, you're drinking too much coffee, could you slow down there. But since you won't stop these bad habits, I need to survive. So I'm going to pull the needed calcium from your bones." Survival always comes first, so the body pulls calcium from bone, which over time leads to osteoporosis.

In other words, osteoporosis, and other ills you may suffer, are symptoms of what your body is trying to tell you... that it's doing this to keep from collapsing altogether. And this is where Adaptogens come into play.

Adaptogens neutralize the stresses of today and help you deal with them tomorrow. Take note of the immediate impact Adaptogen 10 Plus makes on your body as you deal with daily stresses. It helps neutralize the stresses of today... and helps you deal with the stresses of tomorrow.

Three Criteria for a plant to be categorized as an Adaptogen

• The plant must be totally non-toxic at any level
• It must be able to take an unhealthy cell and bring it back to normal
• And the plant must be able to help you adapt today, now

The vast majority of plants are eliminated right there at the first level.

Most herbs, for example are toxic at some point. But with Adaptogen, the only way it can hurt you is if you fall into a vat of it and drown! This means even your 2 year old could drink a whole bottle and it won't hurt them. Or if you're 90 years old and you're taking 17 different medications, you can drink as much Adaptogen 10 Plus as you want. There are no contraindications.

Medicinal and Culinary plants number into the thousands, but there are only 10 plants which have met the critiera of Adaptogens.

There are 4 fundamental causes that create patterns of disharmony in our body systems triggering a cascade of inflammation.

• Trauma (injury)
• Toxins (chemicals and pollutants)
• Deficiencies (lack of sleep, oxygen, nutrients and water)
• Stress (well... we all know what that is!)

The ingredients of Adaptogen primarily target Deficiencies and Stress, but consider that both Trauma and Toxins create physical Stress, so in effect, Adaptogen benefits our body under all conditions. Let's take a look at how it works.

Adaptogenic plants live in incredibly stressful environments. Russian Siberia and the Sonoran Desert are a couple of examples. These plants must deal with fantastic extremes in temperature, fragile soil structures and little or no water. These plants have proponents that allow them to not only survive in these extreme conditions, but even thrive there. These plants transfer to us the exact same properties allowing us to thrive even though our lives may be extremely stressful.

A daily dose of Adaptogen becomes part of our daily experience thus counteracting the daily stress of our job, school or raising a family. One way Adaptogen 10 Plus combats stress is by replenishing anti-oxidant deficiencies. Adaptogen 10 Plus has a 44,000 thousand ORAC value, the highest of all TriVita products... and in fact, one of the highest ORAC values in world.

Aloe Vera - Key Ingredient in Adaptogen 10 Plus

Stress is an interesting part of life. It's purpose is to provide needed bursts of energy when stressful or frightening events occur and does so by diverting resources from other systems in the body to priority areas... such as your heart. This is not a process we want to shut down. However, in today's stressful world, our body often stays in this perpetual condition of 'fight or flight'. It never gets a break. So even when you're not in any physical danger, things like your digestive system are shut down as it's not considered a high priority need for survival.

Can you imagine how your body is effected when your digestive system is in a state of shut down nearly every day?! Well, Aloe Vera turns your digestive system back on. Thankfully. Without a properly functioning digestive system, you are not absorbing the nutrients from your food or your nutritional supplements as you should.

An example of this was shown with the use of Metformin. After time, some users find it doesn't work as well as it once did. Their body doesn't seem to be utilizing it the same way and as a result, they have to increase their dosage. But studies have shown that when Aloe Vera was added, the same dose of Metformin begins to have its desired effect again. The exact same process works along with vitamins. The Aloe Vera will turn your digestive system back on.

So if you are finding that you don't seem to be benefiting by your current dose of supplements, don't be thinking it means you need higher doses. If you are using TriVita products, you are likely taking enough. Now in order to make sure you are absorbing enough, simply add Adaptogen 10 Plus to your daily health regime.

Adaptogen 10 Plus first turns down the stress... and secondly, perhaps even more importantly, starts up your digestive system again.

Tula

PS: And by the way, Brazos came up with a rather decadent new dessert. Mix 3 ounces of Nopalea with 4 ounces of whipping cream. "Oh, my goodness", he quips, "Now I've even found a way to make Nopalea fattening!"

Both Nopalea and Adaptogen 10 Plus can be purchased through me (PM for website details), but in the case of Nopalea, TriVita has even made it possible for me to send you an introductory bottle free if you're suffering from chronic pain that's been brought on by inflammation, and if you are from North America (Canada/USA) or from Australia after Feb 2011. Just give me a shout by PM so I can get your details.