Smart Energy Capsules

Product Information

Item: Smart Energy Capsules (from Dr. Teitelbaum's Smart Energy System™)

Brand: S.H.I.N.E.®

Manufacturer: From Fatigued To Fantastic, LLC

Product Quantity: 120 capsules (60 servings).

Recommendations: Take two Smart Energy Capsules in the morning.

Benefits

Smart Energy Capsules provides a special formulation of five key nutrients and herbals that powerfully boost energy production. This is included as part of Dr. T's Smart Energy System™, but it is very beneficial taken on its own. The nutrients include:

1. KSM 66 Ashwagandha. This herb is the most popular herb in Ayurvedic medicine, and for good reason! Numerous published studies show that it helps a wide range of health areas, including mood, calming, cognition, thyroid and sex hormone function, stamina, sleep, libido, and even weight management.
2. Rhodiola. Helps stamina and mental fatigue.
3. Green tea extract. Shown in research to help exercise endurance, weight loss and insulin sensitivity, and even promotes more youthful skin.
4. Schisandra. Protects your energy-producing mitochondria.
5. Licorice. Excellent for adrenal fatigue. Please note, however, that licorice can raise blood pressure a bit (which can ironically actually be helpful for many of those with CFS/FMS). So if you already have high blood pressure, you should not use this product unless you also regularly monitor your blood pressure.

More Detail on Nutrients

For those who would like more detail, below is a discussion of each of the Smart Energy Capsules 5 key components.

Ashwagandha (KSM-66)

Ashwagandha is the most popular herb in Ayurvedic medicine, the healing art that stems from India. But the way the herbs are farmed and processed is critical, because older methods destroy their potency.

My friend, Chris Kilham, is one of the world's most respected herbalists. Chris travels the world hunting for new herbs while making sure old ones are managed properly. He turned me onto the new KSM-66 form of ashwagandha, and I am very thankful to him for this. KSM-66 is now the main form used in research, as this form preserves it original potency.

Research using KSM-66 ashwagandha (mostly placebo-controlled) shows remarkable benefits:

• Mood and stress relief. In a placebo-controlled study, participants experienced a 77% reduction in depression, 76% reduction in anxiety, and 64% reduction in stress after only two months.
• Memory and cognition. Improved short-term memory and brain processing speed.
• Thyroid function. Free T3 levels went up 47% and free T4 level increased 23%, which may help in weight loss.
• Muscle mass and endurance. Exercise ability and endurance measured by the maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) in healthy athletic adults increased 12% at Day 56 and 14% at Day 84. It also resulted in a 139% increase in muscle strength for the bench press, and increased muscle size by 8% in thighs, 17% in arms, and 3% in chest.
• Sleep. It helped people fall asleep more quickly and stay asleep more consistently.
• Female sexual health. Scores for arousal increased 62%, lubrication 59%, orgasm 82%, and satisfaction 62%.
• Male libido. Testosterone levels increased by 17%; while sexual fantasy/functions improved by 4%, arousal by 18%, orgasm by 6%, and sexual drive by 11%. I guess it’s best for the man and woman to use it together, so they can keep up with each other. (But be careful if you're not looking to have children yet, because ...)
• Male sperm count. Sperm count increased 167%, and sperm motility increased 57%.

I think you're starting to see why ashwagandha is the most popular Ayurvedic herb for the 1.3 billion people living in India.

Rhodiola

Rhodiola rosea, also called golden root, grows in arctic and mountain regions throughout Europe, Asia, and America. It has been an accepted medicine in Russia since 1969 for the treatment of fatigue and infectious, psychiatric, and neurological conditions, and as a psychostimulant to increase memory, attention span, and productivity in healthy individuals.

Research shows pronounced anti-stress effects, enhanced physical work and exercise performance, increased muscle strength, and reduction in mental fatigue. It seems to work by supporting hypothalamic function as well as the brain transmitters serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and endorphin. All of these tend to be low in chronic fatigue conditions, and many in the population in general.

I first became aware of the research when I stumbled across studies being done by the Russian space program, where they found that Rhodiola markedly improved stamina in the cosmonauts.

Schisandra

Numerous studies, although many still in the animal study phase, show widespread benefits of the Schisandra plant. Especially important are its mitochondrial protection and insulin function.

Green Tea Extract (Camellia sinensis)

We've all heard about the health benefits of green tea. Many if not most of the benefits come from a component called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), which has very potent antioxidant properties. You should use supplements that have at least 35% EGCg. Here are just a few of the studies:

• Exercise endurance. Fourteen men who consumed green tea extract for four weeks increased their running distance by 11%. It is especially potent at protecting against the free radicals caused by exercise.
• Insulin sensitivity. Reduced total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol each by 4% and lowered blood pressure in people who had high blood pressure.
• Younger skin. Taken by mouth or even topically, green tea extract seems to help prevent skin conditions like loss of skin elasticity, inflammation and premature aging. Because of this, it is often added to cosmetics.

Glycyrrhizin (Licorice Extract)

Glycyrrhizin slows down the elimination of cortisol, your body's stress hormone. This can make it dramatically effective for helping adrenal fatigue.