Monthly Archives: September 2013

Dr. Michael Murray shares the multiple benefits of taking PGX.

PGX and the GLP-1 Connection

Achieving ideal body is not about dieting or food deprivation, it is all about eliminating excessive hunger, stabilizing blood sugar levels, and increasing the feelings of pleasure and satisfaction from food. The key tool in helping people achieve these goals is PolyGlycoPlex (PGX) ? the most viscous and soluble fiber ever discovered.

Clinical research has shown to exert the following benefits:

• Reduces appetite and promotes effective weight loss
• Stabilizes blood sugar control
• Increases insulin sensitivity
• Maintains healthy cholesterol levels already within normal ranges

PGX Increases GLP-1

Several animal studies have provided important information on the actions of PGX. In these studies PGX was shown to reduce food intake, lower body weight, improve insulin action, and produce favorable effects on the liver and cholesterol levels. PGX has been shown to produce a significant increase in glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) ? a hormone secreted in the small intestine and colon. GLP-1 is secreted by L-cells in the small intestine and colon in response to food intake.

Studies with a synthetic, injectable form of GLP-1 produces significant weight loss in humans as it makes most people feel full, leading to reduced food intake. PGX appears to produce the same effect naturally. PGX not only leads to pulses of GLP-1 release into the bloodstream as it passes throughout the entire digestive tract it has also been shown to increase the number of the cells that produce GLP-1 ? the L cells ? within the intestinal tract. This mechanism explains the prolonged effect of PGX on feelings of satiety.

New Data

The effects of PGX on body weight, food consumption, glucose, insulin, and glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) levels were determined in Zucker diabetic rats (ZDFs) treated for 12 weeks with normal rodent chow supplemented with cellulose (control, inert fiber), PGX, sitagliptin, and PGX plus sitagliptin.

Sitagliptin (Januvia) is an oral diabetes medication that blocks the enzyme responsible for the rapid breakdown of GLP-1. Naturally produced GLP-1 is broken down by the body within two minutes after it is formed. By inhibiting the breakdown, sitagliptin potentiates the effects of GLP-1.

Because PGX promotes increased GLP-1 release and sitagliptin blocks its breakdown, the expected result is that the combination would produce greater effects than either agent alone. The hypothesis was confirmed in this study as the combination was shown to produce significant blood sugar lowering effects in both short-term and long-term measures.

Reference:

Reimer RA, Grover GJ, Koetzner L, et al. Sitagliptin reduces hyperglycemia and increases satiety hormone secretion more effectively when used with a novel polysaccharide in obese Zucker rats. J. Nutr. Epub ahead of publication. doi: 10.3945/jn.112.163204.