HBC Protocols, Inc.

Remember 2.5 years ago, when the NFL and the players shook hands on a new collective bargaining agreement on human growth hormone testing? Part of the accord was to start blood testing for HGH. No progress has been made. Both sides are still haggling over the details about whether NFL commissioner Roger Godell, or a neutral arbitrator will handle certain types of appeals. Fortunately as a non-player you don’t have to deal with the NFL—or NBA or MLB. You can benefit from all of the benefits (burn fat, build muscle, speed up injury recovery, increase stamina, maintain you HGH-chiseled physique, and enhance a general feeling of well-being: check depression) of a 100% safe HGH transdermal patch protocol without a sniff of worry or scandal because unresolved organized athletic rules don’t apply to you, do they? Click here to read more.

Good question.  We are aware that some purveyors recommend taking it with fat but they aren’t quoting a study source for Idebenone’s lipophilicity in vivo human studies. Only in in vitro. In fact, all antioxidants have their own particular relationship with fat. Vitamin E is fat soluble but conflicting information is available on the influence of dietary fat on vitamin E absorption in humans. Animal studies are also conflicting. If you have access to a credible study synergizing Idebenone with fat we’d like to read it. The most credible source for me are the studies published on the government site www.pubmed.gov   Of the 399 studies regarding Idebenone I have included here what they have on Idebenone and lipids—albeit primarily via liposome. As you are probably aware we are the only company that offers Idebenone via liposome. The conclusion of one study is that the fatty liposome has a negative effect on its biological activity.  Yet, other studies found the opposite. Our actual living experience is that the liposome synergizes Idebenone. I regularly administer our cream on specific muscles prior to a workout and find that it has an anabolic-like effect, increasing energy, strength, stamina and muscle volume. I have included a study (below) concludes that lipid/water liposome’s may increase uptake to the brain effectively overcoming the blood brain barrier and increasing the efficacy of the loaded antioxidant. I have also included here the in vitro study that concludes that SLN (solid lipid nanoparticles) could be regarded as a promising drug delivery system to improve Idebenone bioavailability and antioxidant activity.

  How much should I take?

100 mgs of Idebenone via capsule is considered a low prophylactic dose. As a replacement for CoQ is should be enough. Doctors prescribe much higher doses for individuals—up to 1000 mgs per day—with tragically debilitating mitochondrial diseases like:  Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, Friedreich’s ataxia, and Leber’s hereditary eye disease . . .    Unlike its substrate, Idebenone does not leave an oxidation trail as it enters the mitochondria so there is no reason to take both Idebenone and CoQ if you are currently taking CoQ. 

  What about the Idebenone transdermal cream?

Unlike the very mild 1oz Prevage topical cream manufactured by Allergan and costing anywhere from $80.00 to $100.00 per ounce, our 2oz liposomal Idebenone cream for $59.95 is “industrial” strength and affects a miraculous result to the skin when administered as a facial mask. As it is pure Idebenone. (Prevage is a low volume with certain co factors rendering it sheer enough as a foundation) ours will make you look like a pumpkin it is so bright orange. But leave it on for 20 or 30 minutes and the liposome’s take it down through all layers of skin and into the circulatory and lymphatic system along the way where it then systemically routes out through plasma to the brain, heart . . .   It will eventually fade to a tawny color. Still, you should then rinse your face with cool water to remove the residual and pat it dry with a paper towel. Your skin will look radiant!  BTW, Allergan, the company that patented Botox holds all of the use patents on Idebenone (which they named Prevage) for skin rejuvenation. This is a use patent, not to be confused with a patent on Idebenone itself. As they have the use patent for wrinkle reduction we are not at liberty to advertise our product as a skin remodeler. So we don’t. But the fact of the matter is that our transdermal cream is 1000 times more powerful—and half as expensive—then Prevage however the Prevage is better as a foundation.  Also, our cream being so much more powerful a mitochondrial activator that we do not recommend using it every day as you might breakout in a rash after a while. I personally use it for a facial before going out.

The following is a list of brain degenerative factors that can easily progress into age senile dementia, Alzheimer’s, depression and early general dysfunction.

  1.       Inflammation. Most people think that inflammation is painful but interestingly enough the brain does not have brain receptors. Hence we cannot feel brain inflammation. Through modern day technology (MRI exams and chemical markers) we can actually look at brain cells that produce inflammation. When this happens the brain is literally on fire.

2.       Brain Oxidation.  This is caused by an abundance of free radicals in the brain. Oxidation is rusting. It is like leaving a piece of iron out in the rain. This is exactly what happens when free radicals attack brain—and body—tissues. If left untreated brain fat, protein and DNA, our code of life, becomes damaged. It is our pantheon of excellent great antioxidants like Idebenone and Reduced Glutathione that protect us against free radical damage.

  Inflammation and free radical  are very much interrelated. By reducing inflammation you reduce free radical activity. By reducing inflammation you are preserving your brain and body.

  Ways to cut brain and body inflammation.

  1.       Cut sugar out of your diet. Fact: sugar is directly toxic to the memory centers of the brain. Brain shrinkage of the hippocampus (memory center) even happens within the realm of normal sugar consumption. MRI studies among a group of diabetics performed over a 4 year period definitively measure a profound brain shrinkage due to high sugar levels caused by diabetes.  Alpha Lipoic acid is an excellent way to reduce plasma levels of sugar.  Sugar is bad because it binds to proteins. This is bad news because it causes glycation. Glycation causes inflammation which causes free radical damage. Sugar creates free radical damage that negatively affects the brain. Note: carbohydrates are a form of sugar. Studies have shown that reducing carbohydrate consumption is one of the most effective ways to inhibit the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease.

2.       Reduce gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye. Gluten is highly inflammatory. Genetically, humans can’t handle gluten. Our physiology is not prepared to deal with this strange and suddenly very prevalent protein. You don’t have to have celiac disease to suffer the inflammatory effects of gluten. It can affect any part of the body but has been identified as a treatable cause of various brain problems. What happens is that our body mounts an immune response to deal with it. Immune reactions are tied directly to inflammation. Gluten sensitivity is directly correlated to brain dysfunctions like depression, ADHD, and even schizophrenia. Though modern man learned how to cultivate high gluten wheat in the past 10,000 years, it is irrelevant because our DNA that began evolving 160,000 years ago in the hunter gather period in Ethiopia does not have the skill set to deal with gluten.  St. John’s wort, the popular antidepressant is also an excellent antioxidant for the brain and is the basis of certain brain cancer protocols.

        Do you suffer from Exploding head syndrome? No, this is not a joke. Exploding head syndrome is a rare form of hypnagogic (the period of drowsiness immediately preceding sleep) auditory hallucination in which the person experiences a loud bang or explosion in their head similar to a real-life bomb exploding. It could also be like a gun firing, a clash of cymbals, ringing, or any other form of loud noise. But, there is no noise. It all transpires inside their head.

        It usually happens just at the onset of, or within an hour or two of sleep. It is not necessarily the result of a dream. There is no pain involved however, sufferers frequently feel a sense of fear and anxiety and an elevated heart rate, difficulty in breathing, Attacks may also be accompanied by perceived flashes of light. Exploding head syndrome is also known as “auditory sleep starts”.  Though the cause of the Exploding Head Syndrome (EHS) is not known, though some physicians hypothesize it is facilitated by extreme fatigue. It is also linked to rapid withdrawal from certain prescription drugs such as benzodiazepines and SSRI antidepressants. In some cases it is isolated on the left side of the head, and seems to come from the inner ear region. It affects women more than men.

Typical clinical features of REM sleep behavior disorder are:

Skews slightly toward female gender predilection, but common in men.

Mean age of onset 50–65 years (range 20–80 years)

Vocalization, screaming, swearing that may be associated with dreams

Motor activity, simple or complex, that may result in injury to patient or bed-partner

Occurrence usually in latter half of sleep period (REM sleep)

May be associated with neurodegenerative disease

Acute EHS, occurs mostly as a result of a side-effect in prescribed medication—usually antidepressants. But if not then 55% of the time the cause is unknown the other 45% the cause is associated with alcohol.

        If you have experienced anxiety-based EHS from benzodiazepine or SSRI withdrawal you should be aware of the natural herb antidepressant known as Sceletium Tortuosum is both a powerful natural SSRI antidepressant and it works at the opioid receptor sites much like benzodiazepines without the addiction issues. Hence, it addresses anxiety, depression as it promotes peaceful sleep. HBC Protocols now offers two different forms of Sceletium Tortuosum. Zembrin, the patented form and raw Sceletium Tortuosum powder. Caution: the raw form of Sceletium possesses more of the anti-anxiety and sexual enhancing alkaloids than our patented Zembrin form of the herb.  Please keep that in mind while administering it so that you don’t take too much.

        Depression doesn’t just make you miserable, it can actually age you. Six years! A series of studies has found that people with depression actually have shorter telomeres which are the cellular markers used to determine cell aging. They are actually specialized nucleoprotein complexes at the ends of linear chromosomes that function to “cap” chromosomal termini and prevent end to end recombination which makes them critical in the maintenance of chromosomal integrity. Think of telomeres as a cellular meiotic (cell division) clock that ultimately limits the number of divisions and cellular life span. Increased cellular turnover in the presence of stress-related oxidative damage further exacerbates accelerated telomere shortening and ultimately causes aging due to organ degeneration as stem and precursor cells can no longer replicate and maintain internal equilibrium.

         Accelerated shortening has been linked to increased rates of cancer and aging in numerous animal models. Researchers Epel* and colleagues recently demonstrate that chronicity of psychosocial stress (even includes caring for chronically ill children) was directly associated with accelerated telomere shortening. Although future studies are needed the initial findings linking accelerated telomere shortening with mood disorders suggests that antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents could aid in the prevention of stress related diseases of aging for individuals with mood disorders. Effective treatments include depression medication like Human Growth Hormone, St. John’s Wort, Sceletium Tortuosum and our body’s most powerful anti-oxidant reduced glutathione. Recent studies have uncovered a direct relationship between how much reduced glutathione is in our cells and how long we live.   

         *Elissa Epel, PhD is a health psychologist based at UCSF focusing on stress pathways. For the past 15 years, she has studied stress in the lab and in the field, using common naturalistic stressors, and associations with an early aging syndrome. She examines how stress processes lead to early disease precursors, focusing on overeating, abdominal obesity, and immune cell aging. She has found that people’s propensity to be stress reactive, psychologically or in terms of cortical reactivity, is associated with overeating, abdominal obesity, and accelerated cell aging. 

        Accept no substitutes. There are more than 370 species of the genus Hypericum. (St. John's wort), several of which are not pharmacologically active. Not all St. John's wort is equal. The vast majority of OTC St. John's wort formulations are made with aerial parts, AKA “Grind”, whole ground up plant, not the small red and white dots in flowers that contain the precious napthrodianthrones. Grind does not contain hyperforin. Of even greater concern, grind contain zanthrones found in the stems which are the source of the controversial MAO inhibitors. MAO inhibitors were the number one cause of drug overdoses in the early days of prescription antidepressants. NIH research indicates that St. John's wort must contain both hypericin and hyperforin if is to be an effective mood modulating protocol. Hyperforin is only found in its red and white dots in the flowers.

        Harvesting high hyperforin SJW is critical (At point of harvest, the higher the hypericin, the lower the hyperforin and vis a vis). Extracting high quality hyperforin is difficult and costly. First the plant must be of superior quality, preferably grown in non-phosphate fertilizers. Upon harvest the flowers must be carefully dried so the hyperforin can be extracted via methanol extraction process. hyperforin is a notoriously delicate substance and can easily be destroyed by exposure to oxygen, heat and moisture which is why HBC Protocols folds in a broad spectrum grape seed antioxidant to stabilize its hyperforin.

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        Beware of false hyperforin claims. HBC's St. John's wort contains a minimum of 3% hyperforin but usually much more. It is currently (see Certificate of Analysis) 4.6% hyperforin. Beware of purveyors claiming 5% and higher hyperforin. 5% doesn't exist. If it did we would have it in our formulation. In our 15 years of working with SJW (we were the first to introduce SJW to America) we have never found a 5% hyperforin raw material. Independent lab tests of formulations alleging 5% hyperforin formulations have proven false. As you well know the supplement business in America is not highly regulated which means that just because a company claims 5% doesn’t make it so. Always ask for a Certificate of Analysis.

        A new cross-sectional study (offers a snapshot of participants at a particular point in time) published in the Journal of Sex Research, seems to indicate that people who have casual sex also have more depression and anxiety. It is unclear of the casual sex actually causes the depression or if feeling down leads to more casual sex. Drawing a conclusion is difficult because there are so many factors to consider. 4,000 heterosexual US college students were questioned. It is estimated that 14% to 64% defined casual sex as anything from non-committed sexual activity with friends “friends with benefits” and sex with strangers “hook-ups”. The researchers for this study defined casual sex as having intercourse with someone they have known for less than a week.

        No study is perfect. Here is a list of the limitations we saw in this study.

1.      The study was limited to heterosexuals. No data on bisexual, gay or transgender students.

2.      It did not include academic performance, family background, health issues and personality type.

3.      The sample of students was not random but drawn from psychological and child development courses.

4.      It relied on self-reporting students via the internet, which introduces reliability issues.

        Depression and casual sex is worth studying further as there are many factors at play here such as; self-esteem, (a positive overall evaluation of oneself),  life satisfaction (an evaluation of how life has proceeded so far) psychological wellbeing (a general sense of positive functioning), and eudemonic wellbeing (a sense of having “found oneself” and started to fulfil one’s potential).

Similar research suggests that women are more likely than men to report feelings of regret and guilt after casual sex. If you or a friend is experiencing feelings of depression you might want to click here for a list of natural protocols like sceletium tortuosum that support the conditions of depression and anxiety.

        A new research study conducted at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute revealed a link between elevated red cell distribution and depression. This new discovery should help physicians diagnose depression earlier among their heart patients. This is the first time this association has been discovered. Results of the study were presented during the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Dallas, on Monday, November 18.  It was revealed that red cell distribution width or RDW is a parameter that measures variation in red blood cell size or red blood cell volume. A high RDW (over 14.5%) means that the red blood cells vary a lot in size. A normal RDW is 11.6 to 14.6%, but researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute found that patients with a RDW level greater than or equal to 12.9% had an increased risk for depression. "Elevated red blood distribution widths are associated with anemia, but it also appears to be associated with other poor outcomes such as heart attack and heart failure, death and now depression," said Heidi May, PhD, MSPH, the study's principal researcher.

         This study looked at 43,226 patients and evaluated them for an average of 5.3 years, identifying RDW levels of patients at time of diagnosis and comparing them to a follow-up diagnosis of depression. "Patients and physicians should be more aware that depression may be one of those poor outcomes and should be more diligent in screening for depression among patients who have an elevated RDW," Dr. May said.