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Jan 24, 2022Liked by Dr. Mark JS Miller

As always... a step ahead, thoughtful, rational, and kind! I so enjoy learning from you Dr. Mark.

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Great questions Kenn. We all have goals to bring superior health and wellness. Sometimes there are frustrations as to how effective interventions are. Nevertheless, if we dive a little deeper into how the body systems operate and appreciate drivers, then we can devise a system that restores balance and health. Appreciate the opportunity to expand on the topic. Be well.

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Jan 24, 2022Liked by Dr. Mark JS Miller

What is your thinking on other "basic" nutrients. I am seeing a lot of formulation with Vitamin C, Zinc, Copper, & Manganase. There is also an emerging cohort of botanical extracts that appear to stimulte collagen synthesis. Sounds like a legitimate case for a 2.1 or even other members of the 3.0 grouping

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Vitamin C is excellent in helping the cross-linking of collagen fibrils (eg via proline amin acids), but Vitamin C is quite ineffective in managing the gene switches that regulate the enzymes for collagen production (or gene switches is general). Most are oxidant sensitive, so one would think that Vitamin C would play a role, but it does not. Similarly inflammatory signals, oxidants, Th1 cytokines can switch off collagen production without impact from Vitamin C. As for the transition metals, note that collagen and matrix degradation enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases) use ZINC as an embedded catalyst. Thus the addition of Zinc may well help facilitate the destruction/degradation of collagen if those enzymes have been activated at the gene expression level. As transition metals these nutrients can also facilitate oxidative stress via production of toxic free radicals via what is known as Fenton chemistry. None of those effects help promote collagen production and may actually promote collagen degradation. CONCLUSION: as collagen production and degradation are not present in the "TURNED ON" state constantly but rather activated at the gene expression level as neeed, nutrients that may help boost collagen levels only work when the timing is right, ie the signals to activate the right genes have been turned on. In of themselves they do not do that, and hence they cannot be in Generation 3 groupings. Collagen peptides like VERISOL have been shown to activate these gene expression activities in fibroblasts, but not Vitamin C or transition metals.

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