The Scam of Skin Antioxidant Testing
A while back, a friend of mine asked me about this product:
It's a biophotonic scanner made by a company called Pharmanex. This product measures carotenoid levels in the skin. Carotenoids are antioxidants found in many fruits and vegetables. Beta-carotene is one carotenoid that you may be familiar with. Other carotenoids include lutein and lycopene, to name just a few. Many scientists believe that carotenoids may be partly responsible for the observed associations between increased fruit and vegetable intake and lower risk of many diseases.
The company claims that this scanner can give you an "accurate and reliable biomarker of your overall antioxidant health status". They further state that, "Getting your Skin Carotenoid Score makes you aware of the antioxidant levels in your body-and gives you the push you need to improve your overall antioxidant health." To appear scientific, their website is complete with a scientific advisory board, a list of scientists, and even a list of studies that they claim supports their product.
Well, it's B.S.
OK, it's not complete B.S. The product does do what it claims to do....it measures carotenoid levels in the skin using a technique called Raman Spectroscopy.
While that's fine and dandy, what is B.S. is their claim that it is a reliable biomarker of your overall antioxidant status. There is simply no evidence that carotenoid skin levels reflect the overall antioxidant status of your body.
Carotenoid skin levels do correlate with fruit and vegetable intake, so the test can tell you if you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. But do you need an expensive scanner to tell you if you're eating a lot of fruits and vegetables?
And what do you think the company recommends you do if you have a low skin carotenoid score? Buy their antioxidant supplements, of course.
This isn't the first time Pharmanex has spread outlandish claims. In 1997, they were fined by the Federal Trade Commission over claims they made about two supplements they sold.
The fact is that this scanner is nothing more than a fancy way to take your money and to get you to buy things that you don't need. There is no evidence that skin carotenoid status is a reflection of overall antioxidant status. You do not need an expensive test to know if you're consuming a lot fruits and vegetables. Also, there is little scientific evidence that supplemental antioxidants have any health benefits. In fact, too many antioxidants can have a pro-oxidant effect, and may also reduce your own body's antioxidant defense systems. We are a bit too antioxidant crazy in our society....a topic that I will get to in another blog post.
We have this scanner in Memphis, TN Area if you need to scan your group we come to you for FREE OF CHARGE only charge $5 for the each card, machine rental and Charity.
Apparently you didn’t bother to do much of a literature search with regard to carotenoid levels and total body antioxidant status. Measuring carotenoid levels in the skin has been shown (two studies– see #7 and #8 below) to accurately reflect overall antioxidant status. I’m surprised at the cavalier attitude of your article wherein you dismiss the validity of the Pharmanex scanning technology with no more than a cursory review of the research. 1. Zidichouski, J.A.; Mastaloudis, A.; Poole, S.J.; Reading, J.C.; Smidt, C.R. Clinical validation of a non-invasive, Raman spectroscopic method to assess carotenoid nutritional status in humans. Journal of… Read more »
Ara where on earth did you get the idea that this gadget “won a Nobel prize”. I hope the company isn’t telling you that. It takes a lot more than a gimmicky device to win a Nobel Prize!! Prizes are awarded to individuals, not to gadgets. Carotenoids by their very nature as lipids exist only in the fat-containing parts of the cell. They have NO influence in the water-based part of the cell – the cytoplasm. I suspect nothing I can say will see you accepting you have backed a loser in this gadget. Redox biochemistry is very complex and… Read more »
A Nobel Prize was awarded to Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Rāman “in 1930 for the discovery that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the light that is deflected changes in wavelength. This phenomenon is now called Raman scattering and is the result of the Raman effect.” (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._V._Raman)
The Pharmanex biophoton scanner technology is based upon the Raman effect. Anyone who really wants to know about the science and legitimacy of the Pharmanex scanner can just Google “Pharmanex scanner”. Or just go here:
http://www.defyagetoday.com/uploads/ScannerWhitePaperLouisCadyMD.pdf
Christine,
Are you against all forms of supplementation to your diet? Or are you just against this particular brand because you feel that the scan is misleading?
Today’s environment is noting like what was eons ago, we literally live in a toxic and heavily polluted cities, I think we need all the help we can get .. Exposure to free radicals from a variety of sources has led organisms to develop a series of defence mechanisms (Cadenas, 1997). Defence mechanisms against free radical-induced oxidative stress involve: (i) preventative mechanisms, (ii) repair mechanisms, (iii) physical defences, and (iv) antioxidant defences. Enzymatic antioxidant defences include superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT). Non-enzymatic antioxidants are represented by ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), -tocopherol (Vitamin E), glutathione (GSH), carotenoids, flavonoids,… Read more »
Ara, let’s leave the biochemistry to the biochemists! A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and it is clear you really don’t know what you don’t know! The issue is not with the journal you cite and your attempt to relate it to your gadget. You are right out of your depth; why on earth can’t you see that? Meanwhile I hope you are eating 600 grams of fresh vegetables daily ( as do the healthiest populations on the planet) and not wasting your money on dried vegetable products.
Please Christine, explain why the carotenoids (powerful antioxidants) in dark greens and colorful fruits are not directly correlated with the status of your health…
Because Ara, human cells produce their own antioxidant compounds, most of which are enzymes, each capable of quenching literally millions of free radicals per second! More so, enzymes recycle themselves over and over again for many hours No food-derived antioxidant is capable of quenching more than a few free radicals per molecule. And that’s the end of its capability! It is now oxidized and incapable of any further antioxidant activity. Enzyme antioxidants the cell makes itself are where the action is! As if that isn’t reason enough to see that the cell’s own antioxidants are what protects human cells against… Read more »
Very nice Christine, I’m glad you are familiar with some antioxidant agents(unlike most overweight big pharma advocate MDs). SureThe body produces antioxidants through enzymes and also proteins, like Albumin, the 800-lb gorilla of all anti-oxidants that the liver produces to fight off radiation causing free radicals. Never the less, to claim Carotnoids playing minimal role “The best we can say about carotenoids is that they play a ‘supporting’ role only”.- undermines countless studies from the scientific community, medical research, longevity research, disease research, and makes you sound ignorant towards scientific information. Internal antioxidant systems quench most free radicals, but these… Read more »
Thanks Christine. Very helpful.
It does not matter if you eat raw, its the combination of the good fat you eat with it….. “Fat Soluble Antioxidants” need FAT to be absorbed … period. . add some flax, other seeds, nuts,avocado, and coconut to your dark greens and elevate your absorption and your score.
The science behind the device has won multiple Noble prizes for its accuracy.
I was also upset when my score was around 40k with my Raw food Vegan Diet and now its around 70k. Food combination is the key.
Ara, please! The device is not supported by anything remotely associated with Novel prizes! That statement’s enough to have Nobel laureates handing their prizes back in!!!
It is simply a gadget which gives a guide to the quantity of carotenoids being stored in the skin. This is not directly correlated with the status of your health!!!
Someone’s done some serious brain washing on you!!!!
Stopped by the grand opening of a new Health Food store in my area and they were offering this test. I declined since I think it’s a lot of BS. They really tried to convince me to do it but I declined politely and walked out of the store without buying anything. Outside I met a lady who was very upset because she tested Red on the scale(bad I guess) even though she ate lots of organic fruits and veggies,exercised and led a relatively low stress life style. She was in tears saying that she was trying so hard to… Read more »
In November, Dave Edmiston MD posted “Carotenoid antioxidants are one of the largest categories of antioxidants and provide an indication of overall antioxidant protection.”
Dave, obviously you didn’t study much Nutrition or Biochemistry in your degree! Nor have you learnt much on this since! Carotenoids DO NOT provide an indication of overall antioxidant protection!
I couldn’t help but notice that one of the major proponents of this gadget and posting on this site has a list of high-ORAC foods on his website. He claims above: “Backed exclusively by science, the antioxidant scanner ….” and yet his comprehension of the underlying science is not sufficient that he doesn’t know that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has removed all reference to the ORAC tables from its website due to lack of relevance in human health. This happened in May 2012. Don’t believe me; you can read about it here.http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=15866 Man has existed on this planet… Read more »
Bill and Laney, II AGREE. Repost of my February comment: What’s interesting about the Pharmanex device is that you could eat nothing but sausages smothered in tomato sauce and this would give you a ‘favourable’ reading! Having carotenoids in the skin tells us absolutely nothing about the true redox potential of your cells! As a motivator to eat more plant foods, it may have a part to play – but for an indicator of redox balance, it is useless! What annoys me most is that the MLMers who get reeled into such nonsense, typically dont know enough (if any) biochemistry… Read more »