Fight Stress Now

I just spoke with the West Coast office of AbsoluteCalm, a new product being introduced to the American market that contains magnolia bark extract. As this is a relatively new supplement and unfamiliar to most of my readers, let me tell you that the research on it is simply astounding. The active ingredient in mango bark extract is honokiol, which is an anti-cancer agent (see ref. 1). The active ingredient, magnolia bark extract, is also found to be a muscle relaxant. Magnolia bark extract contains: ß-Eudesmol, honokiol, magnolol, bornyl acetate, and alpha- and ß-pinenes (see ref. 2). It appears that this product can reduce stress and relax muscles. The product also apparently contains, according to my source: vitamin A (1,000 IU); lecithin; olive oil; and kosher gelatin caps. The product is so new their ingredient label was not available online, and this is the only Web site to date (July 21, 2008) with a full list of their ingredients. We always go to the source for our information. My source said the lack of a nutrition label was a technical oversight and it would be displayed shortly. In the meantime, you have the scoop here about AbsoluteCalm and its real potential to aid in relaxing after physical exertion. (See references below.)

• 1. Honokiol, a Small Molecular Weight Natural Product, Inhibits Angiogenesis in Vitro and Tumor Growth in Vivo. J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 278, Issue 37, 35501-35507, September 12, 2003. Authors: Xianhe Bai, Francesca Cerimele, Masuko Ushio-Fukai, Muhammad Waqas, Paul M. Campbell, Baskaran Govindarajan, Channing J. Der, Traci Battle, David A. Frank, Keqiang Ye, Emma Murad, Wolfgang Dubiel, Gerald Soff, and Jack L. Arbiser.
• 2. Effects of extract and ingredients isolated from Magnolia obovata thunberg on catecholamine secretion from bovine adrenal chromaffin cells. doi:10.1016/S0006-2952(00)00343-9.