Food Matirx Questions and Answers

Interview with Dr. Andy Szalay - Food Matrix Inventor

Dr. Szalay was a young scientist who studied under and worked with Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi, at the University of Szeged in Hungary. Szent-Györgyi is considered the Father of nutritional science and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1937 for the discovery of vitamin C (isolated ascorbic acid). Dr. Szalay was part of that scientific team and as a research pharmacist, Dr. Szalay spent decades researching the mysteries of cellular nutrition. In 1977 he developed the first whole food supplement and in the 1990's he perfected and patented the FoodMatrix ™process.

Q. How did you come about discovering Food Matrix?
A. In the last step of his research, Szent-Györgyi concluded that he had found something more active than the isolated/crystallized vitamin. Furthering his work, we went through the extraction procedure the same way he did and discovered other very important carrier food factors.

Q. So what are these carriers?
A. Szent-Györgyi called this substance vitamin P. This was not an individual material; it was a composition of bioflavonoids, carbohydrates, proteins, enzymes and fatty acids. We built this material around the vitamin C and made a complex out of it.

Q. So, you discovered Food Matrix vitamin C. What was next?
A. The next step was to try it with the other vitamins. So, we studied the research and followed it through as it had been done to determine how the vitamins were isolated and we created for each one a carrier food factor.

Q. Are the carriers for each vitamin different?
A. Yes, if we have 14 different vitamins, the carrier food factor is different in all 14 of them. We went through the same process with the minerals. We analyzed the carriers and built them around the minerals.

Q. Is this a patented process and would it be easy to copy?
A. We have an international patent on the process. The carriers are very different for each nutrient and the process is extremely complex. It would take a very long time, if ever, to duplicate just one of the food factor processes. You would then have to start over with the next nutrient.

Q. So how does this discovery benefit the consumers?
A. First, this is a food matrix. It is not a chemical and the body recognizes it as food. In clinical trials, it was concluded that these nutrients are better absorbed and retained than chemical isolates. Second, these carrier food factors hold the key to transferring the nutrients directly to the cells providing for greater utilization and effectiveness. Chemical isolates do not have carriers therefore resulting in poor utilization.

Q. Are isolated nutrient vitamins really that different?
A. Yes. The synthetic isolated chemical vitamins really were produced to imitate the original vitamins in food. These chemicals are really precursors to the vitamins

Q. What does it mean that specific chemicals are precursors?
A. It means that they have to go through one or two more steps to be an active compound. The synthetic isolated vitamins are not identical to what the researchers originally established as the chemical formulas for these vitamins. They had to come up with these precursors because the vitamins isolated from nature were not stable. The synthetic vitamins were developed because they were stable.

Q. Not stable, how?
A.They would break down or decompose. They could not stand up. They would lose their potency.

Q. So you used the carrier food factors to make the vitamin compounds stable?
A. Yes, we did.

Q. You must feel gratified when you see the studies showing Food Matrix is superior.
A. Independent researchers conducted the studies. As the results started to come in, we realized that we had something. After all the studies were completed, we were extremely satisfied.

Q. Finally, what is the one main benefit of Food Matrix?
A. It is difficult to clearly isolate one benefit, as there are so many. Of course its non-toxicity is a definite plus but I would say that since Food Matrix is essentially food, we receive maximum nutrition.

Interview with Dr. Massoud Arvanaghi - Food Matrix Scientist

Recently, we sat down with Dr. Massoud Arvanaghi and discussed the distinct advantages of Food Matrix over USP isolated nutrients. Seldom do we have the opportunity to take part in a revolution, or be somewhere from the very beginning. This time we do.


Q: What is the difference between USP Isolate and Food Matrix?
Dr: It's a comparison between a synthetic material and real food. You are comparing ascorbic acid with an orange. You are comparing the difference between an isolated material and a material that is attached to all the components that you will find embodied in nature. Simply, Food Matrix is a concentrated form of real and natural food.

Q: What are the components that are embedded in Food Matrix and real food?
Dr: They are protein, complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, essential fatty acids, enzymes and all the components that are found in nature.

Q: What is the advantage of Food Matrix over a synthetic isolate?
Dr: Generally, synthetic material has a very difficult time being absorbed where food does not. With Food Matrix being as close to natural food as possible, FoodMatrix ™products may be better absorbed, better retained and better utilized than synthetic material.

Q: Why do we need to supplement with far less quantity of FoodMatrix nutrients than isolated, synthetic USP?
Dr: Fifty years ago one didn't need to take mega dosages of supplements because our food had all the nutrients our body needed. Unfortunately, due to the depletion of nutrients in our soil and food processing, we are now not receiving food that is rich with nutrients. That's why we need to supplement today. If you are now supplementing with an isolate, only a small amount is being absorbed because the body doesn't recognize chemical isolates. For example in the old days, when you were eating food, in spite of the fact that the food had only between 5 mg to 15 mg of calcium, that was good enough for the body. The Food Matrix ideology is that it comes closest to food and you do not need to consume mega grams because it has both the message and the messenger and it is targeted for the cells that need the nutrient. The isolate UPS, because it does not have the other food components is poorly absorbed and does not have the targeting devices. Because Food Matrix is better absorbed, retained and utilized you don't need anywhere near as much as the isolate. You will be getting greater benefit with less dosage.

Q: Many people promote the benefits of isolated amino acid chelate. Why don't we incorporate that?
Dr: The problem with that is that in nature you can never find an isolate material. There are no amino acid chelates found in food. Neither will you find salt in any natural food or fruit. Manufacturers include salt to try and make the isolate stable.

Q: Many of our products are re-grown or re-natured in yeasts. Many people are allergic to yeast. Does the finished product contain yeasts?
Dr: Allergy to yeast is firstly to candida albicans. In any batch we make, at the end of the process, we have microbiological tests done to make sure there is no yeast, no mold and no candida albicans. Our manufacturing process includes breaking down all allergic agents and yeast. People must know that baker's yeast is one of the most nutritious products in the world. The finished product ends up as close to food as possible with all the food nutrients and no live yeast left present.

Q: Why is Food Matrix more effective: Why is Food Matrix better absorbed, better retained and better utilized?
Dr: Because FoodMatrix is as close to natural food. You can have a car; however, if you don't have an engine, the car is never going to run. You can have a car with an engine but if you have no gas you're going nowhere. You can take a lot of isolated nutrients but if it has no place to go it's not going to provide benefit. If you have a letter in an envelope but the envelope has no address or zip code, the letter will never reach its destination. In FoodMatrix ™, because the nutrients are embedded to protein, carbohydrates, enzymes, fiber, etc., they are giving the nutrients directions. The body then knows where the nutrient goes, when to release, when to absorb and when to utilize it. USP isolates just have the car so to speak. FoodMatrix ™ nutrients have the car, engine, gas, global positioning and knows exactly where to go.