Scientific Research into the  Health & Beauty Benefits of PEARLCIUM 

1. Research on life prolonging effect
2. Reduce wrinkles, aging, and sunspots and promote radiant, youthful-looking skin
3. Grow stronger bones by stimulating new bone growth and increasing bone density
4. Strengthen the heart, promote a regular heart rhythm, and aid recovery from heart disease
5. Promote healthy blood pressure
6. Promote healthy cholesterol levels
7. Support healthy eyesight
8. Improve memory and immune system
9. Calm the nervous system, reduce stress and promote restful sleep
10. Improve children’s IQ, school performance, and overall health
11. Powerful antioxidant
12. Pearlcium as a superior source of calcium and essential trace minerals
13. Pearl and osteoporosis 

The Secret to a Longer, Healthier Life

 Research on life prolonging effect

It is not an easy task to scientifically confirm the ancient knowledge about the life prolonging effect of pearl powder in human beings.  It may take about 50 to 100 years. However, it is not so difficult to show this compelling evidence in animals. To be clear, Chinese scientists have shown that pearl powder can prolong the life span of animals in several research models.     

In one such study conducted in Suzhou Medical School, scientists found that by immersing some mulberry leaf, a favorite meal for silkworms, in a five percent pearl powder solution, that it can increase the adult phase of silkworm (moth) by an incredible 57.7 percent. When they fed mice their meals containing 1 percent pearl powder, they found that the mice’s life span on average was increased by 21.6 percent.  

In another longevity study, scientists at Guangxi Chinese Medicine Research Institute studied the effect on fruit fly life span by feeding meals with some added pearl powder. They found that compared to the placebo group, the average life span of fruit flies fed with 0.5% pearl powder is increased from 55.2 days to 74.4 days for the female fruit fly and from 45 days to 64.6 days for the male fruit fly. Fruit flies’ longest life span is increased from 70 days to 100 days for the female fruit fly and from 60 days to 102 days for the male fruit fly. 

If we were to translate the anti-aging effects, the profound life extending phenomena as observed in the silkworm, mice, and fruit flies from the pearl powder, it would indicate that our life span could increase from 80 years old to at least 96 years old on average. Perhaps, another compelling reason our ancestors found pearl powder so precious! 

Traditional wisdom and current scientific research is demonstrating that pearl powder has a definitive anti-aging effect. More research and clinical trials are needed to confirm its full range of effects.

Reduce wrinkles, aging, and sunspots and promote radiant, youthful-looking skin

E. Lopez and other French scientists from the Biophysics Laboratory at the Museum D’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France, have found that pearl nacre, which is the material made of pearl, can enhance regeneration of fibroblasts.⁸⁴ In their research, these scientists implanted pearl nacre in the dermis of rats to test the ingredient’s effect on skin fibroblasts. They found that pearl nacre enhanced the fibroblasts’ synthesis of the extracellular matrix. It increased the production of components that help cells stick together (which reinforces the barrier function of the skin) and their cellular communication with each other. It also helped collagen, the main structural protein in the skin, to regenerate itself.

This research scientifically confirms the traditional wisdom that pearl nacre can increase skin regeneration, thus help improve skin tone and promote youthful looking skin. It shows that pearl nacre does this by increasing collagen and other extracellular matrix production, and by increasing cellular communication. However, it tells us more than this. Since fibroblasts are “builder cells” that abound in all connective tissue that surround our muscles, skin, and organs, by enhancing fibroblast regeneration, pearl nacre in fact can help keep your body in shape and make your muscle and organs strong. This research may explain, at least partly, why pearl nacre can make your heartbeat stronger and more regular, and help improve eye health as is being shown in other scientific research.

Grow stronger bones by stimulating new bone growth and increasing bone density

In 1992, E. Lopez and other French scientists from the Biophysics Laboratory at the Museum D’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France, did some interesting experiments to study the osteogenic properties of pearl nacre (again, this is the exact material that comprises both pearl and mother-of-pearl). ^56-59 They placed pearl nacre chips on a layer of human osteoblasts. They found that the osteoblasts that were near the pearl nacre chips proliferated, and then attached themselves to the chips. Even more amazing, the osteoblasts formed a complete sequence of bone in the presence of the pearl nacre. How do we know it was the pearl nacre that caused this? Because only the osteoblasts surrounding the pearl nacre chips induced this type of mineralization. 

In 2003, the same group of French scientists decided to investigate pearl fillings. They placed pieces of mother-of-pearl in experimental cavities in the lumbar vertebrae of sheep. They found that the insertion of this pearl nacre induced the production of layers of newly formed bone adjacent to the implanted pearl nacre filling.⁵⁶ They also discovered that inserting the mother-of-pearl caused an increased mineralization of the sheep’s bone, which means that the bone surrounding the cavity actually became stronger. 

Next, the scientists compared pearl-filled cavities with empty cavities and with cavities patched with the normal acrylic polymer filling used by dentists, which is called PMMA. They found there was no new bone formation in the empty cavities or in those filled with PMMA.⁵⁶ In fact, they discovered that PMMA actually causes necrosis – or cell death – of the surrounding bone cells. It also changes bone architecture and causes a significant reduction in bone formation and mineralization. 

Dr. Y. Shen and colleagues studied the osteogenic activity of pearl in a culture of simulated body fluid and cells, with the intent to compare its effects to that of mother-of-pearl and hydroxyapatite, a form of calcium known to be osteogenic. They found that not only did pearl stimulate the growth of osteoblasts, but the proliferation occurred more quickly and smoothly than on either of the other substances.⁶⁰ In fact, an abundant extracellular matrix occupied the whole pearl surface after just five days. The researchers concluded that pearl is a superior osteo-inductive material with high osteogenic activity. In other words, pearl can build better bone than mother-of-pearl and hydroxyapatite.

Strengthen the heart, promote a regular heart rhythm, and aid recovery from heart disease

Research shows that pearl powder taken internally can improve heart function. Yunyi Zhang and colleagues at Shanghai Medical University studied pearl’s pharmacology and its effect on heart function.⁷⁷ They found that pearl powder can enhance the heart’s contraction without affecting the frequency of the heartbeat, which means more oxygen-rich blood is pumped per beat through the circulatory system without increasing numbers of beats. This means the heart is working smarter and more efficiently, not harder. The research also indicates that pearl powder can help the heart’s pacemaker keep its natural rhythm, helping rebuff and recover from the effects of arrhythmias or abnormal heart rhythm. ⁷⁸  

Promote healthy blood pressure 

Kangmin Gong and his colleagues at Zhejiang Chinese Traditional Medicine Research Institute and Zhejiang University No. 1 Adjunct Hospital conducted a human clinical trial to study the effect of pearl powder on high blood pressure.⁷⁹ The 90 patients in the study took 500 milligrams of pearl powder twice a day for 30 days. The average systolic pressure dropped from 161.0 mmHg to 139.2 mmHg – a decline of 15 percent. The average diastolic pressure dropped from 96.0 mmHg to 84.6 mmHg – a decline of 13 percent. 

In another similar human clinical trial with 75 patients, Kangmin Gong and his colleagues obtained similar successful results.⁸⁰ It has also been reported that patients notice fewer headaches, less dizziness and irritability, and improved sleep after taking pearl powder. 

Dongmei Wang and her associates at Shaanxi Xian Jiaotong University Adjunct Hospital also studied pearl powder’s effects on blood pressure. They found that pearl powder can lower the blood pressure of mice, improve their sleep, and make them more calm.⁸¹

Promote healthy cholesterol levels

Blood lipid research indicates that pearl powder taken internally can reduce lipid peroxide and cholesterol levels of coronary disease patients.⁷⁸ 

Dr. Huang and his colleagues at Zhejiang Medical School conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical trial to study the effect of pearl powder on lipid peroxides and cholesterol content of coronary disease patients. ⁷⁸ Twenty patients took pearl powder for a month. Seventeen patients took placebo. The researchers found that for the patients taking pearl powder, their harmful lipid peroxide and total cholesterol levels were significantly reduced, while for patients taking placebo, there was not much change on average. This can help stop the formation process of atherosclerosis in its tracks, before it can clog your arteries, so it never becomes a problem for your cardiovascular system.

Support healthy eyesight

For thousands of years, Chinese have used pearl to enhance their eyesight and treat eye diseases, such as myopia.  H. Xu and colleagues at the Department of Chemistry of Huazhong University of Science and Technology provided scientific validation that pearl powder made from pearl powder can help prevent and treat chickens with myopia.⁶⁶

Improve memory and immune system

Pearl powder might not only extend life span, it can also improve the quality of life. Studies done in China demonstrated that pearl powder can boost immune function in animals.^74,75  In one study, it found that taking pearl powder for 12 days can enhance mice’s antibody production and increase cellular protective functions.

Furthermore, it was found that after giving mice meals containing 1% pearl powder for 14 days, mice make much less mistakes during study test.  This study indicates that pearl powder can improve learning ability and memory in mice. ⁷⁵ 

Calm nervous system, reduce stress and promote restful sleep

Jianxin Pan and his colleagues at Suzhou Medical School studied the effects of pearl powder on the rabbit’s nervous system.⁸⁹ They found that pearl powder could relieve pain and promote a calming effect on their nervous system. The researchers also discovered that after injecting the rabbits with a pearl powder solution, their brain production of 5-HT, 5-HIAA, and NA increased. These are positive “elevated mood” neurotransmitters, and this research indicates that pearl powder can reduce the level of stress, and promote a more peaceful, positive internal biochemistry. 

Improve children’s IQ, school performance, and overall health

Chinese scientists found that pearl powder can improve children’s IQ. In one study, they had more than 200 children with mental disabilities take 750-1500 mg of pearl powder every day. ⁹⁰ After three months, the IQ of 92% of the children had been improved and more than 80% of the children’s IQs were enhanced to the normal range. 

Dr. Jian Wang at Nanjin Second Hospital and Dehui Hou at China Medical University studied the effect of a pearl powder supplement on mice. They found that the mice that had taken pearl powder for 12 days did better in maze tests and had stronger immunity than the mice that did not.⁷⁴ In other words, pearl powder made the mice smarter and healthier.

Powerful antioxidant

Pearl Powder is a powerful antioxidant. It can both enhance the activity of Superoxide dismutase (SOD), one of the body’s premier antioxidant enzymes, and also reduce peroxidation, one of the major aging processes of our body.

Shengshan Hu and his associates at Jiangxi Medicine Research Institute also studied the antioxidant effect of pearl nacre.⁵⁷ In addition to measuring lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels, they also monitored SOD activity. The researchers found that after taking pearl nacre solution for 30 days, the SOD activity of the mice increased and their LPO activity decreased. 

Chinese researchers at Suzhou Medical School studied the effect of pearl powder on the content of peroxidized lipids in the mouse heart and brain.⁵⁷ These researchers found that after taking pearl powder for just 30 days, mice experienced a decrease in the amount of peroxidized lipids in their brains and hearts – indicating that pearl powder slows down and may even reverse some of the age-related damage. The results of this research were further confirmed in several other independent studies.^57-63 The less oxidation, the less damage to your vital organs, the more functioning and better metabolic balance you’ll have, with your chances for enhanced quality of life optimized. 

Peroxidized lipids (LPO) are fats that have been attacked and damaged by free radicals. This is when even good fats lose their value, and get transformed into dangerous substances. Free radicals are molecules that are highly unstable, and they can rapidly damage and degrade tissues that are not adequately protected. The more peroxidized lipids you have, the worse off you are. This is often used as a bio-marker for determining your accurate biologic health and true age beyond just counting your years. Unfortunately, your peroxidized lipid content usually increases with age; it is part of the normal aging process. That is why there has been so much interest in antioxidants lately as well, as some antioxidants can prevent peroxidation, slow down pre-mature aging, and preserve more youthful functioning organs, skin, and even your good looks! 

Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) is one of the body’s premier antioxidant enzymes. SOD is so important to your health and longevity that its manufacture is ensured in the body by being encoded into our DNA to make sure we make it for ourselves! SOD catalyzes the dismutation reaction, where a potent and potentially highly damaging superoxide free radical is rendered harmless and turned into simple oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. SOD eliminates superoxide radicals from the cells’ environment and prevents the formation of reactive oxygen species and their derivatives, as they are known cellular killers and cripplers. It plays an important role in maintaining vascular tone, lung function, and metabolism, and in the prevention of such diseases as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and arthritis. The higher the SOD level is, the better it is for you. Many scientists consider SOD the key antioxidant player directly linked to longevity (closely coupled with Catalase and Glutathione), as various animal studies show that higher SOD levels can support better health over a much longer lifespan.

Pearlcium as a superior source of calcium and essential trace minerals

In 1998, Xiaoping Li and his colleagues at Wuhan Mineralogy University in Wuhan, China, conducted human and animal studies comparing the bioavailability of pearl powder to that of other calcium supplements in a human clinical trial.⁵⁵ Their studies show that pearl powder is absorbed twice as efficiently as conventional calcium carbonate supplements (by far the most common form of calcium in dietary supplements).

Scientific tests reveal that calcium and essential trace minerals in pearl has a natural highly aligned micro-crystalline structure. 

Latest scientific discovery reveals that the regulation of calcium involved in pearl formation is similar to humans’ at the DNA level. Our human body shares a deep kinship with pearl. Pearl is completely compatible with human bone. It can stimulate new bone growth, increases mineralization, which enhances bone density. 

Pearl and osteoporosis 

The possibility of using pearl powder to treat animals with osteoporosis has been explored by Chinese scientists. Hongfu Wang and his associates from the Shanghai Medical School Senior Medicine Research Center studied pearl powder for the treatment of osteoporosis in mice.^{53, 54} Some mice were given a pearl powder formulation for 90 days; others were not. What the researchers discovered was that the mice receiving the pearl powder formulation experienced significantly higher bone calcium content, bone mineral density, and total bone weight in comparison to the mice that did not. This is highly encouraging, but no guarantee, not yet anyway, as mice are used as the test subjects because they are excellent indicators for the expected effect in human metabolism. To date, pearl powder’s ability to treat osteoporosis in humans is still clinically unknown, and we all await those human clinical studies for any confirmation of bone benefit. 

Order your NEW LEASE OF LIFE TODAY!

References 

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Each year, 6.4 million tons of plastic enter the oceans. In the North Sea alone yearly 20.000 tons of garbage accumulate and an estimated 600,000 cubic meters of trash are found on and within the seabed. The garbage emanates from ships and fishing activities or enters via rivers and through tourism into the ocean. For beach holidaymakers it is usually only an aesthetic problem, it is, however, deadly for many marine creatures: they choke or become entangled in plastic and die painfully. Our oceans are overfished and polluted. Plastic has a live-span of 450 years and is presently found as micro plastic in all food webs.

At Kenna Eco Diving we clean up any underwater rubbish that we find on every dive and carry out regular beach clean ups with the help of local school children.

Cleaning the beach with Kenna Eco Diving for Project Aware

The marine conservation research is progressing well this summer, with many key species being logged – such as this lovely Posidonia pipefish:

Posidonia pipefish by Gaynor Rosier of Kenna Eco Diving, L'Escala, Costa Brava, Spain

Volunteer divers are always needed to help with marine conservation research projects on the Costa Brava with Kenna Eco Diving. 

If you’re not a qualified diver yet, you can come and learn to dive with us, taking the PADI Open Water Course with native English-speaking instructors, and then join in with the Eco Diving to gain more underwater experience.

We love to have the participation of divers who care about protecting marine ecosystems. It is a wonderful way to enjoy Mediterranean diving whilst helping to conserve the marine environment, and gives budding marine biologists lots of underwater fieldwork experience.

Volunteers tends to come for anything from a few weeks to a couple of months, during April to October. To help volunteers’ budgets, the subsidised cost structure provides the best value for longer stays. The subsidised cost for Eco Dive volunteers starts from €148 per week, which includes all transfers, shared bunkhouse accommodation, and all volunteer Eco Diving. There are options for subsidised food, towel, linen/sleeping bag hire and dive equipment hire available (see: Booking Info page )

Volunteers usually do 2 dives per weekday, staying underwater for around an hour per dive (depending on air consumption) as the research sites are quite shallow. There is always plenty of time for underwater fun, exploration, underwater photography as well as collecting key species data.

Volunteers have the weekends off from Eco Diving to do other optional coastal dives, to visit the famous Medes Islands Marine Reserve, which is always a wonderful experience,  to do tourist stuff or just have a rest and enjoy L’Escala.

Come and get some sun and join in the scuba diving fun!

Email: eco@kennaecodiving.net NOW to check availability for this summer.

Several of these tiny molluscs were spotted in shallow water on returning from an Eco Dive on the Costa Brava. After searching various seaslug website they remain unidentified. 

Description:  2-3 cms long with an opaque, white body through which the innards can be seen as a dark mass. A definite external shell and black-tipped antennae.

Please post any suggestions as to the species. Thanks.

Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries decided to close the bluefin tuna fishery to purse seiners in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic, due to the exhaustion of the quotas allocated to them, in early June.

France, Greece and Spain were informed of this decision which became effective as of 10th June. The closure of the purse seine fishery was necessary to protect the fragile stock of bluefin tuna and to ensure its recovery as envisaged by the recovery plan of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT). The Commission has declared a zero tolerance approach towards overfishing and will take all necessary measures to ensure full compliance across the board.

We dived and saw what could be the remaining Mediterranean fish!

Please sign the petition: www.ocean2012.eu/petition

Will there be any fish left for future divers to visit?

Transforming European Fisheries from OCEAN2012 on Vimeo.

Please sign the petition:  www.ocean2012.eu/petition

Join us on a special dive to learn about the state of EU Fisheries

Fun fish ID Eco Boat Dive over the endangered seagrass meadows followed by free buffet & showing of End of the Line film

Sun 6th June at 13.00 at International Diving Center, The Port, L’Escala

Years of intensive fishing in European waters have led to dramatic declines in once abundant fish populations. Eighty percent of assessed EU fish stocks are overfished and more than 30 per cent are outside safe biological limits.

The 2012 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is an opportunity to stop overfishing, end destructive fishing practices and deliver fair and equitable use of abundant fish stocks. OCEAN2012 is an alliance of organisations dedicated to transforming European fisheries policy and to facilitating greater participation in the reform by broadening stakeholder involvement.

European Fish Week 2010 will take place from June 5^th to 13^th. It is a unique opportunity for everybody across Europe to play their part in making this a truly fundamental reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.

OCEAN2012 member groups and friends will be organising events and activities throughout Europe, such as film screenings, panel discussions, food tastings, beachside activities and much much more. Together, we will be calling on the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, to make environmental sustainability a prerequisite for a reformed Common Fisheries Policy. Make your voice heard!

To register for this special dive please contact gaynor@kennaecodiving.net

Europe’s new Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki opened her first fishing quota talks by stating that tougher measures were required to bring species back from danger to more commercially viable levels.

“I want to be clear that the quota levels set must respect all the European Union’s commitments to sustainability,” she said in a statement. However, her strategy will be hampered by widespread illegal fishing, a lack of data on the state of many stocks and fierce bargaining by coastal communities.

The Commission has proposed the establishment of an EU market for Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs), which it thinks will reduce overcapacity, improve conservation and maximise the economic efficiency of the fishing fleet.

OCEAN2012 has sent a letter to the members of the Fisheries Committee to share its position on the proposal. OCEAN2012 believes the phasing out of the current quota allocation system, replaced with a system that grants access based on a set of environmental and social criteria, is better placed to achieve sustainable fisheries.

About 60 percent of European Union fish stocks are outside safe biological limits. However, fishing nations  catch around 34 percent more than scientists say is sustainable. Portugal and Spain have quotas that are still set 55 percent above the levels advised by fisheries scientists, pushing southern hake and anchovy outside safe biological limits, the Commission said in its report.

A target has been set by the EU Commission to get fisheries back to Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) by 2015. However, some fish stocks are already so low that even if fishing stopped today MSY could not be achieved in that timescale.

The Pew Environment Group said Damanki’s strategy fell short on protection for deep sea fisheries. “For deep-sea fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic, the scientific advice is that all species, including endangered species of deep-sea sharks, are outside safe biological limits,” said Uta Bellion of the Pew group.