“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.” – Galileo Galilei

Nature will typically provide at least two pathways or redundancy for anything that is critical to the survival of life. Consider that we have two arms, two kidneys, two eyes, two lungs, etc. If you want to get more technical consider there are two substances to allow homocysteine to go to methionine [trimethylglycine (TMG or Betaine) or the combination of folate with vitamin B12] for the methylation cycle for the expression of genes. The discovery is a substance that works along some of the pathways of vitamin D and enhances the action of nutrients and more.

The remarkable thing about the action of this form of policosanol, as described in the patent, is that it does not drive up serum calcium. This has always been the issue with simply giving the hormone form of vitamin D to patients. Imagine anything that can work on physiological systems of the body without side effects. This natural substance has been consumed forever. Could this be the gift for an extremely healthy life? Like vitamin D in animals, it is also produced by the sun on plants and in many of our foods. The issue has been the ability of the body to absorb it so that it can get to where it needs to be active.   The new discovery is the effectiveness of a small droplet sized emulsion of policosanol. Policosanol is found as a waxy aliphatic alcohol on the leaves of sugar cane and in the husk of many grains and in other plants as well.   This may be reason that diets like the unprocessed paleo diet are so effective.

In conversations with Dr. P.R. Raghavan, he describes the finding as nature’s way of providing a pathway to health for animals who cannot obtain their vitamin D from the sun. He states that his discovery came from observing rats. The first thing that rats do is to eat grass when experiencing long periods without any exposure to sun. Grass makes the waxy alcohol on its leaves. “Rice-field Rats primarily reside in cultivated areas such as rice paddies and grasslands. It [where they reside] is largely dependent on human rice fields and plantations. Rice field rats shelter in burrows in soil, under rocks, and in logs”. It now makes me wonder when I see a dog eat grass if they are trying to achieve health from policosanol. Animals will do whatever is necessary for survival. Dr. Raghavan has been vigorous in making this understanding.

Consider the elephant with its hard dermal layer. How does it get its vitamin D? Or is its health from eating the policosanol in all the plants that it consumes.   “Asian elephants eat a wide variety of plants including grasses, shrubs, bamboo etc. While more than 100 different species may be eaten, only about 10 to 25 foods are likely to make up more than 8% of the diet. The percentage of grasses versus browse eaten varies seasonally; the nutrient value of grass is greatest early in the wet season, while that of leafy browse is higher in the dry season. Elephants do show choice in feeding: foods eaten do not necessarily match foods available. Crops such as bananas, sugar cane and paddy (rice) are favoured.” The sugar cane and paddy rice are very high in policosanol. The serum concentration of 25(OH)D for elephants is low compared to what is considered healthy for animals at an average of 16 ng/ml.

From Dr. Raghavan’s Into to Metadichol: “In the late 1880’s Dutch physician, Christiaan Eijkman was sent to the East Indies(now Indonesia to investigate why beriberi was so widespread in the region. Eijkman observed that hens in his Jakarta laboratory suffered symptons of nerve disease (polyneuritis) that were strikingly similar to those for beriberi – including muscle weakness, nerve degeneration, and paralysis. He then began a series of experiments to try to find a culprit organism, which he assumed was the cause.

He showed that the hens contracted the beriberi like polyneuritis soon after their feed was changed to polished rice – that is, rice whose outer husk had been removed. He also proved that by adding rice bran (the parts removed in polishing) to the hens’ food, the disease could be cured. The outer Husk contains Metadichol (policosanol).” We should clarify here that beriberi is commonly thought to be caused by vitamin B1 (Thiamine) deficiency, but Dr. Raghavan believes that the lack of policosanol was also a cause.

Emulsions are liquid colloids of droplets that are typically less than one micron in size. If you think about homogenized milk, it has fat droplets that range from 300nm to 500nm (0.3 microns to 0.5 microns). There are many small sized droplet emulsions that we normally use. Think about sugar in water, soap in water, or a supplement like vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K, etc. in water. The droplet size of the patented emulsion of policosanol, Metadichol®, is about 50nm in size.   This allows for easy absorption through the gut wall or through dermal layers if used topically.

Think about the many pathways that are described by Anthony W. Norman for health in his paper:
The History of the Discovery of Vitamin D and Its Daughter Steroid Hormone
Norman A.W. Ann Nutr Metab 2012;61:199–206 (DOI:10.1159/000343104)
It is truly astonishing the possibilities for health through vitamin D pathways of the vitamin D receptor. Consider this diagram derived from this paper for immune response:

Let’s take mast cells as an example in an autoimmune response. The mast cells become over active causing significant inflammation. The Metadichol®, name given in the patent, binds to the mast cell VDR and calms it down. As a result, the inflammation that is being caused disappears. Dr. Raghavan says, “Based on our invitro and invivo data Metadichol ® behaves as an agonist for one receptor and an antagonist or neutral antagonist or inverse agonist for another receptor.” The many cells that are involved in an immune reaction and other physiologies with the VDR makes the possibilities for health unlimited.

Dr. Raghavan likes to describe the VDR super family of nuclear receptors and the action of Metadichol® as follows: “A simplified way of looking at it is that the Vitamin D receptor (VDR) present in chromosome 12 in each and every cell is the conductor of an orchestra and he/she, is not relaying to the orchestra the proper cues. This will impact the performance of other members of the orchestra. Metadichol by acting on VDR restores the conductor to peak performance and ensures that both the conductor and the orchestra will perform at their peak potential (read; disease free).”

We have been scared from the sun for the last fifty years. It is time to take advantage of the nature’s gift from the sun, vitamin D in animals and policosanol in plants. This is truly a wonderful and historic discovery in nutritional health. I believe that it is a discovery worthy of the Nobel Prize! – Pandemic Survivor

Knowledge advances not by repeating known facts, but by refuting false dogmas. – Isaac Newton

Brief Bio: Dr P. R. Raghavan CEO of Nanorx Inc. has a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Oregon State University, USA (1979) and a M.S in Chemistry (1972) from I.I.T Mumbai, India. . He has worked on drug discovery for over 25 years at Columbia University, Max-Planck Institute, Germany, Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis) and Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. His fields of specialization are CNS, Inflammation, AIDS and ACE inhibitors. His experience in drug research includes Chiral synthesis, process, scale up and clinical research. He has been working for the last 12 years in the area of nutraceuticals and developing environmentally cost effective solutions for Bio-Diesel production.

Dr. Raghavan’s Business Philosophy: “Value for Money and Value for Many”