It’s now well established that specific cellular systems control genetic expression within the body, which in turn affects the progression of most disease states.
However new medical research also now shows that those specific cellular systems controlling genetic expression (and most diseases) are primarily modulated by foods & chemicals we ingest and our physical & mental activity — not by our inherited genetics themselves as so many believe. Paragon’s case study research also shows that many, if not most, disease states can often be reversed through specifically targeted nutritional and/or lifestyle interventions. See Medical Case Studies.
To provide the most current medical and health related research to patients and doctors, Paragon continually searches and reviews the latest research papers on any biochemical effects related to:
In November 2005 researchers confirmed that specific nutrients and chemicals turn genes on and off, and affect genetic expression.10 Paragon’s analysis of its case study research came to the same conclusion in 2004 using different research techniques.11 Orthomolecular medical and environment researchers have been making these observations since the 1970s. This research and volumes of similar findings are quickly and dramatically changing western views of medicine and the treatment of illness.
To some it may sound unlikely that by eating a specific food or supplement one can permanently change behaviour for the better, or reverse cancer, Huntington's, or schizophrenia. Yet such treatments are increasingly plausible to researchers as well.12 Normal rats were made to behave differently just by injecting them with a specific amino acid, (a building block of protein). The change to their behaviour was permanent.13 Perhaps the most important finding was that the amino acid altered the way the rat's genes were expressed.14
This understanding will eventually cause a revolution in the way future treatments and drugs are developed.15
Moreover, an examination of a patient’s bio-chemical pathways and biomarkers can indicate the source and solutions to a patient’s health problems.16,17
Paragon does a wide range of biochemical and metabolic research related to disease states and health problems seen today. Our case study research shows most modern illness is associated with modern lifestyles, and that such illnesses have only recently arisen due to changes in the way we exercise & work, changes in the way we grow, choose, prepare & eat foods, and/or from exposure to environmental pollution.
The reasons for this are increasingly clear. For thousands of years the nutrient & chemical base that supported and drove the genetic expression, evolution, & heath of all life forms was ultimately derived from clean air, water, and whole foods harvested from unpolluted environments.
However modern lifestyles habits, and the byproducts of human activity, have now radically altered both the environment and the food chain supporting the biochemistries of most life forms. Unfortunately human and other life forms, and those processes governing their genetic expression, have not had time to evolve and adapt to run on these new modified behaviours, foods, and toxins. This is causing changes to genetic expression, which is resulting in increasingly common degenerative disease in the planet’s species.
The broader goal of Paragon’s wide range of research work is two fold:
1) To help develop the necessary clinical research, testing & diagnostic tools, and targeted nutritional interventions required to:
2) support both individual doctors & patients, and government agencies regulating medical systems, in the effort to re-establish properly balanced nutrition, lifestyles, and living environments & ecosystems required to support the health of all genetic & cellular systems dependant upon them.
To achieve these overall goals:
Much of Paragon’s success in developing innovation for sport and medicine was due to biochemical and metabolic research conducted by Paragon Director or Research, Sam Bock. This research was made possible by the dedication of Paragon’s athletes, case study participants, and other partners who collaborated on the projects.
Prior to first beginning this biochemical and metabolic research in 1987, a major focus of Bock’s previous work since 1979 had been the study and research of particle physics, nuclear chemistry, and the health sciences. Bock earned his BA in Environmental Studies / Economics from Middlebury College in Vermont. His thesis was an economic / scientific analysis and forecast of North America’s energy needs and technology use, focusing on fossil fuels, nuclear power and alternative sources. It accurately forecast the decline of the American nuclear power industry due to excess ionizing radiation and associated metal fatigue in reactor cores and heat exchangers. After college, Bock worked on Wall Street and in Denver in energy related project finance, before returning to Canada to become a fulltime athlete in 1986, and an athlete/coach in 1989.
Bock and bobsled team-mate Steve Hall, initially founded Paragon in 1989 to research, develop and manufacture new technologies for high-level sport training and competition.
Bock’s background in atomic physics and chemistry provided the foundation to better understand why electrons, atoms and chemicals organize as they do, how life forms organize; and why biochemical processes in the body have evolved as they have. To improve Paragon athlete’s chances for success, he began Paragon’s bio-mechanics, bio-chemical analysis, and nutrition chemistry research in an effort to achieve world class athletic results without steroid use. From the 1970s to the 1990s anabolic steroid use in sport was used to target one basic aspect of human biochemistry — increased RNA synthesis at the cellular level. Paragon’s research work began one year prior to the Ben Johnson steroid scandal at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics — when steroid use in amateur sport was at its peak.
At that time, many in sport believed that the use of anabolic drugs was the only way to improve human performance beyond perceived natural boundaries of performance. In fact, the records set at the 1988 Winter and Summer Olympics were so superior to those achieved prior, that many thought those levels would not be achieved again with the introduction of sophisticated drug testing. Initially that sentiment appeared to be correct, as for the next few years athletic performances began to fall off in most power sports.
However, Bock took a different approach to improving human strength, health, and performance. Whereas anabolic steroids target one aspect of human biochemistry, his research showed that:
He hypothesized that most western athletes were malnourished, and lacking important nutrients for health and superior athletic performance. If this could be corrected, athletes might approach levels of athletic performance previously only considered possible with anabolic drugs.
He researched the most important nutrients and food sources for athletes, determined which nutrients needed to be enhanced for athletics, and made further adjustments for mineral depletion, environmental contamination, and other factors affecting the modern food chain. With compounding pharmacists, he also prepared and tested supplements and nutrition regimens for himself and the athletes he was training.
The world-class speed & power and outstanding athletic results achieved naturally through Paragon’s biochemical analysis and targeted nutrition regimens were rapid and unprecedented. Paragon athletes set the first of many world records just 4 years later in 1992. They (and other athletes using them) went on to set many more world records in their sports, in many cases far surpassing those set in 1988 using anabolic steroids. Since then Paragon’s highly effective sport development programs have helped athletes win Olympic and World Championship medals as well as set many records in wide range of sports.
It was clear to friends and associates that Paragon’s programs were building stronger, healthier bodies, and often at older ages previously considered to be past prime. This resulted in Paragon receiving many outside requests from busy executives to help get them back on track physically and to better enable them to perform at a higher level.
In 1992 Paragon began working on its first non-athlete case studies, a group of 5 males, aged 35 - 39. Full medical profiles were compiled on each individual. Among other health issues, problematic irregular heart-beats and arrhythmias were revealed in 4 of 5 individuals. One also had a severe case of 25-30 planter warts on each foot, despite many previous attempts by doctors to treat them.
Targeted interventions were developed for each individual. These were based on the personal data collected, physical evaluations, and peer-reviewed research findings related to nutrient intervention and specific health issues. Remarkably, within just 6 weeks of applying the targeted interventions 3 of the 4 client’s arrhythmias cases disappeared, and within 3 months the one client’s case of warts had also disappeared. These were the first of many surprising and unexpected results observed in Paragon’s Medical Case Studies.
Those initial case study successes inspired additional Paragon nutrition, biochemistry, and environmental research which helped Paragon to better define How The Body Heals in simpler terms anyone can understand. In 2004 Bock wrote a health and nutritional guide for the lay person called How the World has Changed and Why This is Affecting Human Health. This was updated in 2006 and renamed You and Your Genetics are What You Eat.
Paragon’s research investigations also indicated serious changes had occurred to the environment, food chain, and modern lifestyles, and that these changes are affecting most people’s health. For a full report please see You and Your Genetics are What You Eat.
The most problematic of these modern changes are discussed briefly below. In a nutshell, the rapid development of the industrial economy of the 20th century dramatically altered the foods most people eat, the workplaces in which we work, and the environment in which we live. This is significantly affecting health in most modern and rapidly developing societies.
Up until the 1930s: Food sources were primarily natural, lifestyles were more physically active, and work environments were less stressful. There was little synthetic crop fertilization, few environmental toxins, little fast food, very few additives, very little processed food, little cancer, and much less degenerative disease.
Since then, in the US alone, annual production of organic chemicals soared from 1 million tons in 1930 to:
Moreover, pesticide and synthetic fertilizer use accelerated dramatically after WWII, contaminating and disrupting the natural return of nutrients to the soil.
Today: Not only are we faced with higher stress 50-60 hour work weeks, but because of processed, junk, & fast foods; a toxin-saturated environment; and modern agricultural practices, the food chain has also become polluted with contaminants and depleted of minerals & microorganisms important to health.
With the food supply becoming increasingly processed, demineralised, and contaminated with toxins, Paragon began researching the most advanced methods for testing metabolism and toxicity levels in 2002 to further help its athletes and case study subjects avoid hidden health problems that might be impacting full health & performance.
We began working with world leading Research and Laboratory Partners and quickly uncovered hidden mercury & heavy metal toxicities as well as various metabolic imbalances that were impacting the health and performance of many we tested. Moreover, the metabolic rebalancing and body-cleansing programs Paragon tested were quickly shown to be effective in the follow-up testing done with those athletes and subjects.
The innovative metabolic testing analysis Paragon has developed has continued to help produce remarkable medical recoveries and to generate more unprecedented sport performances. See Medical Case Studies and Paragon Milestones in Sport.
Paragon’s and other nutrition research also shows the average American diet no longer provides the nutrition required for a foundation of good health.
A June 2004 Journal of Food Chemistry and Analysis report revealed three food groups - sweets and desserts, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages - comprised almost 25 percent of all calories consumed by Americans. Snack foods and fruit-flavored drinks made up another five percent, bringing the total energy contributed by nutrient-poor foods to at least 30 percent of the total calorie intake. Sodas contributed 7.1 percent of the total calories eaten. Sweets topped the list, followed by hamburgers, pizza and potato chips. In contrast, healthy foods such as vegetables and fruit made up only 10 percent of the caloric intake in the U.S. diet.19
Half of all foods eaten are overly processed convenience foods known to have little if any nutrient value.20,21 Forty percent of middle class American children are severely malnourished, and adults fare far worse, upwards to 90%.22 Both children and adults choose to eat for taste, cost and convenience.23
North Americans regularly consume over 2,800 FDA-approved food additives with another 10,000 additives being "incidental" to the agriculture and food-processing business.24,25
Air and water contain more unwanted chemicals, radiation, toxins, pesticides, herbicides and other pollutants than ever before; in 1979 the U.S. EPA declared that up to 20% of all deaths in America are caused by pollutants and environmental hazards.26 Pollutants act to use up nutrients faster than they can normally be re-supplied.27,28,29
Voluntarily, in the US one-fourth of all adults smoked (and most involuntarily inhaled automobile fumes), more than half consumed liquor regularly, and drug usage continues to be common. As with pollutants, drugs and stimulants of any kind consume nutrients faster than they can normally be re-supplied.30,31,32
Further, the content of critical minerals in food (that are required for health and detoxification) are on average 87% lower in conventional foods as compared to organic sources due to soil depletion associated with synthetic fertilizer use.33 See Appendix 1 in You And Your Genetics Are What You Eat.
These factors are affecting normal biochemical function in many people and are significantly contributing to increased obesity, cancer, mental health problems, juvenile learning disorders, and degenerative disease striking young people.
It’s also common knowledge among environmental scientists that toxins and other ingested substances have been altering the genetics of lower life forms found in the Great Lakes for decades. While firm evidence of a specific food’s ability to alter human genes directly was only confirmed in late 2005, it has been long suspected by forward thinking researchers, as there is much evidence that foods affect genetic expression.
For example - It’s well established that an excess of Omega 6 fatty acids promotes tumour growth, while Omega 3’s inhibit tumor growth.34 (It’s not as well known that the ratio of stearic to oleic fatty acids in plasma can be used as a monitor of the effectiveness of cancer therapy.35 As such, consumption of olive oil might be counter-indicated in certain cases.)
It’s also well established that an imbalance of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids leads to increased synthesis of proinflammatory leukotrienes in the body.36 Leukotrienes are hormone-like structures synthesized in our cells.
Leukotrienes are released by several types of cells and can cause bronchoconstriction and inflammation.37,38,39 Leukotrienes also assist in the pathophysiology of asthma.40 Too much leukotriene synthesis can also produce arthritic symptoms in a person.
By merely rebalancing a patient’s nutrient intake, symptoms like those above can often be significantly reduced or eliminated, allowing healing to occur, as seen in thousands of clinical studies.41,42
Because health is dependant on the smooth functioning of many chain reactions of biochemical activity going on inside human cells, metabolic testing now allows a patient’s doctor to determine whether that patient has nutritional imbalances affecting various disease states. Please see How The Body Heals and Metabolic Testing & Analysis.
To help patients and their doctors determine those nutritional and biochemical factors associated with difficult health problems, Paragon relies heavily on patient screening, laboratory testing, and rigorous searching of peer-reviewed medical research.
Paragon has developedthe world’s first comprehensive Biomarker Cross-ReferencingProgram is to analyze and cross-reference more than 250 biomarkers, toxins, and lifestyle factors. It is a powerful and highly effective medical tool.
The program provides detailed analysis of a patient’s personal lifestyle data, and of metabolic & medical test results related to nutrient & toxin intake affecting patient health. It indicates a patient's nutrient imbalances, excesses, and/or deficiencies related to critical cellular metabolism, regeneration, and detoxification function. The program also indicates whether nutrients need to be increased or decreased, and it calculates recommended dietary & lifestyle changes that will usually restore or improve future patient test levels to normal reference ranges seen in clinical laboratory testing.
The program enables doctors and patients to quickly identify a very wide range of biochemical metabolic problems potentially causing disease. This enables Paragon to quickly work with doctors to determine individual targeted interventions to help address urgent issues.
The program’s design, and the evaluations calculated, are based upon compiled clinical research containing more than 4200 citations to medical and scientific research articles related to the field of molecular medicine.