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 Press Room :: Product Information :: Research and Development Highlights  June 2003Promising breakthroughs in breast cancer research inspired health practitioner Jade Beutler to launch an eight-year journey to the forefront of science. Combining his leadership with the expertise of world renowned scientists, Beutler’s efforts resulted in the first-ever proactive breast health product for women.Motivated by years of assisting people in the fight against disease, Jade Beutler developed a passion for preventative medicine and a proactive approach to personal health. This passion crystallized into a life mission when he began studying a compelling body of research demonstrating how lignans, found in plant foods such as flaxseed, helped lower women’s risk of breast cancer. A health care practitioner for more than ten years, Beutler left his senior management position at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in 1994 to form NatureMed Research Inc. (NMR), a consulting company dedicated to the research and development of lignan-based phyto-pharmaceuticals. During the next three years, Beutler established himself as one of the foremost leaders in lignan education and consulting. As the head of NMR, Beutler worked as a consultant to companies regarding flax-based lignan products. A leading educator on lignans, Beutler wrote numerous articles for consumer publications and websites, authored “Flax for Life” (Apple Publishing), and appeared on a variety of radio talk shows and interviews. Despite his professional success and the growing popularity of flax products with consumers, Beutler recognized the huge difficulty in consuming enough lignan-rich foods to achieve an optimal daily dosage of this powerful phytoestrogen. Beutler was convinced that many more women could benefit from lignans’ protective properties if there was a way to concentrate the proper dosage into an easy-to-consume format. With breast cancer rates at an all-time high and estrogen exposure being identified as the leading known cause, Beutler began to focus in earnest on isolating lignans for the purpose of proactive breast health. Beutler identified two powerful trends shaping women’s health and increasing their risk of estrogenrelated cancers. First, the increased exposure to natural, artificial and environmental forms of estrogen was tipping women’s hormonal levels out of balance - making them more vulnerable to disease. Women today are exposed to more forms of estrogen than at any other time in history, and it is widely believed that cumulative estrogen exposure is the most critical breast cancer risk factor.Second, Beutler recognized that the refinement of the Standard American Diet had made lignans sparse in women’s daily diets. Although lignans are found in a variety of plant foods including grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits, they exist in only trace amounts in most sources. In addition, when these foods are refined, lignan is often removed. Without the buffer of lignan to help flush out excess estrogen, women’s bodies lack a natural defense to increased estrogen exposure. The scenario suggested a possible explanation for why new cases of breast cancer were growing at such an alarming rate each year. Beutler founded Lignan Research to work intensively on overcoming the science and technology obstacles of isolating and concentrating lignans from plant foods. He gathered together the brightest minds in the world and procured significant funding to advance the isolation and concentration of lignans. Excitement escalated as the team moved closer to its goal in late 2000 and additional experts joined the group. Beutler’s efforts formed the first alliance of leading lignan experts, focused exclusively on the isolation of lignans from flaxseed at commercial scale. Unlike isoflavones, which are abundant in soybeans, lignan exists in very small quantities in a wide variety of plant foods. In contrast, SDG (secoisolariciresinol), the most-studied lignan, is woven into the cell wall matrix of plants and seeds, significantly complicating lignan isolation, purification and standardization efforts.Through the work of the alliance, Beutler built a strong connection with Dr. Norman Lewis, Director of The Institute of Biological Chemistry (IBC) at Washington State University, already widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on lignans. In late 1997, Lignan Research teamed-up with Dr. Lewis and pursued one of the world’s largest series of grants for lignan research. The resulting collaboration of Lignan Research and IBC advanced the project forward and the team was awarded two consecutive grants from the Washington Technology Center (WTC). Together they set out to “crack the lignan code” and accelerate developing a breast-health product for women consumers. In November 2001, Lignan Research succeeded in developing the first ever full-scale manufacturing process to isolate lignans from flaxseed. This breakthrough science and technology resulted in the development of Brevail® - the first proactive breast-health product for women. After eight years of research and development, Lignan Research successfully isolated, concentrated and purified lignan from flaxseed. Process patents were filed in the spring of 2002. The research effort got a strong push when Dr. Kenneth D. Setchell, director of mass spectrometry with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the world’s expert on phytoestrogens, joined the collaboration to orchestrate the human oral dosing studies - identifying the optimal protective dosage. The first application of this powerful new breakthrough was the development of Brevail, the first and only daily lignan supplement for breast health that offers women the optimal level of lignans each day, safely and effectively. Brevail is made from flaxseed SDG lignans, a member of the phytoestrogen family. Flaxseed has been identified as nature’s richest source of SDG lignans and contains up to 800 times more lignan than any other food source. Brevail is distinguished as one of the most thoroughly researched and tested new nutraceuticals in industry history. Extensive human oral dosing studies have shown that Brevail safely and effectively raises lignan concentrations to the same degree as those of women with a history of exceptional breast health. When optimal lignan levels are achieved, hormone levels are balanced naturally and excess estrogen is harmlessly flushed from the body. Lignan Research has a strict patent-pending manufacturing process to ensure that each capsule of Brevail is standardized for product purity, stability and an exact dosage. Brevail will be available at select health, drug and grocery stores nationwide. With the arrival of Brevail, Beutler continues to lead the company’s quest to one day prevent breast cancer. To that end, Lignan Research has formed an advisory board of experts and created a non-profit foundation to advance research initiatives. Lignan Research’s advisory board is comprised of notable biomedical, allopathic and natural health experts including Dr. Kenneth D. Setchell, board chairman and the company’s chief scientific advisor. The Breast Cancer Prevention Foundation will further the company’s mission of advancing science and technology to provide new options to increase women’s breast health. A percentage of profits from the sale of Brevail will be donated to help fund the non-profit organization’s research initiatives and keep proactive breast health at the forefront of the breast cancer struggle.
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