Scientists at Cambridge Theranostics, a bio-technology arm of Cambridge University, launched their ‘wonder pill’ ATERONON™ in June of this year. They describe it is a natural food supplement that is clinically proven to help stymie the oxidation of LDL cholesterol in the body using an active ingredient from the Mediterranean diet called ‘lycopene’. The press release by the company during the launch of the pill claims that it ‘is expected to revolutionise approaches to heart health’.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is one of the five major groups of lipoproteins. High levels of LDL cholesterol are known to signal medical problems like cardiovascular disease and so it is sometimes called ‘bad cholesterol’. When LDL cholesterol is oxidised, it can lead to the build-up of plaque on the walls of our arteries. This condition is known as atherosclerosis - a key contributing factor to heart disease and strokes.
ATERONON™ aims to provide all the benefits of a wholesome Mediterranean diet through a single pill. A very important ingredient of Mediterranean cuisine is the tomato and lycopene is a carotenoid found in the skin of tomatoes. It is this pigment that gives the tomato its red colour. Lycopene is extremely beneficial as an anti-oxidant, but is difficult to absorb in its raw form by the human body. ATERONON™ uses lycopene obtained from the skins of the tangerine tomato, grown mostly in Italy. It contains a more refined and readily absorbed formulation of lycopene called ‘lactolycopene’ in which lycopene is entrapped with whey proteins. One pill is supposed to provide the amount of lycopene equivalent to that from three kilos of tomatoes.
Clinical trials involving more than a hundred people with heart disease were conducted and purportedly ATERONON™ can reduce the damage due to bad cholesterol up to 90% in just eight weeks. Further large scale clinical trials are to be conducted at in countries besides the UK like the U.S., Italy and Finland.
The statins are a class of drugs that lower cholesterol levels in people with or at risk of cardiovascular disease. ATERONON™ is now being considered as complementary treatment to statins. The supplement costs £35 for a month’s supply with the prescribed dosage being one pill a day.
The researchers working on the clinical trials are hoping to continue their studies and eventually show that ‘getting the whole food into people in higher concentrations might be more effective than just trying to give people one type of vitamin, or one type of dietary supplement’. Buy Ateronon™ here.
