I just came across this that I wrote more than a year ago before I published my last 2 books. Even though everything in it is all true, I can’t believe I actually wrote it. It doesn’t sound that modest to me. Probably for this reason I didn’t publish it then. Now, I’m getting thinker-skinned every day because I need to get my message out to as many people as possible on this planet, and I don’t have any assistants to help me. We, especially our younger generations, all know about our damaged environment. But few are even aware of the vicious drug cycle. We can’t leave this mess for our grandchildren and theirs to deal with. Please help me spread the message!
Here is what I wrote:
I am Albert Y. Leung, an accomplished scientist but lousy businessman. I hold degrees of B.S. in Pharmacy and M.S. and Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy, the latter two from the University of Michigan. In 1991, I formulated and manufactured the first successful herbal drink based on the traditional Chinese medical theory of yin/yang balance. In 4 years, its annual sales reached 1.3 million bottles. Since then, many imitations have come and gone. Most don’t work because they have little or no herbs in them, only some standardized chemicals. Yet, with slick marketing, some continue to be on the market, because up to this day there is no easy way to tell an adulterated from a true herbal product despite both may have the exact same formula on their labels. I have been an outspoken advocate of herbal product identity and quality for 40 years and have addressed practically all aspects of herbs in my newsletter (Leung’s Chinese Herb News, published between 1996 & 2004). Even today, despite many advanced techniques using expensive instruments, none is practical for determining whether an herbal product is real or adulterated. The main reason is that these techniques have all been developed for pure chemical drugs and not for herbs with a myriad of chemicals. Our Phyto-True system developed though an NIH grant based on my multifaceted approach is the only system that can easily tell a fake from a real herbal product. But it was too late to save my business before one of my major clients switched to cheaper adulterated products. Because of the above sequence of events, I am well-known to consumers of herbal drinks and to scientists involved in herbs and natural products. And consumers continue to seek out my products. My second herbal drink (PhytoChi™, launched around 2,000) is still being sold worldwide, though only the Czech version is genuine; others are imitations, all adulterated. Nevertheless, I’d have a ready audience of at least tens (if not hundreds) of thousands when my book comes out.
The appeal of my book is not just to the people interested in herbal drinks but also to those who may be interested in reading about my tortuous journey from childhood to adulthood, and then accomplished scientist, of at least equal status to the best in the supplements & natural products field. My experience, expertise and insight into this field often allow me to see as obvious certain aspects of herb research which my eminent colleagues don’t see. The most important issue is multicomponent herbs vs. single-chemical drugs. Without clearly differentiating these two has led to the current mess in supplements, including irreproducible and meaningless research, wrong or poor-quality products, continuing controversy, and so forth, which most experts involved don’t even seem to notice due to various reasons (self-interests, complacency, bias, etc.). Because of the above, billions of our tax dollars have been wasted yearly in generating useless data without giving consumers a true alternative to toxic drugs. These will all be detailed in my book along with my personal story of how, as an ‘idiot boy’ with various born handicaps, have made good through the love and help of family, friends, classmates, and others.
I was born and raised in Hong Kong, as a child, I couldn’t concentrate on any subject that I found boring and flunked out of elementary school and then the sophomore year of high school. My father used to call me ‘saw jai’ (‘idiot boy’ in Cantonese) because of my spacey, clueless, and trusting nature. This inborn nature cuts both ways. It makes me vulnerable to being exploited when my guards are down, and this happened a number of times, including losing my trademarks along with my business in 2010. Around the same time, I initially turned down a 2011 Michigan Alumni Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award when the Pharmacy Dean called to offer it to me. On the other hand, it provides me with an unusual insight into things technical, including: (1) on second try, getting a publisher for my Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics, (Wiley, 1980; now in its 3rd Ed.); (2) beating a competitor (the most famous natural products professor, Dr. Norman Farnsworth) whose team had built the world’s largest database (NAPRALERT) with government funds, in a database contract (SBIR, Phase II) offered by the National Cancer Institute in 1988; and (3) being awarded an SBIR research grant (Phases I & II) in 2001 by NCCAM, NIH, leading to the Phyto-True™ approach to meaningful identification and quality control of complex herbal products, published in 2010. I believe what I have to say in my book would positively impact the health, wellbeing, and pocketbook of millions of fellow citizens. But I need help to reach them. Please spread the word, by forwarding this to your friends, relatives, and colleagues. Thank you!
But the way, all the above are described in my combined book, memoir + newsletter, “My Life & Rollercoaster Career…” (550 pp., paper back, $25.95; e-version, $5.49). I recommend the e-version, because any topic by word or phrase can be easily searched and located. Thank you all!
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