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\u2019t believe I actually wrote it. It doesn\u2019t sound that modest to me. Probably for this reason I didn\u2019t publish it then. Now, I\u2019m 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\u2019t 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\u2019t leave this mess for our grandchildren and theirs to deal with. Please help me spread the message! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Here is what I wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am Albert Y. Leung,\nan accomplished scientist but lousy businessman. I hold degrees of B.S. in Pharmacy and M.S.\nand Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy, the latter two from the University of\nMichigan. In 1991, I formulated and\nmanufactured the first successful herbal drink based on the traditional Chinese\nmedical theory of yin\/yang balance. In 4\nyears, its annual sales reached 1.3 million bottles. Since then, many imitations have come and\ngone. Most don\u2019t work because they have\nlittle or no herbs in them, only some standardized chemicals. Yet, with slick marketing, some continue to\nbe on the market, because up to this day there is no easy way to tell an\nadulterated from a true herbal product despite both may have the exact same\nformula on their labels. I have been an\noutspoken advocate of herbal product identity and quality for 40 years and have\naddressed practically all aspects of herbs in my newsletter (Leung\u2019s Chinese\nHerb News, published between 1996 & 2004). \nEven today, despite many advanced techniques using expensive instruments,\nnone is practical for determining whether an herbal product is real or\nadulterated. The main reason is that\nthese techniques have all been developed for pure chemical drugs and not for\nherbs with a myriad of chemicals. Our\nPhyto-True system developed though an NIH grant based on my multifaceted\napproach is the only system that can easily tell a fake from a real herbal\nproduct. But it was too late to save my\nbusiness before one of my major clients switched to cheaper adulterated\nproducts. Because of the above sequence\nof events, I am well-known to consumers of herbal drinks and to scientists\ninvolved in herbs and natural products. \nAnd consumers continue to seek out my products. My second herbal drink (PhytoChi™, launched\naround 2,000) is still being sold worldwide, though only the Czech version is\ngenuine; others are imitations, all adulterated. Nevertheless, I\u2019d have a ready audience of\nat least tens (if not hundreds) of thousands when my book comes out. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The appeal of my book\nis not just to the people interested in herbal drinks but also to those who may\nbe interested in reading about my tortuous journey from childhood to adulthood,\nand then accomplished scientist, of at least equal status to the best in the\nsupplements & natural products field. \n My experience, expertise and\ninsight into this field often allow me to see as obvious certain aspects of\nherb research which my eminent colleagues don\u2019t see. The most important issue is multicomponent\nherbs vs. single-chemical drugs. Without\nclearly differentiating these two has led to the current mess in supplements,\nincluding irreproducible and meaningless research, wrong or poor-quality\nproducts, continuing controversy, and so forth, which most experts involved\ndon\u2019t even seem to notice due to various reasons (self-interests, complacency,\nbias, etc.). Because of the above,\nbillions of our tax dollars have been wasted yearly in generating useless data\nwithout giving consumers a true alternative to toxic drugs. These will all be\ndetailed in my book along with my personal story of how, as an \u2018idiot boy\u2019 with\nvarious born handicaps, have made good through the love and help of family,\nfriends, classmates, and others.<\/em> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nwas born and raised in Hong Kong, as a child, I couldn\u2019t concentrate on any\nsubject that I found boring and flunked out of elementary school and then the\nsophomore year of high school. My father used to call me \u2018saw jai\u2019 (\u2018idiot boy\u2019\nin Cantonese) because of my spacey, clueless, and trusting nature. This inborn nature cuts both ways. It makes\nme vulnerable to being exploited when my guards are down, and this happened a\nnumber of times, including losing my trademarks along with my business in\n2010. Around the same time, I initially\nturned down a 2011 Michigan Alumni Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award\nwhen the Pharmacy Dean called to offer it to me. On the other hand, it provides\nme with an unusual insight into things technical, including: (1) on second try,\ngetting a publisher for my Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food,\nDrugs, and Cosmetics, (Wiley, 1980; now in its 3rd<\/sup> Ed.); (2) beating\na competitor (the most famous natural products professor, Dr. Norman\nFarnsworth) whose team had built the world\u2019s largest database (NAPRALERT) with\ngovernment funds, in a database contract (SBIR, Phase II) offered by the\nNational Cancer Institute in 1988; and (3) being awarded an SBIR research grant\n(Phases I & II) in 2001 by NCCAM, NIH, leading to the Phyto-True™ approach\nto meaningful identification and quality control of complex herbal products,\npublished in 2010. I believe what I have to say in my book would positively\nimpact the health, wellbeing, and pocketbook of millions of fellow citizens.\nBut I need help to reach them. Please\nspread the word, by forwarding this to your friends, relatives, and\ncolleagues. Thank you!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But the way, all the above are described in my combined book, memoir + newsletter, \u201cMy Life & Rollercoaster Career\u2026\u201d (550 pp., paper back, $25.95; e-version, $5.49).\u00a0 I recommend the e-version, because any topic by word or phrase can be easily searched and located.\u00a0 Thank you all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n#viciouscycle #toxicdrugs #damagedenvironment #grandchildren \n#generations #scientists #traditionalChinesemedicine #UniversityMichigan\n #pharmacognosy #yinyanbalance #NIHgrants #phytotrue \n#standardizedchemicals #slickmarketing #standardizedchemicals \n#adulteration #herbalsupplements #Czechphytochi #mentalhandicaps \n#meaninglessdata #idiotboy #controversy #NCCAM #napralert #NCI #SBIR \n#Michiganalumniaward \n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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\u2019t believe I actually wrote it. It doesn\u2019t sound that modest to me. Probably for this reason I didn\u2019t publish it then. Now, I\u2019m getting thinker-skinned … <\/p>\n