Review of Xtend-Life Cholest-Natural

Frustrated by Statin Drugs Yet Still Need to Lower Your Cholesterol? This Pharmaceutical-Grade Quality Supplement Could Help

Welcome to this review of Xtend-Life Cholest-Natural.

Xtend-Life's Cholest-Natural supplement product is ostensibly an all-natural alternative to cholesterol lowering statin drugs. As the side effects of statin drugs are becoming more well known supplements like Cholest-Natural are growing in popularity as they’re significantly cheaper than statin drugs.

Plus, they don’t give side effects as statins do.

I've been using Xtend-Life supplements for almost a decade now and feel I can give an honest review of not only the Cholest-Natural supplement but of Xtend-Life the company as well.

In this short review, I’ll try to hit upon the core elements of a review including scientific research of product, manufacturing technology used to make the product, quality of ingredients, customer testimonials or reviews, product guarantee, and pricing.

The Ingredients, Claims, and Purported Health Benefits of Cholest-Natural

Xtend-Life claims that Cholest-Natural has been "constructed" in accordance with the latest scientific research using exacting manufacturing technology. They also assert that they use only the best natural quality ingredients available.

This appears to be the case.

They have an in-house researcher team led by Prof. Dr. A. Munem Daoud PhD., MSc., ND. Dr. Daoud is a biochemist and has overseen all the development of the Xtend-Life product line, including Cholest-Natural.

(While he appears to have retired, he still is involved with research and development. You can see his credentials here.

One of the things that is really impressive about Xtend-Life Cholest-Natural is that it’s a pharmaceutical-grade quality supplement made in cGMP-compliant facilities.

Not many supplement companies can make that claim simply because it’s too expensive for the vast majority of companies to meet those exacting standards.

What does "cGMP-compliant" mean? The cGMP is an acronym for "current Good Manufacturing Practices" and are the standards, practices and systems that are mandated to be utilized with pharmaceutical drug manufacturing. (The cGMP may also appear as "GMP" but it means the exact same thing.)

Also, it is the systems that assure quality control, quality systems that cover not just the construction of pharmaceutical drugs but the testing of pharmaceutical drugs including active pharmaceutical ingredients, raw nutritional materials, nutrients and foods.

So, what you have are supplements that are literally pharmaceutical-grade quality. In addiction, Xtend-Life’s products actually exceed the U.S. FDA’s standards and meet the exacting and superior standards of British Pharmacopoeia.

What about the quality control of ingredients? Warren Matthews, the chairman and founder of the company, says the company as a standard only buys the most pristine ingredients, and he has re-asserted this foundational principle as part of its self-regulated mandate for quality.

The cGMP-compliant certification validates that claim as included in the mandate is the quality of the nutrients that make up the supplements.

Let’s Talk About The Specific Cholest-Natural Ingredients

Xtend-Life claims the ingredients in Cholest-Natural have been combined in a molecularly synergistic way. In other words, at a molecular level they all "fit" together.

Each softgel of Cholest-Natural has 13 ingredients in it. The most notable ones, though, are:

• Beta-sitosterol -- This prevents absorption of LDL cholesterol into the intestines.
• Inositol Hexaphosphate -- Very beneficial in conditions associated with disorders of fat transport, metabolism, high cholesterol, and high amounts of triglycerides among many other functions.
• Policosanol -- This is a sugar-cane extract clinically proven to break down the bad LDL cholesterol in the blood
• Theaflavin Extract -- A potent nutrient that lowers LDL cholesterol while increasing the good HDL cholesterol

What Does Cholest-Natural Do? What Are Its "Benefits"?

Xtend-Life Cholest-Natural claims to do the following:

• Lowers the level of your LDL -- the bad cholesterol.
• Increases the levels of your HDL -- the good cholesterol
• Lowers the level of triglycerides (fats in the blood)
• Reduces the production & oxidation of cholesterol in your blood
• Decreases cholesterol absorption in the liver and intestinal tract
• Lowers your risk to heart disease and stroke

This supplement is ostensibly an all-natural statin drug alternative for those who suffer with high cholesterol, which is a risk factor to heart disease, the #1 killer in the western world.

Xtend-Life claims that Cholest-Natural "addresses all 6 key factors to lower cholesterol naturally."

What You Get

Each bottle of Cholest-Natural contains 60 softgels, which is a month’s supply.

How Much Should You Expect to Pay?

Cholest-Natural sells for $32.95 USD per bottle.

Does It Include a Guarantee?

All of Xtend-Life’s supplement products come with a 6-month, money-back guarantee. If you’re unhappy with your product in any way, they offer a full refund or a product replacement -- it’s your choice. To the best of my knowledge, no other supplement company in the world offers such a guarantee.

While it’s much harder to prove, the company also clinically certifies that at a minimum 80% of all their supplement products will be assimilated by your body.

Secure online shopping is also important and Xtend-Life seems to understand this. They’ve implemented an EV-SSL encryption protocol to keep hackers at bay. Plus, their information technology (IT) internal security is tested daily by McAfee Secure, a popular standard for online IT transactions.

Lastly, they have a TRUSTe Safe Shopping certificate, which certificate validates the company’s Privacy Policy and website for protecting your personal and credit card information, which is given through the buying process.

Consumer Reviews -- What Are Others Saying?

The Cholest-Natural product is probably one of the most well-received products of the entire Xtend-Life line. They have over six pages of testimonials for it, which they’ve published here (http://www.xtend-life.com/product/Cholest-Natural/Customer_Comments.aspx?id=390949). Here are a few of them:

My wife purchased your cholesterol product about a month ago. Here are the results. She started on October 28th, taking two caps a day as directed. The last day was November 27th. She maintained a "healthy" type of diet, although she did enjoy some ice cream, red meat and other "bad things" a couple of times a week. A generally good diet though. She was in class and had virtually NO exercise for the three weeks or so that she was taking your pills.

BEFORE.....

• Total Cholesterol.....249
• LDL.....174
• HDL.....54
• Tryglercides.....103
• Albumin.....5.1

AFTER.....

• Total Cholesterol.....204
• LDL.....127
• HDL.....57
• Tryglercides.....101
• Albumin.....4.3

She is pleased with the results so far!! We have ordered two more bottles and, yes, I will definitely tell my friends.
Robert M, USA

This test below was done on May 18, 2004 after one month of using Cholest-Natural. I have been on the former one for 2 months and then the new one for the 3rd month. I went a short period of half a month without it. The email was a reply from my Doctor Scott here in Alaska. You will see his note below.

• Then: HDL: 35 – LDL: 104 – Risk: 5.2 – Tryg: 214 – Total: 182.
• Now: HDL: 40 – LDL: 112 – Risk: 4.5 – Tryg: 137 – Total: 179.

Good Job. It looks like its working.
Chip, USA

I know you are interested in feedback so I thought I would drop you a note on my recent yearly check up. Two years ago my total cholesterol was over 220. I took Cholest-Natural for 3 months straight, starting in January of 2003. My check up was in April and in that short time it had dropped to 156. The only thing was the HDL also dropped and was on the low side but the ratio was in the recommended range. I haven't taken the formula since and when I went back this year my cholesterol had not increased but remained roughly the same. My doctor tried to prescribe Lipitor but I declined. I am pleased with the product and recommend to anyone with a high cholesterol problem. I think it is hilarious to see advertisements for Cheerios where a man goes around saying ‘I lowered my cholesterol.’ My experience is food alone will not lower it. You must take the cholesterol formula to lower the numbers then with proper diet you can maintain the lower numbers.
Mike L, USA

(My own experience with Cholest-Natural was also good, too.) You can read more reviews for Cholest-Natural on Xtend-Life’s own website here.

Any Customer Complaints or Product Negatives?

A good review of Xtend-Life Cholest-Natural should have an honest overview of its negatives.

I’ve looked around quite thoroughly and I can’t find any negative comments from customers. One negative though might be the price. Some will think, "Why buy ‘vitamins’ or cholesterol-lowering supplements like this when I can buy something like it at a health food store for less?"

Xtend-Life believes in the old saying, "You get what you pay for." They maintain that their supplements are actually pharmaceutical-grade quality and actually exceed the U.S. FDA’s standards and meet the exacting and superior standards of British Pharmacopoeia.

With that taken into account, their pricing is actually probably $10 or $20 less than what it should be, but I believe they price it at $32.95 as they cut out the middleman and sell exclusively over the Internet to a worldwide audience. So, to a consumer, that is a good thing, I think.

Their Xtend-Life Cholest-Natural product is actually cheaper than competitor Cholestasys. (Cholestasys is twice as expensive.)

Lastly, another negative is that Cholest-Natural has some ingredients in it that are derived from soy. So, if you have a soy allergy, you shouldn’t take it.

The supplement does not have any gluten, dairy, peanut or shellfish byproducts in it.

Where Can I Get More Information?

If you want to learn more about it, check it out here.

Where Can I Buy It?

Xtend-Life doesn’t sell their vitamin or supplement products in grocery or health-food stores; they sell them directly to consumers via their website here.

I think this is a good thing overall as it means the price will be cheaper.

Also, if you buy over $60 of product, they will also ship your product(s) anywhere in the world for free. That is always nice. In my experience of taking their various products for the past seven years, I’ve always gotten my order in like three or four days.

If your order is under $60, they charge a flat shipping fee of $6.50 USD. You can buy it here.

Conclusion

I’ve been as non-partisan as I could be with this review. Xtend Life really seems committed to product quality.

Judging from the wide acceptance and praise Cholest-Natural has received the world over, the product might be deserving of a 5 out of 5 stars.

I hope this review of Xtend-Life Cholest-Natural has been helpful.

Yours in health,
Nutritional-Supplement-Bible.com