Quality fresh supplements based on the latest scientific literature at affordable prices is the primary focus at Advanced Physicians’ Products.

Never before in the history of the planet have you been able to do so much for your own health outside your doctor’s office. With ever increasing health awareness in the media and the convenience of the World Wide Web, you have at your fingertips a vast array of health information, particularly in the field of nutritional supplements. After careful study of this information, one can only conclude, as we have, that using nutritional supplements is key to optimal health. Nutritional supplements and the food we eat can have a greater effect on our health than any other factor. Once armed with this information, we are still faced with three questions: Whom do I trust for the best quality? Who can provide me with reliable information I can count on? How do I get the best price? Advanced Physicians’ Products is the answers to all three of these questions and more….

Abundant and effective amounts of nutrients used. We never skimp on our products to save a buck by using small ineffective amounts of nutrients; we only use nutrients in high enough amounts to produce benefits, amounts that are supported by the scientific literature.

Every day low prices. Our prices are low everyday, so you can buy your supplements anytime without having to wait for specials.

How can we offer such low prices with such high quality? We assure you of the highest quality at the best prices; the reason being that we resource (identify and purchase) our own raw materials and are partnered with an approved state of the art manufacturing laboratory. Every step of our manufacturing process exceeds requirements for nutritional supplement manufacturing with a dedication to cleanliness and quality control at all points. Each of our raw materials has been carefully selected and tested for purity and potency, and we guarantee that what we say on our labels is exactly what you are getting. Importantly, unlike store bought products, we make frequent batches of our products assuring you freshness at all times.

Dr. Frank’s committment, as a physician and President/CEO of APP, is to provide you with the best nutritional supplements and guidance you need to make the best decisions for your health and make this available to you at affordable every prices. During the last 13 years, Dr. Frank and his research team have been busy researching and formulating new products to help you achieve peak health and performance. APP has become a leader in the nutritional industry for developing revolutionary and cutting-edge formulations and products aimed at promoting and supporting special areas of your health. What makes Advanced Physicians’ Products great is our diligent commitment to making high quality products and providing you, our customers, information to assist you in choosing what supplements to use to help reach your optimal level of health.

How to use the APP Web Site. You will find several different ways to search our website to find the products you are looking for to meet your specific needs. You may search for products based on individual nutrients, herbs or ingredients or search by health category. You may search by Health Category or by a specific Diseases/Ailments. You will find many new features on our website from health tips to important health topics to keep you informed about how nutritional supplements can enhance your life. Do not forget to sign up for APP’s "Newsletter" to stay informed about the latest information about your health and nutritional supplements. If you have specific health needs, let us know by asking Dr. Frank and we will from time to time send you select valuable information about nutrition and your health needs. We are committed to being your nutritional partner in health.

Meeting Dr. Frank
What are vitamins and minerals — why do we need them?
Are APP supplements natural?
Synthetic vs. Natural Vitamins
Beware - supplements that are composed of ground-up fruits and vegetables
How and when to take vitamins
Does APP use any excipients in their products?
How do you decide which are the best quality herbs?
Why spray-dried ratio extracts are better than powders
Standardized extracts are better for knowing exactly what you are buying

Meeting Dr. Ken Frank
Kenneth J. Frank, M.D. is one of a select few physicians who devotes all of his career time to the development of nutritional supplements and the spreading of information about them to public and professional communities. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers University and received his medical degree at New York University School of Medicine in 1972. In 1983, he developed a unique medical practice in Santa Barbara, California utilizing a staff of 30 to deliver care to over 2,000 patients per month. Dr. Frank’s innovations were written up in two medical journals, his clinic won a community award, and he was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association for Ambulatory Care. His practice included a sports medicine/back rehabilitation program and a widely acclaimed weight management center. In 1989, he founded Advanced Physicians Products, a nutritional supplement research, development and distribution company. Since 1993, Dr. Frank has devoted full time to the nutritional supplement arena. He lectures, develops educational tapes, formulates nutritional supplement products, writes magazine articles and has co-authored a weight management book, as well as several articles pending journal publication. Recently, he published a chapter about diet and nutrition for cancer prevention and treatment. Dr. Frank oversees the formulation and production of all APP products.

(top of page)

What are vitamins and minerals — why do we need them?
Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients known as micronutrients, as opposed to the macronutrients-proteins, carbohydrates, fats and water that are needed in much larger amounts. Vitamins are organic, meaning they occur naturally in animals and plants. Minerals are inorganic elements not produced by animals or plants. Essential means that our bodies do not make these nutrients, yet they are needed for the body to survive and, therefore, we have to get them from food. These essential nutrients are involved in forming co-enzymes. Enzymes are catalysts or activators-agents that speed up biochemical reactions in the body. Co-enzymes enable the enzymes to function efficiently. If there is not enough of a certain vitamin or mineral, then the biochemical reactions depending on them do not take place efficiently, and the body suffers. Besides functioning as co-enzymes, micronutrients have other functions: for example the antioxidant activity of certain vitamins like vitamin A, C, E and beta carotene or the trace mineral, selenium.

(top of page)

Are APP supplements natural?
Yes. The concept of synthetic and natural vitamins is commonly misunderstood. A substance can be synthetic (manufactured in a laboratory) and still be natural. APP agrees with those scientists who define a nutrient as natural if it is identical (has the same exact configuration) as the same nutrient found in nature — in plants and in your body. In regards to vitamins and minerals, APP provides you with substances that are identical to the same substances found in your body; and we call these natural compounds. While some vitamins used in supplements are directly plant derived, other of these vitamins are made in laboratories starting with plant derived compounds that are then combined with other compounds for the purpose of producing a final desired nutrient such as vitamin C. Vitamin C can be manufactured in a plant, or it can be manufactured (synthesized) in a man-made laboratory. Both can produce ascorbic acid, vitamin C, which cannot be differentiated by the best biochemists, and both act identically in the human body.

(top of page)

Synthetic vs. Natural Vitamins
The only situations in which the synthetic form is not identical to the natural form is in regards to natural vitamin E and natural beta carotene. This is because the synthetic vitamin E is biochemically different from natural vitamin E, and the same factors apply to synthetic and natural beta-carotene. APP’s natural beta carotene comes from an algae called D. Salina and is not made in a laboratory. Vitamin E is a family of vitamin E compounds (called tocopherols). Interestingly, natural vitamin E compounds found in supplements are produced in a laboratory. They are called natural because they are the same vitamin E compounds sound in plants and the same vitamin E compounds the human body recognized and utilized the best. The different bypes of vitamin E compounds that are labeled synthetic are also manufactured in a laboratory, but more importantly they are not natural; they are biochemically unlike the vitamin E compounds found in the human body or in plants.

(top of page)

Beware - supplements that are composed of ground-up fruits and vegetables, frequently, are of poor nutritional value.
Many vitamins and other nutrients are not stable once the plant is dried and ground-up. An example of this is the important family of nutrients called carotenoids such as beta carotene, lycopene and lutein. It is commonly known in the supplement industry, that unless these nutrients are stabilized by a process called microencapsulation, as they are in APP’s products, they lack stability and deteriorate quickly. As a result, the carotenoids contained in ground-up fruits and vegetables can completely disappear 3 to 6 months after manufacturing.

(top of page)

How and when to take vitamins.
Since your body can only absorb and store so much of a vitamin at any particular time, it is best to take your vitamins over the course of the day, expecially when taking optimal dosages. They are best taken at mealtime with food so as to increase absorption (of the fat-soluble vitamins in particular-vitamins A, D, E and K, plus the carotenoids) and prevent indigestion that can occur when taken on an empty stomach. They are best taken within minutes before eating and up to 30 minutes after eating. When you are starting a supplement program for the first time, take about one half the dosages for the first week and increase in the second week so as to avoid any indigestion.

(top of page)

Does APP use any excipients in their products?
Excipients are compounds added to tablets or capsules that enable easier manufacturing or add volume so as to fill up a capsule. On occasion, APP may use three types of excipients. We use rice flour or microcrystalline cellulose, MCC, to add more volumne to a capsule-both of which are safe, hypoallergenic and non-toxic. MCC is a beneficial carbohydrate plant fiber that is not absorbed into the body. On occasion, we also use steric acid to enhance the flow of nutrients during manufacturing. The stearic acid we use, called TriStar; is patented and designed differently than other stearic acid products; it does not interfere with nutrient absorption in any way and does not get absorbed into the body.

(top of page)

How do you decide which are the best quality herbs?
Buy from a reputable company, like APP, a company you can trust-one that pays attention to quality and makes sure the herbs are processed as extracts soon after gathering them from the fields while still fresh. Next it is important to know the difference between herbal powders and herbal extracts. Herbal powders are simply ground up plants and frequently of low potency. On the other hand, herbal extracts have higher concentrates of the active ingredients you want and are more potent. It is best to use botanical extracts, rather than less effective powders. Most store bought herbals are simply powders. APP never uses herbal powders. We use extracts of the highest quality and potency.

(top of page)

Why spray-dried ratio extracts are better than powders.
Spray-dried ratio extracts are better than powders. Creating an herbal extract is usually accomplished by careful methods of soaking herbs at precise temperatures in solutions of water. This draws the active ingredients out of the herb and into the solution. This solution is then sprayed onto fresh dry herbs of the same type. The final product is called an herbal extract. If 4 pounds of original herb are used to obtain a final herbal extract of one pound, this is called a spray-dried-extract with a ratio of 4:1 (listed on the label). It is four times more potent than the original powdered herb. An 8:1 extract would be two times more potent than a 4:1 extract made from the same batch of herbs. A 32:1 extract would be 4 times more potent than an 8:1 extract.

(top of page)

Standardized extracts are better for knowing exactly what you are buying.
Standardized extracts are even better for knowing exactly what you are buying. Standardized extracts are a way of guaranteeing the same potency from batch to batch and bottle to bottle. A standardized extract is prepared the same as the spray-dried-extract. It is guaranteed to contain a minimum percentage of a particular marker compound (usually one of the active ingredients in the herb). For instance, APP uses the highest potency standardized red clover extract existing. It is guaranteed to contain a minimum of 15% isoflavones: these are the important active ingredients that are phytoestrogens. It is the isoflavone content that is important for you to compare when looking at red clover products from different companies. One of the APP products with red clover is called Red Clover and Soy Extract and on the label is listed 270 mg of red clover extract per capsule. Since this is a 15% standardized red clover extract (standardized to the isoflavone content), it has 41 mg of isoflavones (15% of 270 mg) from red clover.

(top of page)