Endosed By Dr. Joel Wallach BS, DVM, ND

The tough elastic material that makes up the skeleton of the shark is dried and pulverised (finely powdered) to make this food supplement. Shark cartilage contains a number of active components, the most important of which is a type of protein that acts as an angiogenesis inhibitor-that is, it acts to suppress the development of new blood vessels. This makes it valuable in fighting a number of disorders.

Many cancerous tumours, for instance, are able to grow only because they induce the body to develop new networks of blood vessels to supply them with nutrients. Shark cartilage suppresses this process, so that tumours are deprived of their source of nourishment and, often, begin to shrink.

There are also certain eye disorders, such as diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration, that are characterized by the growth of new blood vessels within the eye; because they grow in inappropriate places, the presence of these blood vessels can lead to blindness.

Such diseases too may respond well to shark cartilage. Other conditions for which shark cartilage is useful include arthritis, psoriasis, and regional enteritis (inflammation of the lining of the bowels). In addition to angiogenesis-inhibiting, protein, shark cartilage contains calcium (approximately 16 percent) and phosphorous (approximately 9 percent), which are absorbed as nutrients, and mucopolysaccharides that act to stimulate the immune system.

Shark cartilage is available in powder and capsule forms. Exercise caution when buying shark cartilage, as the purity and correct processing of the product are vital to its effectiveness. Not all shark cartilage products contain only 100-percent pure shark cartilage, so read labels carefully. Pure shark cartilage is white in colour. If you find the odour and/or taste of pure shark cartilage to be stronger than you can tolerate, look for a product called BeneFin, which has significantly less fishy taste and smell than most other products. BeneFin is a trademarked name for naturally processed shark cartilage manufactured by Lane Labs-USA and marketed by various companies under license.

If you are taking large quantities of shark cartilage, it may be wise to increase your supplementation of certain minerals, especially magnesium and potassium, to maintain a proper mineral balance in the body. Shark cartilage should not be taken by pregnant women or children, or by persons who have recently undergone surgery of suffered a heart attack.

What is Shark Cartilage?

Shark Cartilage is just that, the non-bony tissue that makes up the internal skeleton of sharks. For use as a nutritional supplement, cartilage is obtained from a variety of non-endangered sharks, including school sharks and gummy sharks, that are harvested off the shores of Australia.

The sharks are not harvested for their for their cartilage, but they have been harvested as a food source for years (Australians, for example, consume over 3,000 tons of shark fillet annually in such meals as fish and chips), and until recently the non-edible cartilage was simply thrown away. Now, it is processed into Shark Cartilage nutritional supplements. Because it is pure shark cartilage, with nothing added, it is non-toxic and results in no adverse side effects.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN SHARK CARTILAGE SUPPLEMENT

CAM ASSAY

Look for Shark Cartilage that is 100% pure and has scored at lease a 3+, on a scale of 0 - 4 CAM Assay (Chorio Allantoic Membrane), a laboratory test that measures the anti-angiogenesis activity of the product.