History of immunocal
The researchers, in their quest to strengthen the Immune System through diet, made a serendipitous discovery: a Natural Source of Cysteine. This component is essential for the body to generate Glutathione, a molecule essential for life.
The Creators of Immunocal
In the 60's, the Dr. Gustavo Bounous, an Italian surgeon, noted significant variations in the results and the recovery of patients with similar health problems subjected to surgery. Motivated by this observation, launched an investigation focusing on the process of recovery of patients post. During this study, there was a theory that the disparities could be attributed to the eating habits daily.
In 1967, Dr. Bounous developed his "elemental diet", a formula that incorporates essential nutrients. This diet was applied to patients in intensive care, following the premise of "first food and after drugs". This approach is positioned as a pioneer in nutritional research.
In that period, the Dr. Patricia Kongshavn, an immunologist of English origin, is devoted to research in cellular immunology, relationships, host/parasite and the genetics of natural resistance. At that time, his research project had funding from independent scholarships granted by the Medical Research Council of Canada, the National Cancer Institute of Canada and the National Institutes of Health of the united States. Dr. Patricia Kongshavn is a pioneer prominent in the field of clinical immunology.
History of Immunocal
At the end of the 1970s, the Dr. Bounousin collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine of the McGill University and other medical schools canadian, he led a research project focused on nutrition, with the goal of finding a source of dietary proteins that may stimulate the immune system. During this process, it joined the Dr. Kongshavn, thus initiating a collaboration for a long time.
With headquarters in the General Hospital of Montreal, the team already had significant data linking the intake of proteins with the promotion of optimal health. In 1978, they released their first article, entitled "The Effect of Dietary Amino Acids on Immune Reactivity"(The effect of the amino acids of the diet in the immune reaction).
After years of studies with different sources of protein, and a number of publications, the team was, luckily, a protein extract of a swiss company for evaluation for possible benefits. At that time, the protein was considered to be a by-product of almost no value to the dairy industry.
The protein extract showed remarkable results during the tests. The observed effects on the immune system were so remarkable that the conditions were set to carry out studies in humans, which showed successful results.
The story is told that one day, the whey they were studying, stopped producing the expected results, and could not explain the reason. After a few months, so casual, a news story on television gave them the answer. The manufacturer of the protein that were investigating had been forced to change its method of production of milk by pasteurization more aggressive which implied a warming of more intense of the milk.
This accident turned out to be the key to the uniqueness of the whey of milk in the study, as it was rich in cysteine. They discovered that the cysteine is a nutrient that is crucial but complicated to assimilate through food, as it is very sensitive and is easily eroded, for example, during the cooking of food. Cysteine is essential for our body to produce it naturally Glutathione, a molecule present in all our cells and is critical to coordinate their functions. The life largely depends on the presence of Glutathione. At that time, though the knowledge about the Glutathione was not as advanced as it is today, the researchers already suspected that they were at a significant scientific advance.
It was precisely this detail that led the researchers to change the focus of your research. Instead of focusing on strengthening the Immune System, they directed their efforts towards increasing the levels of Glutathione.
The Glutathione, a molecule present in all cells, plays a crucial role. Raising the Glutathione levels are achieved by optimizing the Immune System, detoxify the natural way our cells, boost the energy in a sustained way, and to serve as a the Master Antioxidant. It also helps to improve our health, strength, and cognitive ability, while helping to slow down the aging process.
Currently, the institution has evolved to become a leading company in the field of Biotechnology.
With the support of individuals with keen business sense that they invested to carry out the complex and expensive process of patenting a method using the whey protein is not denatured to increase the levels of glutathione, these scientists were able to develop a unique process, currently patented. This method manages to resurface the cysteine with a layer of protein, allowing it to pass through the intestinal tract without being degraded and get into the cells without deterioration.
In addition, they made a dairy farm in North America to produce this protein in a way that would preserve its biological capacity to influence the synthesis of glutathione. Thus was born Immunocal, a precursor of Glutathione, to act as a donor of cysteine.
In 1996, he established one of the first companies of biotechnology in health, Immunotec, freeing scientists to focus only on research that are more advanced. An investment group led by businessman Mauricio Domenzain is commissioned to spread the message of well-being in most countries of the world.
Although the research is still ongoing, the company has already opened state of the art facility in 2021. Currently, Immunotec operates in a dozen countries and continues to expand its operations to new markets every year.