Natural Health Care
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In keeping with their mission, Arkopharma Laboratories has developed two complementary natural approaches that weave the physiology of living organisms—based on the fundamental notions of wholeness, dynamics and interactions—into the use of medicinal plants: Integral TOTUM and Extract TOTUM.
These solutions are now used in the Group’s products because they are more effective, better tuned to the body’s needs and better tolerated. TOTUM Intégral and TOTUM Extrait create the perfect conditions in which to benefit from the full potential and efficacy of phytotherapy treatments.
DEFINITION OF TOTUM | OBTAINING INTEGRAL TOTUM | TOTUM: 2 APPROACHES | BENEFITS OF INTEGRAL TOTUM
What is the Totum?
Plants are composed of several hundred different constituents, each of which has a role to play. Current scientific knowledge confirms and has proven that, when taken together, a plant’s constituents are more effective than if they were taken separately. This specific mechanism of action—that uses the properties of several constituents simultaneously—is known as active synergy.
For Arkopharma, “the Totum constitutes a complex, coherent blend of the majority, or even the totality of the plant’s constituents, which work together in synergy to produce a different, or additional effect to that obtained individually when each of the constituents is taken in isolation .”
How is INTEGRAL TOTUM obtained?
At Arkopharma, all our plants are scrupulously selected according to the properties we require, and identified by the richness of their active ingredients.
Once we have selected the right plants, they are harvested when perfectly mature, in harmony with their inherent life cycle. A drying1 process is then applied straight away (just one hour after harvesting) to ensure that all of their diverse natural constituents are fully preserved.
Once these stages are complete, Arkopharma crushes the plants using cryogenic grinding which again preserves the totality and completeness of the plant’s constituents. The cryogenic grinding process (grinding at low temperature) preserves the plant’s constituents and the granulometry of the powder obtained allows the constituents to be released in much the same way as in plant extracts.
At Arkopharma, we do everything we can to limit transformations of the plant, and restore the full array of its natural phyto-chemical components.
Click here to find out more about the plant’s complete journey
The TOTUM: 2 complementary approaches
TOTUM Integral
In other words, the complete plant powder obtained via cryogenic grinding. It has the advantage of reflecting the natural plant as closely as possible.
Rigorous selection of plants is required in order to comply with the monograph of the various medicines, in addition to careful monitoring of crops (weather conditions, soil, time of year).
It is also essential to have total control over any microbial contamination and potentially toxic constituents via a drastic selection process and rigorous testing.
Due to certain regulatory2 and/or quality3 requirements, it can become impossible to use Integral TOTUM. To counter this, Arkopharma Laboratories has introduced Extract TOTUM in some of its products.
Extract TOTUM
Contains the vast majority of the constituents that make up the plant’s phyto-chemical spectrum.
The plant sourcing requirements are slightly less stringent compared with those applicable to Integral TOTUM, as its manufacturing process enables us to obtain the required concentration by adding excipients or mixing different batches of extracts.
However, it enables us to:
- State the exact quantity of any given active ingredient or family of active ingredients;
- Easily meet the requirements regarding the exact quantity of certain substances (active ingredients, contaminants, toxic substances);
- Improve the stability of certain sensitive components.
Because we strive to remain as close to nature as possible at all times, Arkopharma Laboratories prefers to use Integral TOTUM whenever possible. This approach preserves the totality and completeness of the plant’s constituents, resulting in the most effective active synergy. In cases when this is not possible, Extract TOTUM is used.
In addition, to guarantee the quality of its products, Arkopharma applies, depending on its references in France, the requirements of the ISO 22 000 standard or GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices).
Why is INTEGRAL TOTUM our preferred choice?
Integral TOTUM,
an unequalled wealth of active ingredients
The Totum offers a combination of active constituents that work together in harmony to produce a different or additional effect, compared with the effect produced by each of its constituents in isolation.
for active synergy that is gentle, deep-rooted and long-lasting
Taken together, the plant’s constituents are more effective than if they were taken separately. It’s this active synergy resulting from the combination of the plant’s constituents that provides a gentle, deep-rooted and long-lasting effect. As the doctor and philosopher, Avicenne said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
fewer recurring side effects, mostly minor
The Totum rarely produces any side effects. They can occur in some cases if plants are combined with allopathy or if the recommended dose is not complied with. Thanks to the multiple presence of complementary active ingredients and the combined actions of other constituents, the Totum is effective in lower doses and is less toxic than any single active ingredient, thereby reducing the risk of side effects.
a series of interactions resulting in dual-strength action
The Totum’s properties result from the interactions and relationships between the plant’s constituents but they also depend on the way the product interacts with the receiving organism, taking into account its whole make-up and specific response. The Totum has a regulating effect on the body and helps us maintain a state of balance (synonymous with good health), in addition to the effect it produces on specific symptoms.
The superiority of the Totum, which is acknowledged by all plant specialists, has been proven by scientific experiments (refer to bibliography references 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, below). Current scientific knowledge and the new “omics” technologies4 that are gradually teaching us more about how plants operate as a whole, provide us with undeniable proof of the unrivalled richness of the Totum and the benefits it offers.
Because they are convinced that Nature holds extraordinary therapeutic wisdom, researchers from Arkopharma Laboratories has developed Integral TOTUM and Extract TOTUM, two approaches offering a natural solution to our daily health complaints, giving everyone the chance to live life to the fullest!
Dr. Karine Ancolio Morcq
Bibliography:
1 - Wagner H, Ulrich-Merzenich G. Synergy research: approaching a new generation of phytopharmaceuticals. Phytomedicine 2009;16(2-3):97-110.
2 - Ulrich-Merzenich G, Panek D, Zeitler H, Wagner H, Vetter H. New perspectives for synergy research with the "omic"-technologies. Phytomedicine 2009;16(6-7):495-508.
3 - Spinella M. The importance of pharmacological synergy in psychoactive herbal medicines. Altern Med Rev 2002;7(2):130-7. 4 - Yang Y, Zhang Z, Li S, Ye X, Li X, He K. Synergy effects of herb extracts: pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic basis. Fitoterapia 2014;92:133-47.
5 - Ulrich-Merzenich G, Zeitler H, Jobst D, Panek D, Vetter H, Wagner H. Application of the "-Omic-" technologies in phytomedicine. Phytomedicine 2007;14(1):70-82.
6 - Ulrich-Merzenich G, Panek D, Zeitler H, Vetter H, Wagner H. Drug development from natural products: exploiting synergistic effects. Indian J Exp Biol 2010;48(3):208-19.
7 - Gilbert B, Alves LF. Synergy in plant medicines. Curr Med Chem 2003;10(1):13-20.
1 Drying of the passiflora
2 Requirements imposing threshold values that cannot be exceeded, for certain potentially toxic constituents, or certain standards related to contaminants.
3 Requirement to state the exact quantity of a given active ingredient or constituent.
4 “Omics” technologies study the complexity of living organisms considered as a whole. They can be likened to high-speed broadband techniques that enable simultaneous analysis of a large number of variables at multiple biological levels. Genomics is the name we give to studies of the genome (DNA). Transcriptomics deals with the study of genes and the way they are regulated. The analysis of proteins is called proteomics, while the study of the products of these proteins is known as metabolomics. These different approaches provide us with a vast amount of information about the way our cells and/or tissues react to exposure, both in a lab situation and in real life.
