Last Saturday during my trip to Europe I had the pleasure of visiting the production facilities of Biolandes, the French company which, under a tightly controlled contract, produces Pycnogenol exclusively for the Swiss firm Horphag Research. Horphag is completely dedicated to researching and promoting this one-of-a-kind supplement, which is made from the bark of the French Maritime Pine Tree, which is grown, harvested and processed near Bordeaux, France.
On Saturday evening I had dinner with the president of Horphag Research, Mr. Victor Ferrari. In the course of our dinner, he asked me who I consider to be the most influential person in the history of the natural products industry. I immediately thought of Dr. Linus Pauling.
Dr. Pauling was a two-time Nobel Prize winner, a scientist who was indirectly responsible for the founding of Swanson Health Products.
In the early 1960s, my father, Lee Sr., was experiencing difficulty due to arthritis in his hips. Medical doctors were of virtually no help. They prescribed drugs that not only failed to help his arthritic condition but also had severe side effects as well. Then, around 1965, my Dad brought home a book by renowned chemist Irwin Stone about the benefits of vitamin C. Dr. Stone was an early pioneer in the study of vitamin C and introduced Linus Pauling to its benefits around that same time period.
To make a long story short, after being introduced to the benefits of vitamin C by Irwin Stone, Dr. Pauling began taking large daily doses and became an enthusiastic proponent. In 1970 he published his groundbreaking book Vitamin C and the Common Cold. During that same period, from 1965 to 1970, my dad began using vitamin C on a daily basis, in-line with Stone’s and Pauling’s recommendations. He found that it greatly helped his overall health and wellness. In short, he became a big believer in the benefits of vitamins and natural health, which in turn led to the founding of Swanson Health Products in 1969.
Fast-forward to the mid 1980s and the publication of Dr. Pauling’s best-selling book How to Live Longer and Feel Better. Having read the book, I wanted to share the information with our Swanson customers. I arranged for an interview with Dr. Pauling at his Institute for Molecular Medicine in Menlo Park, California. During our hourlong conversation, Dr. Pauling stated that it was his firm belief that virtually everyone could increase their lifespan by 20 to 30 years simply by implementing the recommendations in his books. A few of the most important recommendations were to avoid refined sugar, to engage in regular moderate exercise and to take optimal daily dosages of vitamins, particularly vitamin C.
It was particularly interesting to me to hear Dr. Pauling tell of his personal struggles with his own health up until the time he was introduced to the benefits of vitamin C in the 1960s. Having been born in 1901, he was in his mid-60s at the time. Upon incorporating vitamin C into his daily health regimen, he found almost immediate health benefits and, by the mid 1980s, at the age of 85, he was still living an extraordinarily active and healthy life, which he largely credited to the recommendations outlined in his books.
Linus Pauling lived another 10 years, eventually passing away in late 1994 at the age of 93. Never in my life have I met a more humble, compassionate and just all-around nice guy than Dr. Linus Pauling. In 2000, the magazine New Scientist included Dr. Pauling as one of the 20 greatest scientists of all time—along with Albert Einstein, one of only two who lived and worked in the 20th century. As great a scientist as he was, he was an even finer human being. Linus Pauling left behind a combined legacy of scientific achievement and humanitarian work that will never be equaled. He was truly a great, great man.
