Scanners to determine antioxidant levels

I've had this done - it was a biophotonic laser scanner.  You put your palm against this plastic thing for 90 seconds while a blue light shines on your hand.  Yes, they will probably try and sell you supplements. 

 I must say, I don't care so much anymore about increasing my antioxidant levels, because you know what?  When I was tested, at a holistic health clinic, I scored so high in the "optimal" range that I had the HIGHEST SCORE out of approximately 250 other patients that had been scanned... then 2 years later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  When I called my father to tell him the news, he swore, then blurted out, "But that's impossible!  You can't have cancer when your antioxidant levels are through the roof!"  Apparently you can.  And ever since, I've been cynical about the importance of high antioxidant levels.  (On the other hand, my tumor was a slow-growing, stage 1, mucinous tumor... I suppose it's possible that if my antioxidant levels had been low, the cancer would be more aggressive?  Who knows?)

I used Pharmanex supplements for a while and they gave access to the biophotonic scanner. It's a big part of their marketing regime. It shows the level of caratenoids in your skin. The Pharmanex products were all about the antioxidants. My "numbers" did rise dramatically from pre-Pharmanex levels. And Pharmanex always gets a good rating from supplement.com, but I stopped using them when I realized I didn't want to be a distributor, and I had amassed way more product than I could use during its shelf life...or my life time, whichever came first!

You can get Pharmanex on an automatic delivery and NOT have to be a distributor. I didn't understand that when I signed up. So it ticked me off. But I did like their product, as well as the NuSkin products. Most assuredly they are MLM, as is my current supplement (Body Balance by Life Force)--I just do the autodelivery thing as I HATE sales!

From quackwatch:

In 2002, Pharmanex began promoting its BioPhotonic Scanner for measuring
"the antioxidant level in the body" when a person's hand is placed in front of
the device. The test is said to measure carotenoid level. Shortly after its
availability was announced, I took the company's online "BioScan Quiz," which
asked questions about my diet and supplement intake. I found that no matter what
answers I gave, I was advised to get scanned and to start using one of the
company's antioxidant products, which are quite expensive. As far as I know,
however, neither the scan nor the products have been proven to lead to improved
health outcomes. I believe that both the scan and the products are a waste of
money.

The Bottom Line

There is widespread scientific agreement that eating adequate amounts of
fruits and vegetables can help lower the incidence of cardiovascular disease and
certain cancers. With respect to antioxidants and other phytochemicals, the key
question is whether supplementation has been proven to do more good than harm.
So far, the answer is no, which is why the FDA will not permit any of these
substances to be labeled or marketed with claims that they can prevent disease

http://www.quackwatch.org/03HealthPromotion/antioxidants.html#scanner

Peggy,



"IMO, I prefer to have tests run by someone who won't benefit from the test results"



That's really excellent advice.