VitaPulse Review. Does It Help Heart Health?

VitaPulse is an antioxidant supplement touted to help the heart and circulatory system. For those with heart problems, that's important. In this review of VitaPulse, I'll cover the research on the supplement and its ingredients. Along the way, I'll drill down further and show you what I believe is its main active ingredients. I'll also look at other VitaPulse supplements too. So, is Vitapluse a scam or does it really work? Let's see what we can discover. Also, see the reviews on Kyloic Aged Garlic extract and SuperBeets.

What Is VitaPulse?

VitaPulse is a heart-healthy antioxidant supplement. It contains ingredients that can help the heart and blood vessels and increase the production of an antioxidant enzyme called glutathione. We tend to make less glutathione as we get older and this may be associated with various health problems.

Who Is VitaPulse For?

Vitapulse is a supplement for people who are healthy. It's not a substitute for heart disease medications.  For those with heart disease, this is important to remember. Sometimes when we are sick, we look for answers. To their credit, the company which makes VitaPulse (Princeton Nutrients) does not make over-the-top claims for this supplement and what it can do.

If you have heart disease and are considering VitaPulse, show the ingredients to your doctor and pharmacist. Let them guide you on whether the product is right for you.

VitaPulse Research

Does VitaPulse really work? While the ingredients in the supplement are intriguing, the best way to know for sure is to test it in a clinical trial. Does VitaPulse have clinical proof?

To learn this answer, I searched the National Library of Medicine for “VitaPulse.” No studies showed up. I then searched ClinicalTrials.gov and likewise found no studies in the pipeline.

I then performed an online Google search for:

• VitaPluse Research
• Vita Pulse Clinical Studies

Again, no evidence was found. The website for the company which makes this supplement also showed no proof either.

Conclusion: I'm forced to conclude at this time the VitaPluse supplement – itself – appears to have no published, peer-reviewed studies.  To be fair, this is true for many supplements. But, lack of research doesn't necessarily mean something doesn't work. It just means we will have to look at the proof for its individual ingredients.

Let's do that next.

VitaPulse Ingredients

According to the Supplement Facts label, each capsule of VitaPulse contains the following ingredients:

Ingredient	Amount Per 1 Capsule	Percent Daily Value
N-Acetyl Cysteine	250 mg	N/A
CoQ10	100 mg	N/A
Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)	10 mg	N/A

A bottle has 30 capsules. In the table above “N/A” means no daily value has been established.

“Other ingredients” also listed are Hypromellose (for the vegetable capsule), rice flour, silicon dioxide, and magnesium stearate. These other ingredients play no role in the benefits of the supplement. 

VitaPulse Ingredients Research

Let's now look at the heart-healthy research on the ingredients in VitaPulse.

NAC

The letters NAC stand for N-Acetyl-Cysteine (say “N-ah-sea-till-sis-teen). This compound comes from an amino acid called, cysteine. NAC helps us make a powerful antioxidant called glutathione. There is a LOT of research on NAC but for now, let's just look at some of the studies related to heart health.

Researchers in France have noted heart disease patients have low glutathione levels. Other research finds NAC may to raise nitric oxide levels. What's nitric oxide? It's is a gas made in the blood vessels which can expand blood vessels.

By increasing the width of blood vessels, can help reduce blood pressure and chest pains due to angina. Research also notes that NAC – when used in combo with nitroglycerin therapy – might reduce angina pain.

For those using nitroglycerin tables for heart disease, please don't start taking NAC without first speaking to your doctor and pharmacist first. The combination make your blood pressure go too low.

NAC also seems to reduce homocysteine levels. What's homocysteine? It's a compound that may be related to heart disease.  The studies I saw showing it helped, used about 600 mg-1000 mg which is more NAC than is in VitaPluse.

The connection between homocysteine and heart disease is controversial because reducing homocysteine does not appear to reduce the chances of getting a heart attack.

A less expensive way to reduce homocysteine is to eat more fruits and vegetables. The vitamin called folate (also called folic acid), along with B12 and B6 can also reduce homocysteine and have many other benefits also.

If you don't like eating fruits and veggies, see my smoothie recipe.

CoQ10

Another name for this is Coenzyme Q10. Still another name is ubiquinone which is pronounced “U-bik-wa-qwa-known.” There are many studies attesting to the effects of CoQ 10 on heart health. CoQ10 is so popular it's been widely used in Japan since the 1970s to help heart disease. COQ10 has been studied extensively to treat many other conditions ranging from immune system health to hearing loss.

CoQ10 supplements have been shown to improve markers of heart health such as ejection fraction, cardiac output, and stroke volume. CoQ10 has also been shown to reduce blood pressure.

What about CoQ 10 and cholesterol? I think more research is needed. In this 2011 study of 51 overweight people, 200 mg of CoQ10, given for 12 weeks, did not seem to lower cholesterol levels.

Generally, investigators often 60-300 mg per day to achieve benefits. VitaPlus has 100 mg per capsule so it is in this range. That's good. CoQ10 should be taken with food to increase its absorption. I also feel 100mg is a better dosage for most healthy people because we tend to absorb it better in smaller dosages.  So, 100 mg would be better absorbed than 300 mg.

The VitaPulse supplement uses the ubiquinone version of CoQ10 rather than the more expensive, ubiquinol. I don't have a problem with this because ubiquinol has not been found to work better than ubiquinone. 

PQQ

The letters PQQ stand for Pyrroloquinoline quinone. It's pronounced “pie-role-low-quin-a-lean-kwin-own.”Another name for PQQ is methoxatin. Most people however just call it “PQQ.”

In a 2013 human study, 10 young adults were given between 0.2 and 0.3 grams of PQQ per kilogram. For a 160 pound person, that's about 14 mg to 21 mg per day. This study noticed that PQQ reduced CRP levels, which are a marker for inflammation in the body.

Heart disease appears to be linked to – at least in part- to an increase in cellular inflammation. This study did not show any decrease in triglyceride levels. Triglycerides also play a role in heart disease.

In a 2015 study, 29 healthy adults were given either a placebo or 20 mg of PQQ per day for 12 weeks. Using PQQ for 12 weeks did not reduce triglyceride levels but had a significant effect on LDL levels in people whose LDL levels were elevated.

In these people, the LDL decreased from 136 to 127. While that's nice, I'd point out, an LDL level of 127 is still considered “high.”

VitaPulse contains  10mg of PQQ per capsule. This is  in line with what some human studies are using, so that's good. I still feel we need more human research to know how much might be best for people.

While PQQ is not a vitamin. Think of it as a psudo-vitamin. PQQ is an antioxidant and takes part in antioxidant and free radical reactions that occur inside the mitochondria (the powerhouses of cells).  See my review of ASEA Water for more on redox agents.

Animal research suggests PQQ helps the mitochondria work better and might also help us make more mitochondria. Because defects in how the mitochondria function are thought to play a role in aging, some might refer to PQQ as the “fountain of youth” for our mitochondria. Claims like these should not be taken seriously until better studies are done.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that exercise has also been shown to grow mitochondria too.

According to this study from 1995, foods that with the highest levels of PQQ include:

Kiwi fruit	Sweet potatoes	Fermented soybeans
Green peppers	Spinach	Parsley
Papaya	Ololong tea	Tofu

See The Niagen review for another reputed fountain of youth supplement.

How Much VitaPulse To Take?

The product website recommends taking 1 Vitapulse per day. Since each bottle has 30 capsules, a bottle will last a month.

Other Supplements

The company making VitaPulse also offers several other supplements too. Here is a brief rundown of them along with my thoughts.

UltraKrill

UltraKrill is another supplement offered by Princeton Nutrients. This product is a krill oil supplement. Krill are tiny animals that fish eat. The oil is extracted from these animals.

Krill oil contains both EPA and DHA (“the fish oils”). Because of this, there has been interest in krill oil as an alternative to fish oil supplements.

While krill oil might have a blood-thinning effect, as fish oil does, there are not as many human studies as there are for fish oil supplements (and eating fish).

I have met people who told me it helped their cholesterol levels but I'm not yet convinced of its benefits. I think we need better studies on krill oil. For people who are “healthy”, I think krill oil supplements are safe.

NovaLite

Novalight is another supplement the company makes. It's said to contain “a combination of digestive enzymes, probiotics, mood enhancer/cravings suppressant, and metabolism booster to help you manage your weight effectively.”

Its weight management ingredient is green tea extract. The ingredient said to control appetite is Caralluma fimbriata which is a type of cactus.  It only has 166 mg of this ingredient. In one study 1000 mg appeared to reduce the size of people's waistlines. The people in this study also ate fewer calories too. One interesting thing about this study was people seemed to lose their taste for foods.

OmegaStem

OmegaStem is said to “boost proliferation of adult stem cells.” The supplement contains:

vitamin D (2000 IU) as well as a blend (1400 mg) of:

• Leucine
• Blueberry fruit
• Green tea leaf extract
• Carnosine

Vitamin D is important and the product has a good amount. Leucine is often found in muscle-building supplements and evidence suggests it may help build muscle. While stem cells are popular, the science behind them is very complicated.

Clinical proof for boosting stem cell proliferation cannot be located.  Even if it did, how do we know it would boost the proliferation of the stem cells we want?  While this supplement is likely harmless, it's likely we need more research on what increasing stem cells does in the body.

NitroxPulse

This is a nitric oxide booster supplement. Nitric oxide relaxes muscles in the blood vessels, allowing them to open up. This might reduce blood pressure and do other things.In theory NitroxPulse and VitaPulse might work better together.

The main ingredient In NitroxPulse is 1500 mg of L-citrulline. This amino acid, helps us make another amino acid called arginine. Arginine, in turn, raises nitric oxide levels. Both arginine and L-citrulline area pretty inexpensive. Talk to your doctor/pharmacist if you take any blood pressure-lowering medications.

HeartBiotics

This is a probiotic supplement. It contains a “heart-health probiotic” called Lactobacillus Reuteri. This reputation may be due to a study where 114 people were randomly given Lactobacillus reuteri yogurt or regular yogurt for 6 weeks. Researchers noted the Lactobacillus reuteri yogurt, lowered:

• Total cholesterol
• LDL (bad) cholesterol
• Non-HDL-cholesterol
• Apolipoprotein B (ApoB)
  

All of these can play a role in heart disease development. This study used a certain strain of Lactobacillus reuteri called NCIMB 30242.

GlycoAid

The prefix “Glyco” is a reference to sugar. GlycoAid is essentially a chromium supplement. It has some other ingredients like magnesium but I believe chromium is the key ingredient. Chromium is well known to reduce blood sugar levels and often taken by diabetics. The supplement contains of chromium polynicotinate (click to read review).

VitaLift

The VitaLift supplement is said to reduce stress and improve energy. It contains:

• Vitamin D
• Lions mane mushroom
• Ashwagandha
• Saffron extract

There is evidence saffron may exert antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects.

Joint Support

As the name suggests, this is a supplement for the joints and is probably most attractive to those with osteoarthritis. Joint support contains

• Eggshell membrane
• Boswellia
• Turmeric
• White willow bark
• Bioperine

The Bioperine is essentially black pepper. Black pepper helps increase absorption of other things such as turmeric.

Eggshell membrane is something unique in arthritis supplements. Its the membrane found on the inside of eggshells. Eggshell membranes contain compounds that help joint cartilage stay healthy.

One capsule Joint Support contains 500 mg of egg shell membrane. This is the same amount found to be effective in an arthritis study. In this investigation, 500 mg of Natural Egg Shell Membrane reduced joint pain and joint stiffness compared to a placebo.

Oddly, neither joint function or ratings on an arthritis pain scale were improved. You'd think both would be improved since pain and stiffness improved. This was a study of Natural Egg Shell Membrane and supported by the company which makes it  – ESM Technologies. The head researcher works for that company. Nothing wrong with this; just pointing it out.

Who Makes VitaPulse?

The company is called Princeton Nutrients, LLC. According to the product's website (PrincetonNutrients.com), they are located at 6303 Owensmouth Avenue, 10th Floor Woodland Hills, CA, 91367-2263.

If you google the address you can see that there is a large office building located at this address called the Warner Center Business Center.

Despite the Princeton reference, as far as I can tell, the company appears to be no connection to Princeton University.

The address for the company at the Better Business Bureau website is 20929 Ventua Blvd Ste 47-503, Woodland Hills, CA 91364. When I googled this address, I saw a UPS Store as well as an optometrist's office. It's quite possible these are older addresses.

The BBB gave Princeton Nutrients a rating of “A+” when this review was updated.

See the BBB file for updates and more information.

Contact VitaPulse

The VitaPulse.com website provides this customer support number: 866-427-3019. Their website is PrincetonNutrients.com.

Where To Buy VitaPulse

VitaPulse is not sold at local stores like Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, RiteAid, GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, Kroger or Costco or other similar outlets. To purchase it, you have a few options.

You can buy directly from the PrincetonNutrients.com site. One good thing about the company is there is no auto-ship program. In other words, if you buy from the company website, they will not automatically send you new orders or bill you on a regular basis. This is refreshing and I liked this.

How Much Does VitaPulse Cost

Here is the price of VitaPulse listed on the Princeton Nutrients Website

• 1 bottle $49.99 + 6.95 shipping ($55.95 total)
• 3 bottles $127 (free shipping)
• 6 bottles $235 (free shipping)

One thing I liked was there was not an autoship program. In other words, when you buy VitaPulse from the company, they will not automatically send you regular shipments. When your supply runs out, you will have to go back to their website to order more. That is refreshing to see.

VitaPulse Guarantee

VitaPulse comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee when Purchasing from the Princeton Nutrition website. A 90-day guarantee is pretty generous. The guarantee is not valid when buying from other websites.

Return VitaPulse

To return VitaPulse, call the company at 866-427-3019 for specifics on how to do this.

My Suggestions

If you want to try this product, great. If you want to just purchase the individual ingredients separately you can do this too. Here they are:

• COQ10 (100 mg)

• NAC (250 mg)

• PQQ (10 mg)

Depending on the brands, this might save you a little money. Another option is to just buy CoQ10 and NAC. I see more positive human research on CoQ10 and NAC. I see less evidence for PQQ.

Of course, the downside to purchasing ingredients separately would be that you'd be taking 2-3 pills a day as opposed to only 1 capsule with VitaPulse.

VitaPulse Side Effects

VitaPulse is likely very safe in healthy people. As a rule, those who are not “healthy” should get their doctor's permission first. If you take any medications, show the ingredients to your pharmacists too. They know a lot about supplements and drug interactions.

A shortlist of people who should get permission from their doctor first includes those who have heart disease, liver problems, people taking blood thinner medications and those who have high or low blood pressure. Here is a quick rundown of some possible side effects of the ingredients. This list is not complete:

• Stop taking all supplements not recommended by your doctor at least 2 weeks before having surgery.
• Pregnant and/or nursing mothers should speak to their doctors first.
• CoQ10 might reduce blood pressure. In theory, this might interact with blood pressure medications.  CoQ10 might also interfere with blood thinner medications. There is some speculation that CoQ10 (and other antioxidants) might interfere with some cancer therapies.
• Speak to your doctor first if using drugs for erectile dysfunction, heart disease or high (or low) blood pressure.
• People with cancer should speak with their oncologist before taking NAC supplements. Preliminary evidence (animal and test-tube studies) suggests NAC might be bad if you have cancer.

Does VitaPulse Work?

The ingredients in VitaPulse make sense from a heart-health perspective for the most part. Still, it would take human studies on VitaPulse for sure if it really worked. While it's possible all 3 ingredients work best together, I see the most overall research for COQ10 and NAC.

Any Comments Or Questions?