For many years, Dr. Kenneth Cooper promoted that 21st century medicine should concentrate on proper weight, nutrition, exercise and supplementation. While the role exercise, nutrition and weight played in disease had been well-documented, that wasn’t the case for supplementation.
“What little research was available dealt with such topics as vitamin C deficiencies and scurvy,” explains Dr. Kenneth Cooper. “Yet the role vitamin supplementation played in a multitude of diseases, including cancer, was lacking.”
Due to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994, the FDA also had no control of vitamins, as they were considered to be food, not medicine. “As a result, the vitamin industry was not controlled and there was no assurance the vitamin contained the ingredients listed on the label,” says Dr. Kenneth Cooper.
Several early studies published in German scientific literature indicated vigorous extensive workouts could produce DNA damage, which could be a precursor to disease, including cancer. However, one study published in Ulm, Germany, showed if world-class athletes were given large doses of vitamin E starting one to two weeks prior to vigorous exercise (such as running marathons), the DNA damage could be suppressed.
“It had also been brought to my attention that several world-class athletes, including Lance Armstrong, had been diagnosed with malignancies,” explains Dr. Kenneth Cooper.
With the DNA damage previously mentioned, Dr. Kenneth Cooper believed free radicals were the offending agent. He also believed it could be completely corrected through vitamin supplementation. However, a product was needed to prevent these problems from occurring in the first place.
“In 1994, I released the book, Antioxidant Revolution, showing that vitamin supplementation could reduce free radical damage that potentially could have a great effect on a multitude of diseases, including cancer,” says Dr. Kenneth Cooper. “For all of those reasons, I felt it necessary to have vitamins as a ‘form of insurance,’” explains Dr. Kenneth Cooper. “Remember, vitamins are not a replacement for good food and should be used in conjunction with, not in place of, proper nutrition.”
In 1997, Dr. Kenneth Cooper, with a team of physicians and scientists from leading universities, developed Cooper Complete Nutritional Supplements to address weaknesses found in many supplements.
When the line was released, it contained just two products: Cooper Complete Original and Cooper Complete Original with Iron. Today, it has grown into a line of more than 20 products, from a multivitamin, to a variety of supplements with focused ingredients to help support brain health, skin and eye health, prostate health, joint health and more.
Cooper Aerobics is a physician-founded organization that wants to improve the quality and length of peoples’ lives, and our supplements are simply one expression of that desire.