How will Paw Paw benefit me? Paw Paw is a unique product that selectively targets specific cells. Nature’s Sunshine uses an extract of the twigs of the North American Paw Paw tree, which contain the most concentrated amount of acetogenins. Acetogenins are active compounds that affect the production of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) in the cell’s mitochondria. ATP is the primary source of energy inside your body that keeps everything moving along. It’s the high-energy molecule that stores energy in your body and gives your cells the energy they need to function. Acetogenins selectively regulate ATP’s production in specific cells, and by doing so, can also help regulate the blood supply to them. In the early 1970’s, university professor Dr. Jerry Mc Laughlin was the first to focus on the Asimina Triloba, better known as Paw Paw. In his research, Dr. Mc Laughlin found that it was a source of phytochemicals called acetogenins. He and his graduate students isolated over 40 of these acetogenins. Paw Paw is covered by several US patents, and the use of paw paw generically for several purposes has been covered by over a dozen patents belonging to Dr. Mc Laughlin. Dr. Mc Laughlin served as the Vice President of Research and Development for Nature’s Sunshine and licensed his methods and formula exclusively to NSP. Paw Paw is often confused with its cousin graviola. During his research, Dr. Mc Laughlin tested several brands of graviola that were marketed as paw paw. The tests indicated that these graviola products were far inferior to real paw paw. Firstly, the acetogenins found in graviola do not have the same potent chemical structure found in the acetogenins in paw paw. Secondly, Dr. Mc Laughlin found that these products were not standardised—in other words, the amount of acetogenins varied wildly. The best graviola product that he tested was found to be only 4% as powerful as paw paw. Note: From time to time we get questions about other products that contain the wo