The mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus) is native to the Mediterranean regions of Greece, where it grows primarily on the island of Chios. The tree and its aromatic resin, mastic gum, have played an important role in health and commerce in this area through the millennia. Impact Fusion International, Inc™ manufactures a proprietary blend called Nutri-Mastic™, a mastic based blended ingredient that significantly enhances the effects of mastic gum in many different products. Nutri-Mastic™ becomes an all natural delivery system for better health and wellness. Nutri-Mastic™ addresses the modern society with many more toxins in our environment than our ancestors. Nutri-Mastic™ super charges the mastic gum with a proprietary blend of minerals that help your body naturally adjust to the toxic environment we live in today.

References to mastic (the word comes from the Greek mastikhan, meaning “to grind the teeth”) can be found in the medical literature as far back as the first century, where it was reported to reduce abdominal pain and sooth digestive and urinary distress. It was also used as a whitening agent and toothpaste.

The folkloric applications of mastic (Pistacia lentiscus) have been recently revived against the backdrop of modern scientific research, ultimately restoring the healing resin among common remedies that target a broad range of gastrointestinal and bowel disorders. Mastic gum was used by the ancient Greeks, Babylonians and Egyptians in many products, from chewing gum to healing formulas. The studies’ results reflect folk wisdom, dating as far back as Biblical times and beyond, when Hippocrates and Herodotes (500 AD) were amongst the first to recognize mastic’s therapeutic functions. The Bible (Book of Daniel) references mastic as bakha or shinos, a word purportedly derived from the Hebrew expression to signify crying–symbolizing the “tears” of resin secreted by the evergreen shrub, and the softly weeping sound arising from trampled branches. Galenus (131-202 AD), the leading doctor and medical writer of antiquity, advocated on behalf of the evergreen shrub in the second century BC, suggesting its effectiveness in treating bronchitis, as well as high blood pressure. Diodorus (23-79 AD) reports the use of the mastic gum as a medium for the embalming of the human body. Rivasius, Sauranus, Εfesius, Εtius Medicus, Scribonius Largus (23-79 AD) report the uses and the pharmaceutical properties of the mastic gum suggesting a lot of prescriptions in combination with other herbs. Avicenna (980-1037 AC) In his work “Principles of Medicine” contains the conclusions of the ancient Greek physicians regarding the mastic gum. In the 15th century, Christopher Columbus accounted mastic’s antibacterial properties, as well as its potential in treating cholera.

Thomas Fuller’s Pharmacopoeia extemporanea, published in 1710, lists many ancient formulas that include mastica.

For more everyday applications, mastic was highly valued in medieval times by sultans’ harems, both as a breath freshener and source of a healthy smile. During the Ottoman rule of Chios, mastic was worth its weight in gold. The penalty for stealing mastic was execution by order of the Sultan. As a rather smoky-tasting chewing gum, mastic was quite popular in Roman times among children (and could reclaim the same enthusiasm today).

Mastic’s momentous resurgence in the 1998 landmark study published in the New England journal of Medicine (NEJM) instigated a series of further studies, all of which respectively substantiated the soundness of folk applications, ranging from cosmetics, to cooking to cholera, as remarked by notables ranging from Plenius to Galenus to Columbus.

The Spanish explorer’s convictions about mastic’s antibacterial properties found scientific validation in NEJM’s research of mastic’s active inhibition of bacteria Helicobacter pylori NCTC 11637 strain, and six clinical isolates. It is important to note that of the latter, three isolates were sensitive and three were resistant to the common antibiotic treatment metronidazole; mastic eradicated all seven!

Traditionally, mastic has been used as a food preservative, for dyspepsia and other disorders of the digestive tract, to prevent dental caries and other gum and mouth problems, and to help control diabetes. In Europe mastic gum has been used to help normalize cholesterol, triglyceride and blood pressure levels, as well as in the preparation of ointments for skin problems, including burns, eczema and frost-bite. Because mastic gum is valuable for oral hygiene, it is used in toothpaste, mouthwash, and as a component in dental fillings. Pharmaceutical companies use it in the production of pills and capsules, in self-absorbing surgical threads, and doctors use it for sticking a septic bandage on a surgical wound. The Kurds add mastic to their drink arac, similar to the Greeks’ ouzo, to prevent damage to the stomach. This wide range of application points to mastic gum’s toxicological safety.

In 2008, Impact Fusion International, Inc, brought forward to the markets Nutri-Mastic™ that turbo charges mastic gum’s proprietary blend and is presented in all of our products that can be found on the website www.impactfusionbrands.com. The dynamic duo of the blend of the proprietary ingredients in Nutri-Mastic™ in combination with the mastic gum enables us to deliver the benefits of mastic in an optimum delivery system.