Eye Armour - Nutrition for the Eyes

As an optometrist, I've come across patients who wanted to know more about supplements for the eyes. The main areas of concern were:

1. Their growing children's eyesight (Singapore has the highest prevalence of myopia in the world)

2. Age-related eye health problems (eg. Age-Related Macular Degeneration, cataracts etc)

At the moment, a variety of eye supplements already exist on the market, containing mainly antioxidants, a range of vitamins, bilberries, wolfberries, blueberries, gingko biloba extracts, just to name a few. There has been anecdotal evidence that some of these above-mentioned components may aid in the development of healthier eyes for children, as well as promote eye health, particularly the integrity of the blood vessels and the macula (an important part of the eye, which gives you sharp central vision) for adults. As people always say, prevention is better than cure. Melaleuca has developed a proprietary blend called NutraView, which contains lutein, vitamin C, blueberries, bilberries. One NutraView capsule a day helps to support your eye's defences against free radicals and sunlight (essential to maintain lens integrity, which may delay the onset of cataracts), and the 6mg of lutein is a powerful antioxidant which helps to protect the macula from free radical damage, UV rays, as well as blue light (in so doing, may prevent age-related macular degeneration, retinopathies etc).

Fibre-licious!

Have you ever heard the "Uh, I've not cleared my bowels for the past week." from your loved ones, or maybe it has happened to yourself? If the answer is 'Yes', you probably have not got enough fibre from your diet. The American Heart Association recommends that the average person out there should obtain about 25-35 grams of fibre every single day, however the average person barely gets 15g of fibre out of their diet. What Melaleuca has developed is this product called FibreWise, which aids in the regular movement of the bowels, as well as promote a healthy digestive tract. On top of that, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed numerous studies relating to psyllium husk's (a vital component of FibreWise) cardiovascular benefits in approving the claim that "diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 7g of soluble fibre per day from psyllium husk may reduce the risk of heart disease" by lowering cholesterol. FibreWise contains 3.2g of psyllium husk and a serving of FibreWise drink delivers 5g of fibre, to supplement the fibre intake from your daily diet. Also included in FibreWise are insoluble fibre from oats and rice, aloe, ginger, peppermint, garlic, licorice root, beet juice, and Vitamins A, C and E, which further enhances digestive comfort. And who really knew that fibre was good for the heart as well? =)

Weight Management 1 plus 1

As mentioned earlier, I consumed these Access Performance Bars (I got the mint chocolate, there's also peanut butter available) right before exercise. What these Access Bars do is very simple - it converts more fat into energy during the workout. From my knowledge, most of or bodies are not so well-oiled to convert fat into energy, but are very efficient when it comes to storing excessive energy into fats. When we start working out or perform any physical activities, the body produces this chemical called adenosine, that prevents the conversion of fat into energy, using readily available glucose instead. This mechanism may prevent our bodies from utilising the fat that we want to lose. The Access Performance Bars not only provides fuel (carbohydrates and calories) to the body for the workout, but its patented technology also enables the body to tap into its fat reserves, thus creating a slow, steady loss of excessive body fats. I'm currently halfway into my box, and so far I've been following a sensible diet and doing regular exercise of 20mins, 3 times a week. I've already downsized by an inch, down from a 34" jeans size. Of course, this is not just the effort of the Access Performance Bars. I also consume the Attain Meal Replacement Shakes (comes in Creamy Vanilla and Rich Milk Chocolate) once a day, either on-the-go for breakfast, or for a lazy lunch. It tastes great, unlike other formulated drinks, which taste very umm, synthetic. I prefer the original taste, but I've got friends who add things like fruits, yogurt, skimmed milk to their shakes. They simply love it. Anyways the Attain shake do not lack in nutritional value, it's packed with vitamins, minerals, 14g of soy protein, as well as 5g of fibre, giving you 130 calories worth of energy. I guess the combination of Access Performance Bars, Attain Meal Replacement Shakes, regular exercise and a sensible diet will bring you back to the ideal shape!

Rejuvenated Same Old Brand New Me!

Well, one of the first products I took out from my Value Pack to try was the Vitality Pack (consists of a bottle of specially-formulated multivitamins, calcium and mineral complex). I did remember that when I was browsing through the catalogue, I came across this "90-day Vitality Pack Challenge". Melaleuca offered to credit back or exchange the product if the user did not feel more energetic and lively after consuming it. Probably that was why I was so excited about it and decided to try it first. From my knowledge, the Vitality Pack was specially-formulated as they bounded the fructose molecule, which is a natural sugar molecule, to minerals like iron, calcium and zinc to assist the absorption of these minerals into the body. This formulation was prepared to maximise the absorption of minerals into the body's cells, and preventing them from readily binding to other moloecules. Melaleuca calls it the 'Fructose Compounding mineral delivery system.'

There were also two other products that I've tried, namely Cellwise and Florify. Cellwise is a broad-spectrum antioxidant supplement, and it works by protecting the body's cell against free radicals. Free radicals are chemical compounds in the body that are actually involved in some of the body's important functions, but generally has the ability to inflict unnecessary collateral damage to other cells. So I guess Cellwise might be a much better alternative to drinking many cups of green tea to obtain the antioxidants in the diet. As for Florify, it contains probiotics (good flora ie. good bacteria) to boost the probiotic levels in the digestive system. From my knowledge, Florify serves to enhance the body's ability to absorb nutrients from our food and supplements, relieve occasional indigestion and also other related abdominal discomfort and cramps.

Anyways, after I took the Vitality Pack, Florify and Cellwise, I stayed up till about 2am to finish up some work. I had to wake up at 5am the next morning as I had to continue with my work. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself not the least tired at all, even though I had only slept for 3 hours before that! I'm a light sleeper, and I generally need about 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep to feel good the next day. I just couldn't believe that the supplements were working that well. So I decided to give myself a week and see how it goes. At the time that I'm blogging about these great products, I have about slightly less than a third of the bottles left. For the past 3 weeks or so, I feel like a different person. The old 'me' was not able to work long days without getting enough sleep, and I always feel lethargic with aches all over the body. Now, I can find the energy to blog at this hour (LOL), and also find the extra energy to squeeze in more time for exercise. I've also got myself started on the Access energy bars (also from Melaleuca) before exercises. I'll cover that in a later post. It's been really a great improvement in the quality of my life, and I felt that I've made the right to decision to take up the 90-day Vitality Pack Challenge. I'll be re-ordering my second month's supply of the Vitality Pack.. any takers?

Melaleuca!

I stumbled upon this great company (Melaleuca, The Wellness Company) on the Internet recently, and did some due research on their products. Melaleuca offers a catalogue full of products that promote health and well-being, help protect the environment, are cost effective, use the best natural ingredients, and are safer for the home and family. I was impressed with what I saw, and I decided to head down to Melaleuca to have a look.

At the Melaleuca store, I was amazed to find that this store was no different from your average grocery store. Everything was arranged neatly in rows on the shelves, price tags were prominent, and there were even shopping baskets to put your stuff! The customer service staff were professional and polite in their own manner, and from my observation, some regular customers even chat with them, just like good old friends.

Well, since they have such a wide range of products, I didn't know which product to start using first. I went with my friend that day, who happened to have enrolled as Marketing Exec, as well as a Preferred Customer of Melaleuca. She said that "Hey, you should sign up as a Marketing Exec and a Preferred Customer of Melaleuca, so as to enjoy heavily-discounted prices for their products, as well as have the ability to earn some passive income from referrals." I thought that it was a great way to start using some products, so I signed up immediately, and got myself a Value Pack. So what's in this Value Pack? They have more than 30 separate products, which comes in an assortment from the full range of Melaleuca's products, which includes products like health supplements, household products and even cosmetics. All the products are full-size, not just trial packs. I paid S$380 for these products, a discount of more than S$160 as compared to getting the products piece by piece. This was great value. What's more enticing was that these products,as well as the membership, come with a money-back guarantee - that means that if I don't like any of the products and/or the membership, I just have to get back to them, and I get all my money back! So I went home, a happy man, with lotsa bags in my hands. I'm so eager to start using these products.