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From health concerns regarding the foods we eat to the supplements we take that are meant to keep us healthier, these are the endless questions about how to protect your wellbeing and how to find ways to start living a better life. We have asked Kathy Metcalfe, founder of LEAN Nutraceuticals about her story and personal approach to this issue.

Behind Every Great Company is a Great Woman

Formed in 2013, LEAN Nutraceuticals is headed by Kathy Metcalfe, a mechanical engineer who is also a nutrition and fitness-conscious mother of two. While you couldn’t be faulted for assuming that the name LEAN is a reference to weight loss and healthy living, there is much more to the company’s name. As a former research and development engineer, Kathy makes sure that the company is focused around the lean principles (made famous by Toyota) of getting the maximum result with the highest efficiency while producing the least amount of waste. In her company LEAN means creating more value for customers with fewer resources. That allows her and her team to deliver superior products at competitive prices. More value also means a higher level of customer service. When Wellness magazine caught up with Kathy she explained, “I personally answer every email I get from customers regarding our products. Not a week goes by that I don’t get at least one email commending me on our superior customer service.”

LEAN Product Development in Action

In keeping with the LEAN core principle of creating more value, Kathy demands that all of the products carried by LEAN have efficacies based on hard science and medical research. As our conversation turned to product development Kathy explained “I am very excited about our latest product, a revolutionary Turmeric Curcumin Fusion. We studied this branch of supplements for months, reviewing medical journals and research reports. When I last checked there were over 240 studies showing efficacies for inflammation reduction, pain reduction, and blood pressure reduction which are just a few of the positive benefits.” What she explained is that there are two core ingredients that must be present in a Turmeric Curcumin supplement to ensure effectiveness. The first is 95% standardized curcuminoid extract and the second is the patented absorption enhancer BioPerine®.

Developing a Better Turmeric Curcumin

That meant starting with an abundance of the 95% standardized curcuminoid extract since science shows that is the most active component. LEAN has packed in 180mg of the active extract per serving and added BioPerine® which is necessary for absorption. While this adds to the product’s cost Kathy is not concerned as it is all part of the value building equation. If LEAN had stopped there they would already have a standout product but as Kathy explained, they were just getting started. “We next reached out to our company’s Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Jeffrey Hendricks, who is a world-renowned biochemist and medical doctor. Jeff immediately saw an opportunity to improve upon the Curcumin/BioPerine® foundation. By adding a precise ratio of four additional powerful anti-inflammatories; Turmeric Rhizome (Curcuma longa root), Organic Ginger Rhizome (Zingiber officianale root), Bromelain (Ananas comosus) and Cayenne Pepper extract (Capsicum annuum) Dr. Hendricks was able to create a synergistic fusion that provides superior performance as compared to Turmeric Curcumin alone. According to Dr. Hendricks, “If you look at the Turmeric fusion product I developed with LEAN Nutraceuticals, it combines 5 agents, each with its own benefit in the inflammatory cascade.  While individually the effects are small to moderate, when you combine them you get additive benefits (1+1+1+1+1=5) and in some cases synergy (1+1+1+1+1+1=50). LEAN’s Turmeric Curcumin Fusion is one of the first products to have ever been awarded the Medical Doctor Certified certificate from the Medical Advisory Board of The Lab Genie, LLC. Products like this that use ingredients with proven efficacy are changing how the medical community views the nutraceutical industry. Until recently supplement products have been ignored by doctors if not outright ridiculed.”

Why you need Turmeric (Curcumin)

Here are some of the ways turmeric may benefit your body:

•    May help block cancer

•    Powerful antioxidant

•    One of the most potent anti-inflammatories available

•    May improve kidney function for people with kidney inflammation

•    Nutritional support for the liver   

•    Studies suggest Tumeric may help prevent the buildup of artery-clogging plaque that can lead to heart attacks and strokes

•    May help with digestion

•    Turmeric may also help reduce the occurrence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in people who are otherwise healthy

•    Helps stiff joints

•    Nutritional support for healthy joints

•    Promotes balanced mood

Feed your skin

Your skin is an amazing feat of nature’s technology, being waterproof, yet able to release water (sweat), temperature controlling, washable and sensitive to touch. It is vital to your well-being. It reflects your emotions and is indicative of your state of health, diet, and lifestyle. It reflects what foods you eat, how much sleep you have had, and what nutrients you need.

Nourishing Your Beauty from the Inside – PhyGLOW™

One of LEAN’s most popular and highest rated products is their PhyGLOW™ skin rejuvenation and anti-aging phytoceramides blend. Ceramides occur naturally in 4 layers of our skin where they function to retain the plumping moisture indicative of healthy, youthful skin. Unfortunately, as we age our skin suffers ceramide depletion which manifests itself as fine lines, wrinkles and a general loss of elasticity.

Say Good Bye to Father Time

Research has shown that these lost ceramides can be replenished by the oral ingestion of ceramides derived from certain plants, hence “phytoceramides”. In the past derivatives of wheat or rice were used but PhyGLOW uses a special blend of yam based phytoceramides and skin nourishing vitamins that are 100% Gluten free. “I can’t stop getting older but I certainly don’t have to stop looking younger and PhyGLOW is just too easy not to be using it every day. If you are looking for a simple way to add a healthy glow to your skin and minimize those fine lines in your face, PhyGLOW is just the ticket,” remarks Kathy.

Weight Loss, Energy and the Tree of Life

As we closed our interview the conversation turned to eWellnessMag’s upcoming topic, weight loss. In short, losing weight is fairly easy. Diet books abound, many offering quick solutions and each seeming to have its own unique twist. Anyone sufficiently motivated can follow a strict, no-nonsense, low calories regime for two weeks. Maybe even for months. Then come the familiar lamentations: “ I don’t eat anything, and I still can’t lose weight”, and as quickly as the diet was started, it is abandoned. The problem in this scenario is that a diet (which might be only concentrating on a simple list of foods to avoid or to eat) is expected to cure a weight problem that is probably complex in origin. You gain weight because of your eating habits. To lose weight, you must break some of those habits. You can learn moderation. Losing weight and successfully keeping it off involves making changes in your food choices, activity level, eating habits, and supplementation.

LEAN Nutraceuticals offers 4 different supplements to help women lose weight. When I asked Kathy why there were so many in the LEAN lineup she explained “One thing I’ve learned in this business is that when it comes to weight loss, people respond differently to different supplements. What works great for one person may only produce mediocre results for another.” However, she remarked smiling, “our Moringa Oleifera almost always produces some kind of positive result for anyone who tries it.”

Moringa Oleifera, known as the “Tree of Life” because of its ability to literally sustain life all by itself, has a veritable bookshelf of supporting research. One study by John Hopkins School of Medicine found evidence of over 80 reported nutritional, therapeutic, and prophylactic uses of Moringa!

“We promote our Moringa Oleifera extract as an appetite suppressant and weight loss supplement but a great many people take it simply for the non-stimulant feeling of energy and vitality it provides.”

Photo courtesy of LEAN Nutraceuticals; BP photostock;