The building blocks for better health

Achieving wellness isn’t only about what we eat, but also what we do

When Haru Naito first laid eyes on the Hunza valley, surrounded by the towering peaks of the Himalayas, he thought he had walked into paradise on earth. Perhaps that’s a reason why the Hunza is one of the world’s sites with the healthiest and longest-living natives – residents simply don’t want to depart from its beauty.

As breathtaking as the valley in Northeast Pakistan is, Mr Naito sought other clues to residents’ longevity. At the behest of the Dalai Lama, he tested the cold, clear water that bubbled from the ground. Analysis showed the water hydrates and detoxifies the body faster than normal water, that is contains a high concentration of negative ions and that is has elevated levels of soluble silica – a mineral found in the nearby mountains.

Seven years later the Japanese native developed a filter that conferred upon water many of the qualities found in the Hunza region. The Japanese Ministry of Health has verified the unique properties of Mr Naito’s bacteriostatic water – a water in which bacteria and fungus cannot grow.

It is this amazing discovery upon which Mannatech Incorporated – a global health and wellness company based in suburban Dallas, Texas – built its proprietary and preservative-free Optimal Skin Care System, which launched in Japan in May. In less than four weeks, the company sold more than $1 million of the skin care line.

In a world market where nearly every skin care product contains either synthetic or natural preservatives – some of which are said to age skin three times faster than normal – Mannatech stands alone.

“Mannatech’s wellness products can be summed up in a simple phrase – proprietary and unique,” says Sam Caster, Mannatech’s founder, CEO and chairman of the board. “Store shelves are bending under the weight of products that have no efficacy. We differentiate ourselves by providing products based in science that can be verified and tested.

“In November, for example, Australia and New Zealand will be the first recipients of Mannatech’s new PhytoMatrix – the nutritional supplement industry’s first all-natural multivitamin containing multiple all-natural minerals and powerful phytochemicals.”

The bottom line to the Mannatech mantra is that people must take responsibility for their health. But in a world where fast is good and instant is even better, millions overlook what should be one of life’s top priorities: providing the body with the nutrients it needs to function optimally and repair itself.

“In the industrialized nations, the vast majority of the population has unhealthy diets,” says Stephen Boyd, M.D.,Ph.D., medical director at Mannatech.

In New Zealand, a 1997 Nutrition survey revealed that less than half the population consumed enough fruit and a third did not eat enough vegetables each day and 41 percent ate less than the two servings of fruit, according to the popular New Zealand Website www.5aday.co.nz.

Yet Mannatech’s leaders are well aware that a proper diet can be very difficult to maintain. That’s why the company is dedicated to the proposition that wellness is the reward of a well-rounded lifestyle that includes proper nutrition, exercise and other healthy choices – it’s not something that comes as a quick fix.

“Mannatech has taken the lead in researching and developing unique supplements that help restore important nutrients in the diet,” Dr.Boyd says. “But in addition to that, we would like consumers to realize that their actions and lifestyle choices determine, to a great extent, if, when and how they may fall ill.”

Mannatech is hardly alone in taking this stance. For decades, scientists have been saying that ailments most people consider a normal part of aging – heart failure, stroke and diabetes, for example – are in fact “diseases of civilization” brought on by frantic contemporary lifestyles. Comparisons of disease rates show that in pre-industrial communities surviving in remote parts of the globe, those ailments are relatively rare.

Among culprits regularly cited as contributing factors in the poor health of civilized cultures are stress, lack of exercise, smoking and pollution, along with extreme dietary imbalances. Alcoholic drinks and preservatives in processed foods are also thought to be responsible for killing beneficial, essential bacteria in the digestive system.

The message finally seems to be sinking in, gaining wide acceptance among the population. Today, approximately 60 percent of New Zealanders take some form of dietary supplementation.

“In New Zealand, the baby boom generation is making wellness one of its top priorities,” says Mr Caster. “Overall, societies are gradually moving toward healthy lifestyle changes, and we want to continue to be a company leading the health conscious in the right direction. Nutrition is a key part of that lifestyle adjustment.”