Essential Omega-3, Maximum Essential Omega-3 & the former Ultimate Omega-3.

A couple of months ago, I did a Today’s Special offering a higher potency version of Essential Omega-3.  It contains the same fish oils as my Essential Omega-3, but in order to reach the desired level of 1,000 mgs of Omega-3s per two capsules, we placed it in a slightly larger capsule than our standard Essential Omega-3 (830 mgs of Omega-3s per two small capsules).  We called it Ultimate Omega-3 because it delivers about 20% more Omega-3s per capsule in a slightly larger capsule.  Many folks assumed this was an entirely different formula, but it is not.  It is merely a higher potency of total Omega-3 and all-important DHA.  It also contains the exact same proportion of proprietary orange essence to neutralize any fishy aftertaste. 

The process of coming up with the name for this higher potency Omega-3 formula was not complicated.  I just did what I normally do with a formula that is higher potency or more comprehensive, such as Ultimate Eye, Ultimate Acai, Ultimate Women’s Wellness, Ultimate Antioxidants, etc.  Apparently, I could have chosen a better name, since by calling it Ultimate Omega-3, many folks thought it contained entirely different fish oils than my Essential Omega-3, but it is not really different at all.  It is a blend of the same fish oils and flaxseed oil  placed in a slightly larger capsule and it therefore provides 20% higher levels of total Omega-3s and 30% higher levels of DHA.  Apparently, by using the name Ultimate Omega-3 I caused confusion, but the only difference is the higher potency, since Essential Omega-3 already uses the best fish oils possible – there was no reason to change.  To avoid future confusion here and in the marketplace, I thought that a very straightforward name for this product would be Maximum Essential Omega-3.  Such a name clearly lets everyone know exactly what it is:  Our Maximum potency version of Essential Omega-3. 

The capsules of Essential Omega-3 are approximately 50-60% the size of the typical large Omega-3 capsules you see in stores, but nevertheless they still contain equal or higher potency levels and without the other potential undesirable attributes of store-bought Omega-3s (fishy aftertaste, stomach upset, inferior ethyl ester form, contaminants, etc.).  The new Maximum Essential Omega-3 (formerly our Ultimate Omega-3) is in a slightly larger capsule that is approximately 60-70% the size of the typical large Omega-3 capsules you see in stores.  Basically, if you want the smallest capsule, but still high potency, choose our Essential Omega-3.  However, if you don’t mind a slightly larger capsule (still much smaller than typically large capsules), then choose our new Maximum Essential Omega-3 and get 1,000 mgs of Omega-3s per two capsules.  In any case, you can rest assured that both formulas contain precisely the same ultra-pure, high quality fish oils without any fishy aftertaste due to our unique orange extract.  The only difference is the higher potency you get with Maximum Essential Omega-3 (formerly Ultimate Omega-3).  

Sorry for the confusion and I hope that cleared things up.

Best of health,

Andrew

5-HTP in Night Time.

A surprisingly negative review was posted about the ingredient 5-HTP in my Night Time product and I just thought I would respond, since it communicates inaccurate and inappropriate information.  This review falsely states that, “5-HTP is unsafe to be taken by ANYONE.”  That is patently inaccurate and completely false.   5-HTP is not unsafe – least of all in the 10 mg dose present in this gentle, relaxing product.  As background, 5-HTP is the biochemical “nickname” for 5-Hydroxytryptophan, which is a naturally occurring amino acid (component of protein) and plays numerous roles in biological systems, such as being a necessary precursor for the body’s normal, natural creation of protein, enzymes, serotonin (natural neurotransmitter), melatonin (natural neurohormone) and more.  Tryptophan might sound familiar, since it is found in virtually all food protein sources and is abundant in dairy products, fish, meat and various nuts and seeds.  It is one of the reasons why some folks associate a warm glass of milk as a good pre-bedtime ritual or expect to feel drowsy after a large turkey dinner at Thanksgiving or Christmas.  The mechanisms for those relaxing effects are not as simple as drinking milk or eating turkey, but Tryptophan’s normal presence in protein sources and its natural role in the production of neurochemicals required for sleep and relaxation are well established.  The absolute inaccuracy of any assertion of risk from 10 mg of 5-HTP is brought into perspective by the fact that a small 3.5 ounce portion of Turkey naturally contains 25x more Tryptophan while 3.5 ounces of dried egg white contains 100x more Tryptophan than Night Time!  In short, this ingredient is not even remotely risky at these levels and I would never deliver it at any other level other than an entirely safe level.  In fact, Night Time is formulated specifically to include a comprehensive list of natural, relaxing ingredients rather than high levels of any single ingredient.  It is formulated to be extremely mild and to rule out any risk whatsoever, including that of hangover in the morning. 

By the way, I suspect the inaccurate statement regarding this risks of 5-HTP comes from the fact that about 20 years or so ago, there was a bad batch of contaminated Tryptophan produced in Asia that made it into supplements.  It was not natural Tryptophan and the impurity was the problem – not the Tryptophan, but that was over 20 years ago and, just as any product can be contaminated if a chemical producer overseas makes errors, it does not mean that all foods or medicines or supplements are therefore contaminated.  I believe what might have happened is that while the Internet is a great tool for gathering information, it can also make even very old information seem current and new.  

Summarizing, Tryptophan is abundant in food and the levels present in my Night Time are a small fraction of what is consumed in the normal diet.  I would never recommend that Tryptophan be consumed in mega-doses or doses that are more than a few hundred mgs per day – unless recommended by a physician.  As I said above, we deliver 10 mgs of 5-HTP with Night Time.  It is completely safe and it is not genetically engineered and we provide it from a naturally safe and reliable source. 

Additionally, there are currently over 420 reviews for Night Time on HSN.com with a collective rating of 4.2 stars out of a perfect 5 stars, which means that more than 70% of those reviews are a perfect 5 stars and an amazing 80% are either 4 or a perfect 5 stars.  That is not what you would expect from a product whose formula was so harshly, but falsely, criticized.

I hope that put anyone’s mind to rest regarding that ingredient and our mild Night Time formula.

Best of health,

Andrew

Secure Flavors Have Not Changed.

I just wanted to respond to a topic I have seen raised recently on the bulletin boards and also heard about from a few inquiries through my Customer Care Center.  Specifically, that the Secure flavors have recently changed.  This is a topic that I have heard off and on over the years (despite there having been no changes) and the most recent discussions surround our Chocolate and Coffee.  Mind you, as popular as the meal replacements are, there are very few inquiries as to a change in flavor, but I just want to assure everyone that we have not changed the flavors that are used in these or any of the other Secure flavors.  Obviously, flavor is a very personal and subjective thing and unlike the potency of vitamins and minerals in a product, it is not something we can specifically measure and be 100% certain it is 100% identical.  We do our best to make sure that the flavors we use are precisely the same and consistent every time we produce the product, but with some natural materials, like the real cocoa or real coffee powder that we use, it is possible that there can be some natural variation.  We do our best to rule it out, but it is always possible there can be subtle variations in flavor.  Plus, from time to time our sense of how things taste can change.  In other words, taste is a challenge for any company to be 100% perfectly certain it is always identical, but I use Secure too and I think the flavors are remarkably consistent.  

As I have mentioned in the past, we put a tremendous amount of work into the development of these flavors (more than a decade) and they have become extremely popular, so we would never just change them suddenly and abandon all that work unless we clearly informed everyone that we were doing so.  The flavors are designed to make the people who use the product happy, so we would never make changes to flavor unless they were openly communicated.  In fact, we might even keep around the former version for those who love it if the change was dramatic.  As you might expect, we are always working on ways to improve the formulas in terms of nutrient content and flavor, but there have been no changes in the flavor composition of the current Secure formulas since I introduced them more than five years ago. So rest assured, there have been absolutely no flavor changes at all to these formulas in many years and I promise that before I make any changes, I will let you know.

Best of health,

Andrew

Early Advance Notice on the July Today’s Specials.

We are about a month out from our July Today’s Specials and to make up for my not providing advance notice in April, I wanted to make sure that I gave everyone plenty of time to plan for the upcoming July’s Today’s Specials.  For more than a decade, we always kept our Today’s Specials a secret and a surprise until midnight when we would reveal it.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the fun, anticipation and excitement, but I have since learned that many of you would like to plan your purchases in advance, so it helps to know the Today’s Special a bit in advance.  As a result, a few years ago, I started to reveal the Today’s Special a bit in advance.  Mind you, we never start producing the Today’s Special products until a few weeks before the visit and we often change products at the last minute, but I am trying to do my best to provide some advance notice of what is coming up.  Last year, we got the word out in advance in almost all cases and this year we did well until April, when I managed to do a bit of damage to myself mountain biking, so I was not able to get on my computer to blog and we neglected to post the information on Facebook early enough.  Sorry about that.  But July will be different and I am glad to share the news, since the Today’s Specials will indeed be very, very special.

Lets start with Sunday and how about the most amazing Healthy Hair Skin and Nails Today’s Special ever!  Healthy Hair Skin and Nails continues to be my number one reorder product throughout the year and that really comes as no surprise, since if you go to HSN.com you will find more than fifteen hundred reviews averaging 4.5 stars of which over 90% are four stars or a perfect five stars.  It is truly amazing!  Best of all, this visit I offer the highest levels of Biotin ever and a major bonus of our standardized extract of Pomegranate 40:40 in each and every capsule.  Of course, this all comes with prices that are the best ever.  It is truly a “see the difference” product at a remarkable price that still comes in small easy to swallow capsules that are gentle to even the most sensitive stomachs.  It is important to note that this Healthy Hair Skin and Nails is a Special HSN Birthday formula, which means it is a special one-time formula, so if you want to take advantage of it and its extremely special price, then it will only be available for as long as it lasts on Sunday July 17^th.  

Our Friday Today’s Specials are just as exciting as Sunday’s and you get two options on Friday with two of our other most popular reorder products:  CholestaCare and Fibermucil.  They are both customer picks with hundreds of reviews and they are both available at their best prices ever – individually and as super-saver bundles.  For years, there has been a steady flow of research advising us to use substantial caution when consuming cholesterol lowering statin drugs and recently, there has been more research and news calling into question the safety and efficacy of cholesterol lowering drugs.  Given the fact that CholestaCare is among my most popular reorder products, along with all the news about the risks of those cholesterol lowering statin drugs, I thought it appropriate to offer the best pricing ever on a natural product that can safely help to lower total and LDL (bad) cholesterol, which can also be safely combined with cholesterol lowering drugs to reduce the dosage required and thereby reduce the side effects from those drugs.  So, whether on its own or in combination with cholesterol medications, CholestaCare is a wonderful, natural tool for cholesterol reduction that can also help to naturally reduce the risk of heart disease – everyone’s goal.  Of course, work closely with your physician before you make any changes in the medications you consume.  As far as Fibermucil, it is hard to believe that a fiber product has become one of our top reorder products, but if you read the reviews for Fibermucil, it becomes very easy to understand its popularity.  Regularity is something we take for granted when we have it; however, we desperately miss it when we do not.  The way I describe Fibermucil is as “the gentlest, easiest and most natural path to regularity” – while also being incredibly affordable all year round – but never more affordable than July’s Today’s Special.  Also, it has been shown to improve the cholesterol-lowering power of CholestaCare, so whether it is regularity, heart health or cholesterol reduction, there is no better choice than our 100% natural Fibermucil.

Best of all, each of the three Today’s Specials discussed above are not just at their best pricing ever, but also with FREE shipping and handling plus FlexPay on the largest sizes.  We set out to make HSN’s July Birthday Month the best ever and from all indications, we have succeeded! 

Enjoy and best of health!

Andrew