A couple months back I was fortunate enough to be invited to Nature’s Answer for a full tour and discussion panel on their products. In short I was pleasantly amazed at how much they have to offer as well as how committed they are to quality.
In this blog I will highlight some of my favorite and their more interesting products as well as talk about who they are as a company from my point of view. First I’ll give an overview of the company and talk about some of their unique practices. Then I’ll get into some product information at the end.
45 years of pure and potent products from a family company
Nature’s Answer was founded in 1972 by Frank D'Amelio Sr and his wife Josephine. Frank is a herbalist and an analytical chemist with a passion for natural herbal remedies. He wanted the best for his family, and in the early 1970s there wasn’t a lot of products available. What do you do when you don’t have the medicine you need as an herbalist? You make it!
Frank’s passion for herbs had him asking every pharmacist on family trips for old medicine bottles and remedy books. His collection is very impressive. As Frank Jr. showed me the private collection, I was drooling for most of an hour over everything since I collect the same kinds of books now.
Frank Sr. came up with the first popular line of alcohol free tincture extracts for a hungry marketplace. Not only were/are his glycerite formulas safe for kids (no alcohol), but many of them are much stronger than their alcohol counterparts. This astounds many people. Even I thought that glycerites were typically weaker, but I now recommend mostly the nature’s answer products because they are often the strongest herbal extracts available.
Frank still owns the company today and his son, Frank Jr., runs things for his dad. This means this large innovative company is still family owned after nearly half of a century. So many businesses have sold out over the years and in doing so have cut corners to keep board members happy with profits. I respect companies like Nature’s Answer all the more because they care about the consumer more than the bottom dollar. A pretty rare quality in business now a days.
Frank Jr gave me a personal tour around the facility and showed me all the ins and outs. He explained that the herbs come in and go through a very tedious process of being “fingerprinted”. This makes sure that they are using the correct species and top quality batches. He also pointed out that other companies do this but Nature's Answer's process employs the older way of processing because it is tried and true, giving reliable results. Some other places use a newer system that saves on time but can produce inconsistent results. It make take several more days, but they are confident that they are using the best herbs available.
The whole plant is a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) facility. We had to wear hair nets and lab coats to make sure we didn’t contaminate the area. They also showed me their intake area where things are sent back if they don’t meet steep standards for cleanliness and contamination. Everything is clearly marked for possible allergens too. Nothing gets by them and everything is well documented.
The packaging area is no less impressive. The whole giant room is pressurized to prevent any kind of dust or hair from getting into products. In the production area, there are giant vats that are big enough to hold a dozen or more people for the bestselling large batch extracts. Then there are small hand produced batches that were maybe 3-5 gallons.
After the tour we sat for a while and talked about herbs, herbal formulas, and everything else in the natural health world. They gave me a presentation on Bio Strath and Woodsock which are two other companies within the same family of Bio Botanica. Everyone I met was very friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. I’d love to go back and just hang out with them as I had a great time there and really enjoyed everyone’s company.
By now most of you are probably looking for a place to get your feet wet with this company. Their products are vast and varied, so I can’t talk about all of them. I’m going to try to limit this to about 10 of the most popular and my favorites. Of course if you have questions about products you should leave comments below or even email me to get more details and further info as I’d be happy to talk about anything.
One of the most sought after anti-viral supplements on the market is elderberry syrup. There are many many brands but only one has the potency, taste, and is sugar free. Nature’s Answer has about double the potency of any competing company and produces several flavors, not that plain Sambucus needs any flavoring. They are the only elderberry syrup I have found that is completely sugar free. I had been complaining about this for years. Why give a syrup to anyone who is sick if it has so much sugar in it? Sugar feeds the illness! Well Sambucus by Nature’s Answer solves that problem.
This is the best tasting vegan protein supplement on the market. I’ve tried many and before this it would have been the Plant Fusion brand, but Plant Head takes the cake here. There are 3 flavor varieties all of which are great including the unflavored. I would suggest that they remove the sugar and add more hemp protein, but that’s just me.
One of the oldest whole food multivitamins on the market is based in Switzerland. It comes in two varieties, vegan tablets and liquid syrup (with a honey base). The herbs in Bio Strath are all fermented and provide a full spectrum of nutrients for anyone sick or healthy. There are also many clinical trials that have been done on this product proving that it increases immunity to illnesses year round, improves blood health and iron deficiencies, and even help attention problems in children. Email me for a copy of this research.
The turmeric extract by Nature’s Answer is by far the strongest of it’s kind on the market. I’ve seen many products like it and most are less than half of its potency. Of course you can still improve the function of this one by taking it with coconut oil and black pepper. However, if you want the best and the strongest you can get, then look no further. 5000mg per serving of 95% curcumin
This natural mouthwash is packed full of beneficial herbs yet has a refreshing taste and feel. It’s completely alcohol free, gluten free, fluoride free, with no artificial sweeteners or preservatives. It also provides CoQ10, folic acid, and a patented herbal extract called Phytoplenolin which has been shown to promote cell vitality. On top of these you have the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial herbs like goldenseal, clove, rosemary, eucalyptus, and black walnut. It leaves my mouth with a sparkling fresh sensation.
Nature’s Answer offers a wonderful line of all organic therapeutic grade essential oils and essential oil blends. I suggest these oils often as they are very high quality but at a very modest price. Their Thrones blend is by far the best organic “thieves” variety I’ve ever smelled. The best quality and most affordable certified organic essential oils you can find.
Hiker’s Guide Insect Repellent
This wonderful bug repellent by Woodstock has a pleasant aroma to it all while doing its job effectively. It comes in a spray on version or, my favorite, the lotion. I have tried this out in the woods as I love to hike and camp. I don’t just pitch a tent next to the car either. I prefer to hike several miles before sleeping on the ground without a tent. A good bug spray is key when you don’t carry a tent. This one works better than all the others I’ve tried.
This is another product by Woodstock (which is based in Woodstock, NY) formulated by a fellow vegan genius who I like very much. Not only did he teach me a lot about veganism that I didn’t already know but he follows many of Dr. Christopher’s formulas and concepts. Anyone who knows me knows that’s a winning combination.
Anyway, the formula has some of my favorite cold and flu herbs like elderberry, olive leaf, habanero, lobelia, cherry bark, garlic, goldenseal, and Echinacea. On top of that it’s in a base with maple syrup and apple cider vinegar. I sure hope to see more of these Woodstock formulas on store shelves in the near future. By the way all products within the Woodstock line are completely vegan, so that’s another great reason to support them.
So many calcium supplements on the market are just not doing the job. Calcium can be easily absorbed by the body but when you talk assimilation, that’s another whole subject. If you live a SAD (standard American diet) lifestyle, then you have a lot of acidic foods and drinks moving through the body. This robs you of calcium which leads you to needing more calcium (plus a whole host of other problems). If you replace the calcium with a non-organic form i.e. most of what is on the market, then you are pretty much just taking an expensive “tums” and likely building calcium deposits throughout your body.
The Nature’s Answer Cal/Mag is based solely on seaweed which is rich in many minerals especially calcium. This organic form is known to assimilate not just absorb and promote new bone, teeth, and tissue growth. On top of that they provide the proper ratio of magnesium to help the calcium get to where it needs to go. This is a great product that is usually at a much better price than the competitors.
This is a handy on the go drink mix with an extremely hardy strain of friendly bacteria. It comes in two flavors Iced Tea and Raspberry Lemonade. It is very sweet with help from beet powder and stevia. This is a very tasty and effective way to get your digestive health on the go or for those picky sugar addicted kids.
I hope I’ve inspired you with enough reasons to support Nature’s Answer, Woodstock and Bio Strath. If not you should start asking your supplement companies the tough questions like “Are you a family owned and run business?”, “Do you have alcohol free, sugar free, or even vegan options in your product line?”, “Do you use any GMOs?”, or even “Do you have decades of experience and clinical research to back up your products?” I think you deserve the best for your body, and I’m sure Frank Sr. and Frank Jr would agree. Why not take the best and cleanest supplements available?
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