Initially triggered by their own unsettling health prognoses 10 years ago, Suse Leifer and Claudia Seehusen set out to research and study the topic of nutritional supplements seriously. Taking a critical look at the vitamin & mineral product labels they found on the market, the pair soon discovered these to be primarily of synthetic origin, containing dubious ingredients and additives. Shocked to find out that nearly 90% of all supplements available were lab-made and boosted by their own passion for the subject, Suse and Claudia decided to study nutrition.

“We wanted to create potent supplements that consist of nothing but real fruits, vegetables and plants - with organic certification, without the use of synthetic vitamins or additives, and scientifically proven to be effective.” Having invested several years of research, development and hard work, the two finally were able to launch Ogaenics in 2016.

1. The supplements & vitamins offering is growing annually, what sets your products apart?

Suse Leifer: Ogaenics is the only health and beauty supplement brand on the German market that delivers nutrients purely derived from certified organic plants, with scientifically proven results. All ingredients are solely plant-based and act together with the natural co-nutrients for maximum absorption.

Furthermore, we don’t use any additives or bulking agents, like magnesium stearate in our products. Magnesium stearate is a common employed to speed supplement production time and efficiency but may be harmful to your body. As packaging we only use sustainable glass and cardboard, no plastics like most other brands. That’s important to us.

2. How do you guarantee your premium quality and what does “EU Bio Certified” mean?

Claudia Seehusen: We ensure our high-quality standards by several means. One of them is that all are products are made in Germany at the highest standards. We request a rigid third-party lab testing for every batch of an ingredient that we want to buy to ensure that they are free from heavy metals, pesticides, toxins, yeasts, moulds, bacteria, allergens as well as confirmed as Non-GMO and not radiated.

We also maintain very personal relationships with our suppliers to ensure best quality. We know them personally and the majority of them are family businesses that are driven by the same passion and values like we are. Furthermore, we only work with production facilities that are certified HACCP and are certified to work with organic ingredients.

The EU Bio Label on our products proves that all ingredients are of an agricultural origin. There is a minimum of 95% that has to come from certified organic farming. A proportion of up to 5% of non-organic ingredients is allowed, if these ingredients are not available in organic quality. It’s also prohibited to add synthetic vitamins or minerals to an EU “Bio”-labelled product.

The whole supply chain has to be certified for producing, preparing, trading, storing or importing unprocessed organic agricultural foods. Every company in the supply chain must also undergo the same inspection procedures in accordance with EU legislation on organic farming, by an approved organic inspection body like we do.

3. If a vitamin or supplement comes from a 100% natural source (as opposed to part-synthetic), wouldn’t one need to consume huge number of this vitamin daily for it to be truly potent?

Suse: No, the opposite is true. Vitamins that occur in nature are present as food-vitamin complexes, whereas synthetic vitamins that are created in a lab are isolated, fractionated, purified, and don’t look and work anything like natural vitamins. The body recognizes the natural chemical structure and gets all its co-nutrients needed for metabolization. That means that the vitamin is more readily absorbed by the body.

Synthetic vitamins and minerals lack the natural cofactors necessary for their optimal activity in the body. This means that the body must rely on its own reserves of cofactors to get the most out of vitamins. But even then, the body can only metabolize a small proportion of it and the rest goes into the drain or is stored in your body until it accumulates into toxic amounts.

4. What is the basic 'minimum' a person should be taking daily (or monthly), if we’re speaking of a busy, active city-dweller?

Suse: It all starts with a healthy nutrient-rich diet. This can be supplemented with a high-quality natural multivitamin like our Mrs. One-A-Day Multivitamin-Komplex Women or the Mr. One-A-Day Multivitamin Men. They supply the body with the most important vitamins and minerals on a daily basis, most of them with 100% and more of the daily requirement.

A busy active city-dweller further needs an extra dose of Magnesium, which is also a co-nutrient for vitamin D and which is part of more than 300 metabolic processes in the body. Usually we do not get enough magnesium from diet. And an active or stressful lifestyle increases that daily requirement.

The Calm-A-Lama plant-based Magnesium delivers the extra 40% needed sourced from wild grown and handpicked certified organic algae. It contributes to the normal functioning of the psyche and nervous system, supports the energy metabolism of your cells and stimulates cell division. It also helps to maintain good teeth, bones and muscles while reducing tiredness and fatigue. Taken in the evening with dinner it helps to support falling asleep through its muscle relaxing effect.

5. Why can’t we get all our nutrients through a balanced and varied diet (provided one eats quite healthy)?

Claudia: There are a number of factors that make it quite challenging to get enough nutrients from food alone.

1) Our foods have lost up to 60% of their nutrient density in the last 20 years, due to depleted soils.

2) We are exposed to pollution that causes free radicals that lead to oxidative stress in the body. Oxidative stress is the main cause of disease and premature aging. It can only be neutralized by antioxidants - most of which are vitamins and minerals. Those nutrients are consumed during the anti-oxitative process and cannot be used anymore to nourish the body. Stress at work and in the family is also a strong radical generator and leads to an increased need for nutrients, especially in women who are successful at work and juggle a lot of balls in the air every day.

3) In times of stress we are more prone to grab low nutrient "comfort food" and convenience food rather than fruit and vegetables. This can lead to the fact that we are not optimally supplied with antioxidants, B vitamins and magnesium through the diet.

To shop the range of Ogaenics, drop into the BECYCLE boutique.

Interview by Katia Varfoloveema - Head of Marketing and Content at BECYCLE.

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