Since school days, I’ve been open to taking vitamins and supplementation. Health has always been a priority. As a student, long commutes, studying for exams and sleepless nights are inevitable. That lifestyle should be matched with good food and nourishment. We were normally in a hurry for our next class or sometimes eating fast food based on what our allowance can afford. I religiously took the vitamins (that starts with letter C) that’s commonly available back then in the local pharmacy. I thought that after graduation and passing the board exam, nutrition goals will be much easier to pursue. I was wrong. Moving to the Metro and entering the corporate world made my lifestyle more toxic and fast-paced. Sleep had been more irregular and out of reach. Observing my colleagues, that seemed like the norm for our profession.

That was the time when I got introduced to a machine called biophotonic scanner. It was a cutting-edge testing tool that non-invasively measures carotenoid levels in living tissue. The measurement provides an indication of a person’s antioxidant levels. Skin Carotenoid Scores (SCS)— has been scientifically correlated to overall antioxidant status.

No harm in giving it a try, I told myself. By placing the palm of my hand in front of the scanner’s safe, low-energy blue light, I got my score in minutes. To my surprise, my score was 13,000 and I was in the red zone!!! The SCS is reflective of long-term lifestyle habits, and is not subject to changes during short periods of hours or days.

The result range is as follows. 

10,000 - 19,000 (Red)
20,000 - 29,000 (Orange)
30,000 - 39,000 (Yellow)
40,000 - 49,000 (Green)
50,000 - 59,000 (Blue)
60,000 - 89000 (Violet)

It dawned on me that the vitamins I was taking were not effective enough to provide the nourishment that my body needs. The combination of lifestyle, stress, and eating patterns led to my very low score. If not acted upon, that could lead to some degenerative diseases as I grow older.

Good thing, every problem has a solution, and their solution comes with a 90-day money back guarantee if it does not work. I had no issues taking the supplements, so I gave it a try. After a few months, I noticed my score going up and I was no longer in the red zone. I also felt more alert and being exposed to pollution in EDSA while commuting does not trigger my asthma or headaches anymore. I really noticed and felt my body feeling stronger and I don’t get sick easily. Gradually, it went up to the orange zone, to the yellow zone, then eventually to the green zone.

Life went on. I continued my wellness journey and I also got exposed to yoga and meditation as well as other fitness activities. I noticed that at some point, my score plateaued and it did not increase any further to reach the blue zone. (That has been my target after learning about the book blue zones about people in Okinawa, Sardinia and other places in the world where people are known to have healthy lifestyles and long lives.) I initially thought it was due to sleep patterns and food intake so I decided to work on those. Still, the highest SCS I got was around 40,000. Thankfully, this pandemic had been supportive of these goals. Staying at home allowed for more time to relax rather than being hurried in daily commutes to work. I had more time and I was also able to experiment on food intake and was able to consistently have vegetable/fruit smoothies in the morning. When I scanned again last March, I was surprised and elated to finally be able to reach my blue zone target, I got 51,000! What worked?! I believe it was a combination of habits and supplementation plus absorption. I learned that we also need to allow our bodies to detoxify and be able to absorb the nutrients that we put in. The absorption differs from person to person and it’s not a one size fits all.

In summary, I would say that supplementation really works especially when you take high quality supplements to augment your poor habits and lifestyle that does not align with your health goals. (I'm taking Lifepak, Tegreen, Optima Omega and Ageloc). It’s a great start to keep us on track. However, that’s just a piece of the puzzle. Be mindful that supplementation is not the sole solution to optimal health. That’s why there’s always a note in the bottles that those were not proven to treat/cure diseases. (Though there are a lot of cases when it does, it could be a topic for a later post). Let’s be realistic, to get the amount of nutrients that our body needs from food means eating all the fruits and vegetables that contain those nutrients. We also need to consider the sources and how these crops/plants were grown. We need time to source, clean, store and prepare the meals. You are very lucky if you have enough time to do that. For those living in the metro with full time jobs or businesses, that time may not always be available unless we have helpers to do those activities for us. In terms of efficiency, time management and practicality, I would still prefer quality supplements over the time spent for food preparation at this point in my life especially now that we are starting to go back to the hustle and bustle of daily lives. It’s still a long term goal to be able to personally prepare all my meals and get the nutrients from real food. While working towards that, I’m still a proponent of taking supplements consciously.

Optimum state of health is a combination of nourishing our mind, body, and spirit. It requires conscious deliberate effort to achieve. Great health is a lifestyle and it starts with our daily actions and choices.

 

Interested in having yourself scanned for free? Send us a message joyous.radiance@yahoo.com and @joyousradiance. In less than one minute you can find out if your diet, lifestyle and supplements provide the antioxidant protection you need for promoting health. And the best thing about it, it gives awareness so that you can take the next appropriate steps.

TAKE THE SCS CHALLENGE!

Feel free to choose a SCS Certified product in our shop. You can add it to your monthly subscription (send us a message to get the official form for the ADR) and watch your SCS improve!

All Pharmanex SCS certified products have a money-back guarantee. If your SCS does not improve after taking your SCS Certified product at the recommended dosage for 90 days, we will refund your money. Reach out to us for more details about this challenge.