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Gut Health, Superfoods, and Your Health
27 Plays1 year ago
In today's episode, Vince is joined by Sylvia Ortiz, Founder & CEO of MacroLife Naturals. They discuss the green superfoods, gut health, the acids that hurt you, and what you can do to dominate your own health and wellness.
Victus88 Gut Health Test Kit: https://victus88.com (use discount code MACRO88 for $75 off - first 100 orders only)
MacroLife Naturals: https://macrolifenaturals.com/
Transcript
Introduction to the Idea Brain Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Idea Brain Podcast. My name is Vince Ojeda, and we talk about new, big, and bold ideas and cool things for your brain, thus the name Idea Brain Podcast. On this episode, I'm going to be joined by Sylvia Ortiz. She is the founder and CEO of Macro Life Naturals. We're going to talk about starting a health and wellness products company from scratch, her journey, and why she's so passionate about her company and their products.
Vince's Health Transformation Journey
00:00:27
Speaker
First of all, just a little bit about me. I'm the co-founder and CEO of Biovision Diagnostics, where we offer the Victus 88 gut health test. My journey began in September of 2022, just a year and a half ago. I was 50 pounds overweight, had high blood pressure as well, some other health issues. And my doctor, who's a really good friend of mine, told me,
00:00:52
Speaker
Vince, you're morbidly obese and you are prediabetic. So I knew it was time for a major change in my life. So I decided to start with our gut health test. Six months later, I had lost 50 pounds. I was working out regularly. I had my blood pressure under control and I was no longer obese or prediabetic.
00:01:14
Speaker
we offer Victus 88 directly to the consumer on our website at Victus88.com. You can collect the sample and the privacy of your own home, and we offer a telehealth consultation with one of our certified nutrition coaches to review your results with you once those are done. So on the other side of our conversation, we're going to offer you a very special discount code to order your Victus 88 gut health test kit, so stay tuned for that.
Sylvia Ortiz: The 'Mother of Super Foods'
00:01:43
Speaker
Now, without further ado, Sylvia Ortiz, founder and CEO of Macro Life Naturals. It's time for that tall glass of wisdom you offer, Sylvia. And I'd like to start just for those who don't know. So you're known in this industry as the mother of super foods. Tell me more about that, how you got that title. Where did all this start? How did this begin?
00:02:10
Speaker
Hi Vince, and I am so excited to be on this podcast together with you. That's a great question and actually one of my favorite subjects. Yes. I started the Greens back in 1998. MacroLife, Naturals,
00:02:33
Speaker
established the industry goal standard for the highest quality alkalizing greens and red formulas. And we're celebrating 26 years of being in the superfood category, it's called in the industry. Why? How did I get started? Well, I was obese as a teenager.
00:03:02
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And I spent my time learning about how to thin out and the importance of alkalizing the body, the importance of nutrients for the body, and feeding the body at the cellular level what it's craving so that you turn off food cravings.
00:03:29
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Then later, when I had my son, he also became obese. And I couldn't understand why. Because
00:03:42
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I was very healthy. I was leading the, uh, back in the eighties, I was leading the rebounding movement, which was exercise on a mini trampoline. Uh, it was fit trim cooking really healthy. My husband, uh, was a natural bodybuilder. So he was fit and trim tennis player. Jr was playing tennis daily and, um,
00:04:09
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We just couldn't understand why he was becoming so overweight. And it just became a mission for me to study how to maintain weight and how to lose weight. And I ended up bumping into the acid alkaline concept. And I found out that
00:04:36
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we need to be slightly alkaline. That was how we were created.
The Importance of Alkalizing with Greens
00:04:41
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Our bodies were created to be alkaline. However, almost everything that we eat, even a vegetarian meal of rice and beans, if you're eating, you know, proteins such as chicken, meat, fish,
00:05:02
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That is very acid forming if you're unless you're eating 80 to 90 percent of your diet from fruits and vegetables Although some fruits are acid forming Your body is acid and I ask people all the time Do you exercise and that's good for you, right? sure well guess what it's also acid forming and
00:05:32
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The other thing is, what about stress? None of us really have any stress in our lives, right? No, no. That's unheard of, Sylvia.
Benefits of Whole Foods vs. Synthetic Vitamins
00:05:43
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Come on. Life is stress free, right? Exactly.
00:05:48
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Stress is very acid forming and it could be the stress You know of trying to get to an appointment at a time meeting a deadline in traffic, etc But it can also be the stress emotional stress from having, you know a disagreement with a loved one and so our Lifestyle is very acid producing
00:06:12
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But we need to alkalize our bodies. How do you do that? You do it with dark green leafy vegetables. Okay. And I love to ask people, have you had your greens today? And you know, I have for the last 25 years. And why drink a green drink? Because it
00:06:40
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gently re-alkalizes your body. Remember, what are the most alkalizing, or I should ask you, what are the most alkalizing items? Dark green leafy vegetables. Sure. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So if you can
00:07:04
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feed your body a green alkalizing drink, you know, and you can juice it and you can go through all of that. And that will certainly alkalize your body. A salad will certainly alkalize your body. But some people rather take a vitamin supplement instead of a green drink.
00:07:30
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for a couple of reasons, but I ask people all the time, would you eat a synthetic apple? Well, of course not. That doesn't even sound healthy. It doesn't sound appetizing either. No. What am I eating?
00:07:51
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And not one person has answered yes. So why would anyone consume unnatural laboratory-created synthetic vitamins? And I'll expand on that. Most vitamin supplements are synthetic, and they're created in a laboratory. Yet if you look at the longest-lived people and cultures in the world,
00:08:17
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They do not consume vitamin and mineral supplements. Animals in the wild, they live their natural lifespans and they don't take vitamin supplements. You don't see a, you know, a wolf with a handful of vitamins. Good point. And there's many elements in foods that are not found in vitamins. And, you know, as the saying goes,
00:08:46
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the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. So let me, you know, give you an example. Vitamin C for an example. If you take the vitamin C out of the orange, you have vitamin C, okay? However, it doesn't have the chaperones and the co-factors for your body to fully absorb it.
Balanced pH and Health: An Aquarium Analogy
00:09:12
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Again, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And unfortunately, many supplements, they use ascorbic acid for vitamin C. Well, that is synthetic vitamin C, so your body doesn't even recognize it. You can't even cure scurvy with vitamin C.
00:09:41
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But vitamin C, like only six milligrams of vitamin C from whole food, such as a lemon, a lime, an orange, or acerola berry, which is what we use in the mackerel greens.
00:09:55
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That can cure scurvy. Good thing is in the modern world, we don't suffer from that, but vitamin C is highly important to our well-being because it helps the cellular, the rejuvenation of cells and the tissues in our bodies.
00:10:26
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So you want to get your elements from whole foods, not necessarily vitamin supplements. And if you are using vitamin supplements, you want them to be as complete as possible.
00:10:46
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And I love your analogy, and I've heard you say this before, of the aquarium and how people who own an aquarium are constantly checking the pH of the water. And why is that? And then why is that so important to the human? How do those two relate? And is there a pH that's kind of like an optimal number for people?
Diet, Gut Health, and Inflammation Interplay
00:11:16
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That's a wonderful question. I love that analogy of the aquarium because our bodies are this human aquarium. It's where 75 trillion cells live in your body and you need to maintain this ecosystem in your body so that the cells of your body can regenerate
00:11:46
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and stay healthy. It's I always like asking this question. If all of the cells of your body are healthy, then what are you? Well, you would be healthy, right? Exactly. Exactly. And that's the important. That's a key factor because if we can maintain our internal aquarium,
00:12:14
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our internal ecosystem balanced. And in the right pH balance, which is for the humans is 7.4, slightly alkaline. It's the same as in an aquarium. What do you do in an aquarium? You check the water's pH because that is the ecosystem for the fish, the plants,
00:12:43
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and the water for the fish to thrive, be healthy, for the plants to grow and be healthy and the water to be clear. You are a living human aquarium for the 75 trillion cells of your body. Also too, if your cells are healthy,
00:13:07
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you're going to avoid many serious diseases. Many serious diseases are acidic in nature. They love an acidic environment. So it's very important for disease prevention to maintain that alkaline balance in your body.
Starting with Macro Greens for Health Improvement
00:13:33
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I love it and I think it's important to point out that that cross section of where Macro Life Naturals products and Victus 88 kind of intersect if you will, is we're talking about the cells and the body being the ecosystem for
00:13:53
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our lives and most people don't realize that 70 to 80 percent of your immune system is located in your gut. So everything you eat whether it's a food or a drink or an additive is causing a reaction whether it's good, bad or indifferent.
00:14:11
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And you have to find out which foods are stimulating your immune system because in addition to that acidity that you talked about that is causing diseases and makes diseases easier to go throughout your body, there's also something called chronic inflammation. And chronic inflammation is what causes chronic disease. And so I think that's why it's so important to marry up these green,
00:14:38
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superfoods, these dark green leafy vegetables in this tasty drink form with the Victus 88 gut health test. So where do people start, where would you recommend they start with the Macro Life Naturals product line? What's the, you know, if someone wants to tip toe into this and say, okay, well, I want to try it. What's that starting point for the average person who is maybe just looking into this to improve their health and wellness?
Minerals, Antioxidants, and Cellular Health
00:15:05
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Then I always say start with the macro greens. Macro greens is highly alkaline and it's based in barley grass. It has 18 billion probiotics to support the microbiome of the immune system. Wow.
00:15:28
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has adaptogenic and metabolic herbs that support multiple systems of your body. It's got milk thistle for the liver, horsetail for the kidneys, lecithin for the blood, brain, and clarity in your thinking. I need a little bit of greens.
00:15:56
Speaker
right now. I think I do too. That's all right. So I would say start with the macro greens because macro greens is your multivitamin times 10 and it feeds your, it not only alkalizes your body, but it feeds your body at the cellular level. And because it's based in barley grass, barley grass is the food for the 21st century
00:16:24
Speaker
because it contains essential minerals. And minerals are key to health and to maintaining an acid alkaline balance. Many times when our body becomes acidic, it steals minerals such as sodium, potassium, magnesium from the bones and organs to neutralize that acidity in your body. And this puts stress on you that can go unnoticed for many years.
00:16:53
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and that is known as silent inflammation. The other side of the equation is the miracle reds because it delivers the widest spectrum of anti-aging antioxidants. It's also uber delicious, but you need a full spectrum of antioxidants because different antioxidants diffuse different free radicals.
00:17:22
Speaker
So it's, you know, the maco greens and the miracle reds is your one-two punch. And you want a lot of antioxidants in your body because, as I mentioned, they diffuse free radicals. Hmm. Mm-hmm. What are free radicals?
00:17:45
Speaker
I was just going to ask you that seriously. What, what does that, what do those mean? What do those do to the body? I understand they're not good. Obviously they, the example that best example that I can give you Vince and all of our listeners is think of free radicals as rust forming on the outer layer of your cells. Okay. And what happens?
00:18:15
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is that starts to age your cells, that starts to compromise your cells so that cancer and other diseases can go in there and mutate the cells. So you want to keep, that's why you want it to lean on antioxidants for cell preservation. I always tell people,
00:18:44
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another example of antioxidants. Take an apple and cut it in half and leave it on the counter. What happens? It turns brown. Yeah. Okay. But now take that apple and put a little lemon juice on it. What happens? It does not turn brown. Why? Because the lemon juice is antioxidant.
00:19:13
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So that's how antioxidants protect your cells from this sort of rust that happens and from damage to the cells. Okay. Okay.
Comprehensive Health Management with Macro Life Naturals
00:19:29
Speaker
You know, Vince, you brought up a big, a very good point about the microbiome and the micro, your microbiome, there's a
00:19:43
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there's a brain, there's a gut brain connection. And that means that if your microbiome is off, that's why I love the Victus 88. I love the testing and I highly recommend the testing because the information that you get from the test tell you,
00:20:08
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You know, and it's a simple blood prick, but that is so important because it's exact and it outlines what
00:20:19
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foods we should reduce, what foods we should eat in moderation, what foods we should eliminate, at least for our time being, and what foods we can increase because those are feeding the healthy bacteria in your microbiome
00:20:39
Speaker
that's responsible for your immune system. So you want to keep as many healthy bacteria in your microbiome. You want to eliminate the unhealthy bacteria in the microbiome because those are the bad guys. We want to keep those at bay. And here's the thing.
00:21:06
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when you have too many unhealthy bacteria in your gut.
00:21:13
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these critters are very smart and they want to live and they will send peptide messages to your brain of the foods that feed them. And they'll say, feed me more candy. Give me more candy. Give me more coffee. Give me, you know, more carbohydrates. These are the things that feed the unhealthy bacteria in your gut and also
00:21:42
Speaker
Keep us from being fit, being lean, being trim, because they fatten up, thatten up the body. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that is one thing, too, that when I look at the Macro Life Naturals product line and the Victis 88 gut health test, I often refer to it as the one-two punch that everyone can benefit from.
Motivation Behind Creating Macro Greens
00:22:09
Speaker
Just like you said, you know, these bacteria that are feeding on the sugar, finding out the foods that are safe for you versus the foods that are hurting you. And you said something that really resonated with me and I actually wrote it down and I wrote it down to when we recorded this podcast. You said, people are killing themselves with their forks. And I'm going to add to that because I love that quote. It's so accurate. I'm going to add to it, but they don't know it.
00:22:38
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And I think when you marry up the Macro Life Naturals product line with the Victus 88 gut health test, you have this full on approach to managing your gut health, but also managing your entire health and wellness. And I think that's extremely important to remember.
00:23:01
Speaker
Thank you. You're absolutely correct. I couldn't agree with you more. And that's why I started this 26 years ago. I started it to help my son. He, as I mentioned, he was only 14 years old. He was very active in tennis.
00:23:26
Speaker
We couldn't understand why he was obese. I was cooking healthy. But you know, remember I mentioned that exercise is acid producing. It produces lactic acid. Okay, so he was working out and his body was producing lactic acid, which was
00:23:48
Speaker
causing his body to become acidic. When your body is acidic, you will crave sugars, fats, carbohydrates, and salts. Okay? And that's why even though I cooked a healthy meals and healthy dinner, he would sit down with a pint of Haagen-Dazs afterwards or secretly order a Bigfoot pizza, you know? Because his babies were out of control.
00:24:17
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I was able and I made the greens and I put it together with Dr. Wagner who it was a leading and is a leading holistic chiropractor and nutritional healer and we carefully selected every one of the ingredients
00:24:38
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So, and I went to him and I said, I'm gonna make a greens that's gonna help alkalize and balance your body and give you the vitamins and minerals that your body needs. And I didn't wanna push it because weight is a sensitive subject for people, especially kids.
Development and Benefits of Macro Greens
00:25:01
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I know that from my own experience. So I said, and it might help you lose a pound or two.
00:25:09
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And his immediate, guess what he said to me? What's that? He said, if it doesn't taste good, mom, I'm not going to drink it.
00:25:20
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So when Dr. Wagner and I looked at the different cereal grasses, the wheatgrass, the alfalfa, we studied all of the different, the kamut, we studied them all. We found that the barley grass was superior in nutrient density, highest in pH alkalinity,
00:25:42
Speaker
least reactive in the bodies of the least allergenic and sweet, not grassy tasting. So guess what? We just beefed up the macro greens with barley grass. We never used any of the others. And that's why macro greens is one of the best tasting greens on the market. It has been from day one. It's the least allergenic of all of the greens.
00:26:10
Speaker
Also, it provides for a mild detox. You need to detox your body gently on a daily basis. And that's the essence and the core of our superfoods to assist and make sure that folks have a balanced intake of fruits and vegetables and everything that their body needs as a foundational supplement.
00:26:39
Speaker
I love it. I love it.
Conclusion and Special Offer
00:26:41
Speaker
And I know that obviously, you know, you're on social, you have the website. Where can people find Macro Life Naturals products? I know you're in some brick and mortar stores and things like that. What, where do people go? Uh, they go to, you know, all, Vic and Mortars, uh, are, are great places. You're, you know, local health food stores, uh, we're carried across the United States. Uh, vitamin shop is another great,
00:27:08
Speaker
go to. Of course, you can always go to Amazon and we have a presence on Amazon. I think it's called an A plus page that tells all about the product. That's where I found it. Okay.
00:27:32
Speaker
Great. Or I'm sorry, you are probably waiting for my website. It's MacrolifeNaturals.com or you can Google Macrogreens and it'll take you right to our website as well. That's perfect. And I know that your social handles are the same. If you go to Facebook or Instagram, Macrolife Naturals is what you would search for there.
00:27:54
Speaker
Sylvia, thank you so very, very much. Guys, that's a wrap. Thank you, Sylvia, once again for joining this episode. For everyone else, you can follow Victus88 on Instagram. We are at guthealthtest and on Facebook, we're at Victus88. Our website is Victus88.com.
00:28:15
Speaker
And for the first 100 orders after this podcast airs, you can save $75 off of your test kit by entering code MACRO88. That's M-A-C-R-O, the letter O-8-8, to save $75. Please join us next time. Thank you, everyone. Share this with your friends and family. It may just save a life. Thank you again, Sylvia.
00:28:43
Speaker
and my pleasures. Everyone be healthy. Stay healthy everybody. I love it.