Live Appley Ever After

Ora Organic’s co-founder and CMO, Erica Bryers, explains why Appley Ever After makes a palatable case for maintaining proper gut health…

Ora Organic was born out of necessity, you could say. Trip after trip through local supplements aisles more often resulted in confusion than satisfaction. Um, so what is this thing in my vitamin B that’s supposed to be, well, just vitamin B?? So was born their mission to provide quality, efficacy and radical transparency in an industry that desperately needs it. Made from real, organic food, Ora’s vegan supplements (also sold in sustainable packaging) makes taking them anything but a chore.

Their very own Appley Ever After has become part of Erica Bryer’s daily regimen, so we wanted to speak with the very passionate co-founder about ACV and why her tablet is so awesome.

Can you tell us about the history of apple cider vinegar as a nutritional supplement?

Historically, ACV has been used for a wide variety of ailments, even some bizarre ones like mushroom poisoning, dandruff, and toothache. It’s hard to put a date on the introduction of ACV, as it’s been around for a very long time, but use of ACV has been traced back as far as 400 B.C.

For example, the ancient Persians supposedly drank a dilution of apple cider vinegar to prevent the accumulation of fatty tissue in the body.

When modern ACV really took off was when doctor, D.C. Jarvis, M.D., published a book on Folk Medicine in 1958 that touted the benefits of ACV. He explained that it was unusually rich in potassium and recommended taking it as a digestive tonic with meals to help destroy harmful bacteria in the gut.

It’s important to note that a lot of these purported health benefits haven’t been scientifically proven — however, the research around glucose absorption is pretty amazing.

How did Ora come to decide on what ingredients it would utilize in its products?

We take eco-conscious, health-conscious, and people-conscious approaches to all of our recipes, formulas, and manufacturing practices. To us, that means our ingredients are, and always will be, sustainably sourced and plant-based.

We create products that are the organic or plant-based alternative to what’s available conventionally. In addition to being organic and plant-based our ingredients need to have their health benefits proven by scientific, medical and nutrition research. Clean, conscious and effective is what we aim for.

We wanted to be able to make our products available to as many people as possible, so we also always leave out major allergens like gluten, soy and dairy.

How is Appley Ever After made?

Our ACV supplement, Appley Ever After, contains an extract of organic apple cider vinegar. Firstly, let’s start with how the liquid form of apple cider vinegar is created:

1. Organic apples are crushed to extract the juice.

2. Little bits of bacteria and yeast are added to the fresh organic apple juice to start the alcoholic fermentation process. This causes the naturally-occurring sugars to ferment and turn into alcohol.

The alcohol is then converted into vinegar by acetic-acid forming bacteria. Acetic acid (the key to ACV’s benefits) and malic acid (naturally occurring tart taste in apples) are what give vinegar its sour taste.

We then test the ACV liquid for potency, dry it in organic rice flour, concentrate it, mill it, and do some more testing again before we blend it with an organic powdered blend of lemon, black pepper and milk thistle powder. We then press the blend into tablets and voila: Appley Ever After.

ACV has become somewhat of a panacea in my house. For what purposes do you take it?

Ha! I know a few people like that. I usually take a couple of tablets in the morning or 30 minutes before a meal.

The scientific reason behind that is that ACV has been shown in studies to slow the speed at which glucose (sugar) enters the blood. It’s not a free pass to eat as many pancakes as I want — but it at least helps curb some of my unnecessary cravings so I’m not snacking constantly throughout the day.

There a lot of different reasons to take ACV but many people (including myself) can’t get past the taste. That’s why we’re so excited to have it in tablet form with organic apple that actually tastes pretty good.

How did Ora begin? Do you believe Ora has helped to create the transparency you so desperately were looking for in the food industry?

Ora started as a sustainability nerd and foodie’s solution to the problems associated with conventional supplements. My husband, Will, was vegan and struggled to find organic and plant-based sources of the nutrients he needed to have a balanced and healthy diet. It started with geeking out over studies, ingredients and then consulting experts to help create the best possible formulations for each category.

I believe we’ve contributed to more transparency in our industry. Eventually, I’d love for it to be common knowledge for consumers to know where their vitamin C, vitamin D and omega-3 comes from, and whether that’s a sustainable source or not. I don’t think we’re there yet, but we don’t plan on giving up anytime soon!

Best advice you were ever given:

Ask why. Why does it have to be that way? Why do I feel like this? It’s so simple, but it really changed the way I approach problems both in my personal and professional life by forcing myself to understand the situation better.

Go-to wellness tip:

Whenever I feel like I’m about to get sick (a scratchy throat is usually my warning) I take 6,000 IUs of vitamin D, and a few sachets of organic vitamin C and probiotics and I manage to fend it off. The key here is to really listen to your body and pay attention to what it’s telling you so you can catch those telltale signs as soon as they start.

+ Learn more about Ora here.

 

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What a great product! Apple video vinegar tablets are such a smart idea.

Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com

5 years ago

Such a great post! x