Product review

I was thrilled to learn of Trusted Nutrients, www.trustednutrients.com, back in late September when Miguel Perez (Certified Sports Nutritionist and Head of Customer Service) connected with me re: taking on a review project for some of their products. I agreed to review Women's Once A Day Essential, Garcinia Cabrogia and Raspberry Ketones.

Trusted Nutrients has an extensive online catalog that is very easy to use and time warps while you get lost browsing all the information they have listed there. The are a fairly new company that is looking to become known for being ethically and sustainably run with a tremendous focus on customer service and strong networking relationships. The company is very serious about only manufacturing and distributing the best supplements in the world; according to Miguel “Our lab is registered with the FDA and adheres to the strictest GMP standards”. Their products are all natural, their capsules are made of vegetable cellulose, and they don’t use any fillers or binders or artificial ingredients.

Customer orders are shipped via next-day service so in most cases they arrive in a very short amount of time.  By October 4^th, just 7 days after communicating with Miguel via email I received a phone call from Oscar (a nutrition specialist) who just wanted to let me know the package was sent out and to invite me to connect with him again at any time if I have questions about nutrition, want to host a give-away on the blog or review another product. Miguel followed up on Monday Oct 7^th with an email stating basically the same thing. I have to say that the follow-through with this company is impressive. The package arrived Oct 7^th, delivered to my doorstep. (Nice!)

Each of the products I received came in 180 capsule sizes in a recyclable plastic container that had a safety seal made of a minimal amount of recyclable plastic. The first bottle I opened was the Women's Once A Day Essential (retails $29.95 US) and noticed right away a couple of very interesting aspects. After I compared to two different brands’ bottles I saved from previous months (I often reuse these bottles for garden seeds), I found that this new product has way more nutrients per capsule. In addition Trusted Nutrients included extra ingredients from probiotics to a vegetable blend (kale, spinach, dandelion and beet) and a blend of nutrients specifically for women’s needs (dong quai, red clover and spirulina). You only need to take one of these per day – as opposed to other brands that want you to take 3 of their pills. The next thing I looked at was the size of the capsule – I have difficulty swallowing pills so my fear was that it would be humongous like some brands are, however it is only ½ inch or so in length.  When I looked at the packaging – I realized this was real cotton batting and that can be pulled apart and added to the compost bin. I was also impressed by the fact that these bottles are not half empty, they are filled about ¾ full or more and the batting was there only to protect the capsules as opposed to filling up space. So that means there are less plastic bottles consumed in the long haul, because there is more product per bottle.

I’ve heard a lot about Garcinia Cambogia (retails for $29.95 US) which was highlighted some time ago on Dr. Oz show and he amplified name recognition for this product. Dr. Oz is known for being trust worthy, for really researching and trying out products or foods prior to recommending them to his audience. So I was already quite curious about this natural supplement and was very excited to try it. I’ve only been taking this product for a little over two weeks so I’m not sure how long it takes to see real results. I haven’t seen much just yet, just a couple pounds less so far. These capsules are a little larger than the daily vitamins and you are supposed to take one capsule twice a day about 30 min prior to meals. I have a hard time with that – remembering to take the pill before a meal. I seem to do OK with breakfast, but then get forgetful after that. I do the best I can, and more often than not get the 2 pills in. So perhaps my lack of big results is simply my own fault for not remembering on some days to take the second pill. According to Miguel, "It is quite essential to take it before seeing as it prevents the enzyme that produces fat in your body, so prior to eating is ideal seeing as the pill would take some time to take effect before metabolizing the food you eat."

I was told that I can take the Raspberry Ketones (antioxidant weight loss supplement, retails for $29.95 US) along with the garcinia without any worries about combining the two, and in fact they stated that taking both should provide “optimum results”. I just started to do this the last few days though – I’m sensitive to things so I figured it would be safer to introduce one nutrient at a time. I started with the daily vitamin for a few days, added the garcinia cambogia for about 2 weeks and now, I’m adding in the raspberry keytones.

I’m in my mid 40’s and in peri-menopause, on top of this I had put on about 30 lbs. over a 3-year period after the suicide of my mother and stepfather (who were chronically ill for more than 20 years prior to their passing) that I am having trouble dropping. I seem to drop a couple pounds, up to 5 lbs., and then gain them right back again despite being physically active. I’m not sure if it is my age, or what – and because I’d been thin most of my adult life I find this journey really frustrating. I am hoping that these nutrients will help. It is my understanding that if we are not getting the right nutrients from our food then we end up eating more, and the body stores more fat; even though the stomach is full – the body is starving. Similarly the body stores water if we are not drinking enough. Also sleep plays a role in weight gain. So I’ve been working on all of these things at the same time, and hopefully these will help me achieve the results I am looking for.

I have to say that I highly recommend this company – and through my experience here with this review project, I have become a loyal advocate for their products and services.

*The company can also be found on FaceBook: facebook.com/trustednutrients and Twitter: @trustednutrient , where they offer amazing promotions, tips and giveaways.

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