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Inquirer.net – With all the local health foods and supplements available in the market, Filipino consumers are often bamboozled by the beneficial claims on the packaging. In reality, the ingredients of some brands are either of low quality or overprocessed.

Young entrepreneur Riva Galvez Tan is slowly building up her health supplement business using Filipino medicinal plants that have been certified by the Department of Health (DOH). A chip of the old block, Riva is the daughter of former DOH secretary, Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, who is also a proponent of integrative medicine.

Most of the products contain a combination of fruits, herbs and vegetables that are found in the definitive book “Medicinal Fruits and Vegetables” written by her father and her mother, Rebecca Maraña-Galvez Tan.
“We get a lot of imported health products. Why can’t we promote our own which are equally effective and safe if we want to improve the quality of our life?” muses Riva. “If you want more energy, you don’t need to go to a foreign-branded store because we have the local ingredients. It’s about time somebody pushes these products. There’s been no formal credible channel for them.”

Last year, Riva established the Natural Shelf, distributor of an assortment of organic, Filipino products in clinics and through the website (www.thenaturalshelf.com.)

“When people see the health products on the shelf, they just look at the package but they don’t know where the ingredients come from. We want to educate consumers on the value chain. We partner with research and development labs and we have a pool of experts from the University of the Philippines to help us.”

The Natural Shelf distinguishes itself by getting a thorough background check on its suppliers, where they source the materials (e.g the farms should be away from factories and piggeries), how they are processed, the nutritional value of the raw materials which can affect the potency.

“Instead of a stamp for quality, we put a rectangular seal to say that the product has been tested by the Natural Shelf. The suppliers go through a process. We visit their sources and manufacturing. If the manufacturers discourage us from visiting them and say, ‘You might copy,’ it’s not a good indication for us. The products are tested on labs and investigated up to the possible yeast, molds and bacteria. The actual product is tested on doctors’ patients. These are supplements with no curative claims,” Riva explains.

Products

Natural Shelf carries personal care and home care products, food mixes and nutritional supplements.

With the popularity of dried snacks, Riva presents alternatives such as sugarless dried fruits and oil-less camote chips made by Fruit Gems, an agricultural company from Mindanao. She warns that dried fruits may not always be healthy as they have too much sugar and sodium for a two-year shelf life. There are accessories such as an herbal heating pad made from a mixture of local plants stuffed in a pure cotton package useful for pain relief.

The insect repellant, made by Abaca Skinologists from Cebu, contains abaca for skin rejuvenation. The herbal aromatic bath comes in four variants saluyot (jute) for its anti-oxidant properties, tsaang gubat (wild tea) as body cleanser, ylang-ylang for relaxation and guava for its anti-bacterial potency.
“We put local lemongrass (known for toning). My dad has proven that when you combine them, the blend becomes potent. We try to innovate,” says Riva.

There are unusual organic soaps such as labanos (radish) for moisturizing and skin whitening and kamias for anti-fungal properties and saluyot deodorant.

The organic room and linen sprays are made by G&G cosmetics which uses soybean extract and tea tree oil. Natural Shelf also offers room deodorizers and sprays for leather sports equipment.

The bestsellers in the supplements are the turmeric (luyang dilaw) capsules for the anti-cancer and anti-gastralgic properties and sambong tablets for urinary track infection and gallstone, hypertension, colds and fever. Banaba capsules with their natural insulin fight diabetes, obesity and helps regulate blood pressures. They are made by Farmtec Foods and Northfield Laboratories which is ISO-certified. The malunggay or moringa capsules by Organics Asia are the equivalent to the multi-vitamins.

The food mixes use organic ingredients and eschew MSG, preservatives and artificial color and contain malunggay, saluyot and dahon ng sili. They are made by Herb Zest which produces healthy foods.

For children who dislike vegetables, Riva recommends Choco Best, thick packet of powdered tablea, sweetened with honey and contains malunggay, saluyot and chlorella which detoxifies; Dalandan powdered drink which contains no sugar but has lots of malunggay, calcium ascorbate and lemon grass to boost immunity and Ponkan drink for energy.

The products are reasonably priced. The most expensive is a memory enhancing supplement which has spirulina, centella asiatica for energy and gotu kola for anti-aging, worth P1,500.

Although some doctors are still skeptical about herbal supplements and alternative medicine, Riva says the backyard is a natural medicine supplier. “We have potent ingredients. It’s a matter of creating more awareness and deepening the understanding of these plants.”