4 Winter Supplements To Support The Health Of Your Hive

Natural health lovers have found themselves smack-bang in the middle of a super-food celebration.

Open any magazine, scroll any wellness blogger’s Instagram feed or walk past your green grocer and you can almost guarantee you’ll be bombarded with messages around how including super-foods into your diet can replace the need for supplementation.

But while eating nutrient-dense foods is imperative to maintaining overall wellbeing, studies have shown that the lack of essential minerals in our soil can mean food grown here isn’t as nourishing as you may think. Cue the need to bump up daily nutrient stores with a supplement brand that understands that science and nature go hand in hand — Manuka Health.

What sets the leaders in Manuka honey and bee propolis science apart from other supplement brands is its understanding and focus of holistic, well rounded formulations with researched, quality ingredients.

Backed by naturopath and medical herbalist Kim Bulder, the Manuka Health range looks to complex, natural ingredients like New Zealand Propolis, Reishi mushroom, FloraGLO Lutein and hydrolysed collagen to inform its selection of four hero supplements.

Kim has worked closely with the Manuka Health team as a natural health consultant over the past five years, and says her 15 years’ experience in the field has helped her educate others in ways to improve their health, naturally. “I strongly believe that we all have the ability to improve our wellbeing by returning to a wholefood diet, and regaining agency over what we allow in, on and around ourselves,” Kim explains.

“Many of us are experiencing physical and emotional overwhelm, and are becoming nutrient depleted. Couple this with declining food quality and a focus on convenience over nutrition,” says Kim. “This creates a situation where we are taxing our systems harder but not always receiving the quality of nutrition needed to help offset this drain.”

With this in mind, Manuka Health adopted a three-pronged approach to formulating each of its supplements: bee products to promote base wellness, an extra boost of nutrients commonly deficient due to modern living and soil depletion, as well as proven ingredients specifically selected for their time-honoured use and scientific validation.

NEW ZEALAND PROPOLIS
Fun fact: propolis is actually resin. Not the type of resin you'd expect to see made into a necklace, but rather resin made by bees to keep their hives safe.

Advanced Propolis testing by Manuka Health found that our hardy environment and high UV exposure is beneficial to the Propolis our bees produce — meaning our plants produce higher levels of active compounds than those found in other areas of the world.

REISHI MUSHROOM
It's already exploded in popularity in America, but the health benefits of Reishi mushrooms are still gaining traction in New Zealand. Used in Chinese medicine for more than 2000 years, Reishi is also known as the 'mushroom of immortality' or 'lingzhi' in Chinese.

Reishi is the key ingredient contained within Manuka Health's Immune Guard, and is a perfect match with New Zealand Propolis, Kim says. "Reishi mushroom has similar and complementary supportive health properties to Propolis in that it promotes healthy, balanced immune function and provides antioxidant protection," Kim explains.

FLORAGLO LUTEIN
There's no denying that New Zealanders spend a lot of time in front of a screen. Smartphones, computer screens and TV screens all emit damaging blue light. Kim says a vital ingredient in combatting the effects of blue light is lutein.

“Lutein is an essential nutrient for the eyes where it acts as a protective antioxidant and serves as our 'internal sunglasses' to filter blue light and protect the retina from light damage,” says Kim. “We can't make lutein in the body so it must be obtained from our diet.”

Manuka Health looked to antioxidant-rich and scientifically researched FloraGLO Lutein to add to Vision Shield, which supports our eyes' natural protection from overexposure to blue light through a combination of antioxidants and essential eye nutrients.

COLLAGEN
The beauty world is abuzz about collagen. The naturally-occurring protein makes up the structural framework of most tissues in the body, and its decline contributes to the tell-tale signs of ageing. Kim says one way to combat the wrinkles, sagginess and joint issues that come with age is to include a collagen supplement in our daily diet.

“Taking collagen regularly means we are providing the building blocks for more collagen production in the body. We can make collagen in our bodies from specific amino acids provided in protein, but the best way to ensure we have enough of these is to eat more collagen-containing foods. This can be in the form of bone broth or in collagen powders and capsules,” she says.

Manuka Health's Beauty Enhancer contains 1000mg of hydrolysed collagen plus Royal Jelly, which, in nature, is reserved only to feed the Queen Bee. The collagen contained within each Beauty Enhancer capsule is optimised for skin health, and is readily bioavailable, meaning it is easily absorbed into the body.

ECHINACEA AND ELDERBERRY
It's no secret that Echinacea does much of the heavy lifting in the ills and chills space, so Manuka Health have included this herbal remedy in Immune Response. "Echinacea has been shown to support healthy, balanced immune activity and healing," Kim explains.

In addition, Immune Response harnesses the powers of elderberry to support immune defences and offer upper respiratory support. Coupled with New Zealand bee propolis, zinc and vitamin C, Immune Response will support your immune defences to ensure you’re armed and ready for whatever winter throws at you.

Always read the label. Use only as directed. If symptoms persist see your healthcare professional.

• Available at Life & Unichem pharmacies nationwide. For more information, visit Manukahealth.co.nz.