Revolutionizing Nutrition Sustainable Health Solutions with Corinna Bellizzi

Episode Overview

Episode Topic

Join us for an enlightening episode of Holistic Health Podcast, host Serani Fernando dives into the world of holistic health with Corinna Bellizzi from Orlo Nutrition. Corinna, the head of sales and marketing, shares the innovative approaches Orlo Nutrition is taking to revolutionize the holistic health industry. The conversation covers the company’s journey, their focus on sustainable and bioavailable nutrition products, and the importance of a clean and controlled manufacturing process. Learn how Orlo Nutrition is setting new standards in the industry by harnessing the power of algae to create vegan, eco-friendly supplements that support overall health and well-being.

Lessons You’ll Learn

Listeners will gain insightful lessons on the significant impact of dietary choices on health and well-being. Margie Traxler discusses the challenges and triumphs of navigating food allergies and sensitivities, both personally and professionally. You’ll learn about the science behind food-related health issues and the benefits of a grain-free diet. Margie’s stories and tips provide practical advice for anyone looking to improve their health through mindful eating and natural food choices, empowering listeners to make informed decisions about their diets.

About Our Guest

Listeners will gain valuable insights into the holistic health industry and the significant impact of sustainable nutrition. Corinna explains how Orlo Nutrition’s products, such as their omega-3 supplements, offer superior bioavailability compared to traditional sources. Discover the importance of understanding the origins and manufacturing processes of the supplements you consume, and how Orlo’s innovative approach ensures purity and efficacy. The episode also highlights practical tips for integrating holistic health practices into your daily life and emphasizes the importance of being an informed consumer in the supplement market.

About Our Guest

Corinna Bellizzi is the head of sales and marketing at Orlo Nutrition, a company dedicated to providing science-backed, innovative nutrition products. With over 20 years of experience in the health and wellness industry, Corinna has played a pivotal role in bringing Orlo’s sustainable and bioavailable algae-based supplements to market. Her expertise spans from product development to brand management, and she is passionate about educating consumers on the benefits of holistic health practices. Corinna’s commitment to sustainability and clean manufacturing processes is evident in every aspect of Orlo Nutrition’s product offerings.

Topics Covered

This episode covers a range of topics central to the holistic health industry, including the evolution and impact of Orlo Nutrition, the benefits of algae-based supplements, and the importance of sustainability in product development. Corinna discusses the challenges and successes of bringing innovative nutrition products to market, the rigorous testing and quality control processes at Orlo, and the importance of transparency and education for consumers. The conversation also delves into the future of the holistic health industry, with a focus on the growing demand for eco-friendly, bioavailable nutrition solutions.

Our Guest: Corinna Bellizzi Head of Sales and Marketing at Orlo Nutrition

Episode Transcript

 Serani Fernando: Welcome to the Holistic Health Habits Podcast, the podcast where we explore the latest trends and insights in holistic health. I’m your host, Serani Fernando, and joining us today is Corinna Bellizzi from Allo Nutrition, a company dedicated to providing innovative, science backed nutrition products that support overall health and wellbeing. Carina is the head of sales and marketing at Aldo, and she’s here to give us more insight on how Aldo fits into the holistic health landscape. Carina, thanks for joining the podcast. Great to have you here.

Corinna Bellizzi: It’s so great to be here. Thank you so much.

 Serani Fernando: Great. So to just start us off, maybe you can give us a little bit of background on auto nutrition and how it’s making a significant impact in the holistic health industry and how it’s evolved in recent years.

Corinna Bellizzi: So we’re a relatively new organization, but we were essentially started as the consumer facing brand for a vaccine technologies. And what we’re working to do is to really harness the power and the full potential of algae strains that are grown in a tightly controlled environment, and with the end result being products that are both vegan, that don’t use a lot of resources that in fact use 99% less land and water resources than other nutrition sources, and which provide nutrients like our omega three, vitamin B12 and iron, which are all in their most bioavailable forms. So what we’re really delivering is products with impact, not only on a global scale, insofar as being truly sustainable and working to give back, , but also through really ensuring that the products that we produce are really responsible and will do what they’re expected to do when you close them. Yeah.

 Serani Fernando: And like, how did it evolve over the years? When was it founded? What’s the origin story there?

Corinna Bellizzi: Yeah. So although also nutrition as a brand just came to the surface. And May of 2022, we started with our first pilot batch, you know, really working to do a proof of concept with our omega three soft gels, proving to the market that we could both encapsulate this unique form of omega three seconds, which are in the polar lipid form, the exact form in which they exist in your cells in nature. So they would be more bioavailable, but also ensuring that their stability was right, that the palatability was right, and all of those things. And that test worked so successfully that we ended up having a yield of something like 98%, which is almost unheard of. Typically in a pilot batch especially, you’ll see that there’s a greater loss. , but it worked marvelously. Stability was fantastic. And so by the time six months had passed, we were in full production scale with our omega three, a DHA, and prenatal DHA all in the most bioactive polar lipid form. And so we’ve enjoyed some early successes with these new products and are now working to expand our portfolio with our spirulina products, which are all from our Icelandic Ultra spirulina, again grown in this tightly controlled indoor environment using only green energy inputs that we can control. So ultimately, we can be sure that things like oxalates aren’t making their way into our spirulina, that we don’t have environmental pollutants to contend with, and that, again, the product that we end up producing is its most bioavailable form. Yeah.

 Serani Fernando: And you have quite an extensive background in the nutrition space. I’m curious to hear, you know, your background and what compelled you to join Alder like and how, in your view, it really differentiated from other nutrition companies out there. I asse you’ve been you’ve been there from the beginning. Yeah.

Corinna Bellizzi: So I started working on this project with the Vaccine Technologies team in September of what? What year was that? Geez, I guess it was almost four years ago, September of 2020. , right in the midst of the pandemic. And then a good time to start. Yeah, it’s a great time to start. I was in the middle of proving to the world that I also had the business acen through an online MBA program at Santa Clara University. So I was juggling the chainsaws of being an early contributor to this team to work to commercialize for them this new proof of concept from algae that was fully sustainable and that was even more bioavailable than fish oil and really just worked to formulate the products that would come to market and then manage all of the many logistics related to their encapsulation, their branding, and all of that jazz. So I’ve been involved for almost four years now, and this summer, and just about a week, I’m going to be heading to Iceland, where our corporate headquarters is located, to see firsthand, for the first time, all of the marvels of our facility, which is co-located with one of the world’s largest geothermal plants and which uses only light to grow our beautiful algae, as well as the core nutrients that they need to thrive.

 Serani Fernando: Okay, perfect. , so I’m looking at your website, actually, it’s like on the other screen and there’s so much going on. It’s very, very it’s. Yeah. Very attractive. , you know, I had a look at a little bit of a look at your products. Would you say one particular product is driving the success of the company? You know, is there something that stands out? , yeah. That you’d like to share? Yeah.

Corinna Bellizzi: It’s so interesting to see because when you come to market with a new product line, you have this anticipation, but perhaps one of them will really be the singer, the one that comes to front stage and that captures the limelight in front of everyone. And for us, we pretty much knew that that was going to be our active omega three product. I mean, this gets back to your question earlier about my experience in the industry. I have spent the past 20 plus years working in the space of health and wellness as it relates to omega three. I had led the charge at Nordic Naturals for a long time, working to put this fish oil mogul on the map from its early infancy and to the days where they became an industry dominator and truly felt like we needed a more sustainable, sustainable solution. We needed something that was going to give back as much as it took from the environment, as opposed to just reaping what is already in the oceans. Today, we know that there are a lot of problems with regard to the health of our oceans with regard to sustainability, pollution, microplastics, etc. so I knew that when I came to Orlo and we were going to produce a product that could be more bioavailable than fish oil, still provide EPA and DHA as a direct source, because that’s where fish get their omega three seconds in the first place, while also being in that most bioavailable polar lipid form that we were going to have a real winner.

Corinna Bellizzi: And what happened out the gates is that our omega three, which is this most balanced product that we produce of EPA and DHA, but also with polar lipids, was immediately front and center. It did far better than our DHA product. Even though DHA is an omega three, and even though the DHA products provides more total omega three, EPA, and DHA than the standard omega three formula because the DHA portion is a little bit more concentrated. That being said, what people are most familiar with is what will sell more. And people are just most familiar with omega three. They hear that term over and over from their doctors and medical professionals. And so unless they’re a child in early development or a pregnant or nursing women, they tend to gravitate towards the omega three. And so that product it was kind of expected to see it come into center stage. I had higher hopes that we would see more coming from the DHA, but it’s starting to catch up and and more and more people are starting to take that product as well. It just identifies for us a need to clearly communicate to the marketplace when to use one product over the other, which is a common differentiation issue that companies come into. Yeah.

 Serani Fernando: And I’m curious to know, you know, what sort of testing you’ve done to be able to show certain, you know, results, clinical trials, publications, evidence. Are you able to share a little bit about what I know it’s pretty early. And obviously these sorts of things take time. But what data you have so far.

Corinna Bellizzi: Yes. Well, we knew that from the species of algae that we’re using and by providing them in the polar lipid form, which means that we’re providing both phospholipids, which are commonly known to be in krill or in fish egg products, not many of which are out there. But those two products tend to have phospholipids in them, right? In addition, we have glycolipids. So these polar lipids together are make for a more bioavailable product. This was seen in earlier research in the mid to late teens of 2010 through 2020, essentially, and in published studies, peer reviewed, published studies. But what we work to do with Orallo was really try to prove it to our customer base. So we created what is called a tested by you program, where our customers can opt in to participate in this kind of open label trial where they will get a test, an Omega Quant blood spot test to verify their levels of omega three seconds within their cellular tissues on day one, before they begin their supplementation journey, and then again after four months of supplementation. So we’re covering the cost of these tests. And what we’ve seen overall is that 97% of our customers have experienced a significant shift in their omega three levels for the better. There were a few outliers that probably were already consing a lot of fish, or maybe they had been taking a high dose omega three or fish oil product in the past before transitioning to ours. That really just seemed flat or even a little lower. But any time you change your diet or you change your habits, or if you’re inconsistent with your supplementation regime, you won’t see the same benefits.

Corinna Bellizzi: So we’re really encouraged by this early data, especially given that 97% are realizing a benefit in that short time, and that so many of them are even seeing their levels of omega threes that are in their tissues double. And this is of particular importance for vegans and vegetarians, because so many vegans and vegetarians don’t conse fish at all, right? They wouldn’t by nature. And many don’t supplement because they really believe that they’re getting everything that they need from their diet. They’re eating a healthy, whole foods, plant based diet. And yet their omega three tissue levels are at 3.5% when ideal is 8% to 12%. We know that when an individual gets to an 8 to 12% omega three saturation level in their tissues, that all cause mortality drops, in fact, by as much as 75%. That’s a huge nber, right? And this is shown through the Framingham study, which is a multigenerational, multi-decade study that has been occurring and the North Atlantic region for many, many years now. So if we can go ahead and help people to improve their omega three levels, go from 3.5% to 6% and more even over the course of just four months, by taking two tiny soft gels each day, getting about 350mg of EPA and DHA, but in a form that is three times more bioavailable than we’re doing great work. The sorts of benefits that we also see from our customer base is that they’re saying, I don’t get any fishy burps, I have no digestive distress, it’s easy to take, and I’m not noticing anything negative. They’re only noticing the positive, which is really great.

 Serani Fernando: Yeah. That’s great. I mean, Fishy Burps is definitely something that, you know, well, you know, a nice positive there. , nice by product, but I’m actually curious about what you were saying about the manufacturing of these. You know, that that’s kind of a little bit of your secret secret sauce, I guess, because, you know, you can emphasize and really own the fact that you’re clean, you know, what’s going in there, because I think, yeah, that’s something that we’re all struggling with now. We don’t even though we know the ingredients. We don’t know where those ingredients came from. And yes, were they where were they grown? , so are you are you able to share a little bit more about how that was developed, how the idea, like the thought process behind really putting together a pure and clean manufacturing process?

Corinna Bellizzi: Yes. Well, this all really started with our co-founder and CTO, Doctor Isaac Berson. I call him Professor Berson, right. He is essentially a rock star in the space of algae technologies. He has worked on the growing of algae for everything from open pond systems, which frankly, they are exposed to environmental toxins, to the closed system that we’ve created. And part of that even started through projects that he was working on with, with NASA, specifically designed to grow algae in space. So trying to figure out how to optimize growing conditions in a closed environment. And all of that technology ends up playing a part and parcel to how we do things today, so that we’re able to tightly control and optimize with the benefit of technology and even artificial intelligence. How and when to give nutrients? How much of those nutrients, what bands of light to expose the algae to. And what we’ve found is that even exposing the algae to UV light is unnecessary, and actually not actually a very good thing, because UV light can actually burn the algae. So we’re exposing it to a perfect blend of red and blue light. You can see this when you go to all the Nutrition’s website or as well to our parent website, Vaxart life, and you’ll see photos and even videos of our photo bioreactor. Perfect blend of that blue and red light, which ends up being this bright kind of fuchsia color.

Corinna Bellizzi: And that means that we can have a 24 over seven growing cycle, and we can siphon out algae as it becomes productive and continually extract this product simply by de-watering it. And through that dewatering process, we end up with a product that is concentrated algae. Essentially, it’s not like a true extract, the same way that you might see something like a fish oil that is molecularly distilled and ultra processed. So our processing is essentially de-watering. And then a simple solution of alcohol to process the algae and extract out the lipid soluble compounds so that we get the omegas. And we also get with the omegas, other phytonutrients, including chlorophyll, including some other omegas that are naturally present in the algae. So much so that when you look at our algae oil, it’s a very, very dark green, almost black. And if you spread it onto a piece of paper, you’ll see that it’s really, truly this dark green. Now, the cold nutrients that are present in that likely make it even more bioavailable. And that’s probably leaning into why we are seeing such a incredible increase of people’s omega three levels when they conse only one gram, just two small pills of our omega three or DHA products each day.

Serani Fernando: Okay.

 Serani Fernando: And how are you seeing, you know, the receptiveness to your products? And, you know, in general, the holistic health industry, you know, as a whole, it’s obviously been getting more and more traction. People are being more conscious of what they’re conscious of. , you know, for health purposes, they’re educating themselves a lot more. Are you finding that people are receptive to a lot of the. Because a lot of what you’re discussing is quite intricate and it takes, you know, quite a level of understanding and, you know, knowledge to to really dive deep into what are these products and am I going to invest in these particular products based on the science? How are you finding that the receptiveness from like theConsumers base?

Corinna Bellizzi: Consumers are already looking for a more sustainable, more viable option and they really respond to data which shows that something is three times more bioavailable than something else. And so we really just focus on those two points. We produce a product that is in a refillable glass jar, so they’re getting something that really communicates quality out of the beginning. For those that are watching on the video version, you can see it on my shelf in the background. This is a mirror on violet glass jar. It’s very durable. It looks really nice. It feels really nice, really nice. We print directly on it and that helps us make something that is so aesthetically pleasing that people would leave it on their bathroom counter and remember to take it each day. So the touch point with our consumers, that shows them that something can both be functional and look beautiful, I think is really resonating with people. In addition to the fact that we’re doing this in an eco-friendly way. I mean, even the box that it ships in is post-consumer recycled paper and printed with algae based inks. So we’re fully leaning in to this sustainability message and doing everything that we can in as responsible a fashion as possible, so that the user experience can be full circle, reflective of the principles of circularity that we bake into our entire real brand ideals here, right? And so I think that piece really resonates. And then the three times absorption also being backed up with confidence by our Tested by You program, really showing people, look, we’ll cover $100 in these third party tests. You get the data directly from Omega Quant. It’s not our lab, right? This is a third party lab to show you that the product works. And that’s just something that you don’t see other companies doing.

 Serani Fernando: Definitely. And obviously, you know, as you mentioned, that you saw a gap in the market, you know, where you could really.

Serani Fernando: I’m seeing industry.

 Serani Fernando: Trends. What were you seeing in the industry?

Corinna Bellizzi: Yes. You froze, so I didn’t catch that part.

 Serani Fernando: Okay. Did I freeze before that or was I okay as.

Corinna Bellizzi: You were starting to ask the question. So. Okay, I didn’t get okay.

 Serani Fernando: Yeah. Just definitely tell me that. , okay. So like, let’s see what I, what did I leave off on? , that’s really interesting. , I’m actually curious as to, you know, where you guys saw the market. You know, the gaps where you saw that unmet need. , you know, the, the holistic health industry really wasn’t providing something where you obviously felt you could provide an edge, but what would be some things that you’ve seen in the market which were really concerning where the average conser wouldn’t really pay attention to it, whether it’s ingredients of the similar products that you’re producing, manufacturing things that they should really watch out for.

Corinna Bellizzi: You know, I think one of the biggest concerns that companies should have, or individuals really should have in this day and age is that there are so many products that are simply produced for Amazon, which makes some pretty outlandish claims in some cases, and which the brand that is offering them doesn’t even maintain their own offices or their own facilities. Like, essentially it’s just produced at a contract manufacturer and shipped through to Amazon. So there’s no real foundation of support for those products. And since about 70% or more of consumers buy their supplements on Amazon, I really feel like there’s a need for individuals to ask some basic questions like, is this a reputable company? And is this something that I therefore feel confident in putting in my body? Because there can be so many me too products that are just simply, oh, I’m an algae oil? Well, there’s a plenty a plethora of algae oils out there. There’s also a plethora of fish oil products out there, many of which make the same claims about what they can do for your health, and some of which are frankly, unfounded. So you can really think that. I think I think the basics are that we need to take a little bit of that responsibility into our own hands, because just because something is marketed for a low ticket price doesn’t mean that it is something that is going to benefit your health and benefit your body.

Corinna Bellizzi: So I think the market needs to sit at this spot, which is between efficacy and responsibility. , and then really focusing on educating the marketplace on what makes a product different and unique is something that we’re committed to, which is the reason I come on this podcast, the reason that I host a podcast called Nutrition Without Compromise on the Orlo Nutrition website, and also the reason that we continue to funnel our resources into product development and into ingredients that we know are in their most bioactive, most bioavailable form. So the spirulina products that we’re symbol releasing, they have methylcobalamin in them. The most bioavailable form of vitamin B12. It’s a vegan source, not like some synthetic vitamin that you would typically see out there. It’s actually coming from the algae that we grow, the spirulina that we grow the same thing with the iron that is in our spirulina products, which will be coming out this smer as well. That iron is coming from our spirulina, so fully vegan source, fully bioavailable. And because you have that connection when coming to a brand like Orlo Nutrition to the company that actually makes these ingredients, you’re going to see a different level of commitment to quality than you might see from just any Joe Schmo brand that you could find on Amazon.com.

 Serani Fernando: Yeah, I have to say that I’m probably guilty of that in the past. I can’t remember the last time I bought something on Amazon, but definitely it’s just like a minefield out there with, you know, what, what supplements to to get, you know, I usually am vitamin D deficient like many people. And so just going to the normal pharmacy to get it, you know, it’s it’s hard to know what’s actually in there other than them saying that it’s vitamin D, but you know, how exact nutrition, nutritional, , values and whether there’s anything actually in there, , it becomes a little bit difficult. It’s different to buying something like a food item. And then you see everything listed and you see all the nutritional values. , I actually use this scanning application that gives me, you know, everything. And I’ve been using that a lot just with, you know, different chemicals that are put into different foods. And every time I scan a nutritional item, it’s like nutritional values are unavailable or unknown. And I’m like.

Serani Fernando: Well, I’m like each of those apps that developers.

Corinna Bellizzi: It requires them to register their ingredients, I’m sure. Which, you know, not every company is going to know how to do. I’m not even sure what app you’re referring to. I know there are a few tools like that, but sometimes it literally is as simple as asking the question does this company have their own website? Do they have a customer service phone line that I can call? Can I email them directly, or are they only operating on Amazon? And I think starting there is really a great place to get started. Uh, frankly, we offer our products on Amazon because we also want to reach those 70% of consumers that buy their products only through the Amazon platform. We acknowledge that that business long term could end up even being bigger than our own website sales. Now, do I really think that’s going to happen? Probably not. We’re preparing to enter into the retail space as well through natural health retailers, but for the present time, you can find our products easily on Amazon and also on our own website. The other thing I would caution people to understand is that often you can’t go by the number of positive reviews you see on a product, while having a foundation of them is really important, so many brands have essentially farmed for reviews that you could see thousands of positive reviews on Amazon for a product that’s offered at $15 a month. And most of those reviews are essentially generated by the company. So we need to think about each of these things a little bit more deeply. I think this is a reason that word of mouth is such a strong way to learn about supplements. And if you’re connected to the ethics that a company is running and ultimately producing products within that frame of reference, then you’re going to feel better about your purchase. It will feel better in your body as a result as well.

 Serani Fernando: Yeah, definitely. , I think that’s such a good tip. You know, whatever the product, go and see if that company has a website. I mean, if anyone can take something away from this, it’s that. Yeah. Because, , that.

Corinna Bellizzi: Complicated really, you know, and there’s some accountability that comes with that. Yeah. So I know it can seem like it’s a fairly simple thing to do, but a lot of the supplement brands that you see on Amazon don’t have their own websites.

 Serani Fernando: Yeah, definitely. And you know, for some of our listeners with wanting sort of practical tips, , you know, and your engagement with consumers, what do you find is the biggest challenge that they face with trying to get into a more holistic health lifestyle and, you know, the clean supplement arena.

Corinna Bellizzi: You know, I think the primary challenge people face today is they get so many different opinions through social media and through also different, let’s just say, thought leaders that call themselves experts in particular spaces. They might hear from one arena that the carnivore diet is the only way to go, and you should only be eating animal based products, and they hear from another side that they should be 100% Whole foods, plant based and militant about it, or they’re never going to achieve their best health. The truth is, somewhere in the middle of all of this, and ultimately the best decision for you is the best decision for you. I think there is wisdom in nature and there’s also wisdom in our own bodies. So really, if you think about the sorts of changes you want to make to follow your health journey, they may not sit exactly in line with the health journey that someone else down the street, or even within your own household, is on. So think about how you feel when you eat the food that you eat. When you do the exercises you do. Are you feeling better? Are you on your journey to a better health? And when in doubt, test. Don’t guess. And this could look a variety of ways. As simple as keeping a daily health journal and writing down what you ate and how you felt after you ate it. Logging the nber of glasses of water you drank and how you felt you know, really thinking about the sorts of things that you’re putting in your body and the activities that you partake in and how you feel about them there. You can trust yourself a little bit. And I think that we need to communicate this more to people. And then if you’re really concerned with core deficiencies that you might have, understand that most people are deficient in omega three seconds.

Corinna Bellizzi: In fact, the standard American diet, we basically come on par with vegans and vegetarians with regard to our levels of omega three, or about 3 to 3.5% total saturation level of omega threes in our tissues. And this is tested by a simple blood spot test. You could choose to participate in this program through oral nutrition’s tested by you. Or you could even just buy the test yourself direct from Omega Quant. We also sell it on our website. We make no extra money from that. It’s just the same price, right? And they can go out and test it and get the results directly in their email email box to see where they’re starting from and whether or not it’s necessary to go ahead and add an omega three to your diet as a supplement for most people, you’re going to find that you will need it and it will help you. Now, beyond that, I mean, really getting a good foundation of nutrition every day is critical. A good multivitamin, getting some greens into your system, then looking for those core deficiency. You mentioned vitamin D, vitamin B12 is something that vegetarians and vegans need to conse on an everyday basis. We also provide vitamin B12 within our immunity boost, which is presently available and will also be included in our future Icelandic Ultra Spirulina products, so we can be a resource for that as well. Vitamin D, vitamin B12, a an omega three. A whole foods multivitamin. Sometimes these are even just in a shake format, but just to get these core things taken care of on a daily basis, drink your water log how you feel. And I think that’s really it. Those are the foundational things.

Serani Fernando: Yeah.

 Serani Fernando: And I think it can be a little bit difficult for people just because some of these supplements, you know, going onto Amazon, I guess people that are going more on the price side of things, I guess because people, a lot of people can’t afford to be taking all of these supplements. , is is there some something that you could say in terms of for what to prioritize? I mean, you did mention those, the vitamin D, vitamin B, , uh, the omega threes. But getting balancing that with supplements and then the food and how best to do that if, if price is an issue for, for consers.

Corinna Bellizzi: Well, and frankly, I think price is an issue for everyone. We’ve experienced a lot of food inflation over the course of the last few years, and that has impacted everyone across the board. Even the very wealthy are concerned with inflation. We do care about what we spend on things. There are products out there that have very tall claims, and that costs like 3 or $4 a day to conse. Most of what we produce is not in that realm. So you can conse an omega three. We offer for less than a dollar a day. Now, a nutrition bar that we’re coming out with that’s going to come closer to that $4 a day mark. But it’s also essentially a meal. So if you think about it as your meal as well as your protein, your B12, your vitamin D, then things are coming into alignment a little better. How often do you conse a meal that only costs you $4, right? So think about your nutrition and the space of the whole. And I think you can’t go wrong there. But I do caution people, a lot of times you get won over by the big promise, like this product will help you drop excess pounds and be a gladiator. And three weeks. That is simply not true for the most part. Like unless you’re taking a drug that’s prescribed by a doctor, you’re not likely to experience those sorts of changes in such a rapid way. I also see a lot of concerning supplements out there in the space of nootropics, which is the the brain health products that are presently being offered. Many of them are three, $4 a day, and they’re offering such low levels of the supposed actives within them that they couldn’t possibly produce the results that they’re promising. So dosage matters a lot of what you’re sold, you’re being sold. And so really look at what the potency is that you’re getting with particular products and how the company is arriving at the claims that they are putting in front of you. I just think that would serve us all well, especially when something is costing as much as 3 or $4 a day.

 Serani Fernando: Definitely. That’s a good way to put it. , in terms of what you’re getting from compared to what you would be spending on, on other things that you would be trying to get that nutrition on.

Serani Fernando: , and most.

Corinna Bellizzi: People don’t need 6 or 7 supplements on a daily basis. Right. There are those biohackers that are really working to attain their absolute optimal wellness. And they’re going through and they’re taking all sorts of tests on a routine basis to ascertain what more they can do to to live a little better and to even reverse the aging clock. That’s not 99% of the consers out there. And so I’m not going to make wild recommendations about supplements. And I think it’s healthy for people to be just a little bit skeptical. Like where are that skeptics?

Serani Fernando: Yeah.

 Serani Fernando: Yeah, definitely. And you know, it sounds really interesting the journey that your company is having, you know, you’ve got your product range now, you know, some of the products you mentioned, you did mention that you’re coming out with a nutrition bar. Do you can you tell us a little bit about what’s on the horizon with expansion?

Corinna Bellizzi: Yes, absolutely. So you might have guessed that perhaps we’re looking to play in this brain performance space, as I know a thing or two about the nootropic products out there. The Brain Performance bar is a product that we’re going to be releasing this summer. It uses Icelandic Ultra spirulina as our foundational ingredient, along with green tea caffeine, which is a mellow type of amplification, as well as lion’s mane, providing you with a strong dose of lion’s mane and some other core nutrients that optimize your brain and physical performance. The idea being that somebody would cause this, you know, an hour before they were taking a test or heading into a study session or getting out there and working on their speed trials, this product could help them with all of those things while also providing core nutrition. We’re also going to be releasing a gym, and I have the pilot batch of it right here. I’m looking at.

Serani Fernando: It. Okay.

Corinna Bellizzi: , I’ll show this to those on camera just so that they can see, because this uses our Icelandic Ultra spirulina. And that’s what it gets that bright blue from. It’s very high in antioxidants as well as providing a strong dose of that Icelandic ultra spirulina. And we’re providing a full, clinically proven level dose of phosphatidylserine by the most researched ingredient available on the market, which is sharp PSE. So that’s the specific phosphatidylserine that’s used in tests and studies and providing a full 100mg with that. In addition to lion’s mane, that’s standardized to its beta glucans content of 1316 for that optimal nootropic effect. So even though it’s in gmt format, supplying enough of those core nutrients to have the effects that are promised on the label. And so that’s something that is going to be coming out this summer, the last of which is going to be in the women’s health arena. We are creating a women’s health product, which is called Women’s Health and Vitality Mix, and that will be a powder and the passion fruit flavor, and you pineapple and passion fruit, you essentially mix it with water. What’s really interesting with this particular format is that it starts out being kind of a blue green when you put it into your water glass and then turns almost purple as it’s dissolving within the glass.

Corinna Bellizzi: So it’s both visually appealing. It tastes fantastic. And unlike other spirulina products on the market, you don’t have to worry about contamination levels of lead, which is a common problem, like even that ag1 product out there has to bear the prop 65 warning for this product is known in the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects. I mean, that’s a terrible disclaimer to have to put on a product. The reason it has to be there on spirulina based products that are grown in open ponds is simple. The environmental pollutants find their way into those open waterways. Because we’re growing our spirulina in a closed and tightly controlled condition, we both end up with something that has a really beautiful taste profile, like it doesn’t taste the way spirulina does. It actually has no flavor at all. And so when we augment it with pineapple and passionfruit, it just tastes like pineapple and passionfruit, like there’s no green taste within that. And then the antioxidants and other profile of the nutrients that are present there are able to really come forward, including the protein and the bar alone. You get ten grams of protein. Some of that’s from spirulina and some of that’s from the, I believe, chickpea protein that we’re putting within that as well. So fully organic. Great products all coming out this summer.

 Serani Fernando: Yeah. Great. One question I do have for you, , it’s something that I often think about when I’m looking at products and to choose, , amongst all the products is firstly games and what is put in them to make them delicious gmies and also flavoring. , just because, you know, when I go and look at things, you know, just even selecting a protein powder was I have been very conscious to pick the minimal ingredients. And not so many like colorings and flavorings and things like that. , so how do you ensure that, you know, appeal the consumer  appeals with the purity?

Corinna Bellizzi: Yeah, absolutely. That’s a really great question. I want to acknowledge that, because so many of the products out there are full of other colorants and flavors, because of the fact that we’re not having to mask the flavor of our spirulina, we don’t have to use a lot. Right? So in the games themselves, it’s a tapioca base, so it has about half the sugar that you typically might see in other gummy vitamins. They’re pectin based too. So it’s pectin, tapioca. That means that they’re going to be, , chewy, but not like super gummy, like a, like a gummy bear, right? Yeah. , at the same time that the color is coming from the spirulina. So we’re not adding in any additional colorants. The label Leeds reads for that reason, really clean. The same thing is true of the protein bars, as well as the powdered spirulina mix, which is called women’s vitality mix, right? That product has many other ingredients that are included also to help women heal, and also handle stresses of the day to day environment that we live within. So that product was initially designed actually as a postnatal product. So it has a lot of other ingredients in there that support the total function of that product, but none of them impact the flavor or to make it really bitter and therefore don’t have to be masked. And so that’s why it comes out with that really clean, almost fruit juice flavor. In fact, the pineapple and passionflower, I mean, that’s that’s coming from a juice perspective as opposed to a flavorant or gmies that. That flavor that we ended up going with in that product was a green apple lime. Really clean flavor. The bars that were producing.

Serani Fernando: Pardon me.

Corinna Bellizzi: The bars that were producing coconut cookie dough. They have a quite a bit of coconut to them and also some little chocolate chips. So they really do taste like a coconut cookie dough. And then of course, that women’s powder that I told you about is essentially flavored with fruit juice powders.

 Serani Fernando: Okay, great. , and you know, you’re based in the US. I’m based in Spain. So where can you know if our listeners are around the world, you know, can everyone have access to this or do you is it just available in the US?

Corinna Bellizzi: We are working to become more broadly available. We’re presently sold from within Iceland, from our Icelandic headquarters. We are available in the United States. We also shipped to Canada from here, and we also have plans to expand more broadly within Europe. We’re launching very soon with these products in the UK marketplace through our Amazon store. So even while I’m critical of Amazon as a platform, when it’s your only platform, it is an avenue to reach people, and people love to shop there. So we’re available broadly on Amazon within the United States and North America. We’re available on our own website, broadly within the United States, Canada and can ship internationally. We have customers who are even ordering from Australia, but it may make more sense for those in Europe to shop from our Icelandic site. If there’s ever a question, they can always reach out to us directly at or below nutrition.com, or even just send us messages at or below nutrition on any of our many social platforms. We’re currently active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter a little bit, but mostly it’s Instagram, Facebook, and also TikTok. So those are the great ways to reach us.

 Serani Fernando: Okay, great. Well, I’m sure everyone will be super curious to check out your products. I am definitely happy to.

Serani Fernando: Send you some to.

Corinna Bellizzi: Try, and perhaps I could even have you come on our podcast, Nutrition Without Compromise to talk about what you’re doing here at Holistic Health Habits.

Serani Fernando: Yeah, that’d be great.

 Serani Fernando: That’d be great. , well, thank you so much. It was great to meet you, Kareena. And it was great to, you know, for you to share all that insight. I definitely have some food for thought, especially that everyone, you know, if they if they don’t have a website then you should be a little bit skeptical. And I think, I think people do need to keep their skeptics hat on when it comes to this, this industry, mainly because, you know, the intention is to be healthy. So, you know, you don’t want any random, you know, sabotage opportunities there, which is.

Serani Fernando: Really.

Corinna Bellizzi: Do it. And sometimes if you’re over doing it and you’re taking so many different products and suddenly something’s a little off, it’s really hard to identify where that little off is coming from, because you could even be taking three products that are working against one another, especially when you start to dive deeply into the world of herbal medicine. And the reason I’m careful to call it herbal medicine is specifically when you get into herbs. There are some that are designed to work together. And so if you’re taking something as a formula for something like dysmenorrhea, which is, you know, period pain and cramps, things like that, and then you take something else that’s kind of a yang tonic for blood flow. They could possibly interact. And so it just pays to, to pay attention and also to be selective about the number of products that you’re going to put into your body in a given month. Okay.

 Serani Fernando: Great. Well, Karina, it’s been a pleasure having you on and all the best with your work at Aldo. And to our listeners, visit Aldo Nutrition’s website to learn more about their amazing products. You can find that in the show notes. And if you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow us and subscribe to Holistic Health Habits for more inspiring conversations. But until next time, I’m Sereni Fernando. Stay healthy and holistic.