Health & Energy

Last spring, my sister was dying of bone cancer. In order to be there for her I’d been burning the candle at both ends all during the winter and spring—traveling to fulfill speaking commitments on weekends, coming back to the hospital to be with my sister, writing and being with grandchildren when they were in town, and then the last weeks of my sister’s life. I was left physically depleted and exhausted. I had a health crisis myself and had to have an arteriogram in April for what the cardiologist thought was a blocked artery. Chronic, inflamed dermatitis. Inflammation and pain in my joints. High cholesterol…All of a sudden I looked on my bathroom counter and I had WAY too many prescriptions sitting there!

I’ve always been a healthy person who exercised—walked 30 minutes a day and had lots of energy. My doctor confirmed the problem when she said, “Cheri, your immune system is shot. Your body has too much inflammation.”

I began searching at health food stores for some immune energy boosters that were all natural and ways to take in more antioxidants—a vital need when you have a family history of cancer. Sales clerks were handing me expensive capsules, which I took but didn’t prove helpful. Most of them what I call “horse pills,” I could barely get them down and was supposed to take 8 a day. Then one day in May when I was walking with my friend Mary Ann, she shared with me she’d been taking MonaVie and it had reduced pain in her hip. Did I want to taste it? After our walk, I did. Lovely, berry tasting, not yucky or powdery like some health concoctions.

I bought my first bottle of MonaVie (see www.19powerfruits.com/ to see a bottle) and began drinking it twice a day, 1 oz. in the morning, 1 oz. in the evening. It was easy to stay consistent in taking for a busy person like me. No mixing, just pour in a 1-2 ounce glass and drink. I can handle that! There are MonaVie travel gel paks for on the road.

Within one week, I began to see a decrease in the dermatitis and skin inflammation on my face and neck which had been a chronic problem for 12 years in spite of cortisone creams—and the skin has continued to improve dramatically. Due to the liquid Celadrin (see celadrin.org) and Glucosomine in MonaVie, I don’t have stiff, painful knees or hips when driving on a trip or flying on an airplane.

Other results include my bad cholesterol went down 50 points just drinking Mona Vie not with prescription medications, and my immune system was boosted to the point that throughout the cold and flu season I did not get sick even though I was around grandkids with respiratory illness, on airplanes with sick people and in a two-week trip to Africa, around sick people frequently and stayed healthy and well. (We took the travel gel paks with us which were very convenient and don’t have to be refrigerated). This is the first year in many, many years that I haven’t caught anything during the fall and winter season!

And best yet—more energy. My energy has been increased, not in a sense of being overwired, but restoring and stabilizing energy so I don’t have an “afternoon slump” and need caffeine to give me a lift. My cholesterol is lower, and every week my health got better. I’ve been drinking MonaVie as part of my nutrition and my husband too for the past year, and it has made a huge difference in our lives. We and people we know making MonaVie a regular part of their nutrition find it reduces food cravings and sleep better.

As I’ve researched and studied, I’ve read more and more medical doctors who report that the root of all disease and aging is inflammation. And anybody with a family history like mine—with a mother and sister dying of cancer, needs more anti-oxidants in their diet. All of us do since research shows 1 in 3 people in the U.S. either have cancer or will get it in their lifetime. It’s almost impossible to get the NINE fruits and vegetables that we must ingest to get the antioxidants we all need. But MonaVie contributes greatly—it has 30 times the antioxidants of a glass of red wine.

You may be wondering, what else is in the MonaVie nutritional drink? In the 25 ounce bottle is a delicious blend of Acai, the remarkable super-fruit rich in powerful antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, phytosterols, dietary fiber and more. In addition, there are 18 other super-fruits in the drink and is rich in:

• essential amino acids and fatty acids (the “good fats”)
• phytosterols
• dietary fiber
• complex carbs
• vitamins and minerals.

Thus MonaVie is one of the world’s most complete and balanced nutritional products!

If you want more information or want to try Mona Vie, e-mail me at cheri@cherifuller.com.

This is truly a great nutritional product which will have tremendous benefits for your health no matter what age you are—there is a kids’ formula called “MonaVie Original” and the adults is “MonaVie Active.”

Why MonaVie?

Why are antioxidants important?

The acai berry is loaded with antioxidants. Why is that important? The following is a very brief summary of antioxidants and the role they play in our bodies.

Our bodies are made up of many cells. Cells are made of molecules and molecules are made of atoms held together by a chemical bond. Sometimes the bonds between these atoms break and leave the molecule with an unpaired electron, forming a free radical.

This free radical is very unstable and is now on a mission to steal an electron from the closest healthy molecule it can find so that it can become stable again. When the “victim”molecule looses an electron to the free radical, it becomes a free radical itself and begins to hunt for an electron it can steal. This causes a chain reaction and can eventually damage the cell in a process called oxidation. Just as steel rusts through the oxidative process, oxidation in our body damages our cells and other body structures. This can damage DNA or cause cells to die.

Excessive cell death can cause inflammation. Inflammation is believed by many scientists to be the cause of aging and most major illnesses we face today including: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, stroke, arthritis, Parkinson’s and unfortunately, many more.

The antioxidant neutralizes free radicals by sharing one of its electrons to stop the destructive domino effect. Our bodies produce antioxidants naturally, but sometimes cannot produce enough to keep up with free radicals created by our daily exposure to pollution, food additives, radiation, cigarette smoke and other external factors.

So, in short, we need antioxidants to help prevent cell damage caused by free radicals.

What does ORAC mean?

ORAC stands for (oxygen radical absorption capacity). This is a scientific way of saying, “How well does a certain antioxidant help my body defend itself against free radicals attacks”