Frequently asked questions
- I have never heard of Madre Labs before. When did you start selling supplements?
- Why don’t you use standardized extracts in your formulas?
- Why don’t you use natural flavors and sweeteners?
- Where can I purchase Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™?
- When should I take Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™?
- Can I take Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™ multiple times per day?
- How do antioxidants protect us from oxidative damage or “oxidative stress”?
- How are Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™ any better than the competition?
- Will heating Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™ negatively affect the naturally occurring nutrients and phytochemicals?
- Where do you get your raw materials?
- How do you check for impurities in your raw materials?
- What other products will you develop in the future?
Q. I have never heard of Madre Labs before -- when did you start selling supplements?
A. Great question. Please visit our About Us page for a detailed answer. In brief, Madre Labs became a formal business entity in September, 2008. The founding members of Madre Labs have well over 40 years combined experience in the dietary supplement industry. Our first product, Immune Punch™ started selling in late January, 2009.
Q. Why don’t you use a lot of standardized extracts in your formulas?
A. Another great question that must be answered in multiple parts.
Standardized herbal extracts are a great way to guarantee specified levels of active compounds found in nutraceutical type products (e.g. Silymarin in Milk Thistle, Polyphenols & Catechins in Green & White Teas, Hypericin in St. John’s Wort and Ginsenosides in Ginseng, etc.). They are generally used in “Condition-Specific” Formulations, for example, Standardized Milk Thistle containing 80% Silymarin for Liver Health.
We feel that Standardized Herbal Extracts definitely have their place in the Dietary Supplement Industry.
Our first three products (Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™) are “Foundational” products formulated with Premium, Whole-Food Ingredients that contain a full-spectrum of naturally occurring nutrients/phytochemicals found in each unique, specified raw material (e.g. Our Ceremonial Grade, Organic Matcha Green Tea is one of the finest Matcha Green Teas found in the world today. It contains the naturally occurring levels of Polyphenols, Catechins, Epicatechins and L-Theanine found in fully shaded Green Tea Leaves.
We have researched the scientific literature and found that a majority of the world’s scientists acknowledge that there is a vast number of different compounds contained in herbs, plants, fruits & roots that may be responsible for their health-promoting properties.
We looked at different cultures from around the world, such as Japanese, Italian and Greek peoples, and researched their lifestyles -- diet, exercise, work habits & stress levels. In general, we found that the healthiest and longest living groups of people followed healthy well-balanced whole-food diets, rich in colorful fruits & veggies, fiber-rich complex carbohydrates, lean protein sources (fish, chicken, eggs, cultured dairy, legumes), healthy essential fats and low in simple sugars. They also exercised moderately multiple times per week, balanced their work and leisure time and they engaged in activities that helped reduce their stress levels.
Ninety-year-old Japanese men and women don’t sit down to a meal and open up a capsule of standardized green tea extract. They sit down to a healthy well-balanced meal and drink steeped green tea or matcha.
Italians and Greeks don’t take daily handfuls of garlic, red wine & olive oil capsules. Once again, we found they eat a healthy well-balanced diet consisting of colorful fruits & veggies, lean protein sources, fiber-rich complex carbohydrates, healthy essential fats (olive oil, avocados, nuts), red wine, garlic & onions.
This does not mean that standardized extracts of green tea, garlic & red wine don’t have their place in our industry. They do under certain circumstances, and we will use them in our innovative formulations when necessary.
Our first three products are “Foundational (Foundations of Health) Formulations”, designed to support Overall Health & Well-Being!* We will be developing “Condition-Specific” Formulations in the future that will definitely incorporate Standardized Extracts.
Q. Why don’t you use natural flavors or sweeteners?
A. The reason we don’t use natural flavors or sweeteners is because we want to offer our customers 100% pure & natural products. We want everyone to have a choice whether or not they want to add additional naturally flavored 100% fruit juices or natural sweeteners, such as – stevia, agave, honey & xylitol.
Q. Where can I purchase your products?
A. You can purchase Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™ online at www.iherb.com.
Q. When should I take Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™?
A. We suggest following the instructions on the label. However, we simply suggest taking Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™ in the first part of the day (depending on your individual digestive tolerances). Due to its invigorating nature, Midori Greens™ may be too stimulating for some people if taken in the evening. Our immune support blend and superfruit blend can be taken anytime. You may experiment to find what works best for you.
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Q. Can I take Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™ products more than once a day?
A. We suggest following the instructions on the label. However Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™ are 100% all natural, whole-food based dietary supplements that may be taken more than once per day if desired.
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Q. How do antioxidants protect us from oxidative damage?
A. Antioxidants protect us from oxidative damage by neutralizing the damaging effects of free radicals. (Free radicals are unstable oxygen molecules produced by normal metabolic processes as well as environmental toxins: including cigarette smoking, radiation, excessive sunlight, fast foods & junk foods, water & air pollution and various toxic chemicals.)
Phytonutrient-rich greens, veggies, superberries & superfruits like those found in Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™ can help protect cells from oxidative damage by supplying a vast array of naturally occurring plant-based antioxidants to assist in neutralizing free radicals.*
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Q. How are Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™ any better than the competition?
A. We cannot comment about the quality or purity of our competitors’ products, because we do not have first-hand knowledge of them. But we can assure you that we’ve taken every step to supply you, our loyal customers, with the highest quality, purest, most innovative formulations in the marketplace. (See our Quality Statement for more detailed information.)
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Q. Will heating Immune Punch™, Midori Greens™ & Eureka! Berries™ negatively affect the naturally occurring nutrients and phytochemicals?
A. Generally speaking, excessively heating any natural substance may slightly alter the enzyme/nutrient levels. We do not recommend excessive heating of any of our products. You may, however, wish to add these products to a heated beverage at a drinkable temperature (e.g. hot tea). Science has proven that heating some natural foods can actually increase the bioavailability of key active compounds --for example, tomato sauce/ketchup and lycopene.
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Q. Where do you get your raw materials?
A. Please see our Quality page and About Us page for more detailed information.
We source and use only the highest quality raw materials available. As you may know, there are various grades and origins of nutraceutical raw materials. We have chosen the very best that is available, and generally speaking, the most expensive. Most of our qualified raw materials are either manufactured in the United States or imported from Japan & Europe by reputable vendors.
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Q. How do you check for impurities in your raw materials?
A. Please see our Quality page and About Us page for more detailed information.
Our raw materials are selected exclusively on the basis of quality & efficacy (the science), and not on the basis of cost. We rely on reputable industry suppliers and frequently use “Branded” ingredients. All of our suppliers are required to perform rigorous analytical tests, including but not limited to the following analyses: Material Identification, Heavy Metals, Microbial, Pesticide Residue and Organic Volatile Impurities (OVI). We require Certificates of Analysis, Specification Sheets, Material Safety Data Sheets and testing results from the most sophisticated analytical methods (such as: HPLC, HPTLC, GC, UV-VIS, FTIR, NIR and ICP-MS) to ensure the highest quality finished products. We also do our own third party testing to confirm the results of our suppliers’ testing.
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Q. What other products will you develop in the future?
A. We have many product concepts, ideas and working formulations in our “Product Pipeline”.
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Please feel free to visit www.madrelabs.com periodically to check for new product introductions.