Feature Of The Week: Part 2

Last Thursday I wrote about the eXfuze products and their nutritional benefits, and this week we have an interview by a friend of my mom, Caroline Conlan. She is a mother of four and a distributer of these eXfuze products. I hope you enjoy her interview!

What is exfuze and how do their products work differently than other brands?

The name exfuze Seven+ comes from the idea of fusing extracts together in one bioavailable formula. For years there have been supplement companies that have done huge business around the world just by selling a product with ONE powerful superfruit or botanical. The founders came up with the idea of researching the most popular and powerful botanicals and using their extracts instead of reconsituted product or juice. One superfruit, acai for example, may not work on one person but mangosteen may. This gives the product 7x more chances to impact someone's health.  Aside from acai and mangosteen, exfuze has noni, fucoidan, gac, goji and seabuckthorn..all in extract form as well as other added ingredients like aloe, blueberry, grape seed extract. Pretty potent stuff!

Would you recommend the product even if you are not trying to lose weight?


Exfuze Seven+ PROformance is not a weight loss product although many people have lost weight while taking it because it has reduced cravings, increased their energy, improved their sleep..all beneficial to maintaining healthy weight.  The new ShapeWay product was designed for this but is not made from superfruits. Although the metabolic energizer capsule contains African Mango, which Dr. Oz has promoted as an effective weight loss supplement.

Of the seven extracts, what do you believe is most important?

There are hundreds of studies about the benefits of Fucoidan, which is brown seaweed. Just go to www.pubmed.org and see. It is a very powerful, natural anti-inflammatory and as you know, inflammation is at the root of almost all disease.

Why do you think superfoods are so trendy now?

Because of the over harvesting and nutrient deplete soil that we are left with in most cases, our food supply does not contain the level of nutrients that it did twenty years ago. People are looking to supplement and superfoods are nutrient-rich foods that offer us many benefits at the same time so in effect you get more nutrition with lesser amount of food that you eat. Superfoods provide antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, essential fatty acids, polysaccharides, enzymes to name a few. Another buzz word these days is resveratrol which can also be found naturally in several superfoods.

How did you get involved with these products?

Funny you ask. A friend that I went to high school with in Japan had posted that she had two big glasses of wine the night before but felt fine the next day because she had taken a shot of Seven+ before bed. The older I get the less tolerance I have for wine so I was curious about it. She sent me two bottles and my husband Shane took the PRO formula and I took the classic. Within five days I felt like I had more energy and Shane was noticing how deeply he was sleeping. We were instantly hooked and within two months Shane started running pain-free on knees he thought he would be replacing by now. My tennis elbow disappeared and my shoulder that was scheduled to be operated on started to feel so much better. Now we rarely take ibuprofen and we used to go through Costco sized bottles pretty fast.

How can someone reading this get the products?

Exfuze is only available through distributors but if any of your readers would like to try their first bottle for free, they can email me at carolinemconlan@gmail.com. I will only charge them shipping and handling.

The website has more information www.exfuze.com/sewickleyhealth

In your house you have such a range of types of bodies to feed, from yourself to your daughter to your husband, an ex-professional athlete. How do you cook to feed all their appetites?

Good question. Since getting involved with exfuze, nutrition has definitely become a passion of mine. I do find myself looking like a deer in headlights at the grocery store at times because it is a struggle to find out what healthy meals everyone will actually eat.  Preparation is key so I try to have dinner planned early in the day. I keep it simple..a lean protein, starch and vegetable is usually the easiest. I have introduced new foods over the past year that they actually will eat now..roasted sweet potatoes instead of regular, brown rice instead of white, kale has become a staple and even my picky youngest will eat a few bites. We hardly ever get fast food anymore. I think I have gotten through to my kids as far as impressing the importance of what they eat and that makes me really happy. They never drink soft drinks...well maybe once in a blue moon.

My favorite vegetable to feed my kids? Roasted broccoli or kale.

I toss broccoli in a little olive oil, kosher salt and a tablespoon of sugar in a big bowl with my hands to make sure it is all covered and roast on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for about 15 minutes at 400. The sugar caramelizes and it is really tasty. Kind of a treat. The kale I just sautee with a little olive oil and garlic.

Personally I love brussell sprouts..but the kids draw the line there.

Thank you so much Caroline!!