WHENEVER Dr. George Ubeng calls me nowadays, Iam right on the mark about his intentions. He is a former senior State Security Service (SSS) operative who went back to school for a doctorate in Political Science, at Uyo, making trade deficits in African trade with the United States between 1999 and 2019 his concerns.
Dr. Ubeng is a health market adventurer always searching for what is cooking, what is new on the shelves. Ahead of his call today, I decided as I began to write this column, to tell him as I predicted last month in one of the 2022 Outlook series, that there are already rumbles in the jungle. Aim Global, one of the toasts of the networking business, has pushed registration fee up from N50,000 to N80,000.
Live Pure, which broke the spines of its wholesalers recently by abolishing wholeselling in its business, has taken registration fee from N77,000 to N92,340.
NG4 (Nature’s Gift for Life), has just restocked about 12 lines of products. Two of these are Robust Roots for erectile dysfunction and Fibroid Away. I highlight these products for special reasons. I use robust root not because I have erectile dysfunction challenges. It is also not because I am still in the “market” and, therefore, still on the road. I have long hung my boots. Rather, I use robust roots, among other reasons, for prostrate gland health and because I always like to see the effects on me of what food supplements I would like to suggest that other people try. As I once stated in this column, erectile dysfunction is hitting epidemic proportions, perhaps because of physical and psychological stress nowadays. It was in a similar adventurous habit that I discovered Mychoco tea, from Aim Global. Alone or combined with unsweetened cocoa powder as night cap tea, Mychoco tea offers great possibilities for restful sleep. What about Fibroid Away? I have not checked the nutritional facts to be certain that this new product is not just an old wine in a new bottle. What I mean is that : Is Fibroid Away another name for a collection of herbs for the female reproductive system questions or a brand new addition or replacement for Fibroid Clear and NS Fibrin in the same stable?
ShineWay
This is another Chinese flag already fluttering in the Lagos skyline while new Age, hooked down in South Africa headquarters, delays its presence in Nigeria. I understand the chief executive officer (CEO) is a Nigerian woman formidable in networking marketing of food and nutritional supplements. She tore away from one of the top shot companies to partner with Shineway Healthcare. The company has placed no fewer than eight products on the market. Three of them are in the bath soap, dishwashing and laundry categories. I wondered how these could survive in a Nigerian market where the giant labels of my days as a boy and as a young man have been pushed under the bushel by younger and aggressively marketed labels. My market guide informed me they are health friendly. I have neither sighted nor tried them out. Nevertheless, I believe there may be space for them in the Nigerian firmament if, indeed, they are not offensive to the nose or irritate, squeeze and damage the skin with harsh chemicals as many of the screaming brands do. Two weeks ago, I tried to wash three boxers I soaked overnight with detergent water. I remembered that my wife never touched these detergents without wearing plastic hand gloves. When the skin of my hands and wrists were all terrorised, I rinsed the detergent off and used a popular, softer bath soap instead. For a long time, I had been urging Sam Ayeni to get his Sea Duck company to seal a planned deal with Alafia in the United States. The company is owned by some African Americans who import palm oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, among other ingredients from Benin Republic and Cote d’ivoire to produce nature friendly hair creams and shampoos for women in addition to health friendly laundry soaps. But his experiences with Nigerian “factors” in respect of two products he brought to Nigeria, Bragg’s Apple cider vinegar(with mother) and Kyolic garlic, makes him tread with caution.
So, how is Shineway (China way) taking the market head on? For as young people say in Nigeria Ko s’ere ni Moscow (There is no fooling around in Moscow). Who fools around in a terribly cold or terribly hot country and economy? The starter bonuses are similar to those of Bell Nigeria, very friendly to the marketer. There is no compulsory autoship until the networker has sum very far afield. In Longrich, Aim Global and other companies, for example, a distributor begins to earn bonuses only after he or she has pushed a certain volume of business, which may be humongous in Naira terms. If the distributor delays in meeting periodic targets, Live Pure as an example, would flush out or cancel the bonus points for cash generated by such a distributor. This was an Archilles heel of Foreever Living Products (FLP) from the United States, which Tianshi from China resolved for the market. FLP operates on case mode. Every two months, the distributor is weighed on a “promotion” scale. If in January and February, the company expects N5000 worth of goods moved, and N4500 is moved in January but N200 is moved in February, the “promotion” bid would fail. The next opportunity for an upgrade would be February and March. The company will flush the N4,500 score for January and weigh the distributor on N300 in February and N4,700 in March. Tianshi introduced the cumulative score point which the networking industry considered a fairer deal.
In shineway, there is no point or bonus flushing. Bonuses are paid on every product purchased from the onset and autoship or a semblance of it is reserved for only distributors at the Apex rank. The registration fee is N60,000 but the referral bonus would appear little at N4000 compared with N20000 for Aim Global against a registration fee of N80,000 for a minimum package. Aim Global also stands shoulder high in the comparison of their second registration options. For where shineway takes N120,000 and gives away N8,000 AIM global gives N40,000 for taking N130000. But shineway beats AimGlobal L for not putting hurdles on the way for distributors.
As I said earlier, Shineway has come to the market with eight products: Golden Six, Isk Clear, Pearl Bloom Menstrual Care, Evening Primrose Oil Plus Vitamin E, Astreelife, Neuro Booster, Feminine Gel, Peptide Ginseng Oyster, Body Wash, Laundy Detergent and Dish Washing Liquid.
Golden six
This is a leader proprietary formula in Japanese Kampo medicine which is widely used in Asia. I believe Kedi was the first multi level marketing company to market it in Nigeria for kidney, liver and female fertility questions, among others. The formula is made of six herbs. The first is common yam rhizome. It addresses kidney and liver damage conditions.
Rehmannia Root
Is suggested for diabetis melitus, atopic dermatitis, tired blood (anaemia), bone weakness(osteoporosis), fever and allergies. Many people use it as a prophylactic and general tonic. Tree Peony has a wide application which, according to an authority include “viral hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, upset stomach, muscle cramps, hardening of the arteries(arteriosclerosis) and to cause vommitting”. The same goes for “spasms, whooping cough, epilepsy, nerve pain, migraine, headache, and chronic fatigue syndrome”.
Fructus corni, another ingredient, is active as in liver and kidney nourishment, immune boosting, anti oxidation, cancer fighting and longevity promotion. Yet another ingredient is Poria, a mushroom, which is used for memory loss, anxiety, fatigue, restlessness, nervous tension, fluid retention and urination challenges, insomnia, enlargement of the spleen, cough, tumours and sundry health issues. This product appears to Target the brain,the stomach, the kidneys, liver, immune system and the skeletal system.The golden six are like the generals of a herbal medicine army ready for action with their troops for the prevention of health problems and their management and cure.
ISK Clear
ISK is another way of saying ischemic. That, also, is another way of saying the supplement is designed for heart health care. As noted, Isk in oak clear is derived from ischemia, a condition in which blood, nutrient and oxygen supply is insufficient for any organ of the body. The term is more commonly used in heart and brain blood and oxygen starvations. The ingredients of isk clear include safflower oil, borncolum syntheticum, vitamin E and vitamin B6. While vitamin B6, working with folic acid and vitamin B12, rids the blood vessels of homocysteine, a dangerous greasy material which may block them and cause ischemia particularly in the heart, B6 alone may help to rid the body of excess fluid which, in hypertension conditions may support heart health. VItamin E is an antioxidant, a blood thinner and helps the body maximise little oxygen stocks, a good servant in ischemia. Safflower oil may help to improve blood sugar levels, lower blood cholesterol and check inflammation and pain.
Feminine Gel
When I listened to a discussion of this gel, my memory raced to the days of TUSIN with us in the struggle to reposition traditional and alternative medicine in Nigeria. He was an engineer. His wife had a bad vaginal infection after child birth in a Lagos Hospital. She had to be isolated in a side ward because of the smell. Tusin went to his village and returned with a local formula with which she cleaned up when all hospital medications seemed to fail . In no time, the odour was gone. Encouraged by many of his friends including Mr Olajuwon Okubena who makes Jobelyn, Tusin partnered a retired pilot and put the formula in a tube which I named Pure Virgin. This was because many women I gave it to said it so tightened them up, their men would have thought they were still virgins. Pure virgin disappeared from the market with the physical demise of Tusin.
There are six gels in one pack of feminine gel. To use it, a woman is advised:
“Wash hands properly, take out the gel and pull out the sterile top cover. Lie down and put the sterile top cap into the back of the pusher. Insert six centimeters and inject the gel into the vagina and wait for the gel to absorb”.
One of the benefits of using this product is that it helps to maintain a favourable vaginal PH which is believed to be between 3.8 and 4.5. Anything below 3.8 may make the vault become too acidic that it may kill sperm cell deposits. Anything above 4.5m may tilt to alkalinity over seven and this may give rise to infections as the vagina is unable to defend itself. Older women have a tendency towards abnormal vaginal pH and infections. Besides, it relieves itchiness, promotes elasticity, moisturises and cleans the vagina. Women who use it are unlikely to experience vaginal dryness, said a woman who has tried the product. Vaginal dryness is a problem of many women as they approach menopause and estrogen blood levels drop. Overnight Insertion of vitamin A or vitamin E soft gels helps some cases.
Two of the seven ingredients which immediately caught my attention were Propolis and Olibanum (frankincense). Propolis is anti microbial while Olibanum, also anti-bacterial is anti- inflammatory and refrigerant.
Coffee
Asians have made Nigerians coffee drinking, like themselves.Their companies in the natural health sector never seem to mind that their kindred here are locked down in coffee competition. I guess Edmark blazed the trail in a battle with Nescafe. Nescafe was caffeinated coffee. High school (and I guess university, too) students of the 1960s were its unfailing patrons because it kept their heads awake for night reading especially at the approach of examinations. Edmark’s Ginseng Coffee was a knock out with many people, although the caffeine, milk and sugar irritated many others. Edmark was too slow to respond to criticisms. One of the winning secrets of this coffee was its aroma which, hyperbolically speaking, could diffuse to over a kilometer away. Another was the energy building potential.But the caffeine! Dynapharm tried to solve that problem with several brands in which sugar and dairy were subsumed with highlights of other medicinal components. For example, Dynapharm unleashed GI instant coffee with Tongkat Ali, GI Instant coffee mixture with Ganoderma and green tree extract, Red coffee mixture with ginseng and DI instant cappuccino coffee mixture. The Ganoderma Coffee brand addressed immunity with Ganoderma mushroom while Lapacino Coffee was an anti-microbial variant. Meanwhile, Edmark introduced a sugar free Ginseng Coffee. The market is a funny place with hosannah praises for a product today and howls of “crucify it” tomorrow. Customers who wanted no sugar, got “no sugar” but then thought coffee was dull without sugar! I lost touch with the coffee market until Aim Global sprang its Liven Alkaline Coffee on the market, claiming it was the world’s first alkaline coffee. I waited for this claim to be disputed before I stretched forth my hand and took its first sips. To my surprise, the coffee didn’t keep me awake beyond whenever I wished to sleep. Then, it must be truly alkaline, I reasoned, wondering if Dr. Don Colbert heard about it. He is a Christian doctor and author of health books which preach a return to the Creation Diet. A fastidious lover of coffee, caffeinated or not, he solves his caffeine problem, he says, by drinking his coffee with alkaline food supplements such as magnesium, calcium and zinc, which, he believes, takes away the acidity. Since he adds plenty of vitamin C, I often wonder if he recognises that, when not well buffered, large amounts of ascorbic acid, too, is acid. In Liven Alkaline Coffee, these fears were eliminated by completely taking out the caffeine and replacing it with about 20,000 alkaline substances, including antioxidants and phenolic compounds. These alkaline Aim global liven coffee brands are Liven Alkaline coffee original, Liven Alkaline Coffee Cappuccino, Liven Alkaline coffee latte and Liven Alkaline Coffee sugar free.
The coffee brand I would hear of almost soon after was trim and burn green coffee from LEIMALL. LEI stands for Life evergreen International of Delaware state in the United States. Trim and burn green coffee is targeted at cholesterol mishaps in the body, including obesity, hypertension, heart disease and heart attacks, and stroke. One of the key ingredients is green tea. But I have also heard some of the distributors talk about Malaysian white coffee and donkat Ali, the anti malarial and male virility herb. I do not know why trim and burn green coffee has been domesticated by its distributors in Nigeria as Manpower coffee. The distributors who push “manpower” to market the product are probably referring to Peruvian Macca, a possible component, which is known for improving productiion of sex hormones in men and women. It targets male virility with herbs which are tonics for the male reproductive system.
It is against this background that I view Shineway’s coffee brand as diving into a tumultuous sea to swim in rough weather as it were. We can guess its target market from its composition, a suggestion that the sky is wide enough for all manner of birds to comfortably fly.
In its Peptide Ginseng and Oyster Coffee Arabica, shineway is trying to say it’s ginseng is natural, not synthesised and the best quality. For there are many ginseng variants in the ginseng market, some mountain grown, others synthesised , yet more cultivated for commercialism. Ginseng peptide fractionalisation tells which kinds of ginseng proteins are available in the product. As for the oyster, this sea animal has for long been associated with make libido enhancement. With its rich resources of zinc, copper , manganese, phosphorus, selenium, vitamin D and several trace minerals.Oysters are also seen as good for preventing osteoporosis or weakening of the bones, especially in menopausal women. As a rich source of vitamin B12, oysters are good for brain health. VItamin B12 deficiency in the brain has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts. And also high selenium content makes it good for immunity, especially to prevent or to manage HIV.
Apologies Dr. Ubeng, if I do not visit all the shelves. I cannot depart, though without mentioning Neuro Booster from Shineway. There are seven plant ingredients in the formula. It is prescribed for brain nutrition, prevention of neuro degeneration, improvement of memory focus and recall, improvement for interest in, and capacity for learning, anti oxidant work, energy production, healthy blood circulation, anti stress activity, nervous system health, clearance of the brain among other uses.
It is a herb worth remembering in several situations, none the least of which are strokes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, depression, insomnia, nervous system insufficiency and the problems they cause. So, Dr. Ubeng, the coast is clear…!