From injury to innovation
Carina Ayden, a powerhouse behind a range of innovative food products, discovered the link between a healthy gut and overall well-being early on in life. At a very young age she suffered an injury while ice-skating.
Her childhood was punctured by hospital visits and surgical interventions, pushed her to discover the healing power of nutrition. Gut biome supplementation with probiotics, prebiotics and holistic nutrition played an integral role in her post-op recoveries.
In 2012, well ahead of the global gut health trend and consumer awareness about probiotics, she unveiled the first-ever Cleveland Clinic – certified snack with live cultures onto the US market.
Nowadays there are a lot of different diets and eating systems: keto, low fat, low-sugar, plant-based, piscarians, fruitarian, vegan etc. Nevertheless, most diets are not very healthy. What exactly causes problems with the gut?
640 million Americans die in the U.S. from preventable diseases. Westernized diets costs 64 Billion in healthcare costs. Western Diet (high in saturated and trans fats, high in sugar, sodium and highly processed) lead to obesity, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is like a domino effect where a person develops many inflammatory conditions. Western diet is known to disrupt balanced gut biome. Additionally, the use of antibiotics, access alcohol consumption, and chronic stress can negatively affect the fragile gut balance.
Snacks are huge in America. Revenue in the Snack Food segment amounts to US $506.20 bn in 2022. But not all of them are healthy. Do you think that healthy snacks market share can grow?
First of all, we need to redefine what “healthy” means. If something is ‘high in protein’ it doesn’t mean that it’s healthy. If the snack is made of just one single ingredient – doesn’t mean it’s healthy. It’s the fad diets trends that confuse people. Healthy snacks should be low in bad stuff that’s prevalent in traditional Westernized diets and offer more functional benefits like: satiety, gut biome support, etc.
Why are healthier snack options usually more expensive?
The only impediment to pushing the healthier options to the forefront is the price point. No matter how much someone wants to eat better in the end they bite with their wallets. It’s understandable especially in this climate of strep inflation. The root cause of increased prices of healthy snacks and other healthier options is the sugar, dairy and meat lobby. The sugar is in everything. It’s virtually free. So the companies that are not bothered with the public health aspect and the health IQ of the future generations, interestingly, also happen to produce products / snacks that are easy and cheap to manufacture, that are loaded with sugar exceeding all the nutritional guidelines, and highly processed with high amounts of sodium. On the other hand the companies that are trying to give nutrition a lift use more expensive wholesome ingredients and healthier sugar substitutes like monk fruit extracts and a few others. The process of creating most of the healthy options is longer because the idea is to not throw the excess amounts of butter, salt and sugar in everything but to create a balanced nutritional profile and a great taste.
The economy of healthy snacks doesn’t stack up against the conventional ones. Monk fruit gets its sweetness from antioxidant mogrosides. Monk fruit extract has the potential to be a low-glycemic natural sweetener. The problem is that sugar is subsidized and the price per pound online is $2.20 where the price for monk fruit extract is ~ $600. The numbers hold the true state of disposition. Even though the monk fruit is much sweeter than sugar it’s usually never used alone in the formulation and requires additional sources of sweeteners like superfood baobab, inulin (prebiotic fiber) or more nutrient-dense sugars like maple syrup. Thus the combination of these ingredients creates the sweetness equilibrium, has potential to be low glycemic and keep sugars as low as 1-2g of total sugar per serving. But this healthy change only of sugar will cost a company 20-30 times more if they just used simple cane sugar.
A burger with meat made from a cow cost less than a meat pattie made from plants like peas and beans. Why? The cow needs land, so much food, water and other resources while the pea doesn’t. That’s not right. The lobbyist agenda is to keep elbowing every farmer and producer and be the first in line on the capitol hill which results in the unjust food system we have today.
What are the most popular reasons for gut health being distressed?
Chronic stress, antibiotic use, high sugar diets, alcohol, to name a few.
Does sugar disrupt the gut biome?
According to a multitude of studies, sugar does alter the gut microbiome. Sugary diet sets off a chain of events that lead to metabolic disease.
It seems like everybody nowadays knows that potato chips are more likely bad for you, but the power of habit still determines consumer habits. Do you see any effective ways to change it?
Changing consumer habits is a multi billion dollar challenge. The best way is to create better for you products within the same category that will offer healthier options without making someone change their routine and things they love.
Do you believe that gut health influences the quality of life?
There are many many ways to answer this question. From the ecosystem perspective, every part of the ecosystem plays an integral role in the survival and the quality of life of the very system it is a part of. If the human body is the ecosystem than gut health plays a big role in how it functions.
Another way to answer would be based on just numbers: 70% of our immune system lies in our gut, and 90% of mood regulating hormone serotonin is produced in our gut. These two facts speak volumes in regards to the importance of gut health plays in an overall health.
What does your diet look like?
I don’t like the word diet. For me, it implies limitation or scarcity. In general, I eat Mediterranean style food with elements of world fusion. My diverse background definitely exposed me to so many different foods so I would never be able to choose just one.
Do you believe that entrepreneurs who eat healthy are more effective?
I believe in the power of a balanced mind and body. If one eats healthy but is constantly stressed out and doesn’t sleep per se then their healthy eating habits would only yield them a small wiggle room when it comes to productivity. What I learned in life that if we strive to eat clean, breathe clean air, drink clean water we should also strive to have clean thoughts and intentions. Purity of our thoughts dictates the quality of our lives. I’m not a believer in one sided approach to anything.
What are your top 5 tips to protect your gut health?
The top 3 tips are the ones that always do it for me and the easiest ones to start with:
- Daily workouts to decrease cortisol levels to help offset the daily stressors
- Eat a balanced diet
- Opt for foods that contain probiotics, prebiotics
Additionally, I suggest a minimum of 15 minutes of meditation to help further address the stressors and calm the nervous mind. The last one is for people who might have recently taken antibiotics, known to disrupt good bacteria in the gut, or if there’s any known ailment related to the disbacteriosis. Regenerative doctors and practitioners would be able to suggest certain probiotic strains that address some of the particular issues.
