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What's All the Fuss About Anti-Oxidants?
Interview with Keith Bagarus
by Mia Cronan, MainStreetMom.com

Keith, tell us a little about yourself...

Well Mia, thanks for taking the time to talk to me today. I am 45 years old, happily married, and the father of three beautiful daughters. I have a great job, however it’s pretty sedentary. Although I never considered myself a salesman, I moved from engineering to engineering sales because I really believe my company is the best at what we do.

What first encouraged you to learn more about MonaVie?

I consider myself to be in pretty good health, but I was certainly starting to feel the effects of aging. You know those nagging little aches and pains. I have had both knees operated on after years of basketball wear and tear. My wrists and shoulders were aching from bursitis, arthritis, or some kind of "itis." I know I don’t eat right. I mean, I like fruit but just never seemed to eat it. I’d ask my wife to buy some and then make her mad because I didn’t eat it, and if would go bad.

Also, my father is suffering from stroke damage and Alzheimer’s, so I committed to my family that I would do something to reduce my chances of ending up the same way.

At the same time, a good friend of mine introduced me to MonaVie. He told me wonderful stories of people he knows that are experiencing wonderful results by simply taking two ounces of this delicious fruit beverage twice a day. It almost sounds too good to be true when you start hearing about all the good things MonaVie is doing for people. What hit home for me is that I have met these people and know the results are real. I confidently say now that MonaVie is Real People- Real Results.

What sealed the deal for me and made it a no-brainer to give it a try was when I learned that I get between 5-9 servings of fruit a day by simply drinking 2-4 ounces of MonaVie a day. We are all busy people and we want/need a convenient way to get the nutrition we need.

Have you noticed changes in your health since you started drinking MonaVie?

You know, I figured I was a good test case because, as I said earlier, I don’t eat much fruit.  Also I did not make any other significant changes in my lifestyle.  Within two weeks after drinking 4 ounces a day, I was sleeping better than ever (just ask my wife) and my wrists and shoulders no longer had the nagging aches.  I’ve even started lifting weights again because my shoulders feel so much better.   My skin is also doing much better this winter and I have avoided all of the cold and flu bugs that went through my house and my children’s schools.  That is a first for me.  I didn’t even get a flu shot this winter because I wanted to see if MonaVie was enough; and I hate needles.  So far so good.

What is in the drink that makes it so wonderful?

The crown jewel of MonaVie is the Acai berry. Acai is from the Amazon, and it is the perfect fruit. It actually has the profile of an egg. This berry has the highest level of Antioxidants of any fruit tested. It also contains Omegas 3, 6, & 9. To make sure MonaVie is a balanced beverage, Acai is combined with 18 other powerful, organic, fruits. On the whole, MonaVie delivers not only antioxidants and essential fatty acids (the Omegas), but also phtyonutrients, amino acids, complex carbohydrates, and vitamins and minerals. And understand, MonaVie is a whole food. MonaVie uses the whole fruit. The skins, seeds, and pulp are all made in to the juice. And yes Mia, you want to shake the bottle before you pour your daily servings!

Tell our readers more about anti-oxidants and what they do.

As our bodies use oxygen to create energy, we produce a by-product called FREE-RADICALS. While our cells use oxygen efficiently through the process of oxidation, it always causes some type of change. Oxidation causes cell damage and, for the most part, our bodies replace the damaged cells with new ones. However, about 2% of the cells that become damaged in the process, turn into free-radicals and can start a chain reaction process of harming more cells.

Uncontrolled free-radical activity has been linked to cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, and strokes.

Now here’s a key point, Mia; Most of the time our body controls these free-radicals by producing natural ANTIOXIDANTS. However, today we are all faced with external toxins in our environment that generate more free-radicals. Air pollution, cigarette smoke, pesticides, excessive amounts of alcohol, processed foods, hydrogenated oil, fried and browned food, preservatives, and UV radiation from the sun all contribute to free-radical generation. Even physical and emotional stress have been blamed for increased free-radicals as well as.

What are some of the health benefits for which MonaVie is known? 

Let’s start by making one point very clear.  MonaVie is a nutritional beverage, a supplement if you will.  It does not claim to cure anything.  That being said, there is a University of Florida study that has shown the Acai berry destroyed cultured human cancer cells in a lab.  Overall, antioxidants fight inflammation which is linked to so many of our problems today; heart disease, stokes, arthritis, cancer, asthma.  And since MonaVie is all natural, the sugars in it are actually good for you and may help with diabetes.   

Antioxidants help our cells work more efficiently.  That means they require less energy to function and that is why many people have more energy on a daily basis after drinking MonaVie. 

MonaVie may also improve sleep.  It improved mine greatly.

It’s funny, since MonaVie affects people differently; you can find all kind of claims of how it helped people.  These claims, while true, almost make MonaVie sound like the snake oil of earlier times.  That’s why I hesitate to go on and on about how it can help.  I already mentioned what it has done for me. 

But let me summarize.  MonaVie has antioxidants which we have already discussed.  It also contains the fatty acid Omegas that play a key role in our metabolism.  It also contains phytonutrients and complex carbohydrates that help support our immune system.  And it also contains Amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins which are vital to the formation of body tissue and cells. 

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