Episode 216: MetaPWR Assist with Alex DaBell

doTERRA: When learning about a new product there is nothing better than talking to someone who helped create it, and that's what we're going to do today. Welcome back to Essential Oil Solutions with doTERRA, the podcast where you'll hear exciting, useful, and simple everyday uses for essential oils from experts in the field. Today’s episode is brought to you by the MetaPWR System. Designed to help you live your most powerful life, this three-step system will be a game-changer in your daily routine as you embark on your journey to supporting a healthy metabolism.

Right now, as a podcast exclusive if you buy the MetaPWR System and enter the promo code PODCAST at checkout, we’ll send you an exclusive audiobook, doTERRA MetaPWR: The 3-Step System for Metabolic Health. Check out the link in our episode description or visit doterra.com/podcastoffer to learn more. Open to US orders only. Today we're excited to talk to Alex DaBell, Director of Nutraceutical Development and Innovation, all about the brand new MetaPWR Assist.

Alex, thank you so much for sitting down with us today.

Alex DaBell: You bet. Happy to be here.

MetaPWR Assist

doTERRA: My first question, I just would love an overview. Can you give us an introduction to MetaPWR Assist?

Alex DaBell: Yeah, MetaPWR Assist, it's a product that we designed to really help improve our metabolic outcomes from metabolizing carbohydrates. We know that carbohydrates are just sugar chains, and we want to reduce the negative impact of metabolizing those sugar chains. So, we chose the name Assist intentionally because this product really helps your body in this metabolic response to turn fast carbohydrates into slow carbohydrates.

And this reduces our overall blood sugar levels. We put this into a nice small capsule in a nice small bottle for easy on the go use. And it really helps to reduce the overall glycemic impact from your diet.

doTERRA: And I love the emphasis there on easy use because that makes such a difference, when you're trying to make these health changes and create habits, making it easy, making it really convenient. That's amazing. Now, you were very closely involved on the development and the research that went into this product. Can you tell us about the formulation journey for MetaPWR Assist?

Alex DaBell: When we first started talking about metabolic health, we recognized early on we even knew before, the significant impact that blood sugar plays kind of as a gateway metabolic marker for your overall metabolic health. So, we wanted to keen on how can we help people in keeping their blood sugar levels in that healthy range?

And so, of these five typical metabolic health markers, we zeroed in on blood sugar and we know a few things about blood sugar. One is that most of the sugar in your blood comes from your diet. So, that gives us a key on how we can impact that. But then we also know that the amount of blood sugar is tightly regulated by an intricate hormone system, namely insulin and glucagon.

And so, we wanted to reduce the amount of sugar that gets into your blood. And we also wanted to improve the absorption of that sugar from the blood. And you can do this with different lifestyle choices in your activity levels, your sleep patterns, your, managing your stress and having healthy relationships. These are all things that play into, you know, what your blood sugar patterns look like.

So, we have a passion for natural products and water and the benefits that they can provide. And so, we looked and thought, "which plants which botanical extracts in in the natural space can really move the blood sugar needle for us?" And that's where the mulberry leaf extract came into play, and specifically the amino sugars from the mulberry leaf. And the way that they work is really quite fascinating, the intricacies and biochemically what's going on there.

We've combined the mulberry leaf extract with berberine and with cinnamon powder, which are also recognized for helping with blood sugar management. So, to these three botanicals, we've combined our MetaPWR essential oil blend, and we have this awesome MetaPWR Assist product.

Blood Glucose in the Body

doTERRA: I always love hearing about the care that is taken to choose these ingredients that have this history of helping with these specific things in the body and supporting and making sure we can continue on that healthy journey. So, you mentioned blood sugar in there a few times. How is blood glucose managed in the body? Does the body actually need glucose? And what is a normal glucose level for most people?

Alex DaBell: Yeah, great questions. The body does need glucose. Absolutely. And that's why it's so carefully regulated from a hormonal perspective. If your glucose is too high, then you have insulin to help pull the glucose out of the blood into the cells. And if your insulin in your blood is too low, then you have glucagon secreted from the pancreas to help release glucose from the liver to increase that level. So, it's a, it's a very good system of regulating that normal range. So, the healthy range and I'll, I'll mention what that healthy range is, but your body does need glucose.

You produce ATP, the body's energy currency, adenosine triphosphate is produced from blood glucose. This goes into, you know, through glycolysis, into pyruvate in into the mitochondria to make ATP. So, it's absolutely required for us. I mentioned that the different lifestyle choices that we make, whether that's our activity levels, the types of foods that we're eating, so our dietary choices, managing our stress, our restorative sleep, our relationships, these all play into our metabolic health regulation.

So, about the healthy blood glucose ranges, you have normal ranges, and they fluctuate throughout the day, but the normal healthy range in a fasted state and you have it after your eating. So, in a fasted state, you want those numbers to be below 100 milligrams per deciliter in the blood. And after you eat food, normally the blood glucose levels will rise. But even after eating within about 2 hours, you want to see that be within the 140 milligrams per deciliter.

So, in the fasted state, if you haven't eaten for more than 8 hours, it can go down to 70 milligrams per deciliter. So, if you're staying in that, 70 milligrams to 140 milligram range, then that's a healthy blood glucose range.

doTERRA: So, now that we know what a healthy range is, what do these glucose levels look like for most people throughout the day? And what does it mean to actually manage that glucose?

Alex DaBell: Yeah, so managing it, I mentioned that there's careful intricate hormones that are involved, but there's lifestyle choices that we can make to improve the management of the blood glucose to increase our sensitivity to those hormones. If we're consuming, you know, refined carbohydrates, then we're going to see a really sharp spike in blood glucose. If we're consuming a more complex carbohydrate or we're consuming a full, complete meal with not just carbohydrates but with proteins and fats, that's going to help to take a very sharp spike in and a crash and normalize that into more of a slow rolling hill.

And that's important for overall health, not just metabolic health, but your overall health and energy levels throughout the day. So, there's a lot of things that we can do from a lifestyle choice, you know, what kinds of foods we're putting in our body and the activity levels, the stress that we're managing.

Blood Sugar and Metabolic Health

doTERRA: So, you mentioned our metabolic health again there. We've talked a lot about our blood sugar and how we can support it with our lifestyle factors, how it works, everything like that. But this is the MetaPWR System. It's focused on metabolic health. So, how are blood glucose levels and our metabolic health connected?

Alex DaBell: Yeah. When we first started talking about supporting metabolic health in the design phase of this whole line, we knew that blood glucose was a key gateway marker for all these other factors. There's five primary metabolic health markers, but glucose is so critical there. So, we really wanted to key in on keeping the blood glucose in the in the normal range. Yeah, so blood glucose and metabolic health are very tightly connected and not even just metabolic health, but like our healthspan. So, our quality of life.

We've talked about blood glucose spikes and crashes. This is related to a term called glycemic variability. This is the idea that you have large, sharp swings in the amount of glucose in your blood. So this glucose or glycemic variability, the more that you have the spikes and crashes, the more wear and tear it puts on your cells.

So, you have oxidation happening, you have glycation of proteins and enzymes and all these processes that happen as a result of high levels of glucose variance. They are really wearing down your body and that takes a toll on your metabolic health. It takes a toll on your overall healthspan.

So, there's actually been some recent publications. This whole area of glucose variability in healthspan has been an area of interest in the scientists and just average people more and more. And some recent publications, even just from this year looked at the association between this this glucose variability and centenarians or how many people are living to be 100 years old or older and they saw this really tight relationship between people who can keep that glucose variability low, are able to live longer.

So, their lifespan is increasing, their healthspan is increasing, their quality of life, their metabolic health, they're all increasing--if they can keep those blood sugar spikes to a minimum.

MetaPWR Assist Clinical Trials

doTERRA: That is incredible. And it's incredible to see such direct effects from having these healthy glucose levels and making these really smart lifestyle choices. One of the really exciting things about the MetaPWR System is how much research has been done on these products. Will you tell us about the clinical trial done on the MetaPWR Assist?

DaBell: Yeah, I'd love to. We're pretty excited about. We take a lot of pride in the research that goes into the products and then the research that comes out of the products, both in designing them and then clinically validating them. So, MetaPWR Assist has been through a couple of clinical trials. The first one was really, I think, one of the biggest eye-opening experiences for us. We looked at, the population size, these are 15 healthy participants, so non-disease state and they were fed, for one week they were fed certain meals and then the next week this was without the product and then the next week they were fed the same meals with the product.

So, these 15 participants who are healthy, who are eating normal meals in a controlled setting with and without the product, saw a reduction in postprandial or post-mealtime blood glucose of 13%. And this was statistically significant. And one of the reasons it's so exciting for us is because when you have a relatively small population size like 15 participants, you don't always get statistical significance because the variability can be attributed to other things.

But to see that statistical significance in such a small group told us, you know, with a high degree of confidence that this product truly is doing what we designed it to do, and that's helping to reduce those blood sugar spikes. And one of the benefits associated with that is that these participants are seeing more sustained energy levels throughout the day instead of the spike and the crash.

doTERRA: And it's so powerful to see results like that on a product that you can get your hands on. Anyone can buy this. You don't have to go through any special protocol. You can have this in your life. You can be taking it every day and see those same results, which is so amazing.

Alex, you have given us so much incredible information and we have learned so much more about our blood sugar and MetaPWR Assist and how they work together. So, before we end, who is MetaPWR Assist for, who should be using this product?

Alex DaBell: Yeah. So really, anybody who's consuming carbohydrates, so carbohydrates are one of the three main macronutrient types. So, you have carbohydrates, proteins and fats. And I mentioned that carbohydrates are really just sugar chains. So, when you consume those carbohydrates and you metabolize them, they're broken into little glucose molecules that are taken up by the blood.

We've talked about like that glucose is important, you need glucose, but you want to avoid the spikes. So, anybody consuming carbohydrates is going to want to keep a lid on those spikes. Right?

Instead of these sharp spikes and dips, you want to have it a smoother, more moderated response. And so, anybody really that's using are consuming in their diet carbohydrates, which is virtually all of us can benefit from using this product.

doTERRA: Well, I definitely want to work it into my daily routine. And from the sounds of the trials that you've been able to do on this, everyone else should as well. Alex, thank you so much for sitting down with us today, for teaching us, we always love learning from you.

Alex DaBell: It's been my pleasure.

Thanks for joining us and congratulations on living a healthier lifestyle with essential oils. If you want to try any of the products you learned about, click on the link in the episode description or find a Wellness Advocate near you to place an order today. And remember, if you liked what you heard today, rate review and subscribe wherever you listen.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.