January 2019 Quality Message (What is Quality?)

Greetings ARIIX Family,

As we enter the New Year, we’d like to focus on the Core Principles of ARIIX Quality. As you probably learned from the wonderful video highlighting ARIIX Quality that our superb Marketing group developed, these Core Principles are:

• The Discipline of Quality
• Sound Science
• Formulation, Sourcing and Manufacturing for Quality
• The ARIIX Seal of Approval

We’ll spend a few issues of this Journal focusing on each of these four Principles. 

What is Quality?

The English word “quality” comes to us from the Latin word qualis, meaning “what type” or “that type,” used to describe the attributes of something (i.e., what is it like?), and then became generalized to convey overall goodness, both in people and things. 

In the production of goods, the principles of quality were considered trade secrets for centuries and became a competitive edge for those craftsmen who understood how to make a “quality” product. Since the Industrial Revolution, understanding the principles of Quality in manufacturing became a requirement for companies to succeed, as those who did not embrace these principles and the philosophy behind them found themselves out-competed by companies who did. It was during this time that the systematic approach to understanding the principles of Quality in manufacturing was established. 

Quality as an academic and professional discipline is relatively young, having become popular during the Twentieth Century due to the efforts of experts such as W. Edwards Deming and others who expanded the concepts of Quality and Process Control in manufacturing and taught them all over the world. Because of these experts, there are literally hundreds of books written on the subject. 

In summary, the Discipline of Quality is made up of many aspects, including:

• Standards — these include:
• Specifications
• Measurements
• Methods
• Equipment
• Processes
• Records of all of the above

Product Quality can be defined as the combination of the following manufacturer and consumer variables (and the questions they answer):

• Manufacturer
  • Product purpose/intended use (What kind of product is it? What is the product for?)
  • Product specifications (What’s the product like?)
  • Actual product attributes (How well does the product meet the manufacturer’s specifications?)
  • Consistency in meeting manufacturer’s specifications (How often can the manufacturer meet specifications?)
• Consumer
  • Consumer expectations (What does the consumer want/need?)
  • How well the product meets consumer expectations (Does this product meet their wants or needs?)
  • The degree of consistency of product meeting consumer expectations (How often does the product meet consumer wants/needs?)

Dr. Strand’s Medical Minute #4: RDAs vs. Optimal Levels

One of the reasons most physicians do not recommend supplements for their patients, even though studies show that nearly 70% of physicians are taking them themselves, is because they have been taught that all we need is the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of micronutrients. If you consume a healthy diet, it is certainly possible to get this level of nutrients. However, you must understand the origin of RDAs. These RDAs were developed in the late 1930s and early 1940s to establish the minimal amount of micronutrients required to prevent acute deficiency diseases like pellagra, scurvy and rickets.

When I began studying about the possible health benefits of taking nutritional supplements, I was concerned about chronic degenerative diseases like heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, dementia and macular degeneration. What I quickly learned was that RDAs have absolutely nothing to do with chronic degenerative diseases. For example, the RDA of vitamin E is 30 IU; however, you don’t begin to see a health benefit until you supplement with at least 100 IU of vitamin E. This health benefit increases as you increase the amount of vitamin E supplemented. Most researchers in nutritional medicine now believe that the optimal level of vitamin E is 300 to even 400 IU.

I told my patients for years that they did not need to take supplements and that they could get everything they needed by eating a healthy diet. When I began to realize that RDAs had nothing to do with the types of diseases I was trying to prevent, I had to rethink my decision not to recommend supplements. As I mentioned earlier, the optimal level of vitamin E is 400 IU. Why not just have my patients eat 400 IU of vitamin E? They would need to eat 33 heads of spinach or 28 pounds of butter or 5 pounds of wheat germ each day to get that much vitamin E! The optimal level of vitamin C is about 1,000 to 2,000 mg daily (the RDA is only 60 mg). My patients would have to eat 18 large oranges or 80 avocados to get that amount of vitamin C from their diet.

I believe we must maintain a healthy diet that includes 6 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables, along with good fats and proteins. However, there was no way my patients could receive health benefits from optimal levels of nutrients without supplementing their diet. It became very obvious to me that my patients needed to supplement their diets with high-quality, complete and balanced nutritional supplements for the best protection against chronic degenerative diseases.

Product News:

1. It is common in the skincare industry to occasionally be required by government agencies to label products with warnings when shipping, even though they pose little to no actual risk to the end user when used correctly.

You may notice additional labeling on orders of Skincerity® and Skincerity Renew®. The ingredient used to ensure these products remain liquid is the same key ingredient found in many other cosmetics and skin care products, such as nail polish and hair spray. This ingredient is classified by many government agencies as flammable, if it is used incorrectly.

So if you see an additional sticker on your delivery, like the one pictured below, don’t worry! It’s the same great product you’ve always used.

 

2. One final note we’d like to share with you is an update to the White Paper summarizing testing that we’ve commissioned for the Puritii™ Water Filtration System. The update can be found on the last page, which shows the reduction or elimination of Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances (PFAS) from water. The updated White Paper is attached.