Raena Morgan: Hello, I’m visiting with Dr. Stuart Reeves. He is the Director of Research
and Development at Embria Health Sciences, and we’re talking about
EpiCor. And, Dr. Reeves, when I told my son in Florida that I was going
to be visiting with Embria about EpiCor…I told him the history and how it
had helped people’s immune systems. And, I told him it was yeast based.
He was very puzzled. He said, “I thought that yeast wasn’t good for you.”
And doesn’t yeast have a bad name, a bad rep these days Dr. Reeves?
Dr. Stuart Reeves: There’s a lot of confusion about the term—yeast. There are many, many
different species of yeast. And yes, some of them, like some of the
Candida species, are, in fact, extremely bad for you. The yeast we use is
saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is better known as brewer’s yeast or
baker’s yeast. It’s the same yeast used to make bread, beer, wine; it’s all
over nature. If you leave orange juice out on the counter yeast will drop in
and ferment it.
Raena Morgan: Really?
Dr. Stuart Reeves: Oh yes. And, this yeast is harmless as far as anybody has ever been able to
discover. We have been using it and consuming it for thousands and
thousands of years. There are some people who say they are allergic to
yeast and people who never eat baked products, never drink any fermented
products—no beers, no wines—people who wash and sterilize all their
food all the time to avoid all yeasts—maybe they shouldn’t be taking
EpiCor. But anyone that eats bread and drinks wine—
Raena Morgan: Or beer—
Dr. Stuart Reeves: Or beer—should be extremely safe taking EpiCor. And, having explained
that yeast is harmless, I do need to add that EpiCor isn’t just yeast.
Raena Morgan: Okay.
Dr. Stuart Reeves: If EpiCor were just yeast you could go out and eat bread. Its yeast
fermented in a proprietary fermentation medium. We stress the yeast to
make it produce a whole range of metabolites. In fact, the yeast thinks it’s
in a bad environment when we make it and it’s trying to save itself. So, it
produces a lot of chemicals that help keep it alive. And, then we take this
whole fermentation—everything—and we dry it to preserve everything
that’s in it in the form that it was in before we started drying. So, yes, our
product is yeast based and contains yeast. It also contains a lot of other
things that [explain] why it impacts our immune system in such a general
balancing manner. It’s not a single component. It’s not a single active
ingredient like [in] many products. It’s a complex fermentation mixture
with multiple complex reactions.
Raena Morgan: You’ve mentioned other ingredients beyond yeast, what would those be
Dr. Reeves?
Dr. Stuart Reeves: These include vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, proteins, amino acids—
there’s a whole range of healthy beneficial parts of our complex product.
Raena Morgan: And it is complex, and it’s not just yeast.
Dr. Stuart Reeves: It’s extremely complex. If it was just yeast anybody could make it. We
make something unique.
Raena Morgan: Okay. Well, thank you Dr. Reeves.
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