Hello everyone. I'm Haley Hellquist, device director here at Nu Skin, and I'll be your host today as we dive into a powerful topic that touches every part of our health, especially our nutritional health. But before we jump in, I want to quickly set the stage from my perspective as a device director. At Nu Skin, we're deeply committed to combining cutting-edge innovation with wellness. And that starts with how we use technology to unlock insights about the body. With tools like the original Pharmanex BioPhotonic Scanner, we've translated complex biophotonic detection and large-scale data modeling into something incredibly personal, powerful, easily understood, and most importantly, meaningful. The new ageLOC Meta device is a tool that measures carotenoids in the skin to provide a window into your nutritional health that's actionable and easy to understand. As someone who works on the how we measure, how we improve, and how we personalize, I find this fascinating. But today, I'm joined by the real experts in the what and the why. They'll help us understand why the new device has evolved into an instrument that indicates nutritional health, and why the measurement of carotenoids has reached this level of clinical relevance. Why does it matter so much to our health, wellness, and even how we age? Now, I'm thrilled to introduce two of Nu Skin's top scientists. First, the esteemed chair of our scientific advisory board, Dr. Joe Chang. Welcome, Joe.
Thanks, Haley. Happy to be here.
And we also have our director of research and development, Dr. Shelley Hester. Welcome, Shelley.
Hi, Haley. Great to join you today.
Awesome. Let's go ahead and dive into this. Joe, can you walk us through oxidative stress? What is it and why does it matter in nutritional health?
Sure, Haley. Well, first of all, you know, when we look at oxidative stress, it's really a type of stress that's caused by what we call unstable molecules that are commonly known as free radicals. So, these free radicals damage cells. So, it's a bit like rusting from the inside out. So, that's not good. Even healthy people, you know, deal with trillions of these oxidative hits every day, either from stress, pollution, and even diet. Okay. The problem with oxidative stress therefore is that it is insidious. It's a big challenge. And if left unchecked, what happens is it actually accelerates tissue aging.
Wow, that sounds really serious. Shelley, how does this kind of cellular damage appear in our lives?
Yeah. So, I'd really like to emphasize what Joe said in that it impacts so many things. Things like how we age, our immune systems, even how our skin looks. What we've learned from 25 million scans with our original scanner over the years and other related independent studies, I mean, oxidative stress in our bodies is linked to nutritional health.
Okay. If oxidative stress is such a critical player in health, are there any interventions that could help to protect us and improve our nutritional health?
Yeah, so we have natural intrinsic antioxidant mechanisms that help. So these are antioxidant mechanisms that we have within our bodies. But unfortunately as we age, our diet changes. These systems don't work as well. And the body needs supplemental micronutrients to really fortify these defense mechanisms. So when consumed in the right amounts, antioxidants from our diet, they really can neutralize the excess free radicals helping to restore or preserve this nutritional health. All right, Joe. Where do we get such nutritional health boosters? Some are potent antioxidants, right?
Yeah, that's true. Absolutely. Well, our body has developed really powerful mechanisms, natural mechanisms to address oxidative stress inside the body, but you still need fruits and vegetables, which are also great sources of nutritional boosters, I call them. You know, these plant compounds are not just colorful. They're critical to reinforcing aging defense mechanisms that are being regulated by nutritional health.
Shelley, I've been hearing about carotenoids as well. Can you explain their special role in beauty and wellness?
Yeah, so carotenoids like beta carotene, lutein or lycopene are excellent indicators of healthy eating. They support skin radiance, eye health and even overall vitality. So in addition, I mean, they really are a leading indicator of our antioxidant network and can amplify other antioxidants. So our millions of scans have helped us understand the correlations between antioxidants and nutritional health and that someone that consumes more fruits and vegetables or supplements, they tend to have a higher score when scanned.
Wow, fruits and vegetables are really important. Joe, how does Nu Skin help people track their antioxidant health? How do we know?
