Every so often I receive emails from readers that either move my heart, or contain good ideas. This one does both:

Hi Jini,
I have noticed a real difference in the way I feel taking 2 Absorb Plus shakes a day for my diverticulitis.  Before your shakes, I was very weak walking with a cane for support.
My son has Crohn’s disease and has started taking a shake for breakfast (Immune System recipe) and the Mucosaheal at bedtime.
We both feel the Berry flavor is too sweet so we cut it with the Unsweetened Vanilla (2 scoops of each).  We also feel 4 scoops of the Chocolate is too strong so we cut that with the Berry or Unsweetened Vanilla flavor (2+1+1  or 2+2 scoops).  I have not tried the French Vanilla by itself, I usually blend it with Chocolate, or fruit juice, or fruit.  Fresh peach (skinned) with the French Vanilla is delicious.
I am now reintroducing foods, and still taking a shake per day.
Thank you for some great products, they make a difference to my health.
– Lisa B.

I especially like Lisa’s idea of mixing the Vanilla with a peach (for those of you who are NOT on an elemental diet) – I think that would taste wonderful. And as Lisa points out, now that we have both Unsweetened and regular French Vanilla, you can play with the proportions to get exactly the amount of sweetness and strength of flavor you desire.

For those of you concerned about the fructose in the regular Absorb Plus flavors (especially since Dr. Joseph Mercola has been on such a fructose-bashing crusade), I’m going to be posting in-depth soon about WHY I’ve lowered the fructose in Absorb Plus, but I have still kept some in there.

I’m also currently working on an Absorb Plus that uses tapioca maltodextrin (from cassava root), rather than corn-extracted maltodextrin. So that will be rolling out soon and the product will be safer for those with corn allergies and we’ll also get away from the GMO crop drift that’s happening with corn in North America.

Remember, that the products I formulate are dynamic. I do not follow conventional practices and keep a product exactly the same because I’m afraid of losing customers who don’t like the new one. Guess what? Most people do not like change. However, I will continue to make changes to improve my products as more research, better extraction technology, and new/better ingredients become available. Because I believe that health takes priority, so if I can make it healthier, but still taste nice, I will.

In the last set of changes I made, we did have a number of people complaining about the change, but most people still said something like, “I don’t like the taste of the new Absorb Plus as much, but I know it’s better for my health, so that’s okay.” To be honest, if those people had a sample of the old Absorb Plus on the counter next to a sample of the new Absorb Plus – in a blind taste test – they would most likely choose the new one anyway! I know, because that is exactly what I do with family and friends when I’m re-formulating.

And I always, always test on kids. I especially like to test on kids whose parents feed them a lot of processed crap, with turbo-charged chemical flavors; because if their tastebuds say it’s okay, then I know it will be fine with most people’s palate. In fact, here’s a video I shot of my daughter Zara and her friend Kenzie taste-testing my latest Absorb Plus Chocolate Royale, so you can see what I mean: