What went down at the TL Insider Fireside Chat with Dr. NavNirat Nibber, Medical Advisor at AOR about integrating wellness into your daily life
AOR’s launch of the WHOLISTIC brand, a conversation on integrating wellness practices to your everyday routine
In partnership with Advanced Orthomolecular Research (AOR), TL Insider hosted a virtual fireside chat with Dr. NavNirat Nibber, AOR’s Medical Advisor. Hosted by Jason Maghanoy, vice president of digital solutions and business development at SJC Media, the fireside chat covered the supplement industry and wellness space. Specifically, Nibber, who is a registered Naturopathic doctor, chatted with TL Insider about how to include wellness in your daily life.
The chat started with a discussion about the crowded nature of the wellness space. Maghanoy asked how AOR stands out, especially against celebrity and influencer-backed brands. How AOR stands out, Nibber said, is in the company’s participation in the industry’s growth—they’ve been in business since the wellness industry was still in its infancy. Nibber also notes that AOR is special because they manufacture all their products themselves. There’s also a team of scientists and clinicians working to make sure the products are effective. “We have a degree of credibility and relevance and deep understanding needed to make a formulation actually work with the body and help us avoid the pitfalls of trendy things that don’t work,” she said.
Next, Maghanoy asked Nibber how consumers can tell a supplement is high-quality. Quality, according to Nibber, has to do with overseeing the product’s manufacturing and development: it’s important for consumers to make sure that their supplements are regulated in some way. Luckily, in Canada, Health Canada regulates any product that goes to market. Second, Nibber said it’s important to make sure that products are third-party tested—meaning that another lab has verified the claims a company is making. But when it comes down to it, the most important thing is to ask questions of the company, particularly around what standards they follow and what third-party testing, if any, has been done.
The conversation then shifted towards self-care—especially around holiday stress. “How can one begin a wellness journey?” asked Maghanoy. Nibber said she hopes that wellness can shift to become something that people define for themselves. “Identify what your end goals are—what does it look like to live a healthy and well life? Does it mean a better work/life balance? Does it mean more sleep?” said Nibber. Then, take stock of where you are in terms of your stress levels, mental health and so on. This might mean making doctor’s appointments and getting medical tests done, which Nibber advocates for as a good way to find any underlying health issues. “Before we start supplementing, maybe we want to see [the baseline],” she said. “Understand where you want to go, know where you are currently and start to develop a program that addresses each of those spaces.”
Then, Maghanoy asked what sorts of improvements people see when they start taking supplements. “It requires an individualized approach,” answered Nibber. “It’s a powerful tool but it’s one of many tools, it needs to be incorporated into a holistic perspective. It’s not a silver bullet approach that we’ve been conditioned to rely on when we talk about taking something.” Again, Nibber stressed the importance of knowing your baseline so you know what you need, notice improvements and adjust if necessary.
The conversation then shifted to Nibber’s career and asked her about the role that mentorship played in her career development. “I have been so fortunate to have mentorship within a family business,” she said. “In a family business, you see how much work ethic goes into building a company, you see the struggles and how it wasn’t just him (Dr. Traj Nibber, AOR’s founder) —my aunts grew this company right beside my uncle. It’s very inspiring.” Her uncle’s passion, she said, inspired her and there isn’t a better mentor than him.
After the career chat, Maghanoy asked Nibber what sort of life advice she’d give about daily wellness. Nibber said that she’s been giving herself more space. “When you’re in the wellness space, particularly with influencer culture, there’s an idea that you have to be a perfect emblem of a ‘healthy’ lifestyle,” she explained. But knowing yourself and what you need to truly feel well is the most important. “It’s about getting those basics right and protecting my peace.”
The conversation ended with Nibber sharing what’s next for her and AOR. She said that accessibility is the next step for her and AOR: because of all the financial burdens on consumers these days, increasing the amount of people who can access supplementation is important to her. To increase accessibility to supplements, AOR has launched a new brand called WHOLISTIC, a premium brand that’s more accessible. “As a company, we’re looking for continuous innovation and to me, that means finding new solutions, accessing the therapeutic tools that have been used for centuries and how to bring them into this market to get the best therapeutic benefits from them.”
, TL Insider hosted a virtual fireside chat with Dr. NavNirat Nibber, AOR’s Medical Advisor. Hosted by Jason Maghanoy, vice president of digital solutions and business development at SJC Media, the fireside chat covered the supplement industry and wellness space. Specifically, Nibber, who is a registered Naturopathic doctor, chatted with TL Insider about how to include wellness in your daily life.
The chat started with a discussion about the crowded nature of the wellness space. Maghanoy asked how AOR stands out, especially against celebrity and influencer-backed brands. How AOR stands out, Nibber said, is in the company’s participation in the industry’s growth—they’ve been in business since the wellness industry was still in its infancy. Nibber also notes that AOR is special because they manufacture all their products themselves. There’s also a team of scientists and clinicians working to make sure the products are effective. “We have a degree of credibility and relevance and deep understanding needed to make a formulation actually work with the body and help us avoid the pitfalls of trendy things that don’t work,” she said.
Next, Maghanoy asked Nibber how consumers can tell a supplement is high-quality. Quality, according to Nibber, has to do with overseeing the product’s manufacturing and development: it’s important for consumers to make sure that their supplements are regulated in some way. Luckily, in Canada, Health Canada regulates any product that goes to market. Second, Nibber said it’s important to make sure that products are third-party tested—meaning that another lab has verified the claims a company is making. But when it comes down to it, the most important thing is to ask questions of the company, particularly around what standards they follow and what third-party testing, if any, has been done.
The conversation then shifted towards self-care—especially around holiday stress. “How can one begin a wellness journey?” asked Maghanoy. Nibber said she hopes that wellness can shift to become something that people define for themselves. “Identify what your end goals are—what does it look like to live a healthy and well life? Does it mean a better work/life balance? Does it mean more sleep?” said Nibber. Then, take stock of where you are in terms of your stress levels, mental health and so on. This might mean making doctor’s appointments and getting medical tests done, which Nibber advocates for as a good way to find any underlying health issues. “Before we start supplementing, maybe we want to see [the baseline],” she said. “Understand where you want to go, know where you are currently and start to develop a program that addresses each of those spaces.”
Then, Maghanoy asked what sorts of improvements people see when they start taking supplements. “It requires an individualized approach,” answered Nibber. “It’s a powerful tool but it’s one of many tools, it needs to be incorporated into a holistic perspective. It’s not a silver bullet approach that we’ve been conditioned to rely on when we talk about taking something.” Again, Nibber stressed the importance of knowing your baseline so you know what you need, notice improvements and adjust if necessary.
The conversation then shifted to Nibber’s career and asked her about the role that mentorship played in her career development. “I have been so fortunate to have mentorship within a family business,” she said. “In a family business, you see how much work ethic goes into building a company, you see the struggles and how it wasn’t just him (Dr. Traj Nibber, AOR’s founder) —my aunts grew this company right beside my uncle. It’s very inspiring.” Her uncle’s passion, she said, inspired her and there isn’t a better mentor than him.
After the career chat, Maghanoy asked Nibber what sort of life advice she’d give about daily wellness. Nibber said that she’s been giving herself more space. “When you’re in the wellness space, particularly with influencer culture, there’s an idea that you have to be a perfect emblem of a ‘healthy’ lifestyle,” she explained. But knowing yourself and what you need to truly feel well is the most important. “It’s about getting those basics right and protecting my peace.”
The conversation ended with Nibber sharing what’s next for her and AOR. She said that accessibility is the next step for her and AOR: because of all the financial burdens on consumers these days, increasing the amount of people who can access supplementation is important to her. To increase accessibility to supplements, AOR has launched a new brand called WHOLISTIC, a premium brand that’s more accessible. “As a company, we’re looking for continuous innovation and to me, that means finding new solutions, accessing the therapeutic tools that have been used for centuries and how to bring them into this market to get the best therapeutic benefits from them.”
Watch the fireside chat with Dr. NavNirat Nibber.){kind=link}