Alicia Silverstone, Garden of Life launch new mykind Organics Herbals

Turmeric Inflammatory Response Gummy supplement. Image courtesy of Garden of Life. 

Garden of Life has partnered with actress, author, and health advocate Alicia Silverstone to create the new mykind Organics Herbals. A spinoff of mykind Organics, launched five years ago in a similar collaboration between Garden of Life and Silverstone, this new line features a full range of USDA Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, certified gluten-free, and vegan herbal supplements.

Like the original line launched in 2013, mykind Organic Herbals was an effort to create supplements from whole foods free from pesticides, genetically modified ingredients, or other harsh chemicals. This is no easy task, the company explains.

“Before Garden of Life can create any formula, we first have to build a supply chain to support our goals of Certified Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified real food ingredients. In the case of herbal products, this was particularly urgent,” Jeffrey Brams, general counsel and vice president product development, quality, regulatory, and international at Garden of Life, tells Nutritional Outlook. “Many of the herbs we needed to create this diverse line of products, at the time we began this journey, were not grown on organic farms, using only USDA Organic farming methods, on a commercial scale. Others, like organic turmeric, may have been grown organically but were only available as culinary ingredients.”

Besides having to build up a supply chain, the other major challenge was extraction because many herbs have typically required the use of solvents during the extraction process, none of which can be used in organic products. “Organic turmeric is a great example when describing challenges,” explains Brams. “Before we began this journey, the only way to extract curcumin and concentrate its powerful benefits was to use harsh chemical solvents derived from petroleum, like hexane and methanol, and from genetically modified corn-based alcohols. So, to bring this line to market, we not only had to create a fully traceable, sustainable farming network for our herbs, but we also had to create new ways of extracting the herbal compounds that were also clean, organic, and non-GMO.”

This took years to figure out and perfect. The result is 16 supplements in a several formats, including tablets, sprays, liquids, gummies, and powders. The products will be making their debut in September.