From Surviving to Thriving

The Story of LivOn Labs

In 2002, Les Nachman’s doctors told him to get his affairs in order. If he didn’t get the heart transplant, he would die. A serial entrepreneur, giving up was anathema. So he sought another opinion. On the advice of a maverick cardiologist and renowned virologist/epidemiologist, he started lifestyle modifications that included intravenous vitamin C three times per week.

Les calls the results “miraculous.” But the discomfort, costs, and 8-hour drive from his home in Las Vegas suburb Henderson, meant that he had a lot less time to enjoy his new life. With 35 years in the dietary supplement industry, Les was convinced there was an easier, more affordable way to get high doses of Vitamin C without the major gastric distress that comes with traditional oral pills and powders.

The answer had been in front of everyone since the 1970s, but not even the best vitamin brands in the dietary supplement industry had figured it out: Liposomal Encapsulation Technology, the practice of encapsulating water-soluble nutrients in phospholipids that protect nutrients from destruction in the digestive system.

Turns out there was no universal formula for liposomes, as each nutrient requires a unique combination of phospholipids and other ingredients.

After two years working with scientists, Ph.D.s, and manufacturers, Les and his wife Cindy (a former professional ballroom dancer turned CPA) finally had a product that delivered high-dose Vitamin C to the cells where it is needed.

They founded LivOn Labs in 2004 with Cindy as President on a mission to heal the world by introducing the Vitamin C to people in a similar situation to Les, and processing orders from their garage.

They caught the attention of Dr. Thomas E. Levy — one of the foremost Vitamin C researchers, authors, and speakers — who said that comparing “all other oral vitamin C delivery with your oral liposomal delivery is like comparing a squirt gun to a fire hose.”

Customers felt the difference that the LivOn Vitamin C was making in their health. They’d never experienced the benefits of Vitamin C before as traditional oral supplements are poorly absorbed in the body.

Les and Cindy looked at other nutrients that served important purposes, yet are often difficult to absorb. They added B Complex Plus, Glutathione, R-Alpha Lipoic Acid, Acetyl L-Carnitine, and Magnesium L-Threonate to their liposomal supplements. They formed a network of regional distributors, enabling them to compete as one of the best vitamin brands all over the world.

During this time, the wellness movement arrived. Prescription drug use became rampant. “Big Pharma” became the enemy of the people. New research told us that everything we were taught about nutrition was giving us chronic disease, and that the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C was just enough to avoid afflictions suffered by 18th century buccaneers. Health and wellness moved from the doctor’s office to the home kitchen. Integrative/functional medicine providers in Los Angeles and New York City got their well-known clients into IV Vitamin C, and these clients started discovering LivOn.

Suddenly, these weird-looking, gooey supplements in their clinical packaging were flying off the shelves of high-end markets like Erewhon in LA. Women were spotted squeezing the C straight from the packet into their mouths and chasing with champagne at weddings.

The internet became flooded with wellness sites that publicized the link between Vitamin C and the production of wrinkle-fighting structural protein collagen, and our high-dose packets lined the shelves of CAP Beauty. Elle Magazine named our Lypo-Spheric™ C as an Elle Essential Beauty Product. Armed with more industry-agnostic information and faced with the specter of chronic disease and reliance on expensive drugs with horrifying side effects to manage symptoms, people started looking to diet, exercise, and high-dose vitamins to eliminate the root cause. Celebrities started tossing back shots of LivOn on Instagram, calling our family-run operation one of the best vitamin brands.

Cindy’s niece Kaili started working the booth at tradeshows, fielding compliments about her skin. Our product was no longer just being used by people with life-threatening conditions; it was becoming part of the daily wellness regimen of young, healthy people.

It was no longer about surviving, it was about thriving.

Kaili perfectly exemplified this commitment to holistic health from the inside out. Now the executive director of LivOn Labs, Kaili is leading the charge to introduce people of all ages, all over the world to a better way to absorb vitamins and nutrients.

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