Now you don’t have to chew on a carrot to pursue better vision — naturally. Mumbai-based wellness brand Setu (bridge in Sanskrit) merges nature and science to provide solutions to modern day lifestyle challenges like blue light exposure, stress and sugar cravings. This means you can expect supplements with ingredients like lutein (found in carrots) which enhances visual performance and glutathione (found in broccoli and cauliflower) which helps in the detoxification of the liver and lungs. The brand which launched last year was founded by Nihaal Mariwala, all of 26 — who hails from the family that is behind agro-based businesses like Omni Active Health Technologies and Keya Foods — with a 200-year-old lineage in purchasing and trading in natural extracts.
With 13 supplement pills in five broad categories — vision, liver, heart, diabetes and gut — the young CEO talks immunity during the monsoons, R&D and filling in dietary gaps:
Is there anything new being released in the product range for the monsoon season — or in the months to come?
Our probiotic YourGut is a great way to deal with the health issues that the monsoon poses. We are additionally working on a few new products to enhance your immunity.
Talk to us about the research that goes into making the products, and where this happens.
Research happens in labs, universities and medical centres around the world. We compile data on ingredients and nutrients, and on the evaluation of their clinical studies for specific use-cases, then appropriately formulate them into targeted products.
For the layman, could you break down some of the ingredients in your products and their corresponding wellness benefits?
Yes, lutein is an ingredient that acts as the active colour component in marigold flowers, egg yolks, spinach, kale and carrots. It is also extensively clinically studied as a key ingredient for vision and cognitive health. As a naturally occurring nutrient, it is deposited in the macula of your eye to help protect it against blue light from screens, visual stress and degeneration.
You have ingredients like cinnamon bark sourced from Sri Lanka and Bilberry extract from Northern America. Closer home, what are some ingredients that can be found in our own kitchens, that can help, but are being underutilised?
The fact that cinnamon bark extract is ethnically Sri Lankan does not detract from the reality that a lot of these ingredients are found in our food. We’ve also got lutein, however, which is proudly Indian-made — green vegetables never hurt. Turmeric is a hot ingredient, and gymnema (gurmar) and bitter gourd (karela) have long been identified for anti-diabetic properties.
What are some of your top sellers on the list?
Our EyeMax product has been tremendous. There is a huge unmet need in people trying to plug dietary gaps, improve their mental state and visual performance.
Wellness initiatives are often associated with folks over 30 — to help de-stress and slow down in our fast-paced lives. How did an active 26-year-old, who likes to go diving with sharks, come to start a brand that helps combat lifestyle ailments?
I don’t know if I quite agree with that. Twenty-six-year-olds in urban India today live equally hectic lifestyles, with a lot of physical and mental stress as a circumstance of life choices. We’ve all fallen prey to a whole bunch of vices, but nutrition science and technology have evolved quite delightfully to buttress that with solutions that are approachable to multiple demographics. The lowest common denominators in an urban landscape today are stress, traffic, pollution, lack of sleep. And even when it’s not all bad, it’s sugar, alcohol, cigarettes. It’s four more hours watching Netflix, or a fourth or fifth drink. So, we think we’re in a pretty good space to play, targeting young, upwardly mobile and health-conscious Indians.
Rs 800 upwards.
sonali@newindianexpress.com | @brightasunshine