An interview with the CEO OF BETTERYOU

BetterYou are best known for their natural health supplements which include vitamin oral sprays and topical magnesium. These supplements undergo absorption testing to ensure the quickest and most efficient delivery into our systems. A significant aspect of our campaign emphasises BetterYou's commitment to offering environmentally friendly products, all of which are free from palm oil derivatives and packaged in 100% recyclable materials.

BetterYou generously sponsored Jess’ last campaign across the Atlantic with team Full Throttle and we deeply appreciate their continued support as we take on an even bigger expedition with Seas the Day. Andrew Thomas, BetterYou's CEO, has consistently prioritised our well-being, diligently ensuring that we receive tailored vitamin supplements based on our individual deficiencies. He will be going the extra mile by analysing blood samples and furnishing us with the necessary supplements for our ultra long distance row across the Pacific.

We’d like to say a massive thank you for supporting us early on in our campaign and believing in us. We’re looking forward to getting together with Andy and his team in Hartlepool over early May bank holiday to start testing and discuss a support programme which is so essential to keep health endangering conditions at bay. Here’s to BetterYou, for ensuring we’ll be as healthy as possible and functioning at our optimum throughout our training and time at sea. 

We spoke to Andrew Thomas, CEO of BetterYou, about the partnership and here’s what he had to say:

What inspired BetterYou to partner with Seas the Day Ocean Rowing Team?

BetterYou had worked with Jess Rowe previously when she rowed the Atlantic with team Full Throttle. We had provided nutritional support and blood analysis during training and developed a pioneering and truly bespoke nutritional supplement, tailored for each of the team. We loved the association and the team performed exceptionally well and Jess invited us to get involved in her next adventure.

The prospect of up to 200 days with a diet that concentrates primarily on calory replacement raises numerous concerns for the health and wellbeing of the team. A deficiency in key nutrient in the ‘normal world’ can well cause health issues over time but could be years before issues are experienced. In such a physically demanding and nutritionally isolated environment such as this a deficiency could manifest quickly and have catastrophic impact on muscle recovery, immune health or cognitive function and the ability to make good decisions.

When you first heard about the team’s upcoming endeavors, what intrigued you the most?

The unthinkable distance the team will travel, the physical commitment and the absolute solitude they will face. But also the life-affirming nature of undergoing such a pioneering feat.

Were there any specific moments or qualities about our team that sealed the deal for you?

The team benefit from that very special combination of individual character and strength yet an enhanced combined dynamic when together.

We’d love to hear about the values your company holds dear and how they resonate with the goals of the ocean rowing team?

BetterYou has been a pioneer of nutritional supplementation for almost two decades. Fundamentally we believe in democratising quality of life. For us, quality of life is underpinned by good health and ensuring an optimal nutritional intake is proving harder to achieve as our modern diet and lifestyle conspires against us.

During the last 20 years I have advised the general population as well as elite athletes about the importance of food first but emphasising the nutrients that I consistently find deficient in even the most informed modern diets. And we do this with a total and unwavering commitment to our planet and our communities as our customer expect and deserve. 100% of our packaging in produced in the UK and comes from either carbon-negative plant-based plastic or ocean-reclaimed plastic. To date our customer have helped us remove over 103 metric tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere as well as 71 metric tonnes of plastic removed from the sea. In addition we plant a tree for every sale via our website which has resulted in almost 50,000 trees planted since 2020.

What makes this partnership more than just a sponsorship, but a meeting of minds and missions?

The DNA of BetterYou is to pioneer the fastest and most effective methods of delivering essential nutrients into the body. Essentially, this requires delivery directly into the bloodstream rather than requiring primary processing by the gut. You are pioneers too. The journey you are making requires a dietary support that no one has truly evaluated. Understandably it will be focused upon convenience and calorific replacement, but it needs to be more than this. As early sailors and explorers discovered, a continuous restriction of certain key nutrients can well result in particular vitamin and mineral deficiencies. During a process of extreme physical exertion and endurance, and over a duration of months, a deficiency may lead to severe physiological decline. Daily muscle recovery, strength, flexibility, immune system, restorative sleep and mental function are key factors that can be supported or allowed to decline dependent upon quality nutritional support. BetterYou is here to ensure the team is in top physical and mental condition for the immense task ahead.

What aspects of our journey are you most excited for or want to highlight?

The points where the team transcend from three amazing individuals on a boat to being something else entirely. An invincible force or nature. A vulnerable dot in an immense ocean. Stretched to breaking and thriving in the isolation. It’s difficult to imagine the mental journey let alone the physical one.

How will your products/services help the team?

We will keep your immune system healthy. We will help you sleep. We will keep you burning oxygen and not relying of glucose for your energy. We will keep your brain sharp. And these will be tailored to your specific physiological make-up…and all with no additional water usage.

Would you ever row an ocean?

I would love to say yes, but at 57 I’m a fair-weather rower at best and I believe a river would be a more suitable challenge. Having said that I’ve never rowed with a team and so there may be strength that comes from those you are with…. no, scratch that… an ocean!!

What would your luxury item be if you were to row an ocean?

Dried figs and an outboard motor.