When Monique Bolland was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at 22, the future she had imagined for herself suddenly became uncertain.
“It was overwhelming, I think,” she says of receiving the diagnosis in 2005. At the time, she says, treatment options were limited, and the prognosis she was given was confronting.
“The disease is incurable. It still is. And I was basically told you’ll probably be in a wheelchair by the time you’re 30.”
“To be 22 years old in arguably the prime of my life and being told that I’m facing a future of disability was quite confronting.”
The diagnosis would ultimately set Monique and her father, Trevor, on a journey that inspired the creation of global nutrition company Nuzest.
Monique says her father immediately immersed himself in research.
“He went into full research mode and read every book, every journal, every research paper that he could find on MS and emerging research,” she recalls.
Together, father and daughter began speaking to doctors, specialists, nutritionists and practitioners around the world. The journey eventually took Monique to Texas, where she spent months travelling back and forth to a natural health clinic while also continuing to see a neurologist for her MS.
They encountered people from vastly different schools of thought — “some I would call snake oil practitioners. That was some very questionable people,” Monique says — but one theme continued to emerge.
“There was one thread that kept coming back: the importance of nutrition and lifestyle.”
A simpler approach
For Monique, however, the journey also revealed how complicated managing a health routine could become.
At one point, she says she was taking upwards of 40 tablets a day, each with its own schedule.
“These are the ones you take before breakfast, these are with breakfast, these are lunchtime, these ones before bed, like it was intense.”
It became, she says, more than simply a complicated routine.
“It was unmanageable because basically every single time I was doing this and planning my whole life around what tablets or what medication I had to take. Subconsciously, it’s saying I’m sick, I’m sick, I’m sick. And it was running my life.”
That experience prompted a shift in thinking for both Monique and her father. The question became not only what more they could do, but how they could simplify their approach to everyday nutrition to support her overall health.
“That was when our focus flipped from what can we do to then also how can we simplify?”
Monique went on to open a wellness clinic in Sydney’s Potts Point, while Trevor entered the supplement industry in search of quality nutritional products.
Together, their experiences shaped the foundation of Nuzest, established in 2012 with a philosophy Monique can sum up simply: “Our philosophy is just to make nutrition simple.”
That philosophy now underpins Nuzest’s approach to products including Good Green Vitality, a daily nutritional supplement containing more than 75 ingredients.
For Monique, the appeal lies in providing what she describes as “foundational nutrition” without adding another complicated routine to everyday life.
“I was completely overwhelmed by do this, take this, you need this, you need these vitamins, you need this, but really at the base of it, what your body needs is just good foundational nutrition.”
Less complexity for women in midlife
That focus on simplicity is also why Nuzest is speaking to women navigating perimenopause and menopause.
Monique believes conversations around this stage of life have changed considerably in recent years.
“Women have been experiencing this since the beginning of time, but I feel like it’s only been in the last, I would say even the last five years that people have started really talking particularly about perimenopause.”
“I mean, menopause has always been the scary monster under the bed, but you have 10 years of perimenopause before that.”
For many women, this stage of life can also coincide with busy careers, family responsibilities and changing routines.
“That’s a different nutritional need for your body because you’re in a different phase of life. Energy becomes really important because you probably have young kids, you’re probably working.”
As the mother of a seven-year-old with a full-time job, Monique says the last thing she wants is another complicated task added to her day.
“I don’t need anything added to my life that’s going to put more work on my plate.”
For Monique, that is where simplicity matters.
“With Good Green Vitality particularly, it’s one product once a day, and it just helps fill those nutritional gaps.”
She is clear that it is not intended to replace the fundamentals of a healthy lifestyle, nor medications for illness and disease.
As our Health Editor says, they aren’t a “magic bullet.”
“They’re designed to fill the gaps in your diet, especially for those of us who don’t always hit our recommended daily serving,” says Ashleigh Austen.
“It’s not to replace a healthy diet,” Monique adds. “It’s just making sure that it’s giving your body that little bit of extra support that it needs each day.”
The broader challenge, Monique believes, is that women now have access to more health and wellness information than ever before — but that abundance can itself become overwhelming.
“It’s great that there’s so much information and so much support, but there’s almost too much, and there are too many products on the market.”
More than a decade after her own health journey inspired the company, simplicity remains central to what Monique and her father hope Nuzest can offer.
“We’ve been going for 15 years now. We have customers that have been buying our products since we started in 2012. And when we speak to them, they trust us. I think that’s the key.”
Good Green Vitality is designed to complement a balanced diet and support general health and wellbeing. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent menopause or any medical condition. Find out more about Good Green Vitality here.
Find out more about Nuzest here.
Disclaimer: Always read the label of any products mentioned and speak to your healthcare provider before use.
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