Will you take the Charantia challenge?

MANILA, Philippines - As head of Herbcare Corporation, makers of Charantia Ampalaya, Dan Abelarde has been encouraging people to eat healthy and exercise regularly to stay away from diabetes or its complications, and possibly away from what he sells. Ironically, his main product, Charantia, targets people with diabetes. “Keeping people healthy takes a moral priority over selling products to sick people,” he asserts.

The company has posed the 30-day challenge, an offshoot of “Operation Diabetes” that Herbcare started in 2003 to encourage people in barangays to establish diabetic clubs to curb the spread of diabetes. But this time, the challenge is aimed at white-collar offices with many employees, who are likely prone to the disease because of unhealthy diet and lack of exercise.

To date, diabetes affects 171 million people, a number that’s expected to double by 2030, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), mainly because more people are exercising less while taking more unhealthy processed food.

What started as a small educational awareness project in 2007 with the Manila Adventist Medical Center is now a full-blown program that has delivered around 200 lectures and served over 2,000 people in more than 40 offices, including the Board of Investments, Eastern Telecom, Bureau of Plant Industry, SEC, GSIS, Department of Labor and Employment, and the Department of Tourism.

 The Charantia 30-Day Challenge, a hands-on health program of Herbcare, targets corporate employees whose idea of an activity is swiveling in chairs or stroking computer keyboards, and whose diet is built around fast-food items. “These people are also constantly under stress meeting deadlines and going through the rush-hour traffic every day,” says Anna Garcia, program manager. It’s the three ugly heads cited by WHO for the rapid spread of type-2 diabetes: sedentary lifestyle, bad diet, and stress. “We are where the problem is,” quips Anna.

For one month, participants are encouraged to adopt a regular exercise regimen and a high-fiber, low-fat diet, and see for themselves an improvement in their blood sugar health. Participants are pre-screened for borderline and high blood sugar level. A series of lectures on diabetes, proper nutrition, and regular exercise workouts are conducted during the month. Likewise, participants are given a month’s supply of Charantia as part of their high-fiber diet and a health check diary to record their progress. Each week for one month, the Charantia 30-Day Challenge team checks the participants’ blood sugar level to monitor their progress. “We can’t discount participants who won’t follow the program,” Anna says. But she reveals that a kind of peer pressure exists in the program. “When others see that their co-workers are improving into the 30 days, there is more motivation for the rest to stick to our program.” 

“I believe in having a health program like this for the benefit of the whole company,” Dr. Tan, doctor at the GSIS, says at the conclusion of the program in their office. Dr. Tan admits that the 30-Day Challenge makes it easier for her and other doctors or nurses in charge of the employees’ health to implement a workable health program since everything is ready. “All we have to do is to follow it and, hopefully, replicate it even after the program ends,” she adds. “The 30-Day Challenge is effective in reminding the participants of their responsibility to their health.”

If your company is interested to take the challenge, call 802-2222 (look for Ernest De Jesus or Anna Garcia).