Meal replacement builds on tragedy to bring healing plant power to masses

10-Mar-2021 - Last updated on 10-Mar-2021 at 17:45 GMT

Organic pea protein is the first ingredient in the meat replacement product. HEAL photo

A Canadian entrepreneur who began by trying to improve the nutrition of patients on feeding tubes is now bringing his product to the US market via a new vegetarian sales platform.

The product, called Heal, is a complex plant-based meal replacement formula developed first by former fireman and Cross-fit gym owner Paul Tylla. His idea was born of tragedy. When his late wife, Linda, was diagnosed with ALS Tylla said he saw the negative effect of the formulas health care providers supplied for her feeding. He believed the formulas that she used at first, which he characterized as being loading with synthetic ingredients, increased the inflammation in her body and caused digestive issues.

So he developed his own alternatives.

“I looked a the formula and thought about how I could do the same thing with better ingredients,” Tylla told NutraIngredients-USA.

Food as medicine

While not claiming to treat ALS, a neurodegenerative disease, Tylla said he believes the positive benefits of the formula for his wife were undeniable. He said his wife had more regular bowel habits when being fed with the homemade formula and suffered almost none of bed sores so common among ALS sufferers. The disease gradually paralyzes the nerves that control motor functions leaving sufferers bedridden. They also have to go on ventilators if the choice is made to try to extend their lives.

Tylla said he then worked with a food chemist to optimize the formula and tailor it for mass production.

“It was important to me that I be able to provide her with the highest-quality, organic and plant-based food, free of synthetic vitamins and minerals. We further improved on the original formulation with the assistance of both, one of Canada's top food scientist and that of Dr Stacey Mitchell Dole,” Tylla said.

Dr Mitchell Doyle has a private medical consulting practice in the Los Angeles area that is based on nutritional therapies. The Meal formula she helped refine includes organic pea, hemp and brown rice protein, a suite of fruit and vegetable powders, prebiotic fibers, a probiotic and health fat from flax.

“I believe that products like HEAL give your body the building blocks to make its own medicine,” Tylla said. He said the product contains more than thirty organic fruits and vegetables, and no added synthetics, processed sugars, or chemicals. All products are vegan, gluten-free, NON-GMO, made in Canada, and developed to meet Health Canada guidelines.

New sales platform

Tylla is launching his new product in the US market on a new sales platform called ShopVejii.com. Kory Zelickson, CEO of Kelowna, BD-based Vejii Holdings, the site’s parent company, said the differentiator for his service is that it offers an online platform that provides access to thousands of vegan and plant-based products in one place.

"Providing a complete plant-based meal solution is something that is especially important to us as a brand, and it is not something that we have seen a lot of brands doing" Zelickson said.