About Us
About Us
“Well, you know the industry isn’t really regulated so who knows what’s in there? Your guess is as good as mine and even if you knew and started taking it it’s probably in on the one side and out on the other”. My GP’s cynical response to a question about a good iron supplement kind of took the wind out of my sails, but if I had to be honest, it echoed my own sentiments about the wellness industry.
So what would persuade a mother of three with not much business experience, a small player in a world of big brands, to venture out into exactly that industry?
Where does our name come from?
Oshun is the African goddess of love and sweet water.
We are a proudly South African company and, through the name, wanted to pay homage to the really good things that come from Africa. We are even more proud of the fact that our products create jobs in a country where unemployment is rife.
Mariëtte Marais - Founder
Our Mission
To add to the wellbeing and life force of all living things whether human, plant or animal.
What We Do
Oshun Health sells a range of natural, high quality products which all, directly or indirectly, contribute to gut health and the maintenance of a strong immune system. We believe that there’s an inherent intelligence in nature and that natural is, therefore, better. We offer whole food, organic, rather than synthetic supplements and even the preservatives we use are natural. All our products have a firm scientific base and, where necessary, utilise our trademarked fulvisome technology for maximum absorption. We are a proudly South African company.
Henry Deale (Chemist) and Jaco Deal (Microbiologist) - research, development and manufacturing
What about sustainability?
The source (Canadian sphagnum moss) from which we extract our fulvic acid is exceptionally pure, free of heavy metals and pollutants, and 100% sustainable. Rich deposits of this source can be found in the north of Canada where it’s been lying under the snow for thousands of years. Despite the fact that there are trillions of tons of the stuff – more than could ever be used by the wellness industry – the source is actively replenished. An interesting fact about Canadian sphagnum moss is that it is inert, meaning that it no longer forms an active part of the ecosystem. It’s literally as if it’s been placed there for our use and benefit.
Where it all started
The story of Oshun Health started when my 4 month old son was admitted to hospital and prescribed the highest possible dose of intravenous antibiotics after running a fever for more than a month. There were strong indications of bacterial infection and a previous course of antibiotics made no difference.
We started suspecting something serious was wrong. The pediatrician referred to the intravenous antibiotics as ‘the big guns’ but still the fever did not go down. He was at his wits’ end and not much the wiser after performing a lumbar puncture. After a week and a half in hospital the whole thing remained a mystery and we were eventually sent home after being told there was nothing to be done except wait it out and hope his immune system was up to the fight. After another two weeks of sleepless nights, rampant uncertainty and constant spikes the fever broke equally mysteriously. We were ecstatic, not realising that it was the start of another wave of problems. My son’s immune system was so broken down that he was suddenly allergic to just about everything and developed the most severe eczema imaginable. His counts on some allergy tests were off the chart.
I found myself caught between the direct opposing advice of a naturopath and a doctor about the use of cortisone. My son was broken down and I was traumatised, exhausted, and left with the only thing that was not a grey area at that point: a firm conviction that one should, at all cost, avoid getting into the position we were in at that stage. Immune system was the key and the key to immune system was gut health. This message was further brought home to me a number of years later when my daughter had an encounter with helicobacter pylori, a pathogen that can cause ulcers and even stomach cancer.
Fast forward and by strange coincidence (I think of it more as divine intervention) my path crossed with that of a biochemist and microbiologist, a father and son team, who had been doing research on an organic compound called fulvic acid. In the process they had developed liposomal technology for the absorption of nutrients (fulvisomes) that was literally unequalled in the world. After trying fulvic acid myself I knew I had found what I was searching for and Oshun Health was born.