Ecarma revives health supplements made of narra extracts
HERBAL TEA made from the narra tree by the Ecarma Health Options and group
By Jennifer T. Santos
QUEZON CITY – Ecarma Health Options Corporation has revived the affordable health supplements made of narra extracts, which gained popularity in the Philippines in early 2000s.
TJ Meneses, president of Ecarma Health Options Corp., said the company has successfully made available again in the market the Ecarma Narra tea and capsules, which are made of 100 percent pure Narra, the Philippines’ national tree.
The revival of the said product came years after the company that developed the said product, Ecarma Narra Tea and Ecarma Narra ImmunElixir capsules, ceased operations in 2018.
Back in 2002, Mercury Drugstores already started selling the Ecarma capsules, which had high demand phenomenal sales figures.
But the product was stopped being sold some time in 2018 due to the death of the product’s founder, former PAF Reserve Officer Lt. Colonel and PAL Boeing 747 Captain Virgilio Ecarma.
A few years later, Meneses has accepted the invitation of Captain Ecarma’s widow, Teresita Ecarma, to revive the product and incorporated Ecarma Health Options.
Meneses said that the Ecarma Narra tea and capsules are now widely available in Mercury drugstores nationwide, St. Joseph drugstores in Northern Luzon, and online on our official stores on Shopee & Lazada.
The products are also very affordable at only P9 per capsule and P16 per teabag.
“Ecarma health supplements are affordable and contain antioxidants from the Narra tree, which has significant health benefits,” Meneses said.
“Money is among the main factors that may prevent one from maintaining good health. Despite pricing challenges especially in the ber months, it is possible to live a healthy lifestyle while staying within budget,” he further said.
A recent study conducted by the De La Salle Dasmariñas College of Pharmacy showed that the bark and branch wood of the critically-endangered Narra have antioxidant properties that can help improve the lives of millions of Filipinos.
The Narra Extract Research Study conducted by the De La Salle Dasmariñas College of Pharmacy was aimed at determining the different production processes that would be most efficient to the narra sample without sacrificing the efficacy of the product in improving consumer health and wellness.
Using the ORAC or Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity – a method developed by scientists at the National Institute of Health and Aging to measure the antioxidant capacity of different foods – the research team decided to measure and compare the ORAC Scores of each process combination. The ORAC Score is also the unit of measure of antioxidants which is the body’s natural defense versus harmful compounds that are linked to multiple illnesses, including weakened immunity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
