Opti-5 Nutrition System
The Opti-5 System is a comprehensive, integrated, and balanced approach to nutrition, developed by our team of scientists
The name “Opti-5” stands for Optimal Nutrition system with a focus on 5 key health areas. Growth and development are more rapid in infancy and childhood than any other time during life, providing a critical window of opportunity — a period we like to call the “golden days”. The Opti-5 System ensures the 5 key areas of health are optimized and strengthened through high-quality nutrition.
The Opti-5 System
How the Opti-5 System was developed
Creating an optimal source of nutrition, that is:
Comprehensive
- Providing the essential nutrients required for optimizing all areas of health and development.
- Supporting synergies between nutrients: many nutrients work together to optimize a process. For example, calcium relies on vitamin D3 to be absorbed into the body, and vitamin K to be moved inside bones, making all three nutrients necessary for strong, healthy bone growth.
Balanced & Adequate
- Supporting each stage of development: providing nutrients in adequate amounts to meet the unique requirements of each age group.
- During healthy growth: daily nutrient utilization is higher during the golden days of development, so all age groups has their own unique nutrient requirements to maintain normal growth.
- When growth is challenged: nutrient levels need to be adapted to meet increased demands during recovery, to get back on track, but still maintaining in the right balance.
Looking after specific health areas
Immune, Cognition, Vision, Digestion, Growth & Development
The 5 specific health areas work independently and are the most important and vulnerable during the first 6 years of life.
We achieve this through advanced nutrient levels (higher but within range) and additional focused nutrients and special factors benefiting these health areas (such as yeast beta-glucan during illness to support immunity).
This approach helps to reduce the risk of nutrient deficiencies, illness, and long-term impairments to growth and health while supporting the optimal growth, development, and function of growing minds and bodies.
Helping the areas to work together
These different health areas also work together as parts of a whole, to promote the well-being, growth, and development of the entire body. In other words, they are also interdependent.
For example, optimizing immunity can protect against periods of faltering growth. Plus, supporting digestive health means supporting immunity, because a large part of the immune system lives in the gut.
What are the Opti-5 areas?
Immune system function
Building resistance to infection, promoting recovery, and compensating for nutrient loss.
The immune system protects children as they grow. When they are ill, their growth and development take a back seat, while their immune system kicks into gear to help get them back up to speed.
Digestive Health
Supporting intestinal function, gut immunity, gut microbiome, and preventing diarrhea, colic, or gut infections.
The digestive system controls how nutrients are extracted from food and absorbed into the body, and how waste is removed. When children are sick, nutrients are not absorbed well and are easily lost, affecting growth and energy levels.
Cognitive function
Nutrients for supporting brain development and activity, including memory formation, coordination, reflexes, social interaction, and emotional well-being.
The brain controls all the body’s systems and growth processes. It is also linked closely to gut health and vision. Sick children tend not to concentrate or interact well and are often tired, unmotivated, and have appetite problems.
Vision and eye health
Providing nutrition for the delicate parts of the growing eye to enable good image recognition, learning and hand-eye coordination.
Lower levels of some nutrients can affect all systems in the body, but specific vitamins and minerals (e.g. vitamin A) can cause vision problems. The eyes can also become infected during colds and flu.
Growth and development
Nutrients that are used by growing tissues contribute to gains in height, strength, and physical movement.
Key nutrients such as amino acids from protein, calcium, and phosphorus are required to support the building up of new tissues, like bone and muscle. Short-term losses in many nutrients cause short-term growth delays.
Why 5 areas?
Our body is a complex system of organs, systems and functions. They are, however, connected with each other and work together to enable the body’s normal functioning and development. It only takes one poorly functioning system to affect the entire body’s work. For the whole body to operate optimally, growing children need adequate levels of all nutrients required by the body’s systems. The five key areas of the “Opti-5 System” have been identified by our scientists as the most vulnerable and important systems during the first 6 years of life. Learn more about how these systems are connected