Rik knows that feeling good isn’t always easy. Seeing his mum suffer with depression, and having anxiety and SAD himself, he knows how initial treatment is often prescription tablets. But from his own experience, along with seven years of studying the science of happiness, he knows that nutrition is fundamental to mental health. When your body is working, your ability to respond healthily to situations appropriately is far greater, and it is easier to slow down and live at a calmer pace. The body and brain are complicated, and the chemical reactions that can be triggered by pills, can also be affected by nutrition. Because for each chemical step to occur, your body needs specific nutrients. If you don’t have enough of them, it’s very difficult to reset and find your happy place.
Combining this with a frustration that most supplements are made by multi-billion dollar companies (sometimes with questionable practices) and filled with bulking agents and synthetics, he sought to create a product that offers healthy and ethical boost.
And that’s where HAPS came in. HAPS Superfruits & Boosters are powdered drinks containing real fruits and no fillers. The list of ingredients is impressive – Baobab, Mango, Pear, Pineapple, Guava, Banana, Griffonia Seed Extract [5-HTP], Ionic Electrolytes, Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12 C, D, Zinc, Natural Flavour and Stevia. 5-HTP and the tryphotan in Banana and Baobab act as precursors to serotonin – the ‘happy’ hormone. The B complex, magnesium and zinc help to rebalance the adrenal hormones, which are involved in your fight/flight/freeze response to stress, and maintaining your energy and nervous system. And the reason we’re all happier in the sunshine – it’s partly to do with Vitamin D.
Personally the cold and dark makes me really gloomy, and I also know first-hand how much better good nourishment makes me feel. So, Rik sent me three sachets. One was simple, straight in the glass, blended with juice and drunk like a smoothie. Another I chucked on my yoghurt, for a fruity flavour, and the last one I took his advice about. Mixed with water it’s a great remedy for a hangover.
It’s true that healthy diet crucial, but when rushed, ill, or unaware, it can be very easy to let this slip. As well as this, some nutrients are lacking in the Western diet, depleted on the supermarket shelves, and lost through cooking, and others can only be absorbed in certain combinations.
According to Rik, HAPS exists to ‘empower people to take control of their happiness.’ No, a drink won’t cure a mental illness, but by taking action and sending the message that it’s worth it, these small steps can lead to long term change.
