Monica Thai, a current student at NAIT, has found her way into a project that could change the game of lowering cholesterol and improving overall gut health for the better.
The third-year marketing student has taken on a placement with the cereal company Sunny Boy and finds herself loving every minute of it.
“I was actually enrolled in the BPA co-op program for my second work placement and was lucky to find Sunny Boy. I started that co-op back in September 2020, and ever since, I’ve been working for Sunny Boy,” said Thai.
The brand is currently pushing two products: Cerabeta and NutraStat.
“They’re a barley beta-glucan. The beta-glucan is extracted from the barley using a special process that was developed by the UofA, and what makes it so great is that it lowers cholesterol, and it improves your gut health. It is a natural prebiotic, so it helps with IBS as well, and it’s also great because FDA Canada has approved it to lower cholesterol and it’s natural compared to cholesterol-lowering drugs,” said Thai.
Photo via Sunny Boy Cereal
Thai prides the product on being the most effective of its kind and hopes that others see it to be that way too.
“I know there are other products out there that have been clinically proven, but you would either need to take more of it, or it’s not as effective,” said Thai.
Using both of the products is extremely simple.
“[They both] come as a powder and you can add it to water and mix it in really easily or you can put it to baking. My favourite is just to add it to food and [all you need is] three tablespoons per day,” said Thai.
As of right now, the brand is only online, but future plans show that they’re ready to make a big name for themselves in stores such as Sobeys and Walmart.
“You can buy them directly off of our website or through Amazon, but the team and I are working really hard to get it into retail stores,” said Thai.
Their priorities right now are to grow these two products and to hopefully be a household name in the near future.
“Our goal is just to become like a national brand in Canada and the States, and we essentially want to help people with their own natural health goals,” said Thai.
Check out their NutraStat website and their Cerabeta website for more information on these products.
