In 2004, Dr. Ross Rentea, his wife Dr. Andrea Rentea and Dr. Mark Kamsler formed True Botanica, a Delafield-based all natural supplement manufacturer, to fill what they deemed a necessary void in the marketplace.
The company has recently launched its newest product, True Defense, an all natural, pro-biotic supplement designed to keep people healthy longer in Wisconsin’s winter months.
“All three of us had a strong nutritional blend in our medical practices,” said Ross Rentea. “We’ve been practicing for the last 30 years and finally decided that we wanted to make a contribution in the supplement direction for our patients.”
The focus of True Botanica was to create products that would be both high in purity in terms of manufacturing, but also highly effective, Rentea said.
True Defense is a unique throat-specific pro-biotic, Rentea said.
“It contains natural enzymes, herbs and vitamin C to increase immune protection of the ear nose and throat. There is an abundance of research that indicates that the BLIS k12 bacterium is naturally occurring in the human throat,” Rentea said. “Those bacteria contribute, in order to naturally prevent external viruses and bacteria from entering the body.”
According to Kamsler, individuals get sick when the naturally occurring BLIS k12 bacteria are diminished and there aren’t enough bacteria to fight off external viruses.
“These bacteria can be diminished for lots of different reasons,” Rentea said. “If people are taking antibiotics for another infection, that could diminish the BLIS k12 levels in the human throat. If people are under stress or aren’t sleeping well that could diminish the numbers as well.”
The main component of True Botanica’s True Defense is the BLIS k12 bacteria.
“When you can re-introduce naturally occurring bacteria into the mouth, it is beneficial and can have beneficial effects,” Rentea said.
The company has introduced the supplement in a flavored powder format that can be used by children and adults, Kamsler said.
It plans to introduce a more adult friendly menthol tablet form of the supplement within the next month.
“What was extremely beneficial and important from my standpoint as a pediatrician, was that this was safe to use with kids,” Kamsler said. “Children and adults typically come down with five or six bouts of the cold and flu each year, traditional medicines sometimes don’t work and many aren’t even safe for children. There are no safety concerns with this product and its extremely effective.”
According to Rentea, True Defense can be taken as a daily supplement to a person’s overall diet, or it can be taken as medication when a sore throat, or symptoms start to appear.
“It’s all natural, and so safe it can be used on a daily basis,” Rentea said. “Parents don’t have to worry about their kids ingesting too much because the ingredients are all natural and there are no side effects.”
True Defense is the only product on the market that claims to do what it does using the BLIS k12 bacteria, Rentea said.
“There are other products who claim to do similar things but none of them have matched the capabilities, the complex ingredients and purity that True Defense offers,” he said.
The BLIS k12 bacteria are also proven to reduce tooth decay, and improve chronic bad breath for individuals, Kamsler said.
Right now True Defense is available for sale on the web at mytruedefense.com, and is also available in the Good Harvest Market stores located in Milwaukee and Pewaukee.
“We’ve taken a very holistic approach to producing this product, its strong enough for adults but gentle enough for children and we could not be happier with the results we’ve seen so far,” Rentea said. “Throughout our testing we haven’t found a more comprehensive, more innovative product.”
