World recognition of the importance of phytonutrients is spreading. This week the Chinese Nutrition Society (CNS) announced that it is revising its “daily reference intakes,” or DRI, to include phytonutrients.

That means the society will now recommend people get a daily dose of phytonutrients along with their vitamins and minerals to maintain optimal health.

We are proud to say that the Nutrilite Health Institute worked closely with the CNS in gathering research and scientific data to establish the DRIs.

The announcement comes as the 11th China Nutrition Science Conference and the 2013 China & Korea Joint International Phytonutrient Symposium wrap up this week where our own Dr. Keith Randolph presented.

Dr. Randolph is the nutrition technology strategist at the NHI. He called the decision by the CNS “a significant development in the effort to improve the overall health of a large portion of the world’s population.”

Read more about the announcement at the Amway Global Newsroom and see more photos from the symposium at our Nutrilite Facebook Page.

The London Olympic Games were undoubtedly a highlight for the Chinese people last year thanks to the impressive performance of the Chinese Olympic team.

Sponsored by Nutrilite, the team won 38 gold, 27 silver and 23 bronze medals – the best performance outside of the 2008 Olympics held in Beijing.

Thanks to Nutrilite’s reputation for safety and credibility, the Chinese Olympic Committee extended the sponsorship agreement for eight more years. That means Nutrilite will continue to support the Chinese Olympic Delegation until 2020.

And, the official Olympic rings will continue to appear on Nutrilite products in China. How’s that for a symbol of optimal health and Nutrilite’s credibility?

Nearly 70,000 Amway distributors, employees and their guests: That’s the total number of people who came to see Amway Chairman Steve Van Andel on his recent tour of three cities in China and one in Taiwan.

Our leadership makes annual trips to markets across the world to recognize the our top performing distributors, rewarding and recognizing them for their hard work and leadership and motivating them to keep striving.

Van Andel spoke to 11,000 in Beijing, 13,000 in Guangzhou and 10,000 in Shanghai. And when he traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, he spoke to two crowds of 17,000 each. In Taipei he also was joined by Dr. Sam Rehnborg, president of the Nutrilite Health Institute and, at one of the events, Holly Chen, one the most successful distributors in Amway’s history.

In the more than 50 years that Amway has been operating, Van Andel told the crowd he has seen many changes in the company.

“But what hasn’t changed is the people,” he said. “It’s the people that make Amway successful. People like all of you.”

See more photos of his visit at our Facebook page, facebook.com/amway.

A team from the Amway One by One Campaign for Children went to China recently to capture the wonderful stories of Amway distributors helping those who need it most.

They went to the remote Long Ma Village to learn about the Spring Sprout program that helps feed children whose parents moved to the city to find work.

And they went to Beijing, where other distributors are helping the rural children that moved with their parents to find work through Project Sunshine.

Migrant children in the city don’t have access to the same schooling as the children who live there. That’s where Project Sunshine comes in, helping to build libraries and supporting other educational programs.

The Amway One by One blog chronicled the team’s first impressions of the trip – Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 – and there will be more to come. Until then, check out the collection of photos at the Amway Facebook page.

If success is judged by the numbers, the China & Korea Joint International Phytonutrient Symposium held in Bejing last month exceeded expectations.

More than 300 people attended when organizers anticipated 200. Among them was our team from Nutrilite, including Keith Randolph, the Nutrilite Health Institute’s director of research and development, who presented the latest findings on the antioxidant paradigm.

The one-day event was a lively packed house of scholars and professors, all of them focused on nutritional science and phytonutrient research. Plenty of Q&A took place between the audience and speakers after every presentation.

The speakers presented their interpretations of Randolph’s presentation articulated the fact that we are at a turning point in understanding the role antioxidants play in the body, while identifying the importance of phytonutrients in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli: Specific phytos turn on switches in our cells that enable our bodies to fight oxidative stress.

The symposium played an extra key role in China, where the Chinese Nutrition Society is reviewing whether to institute a daily recommended intake, or DRI, for phytonutrients. The conference presentations gave them a better understanding of the role of antioxidants and the emerging phytonutrient science.

The event was hosted by China Nutrition Society and the Korean Society of Food Science and Technology and sponsored by Amway China Ltd and Amway Korea. Participants are already looking forward to next year’s symposium.

When you think about the Nutrilite story, China is really where it all began.

It was nearly 100 years ago that Carl Rehnborg was living and working in China when the “seed” of an idea came to him: He noticed a difference between the health of people living in towns and those living in the country.

He also noticed they had different diets. That’s when he made the connection between health and nutrition.

This week, a team from our Nutrilite Health Institute in Buena Park, California, is headed back to China to discuss the latest research connecting health to nutrition at the China & Korea Joint International Phytonutrient Symposium.

The mantra “more is better” is often applied to supplements, including phytonutrients, those wonderful things in fruits and vegetables that give them their vibrant colors. But NHI Director of Research and Development Keith Randolph, PhD, will present the case for “better is better.”

What does that mean? If you get the right kinds of phytonutrients in the right amounts, it will buoy your body’s own defense mechanisms.

“This research is in its early stages, but we have data that shows cruciferous vegetables as being particularly potent inducers of antioxidant response within the body,” Randolph said. (To save you a trip to Wikipedia, some examples of cruciferous vegetables are broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy and cabbage.)

Randolph will be joined at the symposium by nine leading nutritionists from Canada, Japan, China and Korea. And it will include opening remarks from Colleen Carkeet, PhD, senior group leader in Global Regulatory Affairs at Amway.

The event is hosted by China Nutrition Society and the Korean Society of Food Science and Technology. Amway China Ltd and Amway Korea are sponsors.

The symposium takes place on Friday. For live updates, follow us on Twitter.

Amway Home products are top of the line, but don’t take our word for it. Check out a product demo and see for yourself.

To prove the effectiveness of our products, our Research and Development team creates product demos that compare our product performance to that of our competitors.

The Permanent Marker Demo, featuring our L.O.C. Kitchen Cleaner, is a favorite of the Home Care Product Development group. This demo shows a quick and simple solution to an everyday household problem – removing permanent marker from countertops and other surfaces.

Product demos are a powerful tool for our distributors to use in selling our products to customers. Russia and China reported that most distributors in those markets rate product demos as “important” or “very important” to their business. After the permanent marker demo was released in North America, we saw a significant increase in L.O.C. Kitchen Cleaner sales.

See for yourself the demonstrable quality of our products.

The Artistry intensive skincare renewing peel!

The Artistry intensive skincare renewing peel took home the award for the “Best Anti-aging Mask of the Year” at the 2011 COSMOPOLITAN Beauty Awards in China.

Each year, COSMOPOLITAN magazine asks esteemed beauty editors, celebrities, bloggers and industry professionals to find the most innovative, effective and indulgent products on the market right now.

Prestigious and well respected within China’s fashion and beauty industry, the COSMOPOLITAN  award further demonstrates the outstanding performance of Artistry and its cutting-age technology.

July 15 was a very good day for Amway China, as it was honored with not one but two prestigious awards.

Amway China received the China Charity Award and China Charity Award for Children for its efforts to improve the lives of children, protect the environment and volunteer and manage volunteers for a number of events.

It’s the fourth time Amway China has received the China Charity Award, the highest charity award given by the Chinese government.

It was a good day in recognition of Amway China’s history of doing good works.

This past weekend the winning team from the Amway Nutrilite Junior NBA challenge, the Tigers, made their trip to Los Angeles to attend the NBA All-Star game.

Their journey began last spring when four cities in China and Taiwan held basketball skills challenges for thousands of kids between the ages of seven and twelve. Six lucky kids selected from each city were invited to a city camp where they worked one-on-one with Dwight Howard of the NBA’s Orlando Magic. The boys were then divided into two teams of twelve players each. They competed against each other in games in both Beijing and Taipei. And the winning team made the trip to the United States.

On Friday the team spent the day at the Nutrilite COH in Buena Park where they toured our facilities, enjoyed a fun-filled round of our “Color Yourself Healthy” beanbag game, and were put through the paces in a fitness session with Diane Paetz, Nutrilite’s fitness instructor.

On Saturday they played an exhibition game against the Junior NBA Clippers at the NBA Jam Session in the LA Convention Center.  Throughout their visit their biggest support came from Taiwanese celebrity, and former Asian basketball star Chen Chien-Chou, affectionately known as “Blackie” in Asia, who accompanied the team on their trip.  

The highlight of the trip was spent watching the Slam-Dunk competition and then the All-Star game Sunday night. You can see more photos from the trip on Amway Taiwan’s Junior NBA Facebook page and the Global Nutrilite Facebook page.