Welcome to our blog series on X-ZONE's suppliers! We're excited to spotlight the local businesses and communities that help bring our products to life. At X-ZONE, we are committed to supporting local suppliers, ensuring sustainable practices, and celebrating the unique contributions they make to our innovative product ranges. Join us as we explore their inspiring stories!
SELF HEAL - Angela Chadwick
New Zealand's land mass and ecosystem became separated from the primordial continent of Gondwanaland approximately 85 million years ago. This isolation evolved extraordinary characteristics in our native flora, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. These botanicals have a long history of use by Māori and later by early European settlers for their healing properties.
When we reformulated our herbal pain relief and muscle performance products, we couldn't wait to incorporate the many, unique healing properties of our native plants. So we enlisted Angela Chadwick of Self Heal, an experienced medical herbalist who specialises in New Zealand flora, to help us to integrate these botanicals into our products.
Angela trained at the South Pacific College of Natural Therapeutics and is renowned for her work through Self Heal and her own range of herbal products, including local Swedish Bitters and New Zealand Bush Bitters. Her interest in herbal medicine began in childhood, influenced by her father’s knowledge of the bush. A pivotal moment came when her sister's severe skin damage from DDT was healed using native plants after conventional medicine failed. This experience solidified Angela's belief in the efficacy of native botanicals.
For X-ZONE’s RELIEF, JOINTS, and SPORTS ranges, Angela supplies ten native plants: Harakeke, Horopito, Kareao, Kahikatea, Koromiko, Kōwhai, Kūmarahou, Pukatea, Pūriri, and Rata. Initially conducting her own research, Angela’s findings were affirmed by historical uses of these plants by generations of Maori healers (Rongoā rākau) and later by Sister Suzanne Aubert, who utilized them in the late 1800s at the Catholic Mission school and hospital at Hiruharama-Jerusalem. Sister Suzanne, having studied botany in Paris, became a missionary in New Zealand, collaborating with local Māori and settlers to use native plants for healing.
Self Heal's herbs and plants are wild-sourced, ensuring their healing properties remain consistent and potent. She meticulously checks, dries, and powders the leaves before converting them into tinctures. Based in West Auckland, Angela is renowned for her extensive knowledge of New Zealand’s native flora and has been instrumental in developing X-ZONE’s unique product ranges, showcasing the enduring tradition of using local plants for their medicinal benefits.
Visit Self Heal's website and try their amazing ranges of Swedish Bitters, New Zealand Bush Bitters and herbal tinctures.