Imagine taking an herbal product once a year to aid in removing plaque from the blood, a leading cause of high blood pressure, heart disease, heart attacks, strokes and aneurysms. Or ingest another all natural product for four days to support the balance of LDL (low density lipoprotein cholesterol, also called bad cholesterol) and HDL (high density lipoprotein cholesterol, also called good cholesterol).
Chris Whatcott, along with his dad, Burt Whatcott, own Higher Source Products in Cortez and hope to use the blends of herbs and minerals called Lavascular and Cholesterall, respectively, to benefit the public. Currently Lavascular and Cholesterall in pill form are carried regionally by The Abundant Life in Cortez, Zumas in Mancos, Durango Natural Foods Co-op and Natures Oasis Natural Foods. Chris Whatcott said he just returned from visits to Grand Junction, Montrose and Delta, where six different stores loved the products so much they will stock it on their shelves. He said Higher Source Products has sales people in five other states and theyre working on trade with Canada right now. The small, garage sized operation that started 15 years ago when Burt Whatcott had a heart attack is now being aggressively marketed by Chris Whatcott.
We wont put anything on the market unless it works. We definitely do our testing and make sure things are right, said Chris Whatcott.
Burt Whatcotts heart attack and surgery inspired him to start reading up on herbs and experimenting with different herbs and all natural ways to improve health. Chris Whatcott said after his dad had surgery, doctors found more clots in his blood even after the bypass. Thats when Burt Whatcott developed Lavascular. After he took the herbs, Chris Whatcott said his dad went in for another blood test and there were no signs of plaque.
Every herb (in our products) you can find in the health food stores. We just put the herbs together in an exact formulation, said Chris Whatcott.
The Federal Drug Administration has given the OK for Higher Source Products to market Lavascular and Cholesterall after checking out the ingredient list in the products.
We tell them whats in it, and they let us know if its OK to market them, said Chris Whatcott.
Higher Source Products stores some herbs and works on new developments at a nondescript facility on East Empire Street. The product is mixed, capsuled, bottled and labeled at Arizona Granulation Technologies in Phoenix and then shipped back to Cortez for distribution.
Higher Source Products use 53 herbs in their various products, depending on what theyre being marketed for. Some of the names of herbs people may not even know they are an herb, said Chris Whatcott. The company uses palo verde, cedar, mesquite and juniper not very familiar names when thinking of ingestible herbs.
These herbs are nothing but healthy. They cant hurt the body, Chris said.
There are poisonous herbs out there, but we dont use them. In the Lavascular formula, youre looking at celery, red pepper, a lot of stuff like that. Everything is so good for you, he said.
Chris said within a month, he plans to offer products on their website, www.highersourcehealth.com. More products are in the works, and Nutrient, a calcium and vitamin D compound, will be available soon.
Its going to be a nice business to be in, said Chris Whatcott.
The Whatcotts also own Whatcott Plastering and said their stucco work supports Higher Source Health, which started as a hobby but now is being marketed to help others.
I thought we should start getting these products going, and I think theyll be very beneficial to the public, said Chris Whatcott.
Its very gratifying being able to help people out, he said.
