Revival Soy
Revival Soy is a brand of soy food and supplement products developed by Physicians Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately owned company located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Dr. Aaron Tabor, M.D. founded Physicians Pharmaceuticals in an effort to help his mother with the menopausal transition. He accomplished this goal by patenting a natural concentration process for soy that allowed Revival Soy to provide a higher amount of soy isoflavones than found in most soy products. Suzanne Tabor, his mother has directed the flavor profiles of all the products and served for more than 20 years as CFO, and now serves as the President and CEO of Revival Products, Inc.
Dr. Aaron Tabor
Aaron Tabor, M.D. is the Medical Research Director of Revival Products, Inc. A graduate of Wake Forest University and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Tabor oversees all clinical research on Revival Soy products. He is also responsible for directing new Revival Soy product development based on clinical research results.He is also a member of various medical associations and health groups including the American Medical Association, North American Menopause Society, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and National Consortium of Breast Centers among others.
History
Revival Soy originally began shipping products in 1998. Within two years of its establishment, Physicians Pharmaceuticals, now Revival Products, Inc., was shipping up to 7,000 shipments per month. With the surge in soy protein interest associated with the FDA-approved soy protein heart health claim, Physicians Pharmaceuticals continued to see a rapid growth in their business. Physicians Pharmaceuticals sold their one-millionth order of Revival Soy products on September 21, 2004. As more soy food companies came into existence and the soy protein market began to mature, sales started to level out. In order to account for these changes in the market, Physicians Pharmaceuticals reduced staff in 2005. Today, Physicians Pharmaceuticals, makers of Revival Soy products, remains a highly profitable company with a growing number of marketing partners.Awards and recognition
- Physicians Pharmaceuticals was featured in the September 2001 issue of BizLife magazine.
- On October 12, 2001, Physicians Pharmaceuticals received the Fast 50 award for being one of the 50 fastest growing companies in the North Carolina Piedmont Triad region.
- On May 16, 2002, the Kernersville, North Carolina Chamber of Commerce named Dr. Tabor the Small Business Person of the Year.
- Physicians Pharmaceuticals received their second Fast 50 award for being one of the 50 fastest growing companies in the North Carolina Piedmont Triad region on October 30, 2002.
- On September 25, 2003, Physicians Pharmaceuticals received their third consecutive Fast 50 award for being one of the 50 fastest growing companies in the North Carolina Piedmont Triad region.
- In 2003, business author Seth Godin featured Revival Soy in his book ’99 Cows’ in which he states “The smart thing is Revival’s focus on investing in the stuff that matters–making a remarkable product they believe in.”
- Physicians Pharmaceuticals was highlighted in the December 2004 issue of Entrepreneur magazine as one of its hot businesses in the functional foods category.
Products
- Soy Protein Bars
- Soy Protein Shakes
- Baked Soy Protein Chips
- Soy Pasta–spaghetti and penne
- Soy Nuts
- Soy Coffee
- Vitamins–a small range of multivitamins and enzymes
- Soy Candles
Health Research
Revival Products, Inc. is an active participant in clinical research related to soy and human health. Revival Soy protein products have been used in multiple clinical research studies, including nearly twenty clinical trials that have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Research with Revival Soy products has demonstrated the benefits of soy for several aspects of human health including menopause, weight loss, skin health, and heart health.In one double-blind, placebo-controlled study, postmenopausal women drank either Revival Soy protein shakes or placebo shakes daily for 3 months. Using the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life questionnaire, differences in vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual symptoms were determined. The results of this study showed that on average the women consuming the Revival Soy shakes daily for just 12 weeks saw an improvement in all 4 postmenopausal quality of life areas, including a reduction in hot flashes and night sweats. In contrast, the study volunteers in the placebo group did not obtain these benefits. The study investigators concluded that consuming Revival Soy was associated with an improved quality of life in early postmenopausal women.
Two recent studies have suggested that Revival Soy products can be an integral part of a healthy weight loss plan. In one study, overweight women were asked to follow a low-energy diet that included 3 shakes with 20 grams of milk protein or 20 grams of Revival Soy protein per day, one pre-packaged entrée, and at least 5 fruits and vegetable servings daily. Compliance with this diet using either milk protein shakes or soy protein shakes resulted in significant weight loss and reductions in body fat. Average weight loss was approximately 26-29 pounds and did not differ significantly between groups. In a second study, overweight, postmenopausal women on a weight maintenance diet were asked to drink either a Revival Soy protein shake or a milk protein shake daily for 3 months. Different measures of body fat were evaluated after 3 months. Despite being on a weight maintenance diet plan, total abdominal fat was reduced in the soy protein group and increased in the milk protein group. These results show that Revival Soy protein can be a highly effective part of a weight loss program.
A study conducted at Johns Hopkins University reported that Revival Soy protein shakes might support normal cholesterol health. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 216 postmenopausal women drank either Revival Soy protein shakes or milk protein shakes every day for 12 weeks. After 6 weeks, results from this study showed that consumption of Revival Soy protein shakes supported greater decreases in LDL-cholesterol concentration and LDL particle number than the milk protein shakes.
Research also has suggested that Revival Soy protein shakes might support healthy skin, hair, and nails. A research study conducted by a board-certified dermatologist assigned postmenopausal women with mild to moderate photoaging to drink either one Revival Soy protein shake or to remain on their normal diet for 6 months. After 6 months of dietary soy consumption, improvements were seen in facial wrinkling, discoloration, and overall appearance. Also, improvement was noted in nail roughness, ridging, flaking, splitting, and overall appearance at the end of the intervention period. Improvements in hair health were evident for roughness, manageability, and overall appearance after consuming soy for 3 months with additional improvements observed after 6 months in terms of hair roughness, dullness, and overall appearance. Similar benefits of Revival Soy protein have been reported for premenopausal women.
Revival Soy products have also been used in studies where the potential health benefits of soy wert not being examined directly. One of the current hot topics in soy research is equol, an isoflavone made from one of the isoflavones in soy. A number of clinical research trials have used Revival Soy foods to determine whether individuals consuming soy can make equol or not. The absorption of isoflavones from Revival Soy products has also been examined with the results showing that isoflavones are readily absorbed from Revival Soy products, though absorption was less from soy nuts than from bars and shakes.
Philanthropic Endeavors
- Physicians Pharmaceuticals was instrumental in the development of the North Carolina Amber Alert system. They provided $150,000 for the complete funding of the statewide implementation of the North Carolina Child Alert Notification system, which was subsequently converted to the North Carolina Amber Alert program in June 2003.
- Physicians Pharmaceuticals has donated over 110,000 pounds of Revival Soy products to Feed The Children, an international, nonprofit, charitable organization committed to making a difference in the fight against hunger.
- A portion of all sales of Revival Soy products are donated to breast cancer support groups including the Avon Foundation Breast Center at Johns Hopkins, Mother's Supporting Daughters with Breast Cancer, and the Peake Performance Hike for Breast Cancer.
- Physicians Pharmaceuticals helped sponsor the second annual nationwide Walk From Obesity. This annual walk, sponsored by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, is a fund-raising event designed to reduce disability, death and discrimination of people who are obese.
- Physicians Pharmaceuticals donated 4,000 bars of Revival Soy to Operation Blessing, an international organization that helps relieve human suffering by combating hunger and deprivation through the provision of food and basic necessities of life.