Scottish-born Steven Horne has been living
in New Zealand since 1990. Living is the operative world, as he almost died not
once, but three times. His life story is one of highs and lows that could
definitely, writes Lorraine Thomson, be the substance of a dram-ma Hollywood
movie.
Steven,
now 49, has had every kind of medical condition you could imagine.
Largely due to his hefty weight [160kg at
his heaviest] Steven, now 49, has had every kind of medical condition you could
imagine and then some – type two diabetes, pancreatic disease, renal failure,
liver damage and ascites [accumulation of fluid].
Due to living life in the fast lane, much
of Steven's health issues stemmed from or were escalated by alcoholic abuse. His
biggest success, he says, was beating the booze and being sober for over a
decade.
After playing professional rugby league in
the UK, he came to New Zealand – a country he regarded as the mecca of rugby.
“I was living a privileged life, but I was
not a nice person. I consulted and worked for some of the world's wealthiest
influential people and organizations. I had two children here, but it was all
about me. I would take advantage of situations. I destroyed everything that was
valuable to me n my life.”
Steven turned from caring only about
himself to caring about others, especially New Zealanders – and he wants to
give back.
The turning point was when he was given 18
months to live and he went off to Hong Kong to live his last days.
“I stared to drink bottled green tea and I
ended up losing weight. I was drinking six or seven bottles of this tea a day.
I became addictive.”
He was eating Asian seafood, but no bread.
The green tea drink was increasing his metabolism to burn fat and increasing
his immunity with natural antioxidants. He couldn't believe his luck – and he
lived to tell the tale.
“I brought this Tao Ti Green Tea to New
Zealand and thought this would be a good business opportunity. It failed to
start with, due to the bitter taste, so I added the natural sweetener stevia. I
wanted to make a funky drink New Zealanders would like. This became the first
ready to drink real green tea using stevia – the first in the world.”
The drink was developed in response to
Steve's belief “it is high sugar beverages that are killing children and
causing life-threatening obesity”.
Largely through drinking Tao Ti green tea,
Steven dropped 51kg in 13 months.
Largely
through drinking Tao Ti green tea, Steven dropped 51kg in 13 months
“It just kept falling off.”
He hasn't been on medication for years now
and his aim is to inspire others not to make the same mistakes he made.
“Diabetes and obesity is at pandemic
levels. Someone had to do something.”
The weight loss, he says, is achievable
with no exercise at all. He is, however, now that he has more energy, looking
at going to his local gym. Former professional rugby league player Ruben Wiki
is going to be his personal trainer.
“So inspired by my vision of reducing
obesity, many high profile people support me, including several New Zealand
sporting icons,” he says.
“With all the fantastic health benefits, it
was important I got my family onto it as soon as possible.” said rugby icon
Keven Mealamu.
As far as his food intake goes, Steven eats
a lot of protein and likes the occasional treat.
His green tea business is now selling 800
cases every month in New Zealand in three flavours [peach, apple and pineapple]
to cafes, bars, restaurants, night clubs and gyms. The aim is to distribute the
product throughout Australasia. A new brand soon to appear on his bottles,
esebo, stands for obese [spelt backwards].
Green tea, he notes, is growing 22 per cent
globally and is the second most consumed drink in the world, behind water.
Along with launching a new bottled green
tea. Steven set up a charity, the Bank of Dreams Charitable Trust, Former All
Black Waka Nathan is one of the trustees.
Every bottle of Tao Ti purchased
contributes to the trust, which sponsors teams and groups that encourage
healthy activity and provides fundraising for clubs or groups, with the vision
to turn around obesity. Steve is definitely passionate about making a
difference.
Much of the idea for this came from the
movie Pay it Forward – the story of a young boy who starts a chain
reaction of goodness for his social studies project. His vision is simple: Do a
good deed for three people, and instead of expecting them to pay you back, ask
them to pay it forward to three more people. This story reflects the inspiration
behind Tao Ti's philosophy, not just to be a sustainable business, but to make
a difference in the live of the people who drink the products and to the wider
community who have so much to benefit through better health.
Ambassador for the product and TV presenter
Jo Holley is a loyal supporter.
“After reading Steve’s story and vision to
inspire and give hope to so many people, I had to be involved,” she says. “I am
proud to be the Face of Tao Ti.”
