FORMER West Brom striker Hal Robson-Kanu has opened up about why he decided to start his own drinks business.
The 34-year-old founded The Turmeric Co. brand with his dad in 2018, but he recently revealed it was his teenage years that inspired the venture.
Having joined Reading’s academy at the age of 15, Robson-Kanu suffered two severe injuries before breaking into the first team, both of which required surgery.
He was told by club doctors that he would likely never play without pain and restriction in his knee again, prompting him to take prescribed painkillers.
However, after these had an adverse effect on his body, the former Wales international turned to natural remedies.
He told The Reading Chronicle: “It was at that point where me and my dad basically went on a research binge. We began looking at natural ways to recover from pain, inflammation and swelling.
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“We went to the library and scoured the internet. We looked at ancient Asian practices in eastern cultures where they would use natural remedies.
“What we began to find was these natural ingredients which kept recurring, like watermelon, pomegranate, pineapple, ginger and turmeric in the raw format.
“It wasn’t powder or capsules, what we read was that the raw ingredients were key to having an impact.
“My dad sourced all of the natural ingredients from local markets over the next few days and began to turn these into a blend.
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“At first it didn’t taste too good but after a few days my dad perfected this blend of raw, natural ingredients and it was this golden elixir. It was really potent, knocked my socks off, but it was actually enjoyable.
“Immediately the additional nutrient and micronutrients and macro nutrients I was consuming from this golden blend really gave me a real boost of energy.
“Within a few weeks, I began noticing that I didn’t have as much restriction when I did exercise, but the pain and inflammation was there.
“It was after about six weeks of using this blend that my dad was continuously making and waking up, going into the bathroom and into the shower that I realised I had woken up without pain or restriction in my knee.
“It was a lightbulb moment because up until that point I’d taken everything I was told as gospel.”
The Turmeric Co. is now set to move to a larger premises, and Robson-Kanu hopes that products will enter large chain supermarkets soon.
The striker is yet to officially retire from football, even though he hasn’t played professionally in two years.
He offered his services to newly-promoted Wrexham earlier this year.
The Welshman posted on Instagram: “@vancityreynolds I’ll come out of retirement and come and play for @wrexham_afc next season.
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“I’ll also give my salary to the charity of the fans choosing…”
Arguably the most memorable moment from Robson-Kanu’s playing career came when he scored a phenomenal goal against Belgium at Euro 2016.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
