Nature's Sunshine Products Names Dr. Matthew Tripp as Chief Scientific Officer

LEHI, Utah, April 23, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc. (Nasdaq:NATR), a leading natural health and wellness company engaged in the manufacture and direct selling of nutritional and personal care products, today announced the appointment of Matthew Tripp, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Tripp has extensive senior level R&D experience in consumer product manufacturing for major consumer goods companies, and will play a significant role in the development, manufacturing and quality control of Nature's Sunshine Product's broad range of nutritional products.

Since 2000, Dr. Tripp has served as Vice President, Research and Development, at Metagenics, a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of high quality dietary supplements and medical foods sold through health care practitioners in the U.S. and pharmacies abroad. He has also concurrently served as Senior Vice President, Research and Development, at KinDex Therapeutics, a biotechnology company created by Metagenics. At Metagenics, he had direct responsibility for managing the discovery, development, safety, and clinical validation of medical foods and nutraceuticals. He played the leadership role of installing a new product development process that accelerated time to market and the volume of science based, clinically tested new products moving through the product pipeline. Significantly, Dr. Tripp led the creation of a substantial body of proprietary intellectual property, resulting in over 100 patents and patent applications.

Prior to working at Metagenics, he worked in progressively more responsible R&D and leadership roles at the Kellogg Company and Miller Brewing Company. Dr. Tripp received his Ph.D. from Washington State University in Physiology/Microbial Genetics/Microbiology; an M.A. in Microbial Physiology/Bacterial Genetics and a B.S. in Biology both from Western Michigan University. He also completed extensive post-doctoral research at the University of California – San Diego where he discovered novel protein phosphorylation cascades involved in nutrient signaling (nutrigenomics) – processes that when disrupted by poor diet, lead to metabolic disease and chronic illness.

"I am very excited to have someone of Dr. Tripp's qualifications and reputation in the industry become part of our leadership team," said Gregory L. Probert, Nature's Sunshine Products' Executive Chairman and interim CEO. "He will play a critical role in clearly defining, developing and communicating the Company's science strategy and vision to achieve higher organic growth and profitability through innovation."

About Nature's Sunshine Products

Nature's Sunshine Products (Nasdaq:NATR), a leading natural health and wellness company, markets and distributes nutritional and personal care products through a global direct sales force of over 340,000 active independent Managers, Distributors and customers in more than 40 countries. Nature's Sunshine manufactures most of its products through its own state-of-the-art facilities to ensure its products continue to set the standard for the highest quality, safety and efficacy on the market today. The Company has three reportable business segments that are divided based on the characteristics of their Distributor base, similarities in compensation plans, as well as the internal organization of NSP's officers and their responsibilities (NSP Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe; NSP Russia, Central and Eastern Europe; and Synergy WorldWide). The Company also supports health and wellness for children around the world through its partnership with the Little Heroes Foundation. Additional information about the Company can be obtained at its website, www.natr.com.

CONTACT: Stephen M. Bunker
         Chief Financial Officer
         Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc.
         Lehi, Utah 84043
         (801) 341-7303

Released April 23, 2013