For the month of February, the Co-op Vitamin Department is offering special member pricing on our Ascenta line of NutraSea products.  If you’ve considered incorporating a dietary supplement into your wellness regimen, adding an omega-3 oil would be a smart one to start with.

Rachel Davis in Vitamins loves her some fish oil

If you’ve been paying any attention to trending health stories over the years, you’ve undoubtedly learned that foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids are good for you.  And while the juxtaposition of “good” and “fats” may seem oxymoronic, omega-3 fatty acids are essential for optimal health. Omega-3 must be provided by our diet, since it is not produced by our bodies.

EPA and DHA are the active forms of omega-3 required by our bodies to perform vital functions that include:

• Promoting cardiovascular health
• Reducing inflammation
• Supporting mental focus & cognitive function
• Supporting positive mood & emotional well-being
• Promoting brain, eye, & nervous system health
• Supporting healthy immune system function
• Enhancing the appearance of skin and hair
• Promoting optimal fat metabolism

As impressive as the above benefits may be, a deficit of omega-3 is equally impressive on the “not so good for you” side. In fact, a decreased amount of omega-3 relative to omega-6 in our diet results in an increased risk of degenerative disease.

Unfortunately, a number of dietary habits, such as the widespread use of vegetable cooking oils (omega-6), industrial milling, and the decreased consumption of fish (omega-3), have contributed to an omega-3 deficiency, or imbalance, in the diets of many North Americans. As compared to the ancestral diet of Neo-Palaeolithic humans, omega-3 consumption has dropped 20 fold from a daily intake of 3.0 grams down to a meager 0.15 grams. At the same time omega-6 consumption has increased dramatically, far exceeding the recommended daily intake. Conversely, experts generally advise that we consume more omega-3 and less omega-6.*

Among the fish oil brands that we carry in the Co-op Vitamin Department, we are featuring one in particular this February: the Ascenta line of NutraSea oils. We carry 6 different formulations of NutraSea. They include a basic version with balanced EPA and DHA, NutraSea +D (added vitamin D) NutraSea hp (a 3:1 concentration of EPA to DHA for healthy mood and enhanced concentration, joint and skin health, and inflammation), a concentrated DHA version recommended for pregnant women, and a formulation designed for children. Ascenta even makes a vegetarian version with omega-3 not derived from animal sources.

During the month of February, the Co-op Vitamin Department is offering special member pricing on our NutraSea products. If you’ve considered incorporating a dietary supplement into your wellness regimen, adding an omega-3 oil would be a smart one to start with – and with our Ascenta line, you can even tailor its benefits to your specific needs.

* The above nutritional information is sourced from the Ascenta website.

But our Vitamin Department contains an even deeper repository of knowledge than that of our employees.  It is also the source of a wide selection of cookbooks that approach the celebration of all things culinary from the perspective of health and healing — which makes it a great resource if you’re looking to give someone the gift of empowerment that comes with better living through nutrition.

Among the many books that deal with the more generic topic of eating for a longer, healthier life are The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, Healthy Healing, Healing with Whole Foods, and Nutritional Healing.  We are also very pleased to carry a wonderful book of breakfast recipes from a local naturopathic physician, Joan Haynes of Boise Natural Health (see video link below).

If you have an interest in moving as far away as possible from processed foods, we have a number of titles dedicated to raw foods, such as The Complete Book of Raw Food, Living Cuisine, Raw: The UnCook Book, and Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine.

For those with specific food issues, such as gluten intolerance or diabetes, you’ll find some great resources in the form of Gluten-Free Cooking for Dummies, The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen, and the Glycemic Index Cookbook.  For those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, we also have books on coping with IBS.  Interested in homeopathic health?  Check out The Homeopathic Emergency Guide or Homeopathic Remedies.

You’ll even find cookbooks that take an ecologically sustainable approach to the subject of food, like Green Living or Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life.  Last but not least, the book that is most likely to find itself under my tree for a fresh start to the new year is Internal Cleansing.  Enough said.

Click here for a YouTube interview with Joan Haynes, ND

“The idea behind taking enzymes orally is that some of us lack the necessary enzymes to break food down enough to be digested thoroughly – especially if you’re eating a large meal like at Thanksgiving,” says Heidi Bookstaver. “Digestive enzymes are designed for those who want to fully benefit from the nutrients in the foods they consume.”

Bloat. Flatulence. Indigestion. Heartburn. Think of them as the Four Horsemen of the Thanksgiving Dinner Apocalypse. Sure, they’re hardly the stuff of holiday conversation, but seeing as how we’re all adults here, let’s just confront them like grown ups, shall we?.

One unfailing source of grown up wisdom at our store, at least when it comes to aiding and abetting bodily functions of all kinds, is our Vitamin Department manager, Heidi Bookstaver. With the holidays upon us, I recently turned to Heidi for advice on the darker side of holiday feasting. Fortunately, Heidi was able to shed some light on the subject. As it so happens, her department carries a number of products designed to keep your sense of abundance from feeling more like the consequence of wretched excess.

Throughout the month, Heidi’s department has our entire line of Enzymedica products on sale. The purpose of these products is to enhance the digestion and assimilation of food, while reducing the body’s need to produce digestive enzymes.

“The idea behind taking enzymes orally is that some of us lack the necessary enzymes to break food down enough to be digested thoroughly – especially if you’re eating a large meal like at Thanksgiving,” says Heidi. “Digestive enzymes are designed for those who want to fully benefit from the nutrients in the foods they consume.”

Enzymedica describes the efficacy of their products as follows:

“Our body uses enzymes to enhance digestion and turn the food we eat into energy. Produced throughout the digestive tract and available from raw foods and supplements, these enzymes include: amylase for carbohydrates, lipase for fats, protease for proteins, and cellulase for fiber. Like tiny shears, enzymes help break down the foods we eat leaving particles small enough to provide nutrition to the cells after they enter the bloodstream. In addition to aiding digestion, some enzymes provide additional support to the body by eliminating harmful toxins and by-products.”

Enzymedica’s digestive enzyme products include Digest Basic, Digest Spectrum, and Digest Gold, which vary in relation to the spectrum and strength of their enzymatic properties. In addition to addressing basic digestion, the company makes products that focus on more specific issues such as lactose intolerance and gluten intolerance.

While Enzymedica products happen to be on Member Special for the month of November, Heidi’s department also has Hyland’s line of homeopathic remedies for gas and upset stomach, the ever popular Beano (for those who can’t say no to beans but want to avoid any consequent social stigma), and Nature’s Plus Say Yes to Beans (which I always do). And if, heaven forbid, your best preventative measures fail you, you’ll be happy to know that Enzymedica’s Acid Soothe is on sale as well.

Happy Thanksgiving, and remember: All things in moderation (with the exception of pumpkin pie).

It’s that time of the year when a sneeze and a runny nose just might mean something more than allergies.  That’s right…cold and flu season is upon us.  It’s also that time of the year when our Vitamin Department manager, Heidi Bookstaver, dons her superhero cape and transforms into the protector of immune systems and scourge of microbes: Flu Defender!

Fortunately for Heidi, she has a number of superhero weapons at her disposal — some of which are Member Specials for the month of November.  Talk about timing!

Let’s start with Umcka.  Yes, the name “Umcka” sounds like it was taken from a native American tribe in the Northwest, but in our Vitamin Department it translates as “relief” — and the “tribal” allusion isn’t actually that far off the mark, if you know the story behind this product.

In 1897, Englishman Charles Stevens went to South Africa hoping to cure himself of a respiratory illness.  While there, an African tribal healer gave him a remedy made from Pelargonium sidoides roots (a plant native to the coastal regions of South Africa).  Fully recovered, Stevens brought the remedy back to England where it became popular as Stevens’ Consumption Cure.

In 1920, Dr. Adrien Sechehaye learned of Stevens’ cure.  Over the next nine years he treated more than 800 patients in Switzerland with a homeopathic preparation of P. sidoides roots (EPs 7630).  But with the advent of synthetic drugs, the remedy was forgotten by Western medicine until its recent rediscovery by European researchers.

This is where the modern story of Umcka begins.  The formula is a preparation of EPs 7630, and the name is derived from the African word “umKhulkane” (meaning respiratory infection).  Now a leading medicine in Europe, the company Nature’s Way is responsible for bringing Umcka to America.  Much of its supply of EPs 7630 is grown on the company’s farms in South Africa. From the time of planting to harvesting, it takes 3-5 years for the roots to be ready for medicinal extraction.

From the perspective of Co-op Vitamin Department manager Heidi Bookstaver, the efficacy of Umcka in treating colds and flu makes it worth the wait.  To quote Heidi:

“When this time of year comes around, we are often asked by customers what one product they can buy to help them get rid of their colds. For me, the first thing I reach for when I’m either feeling a bug come on or have a full blown illness is Nature’s Way homeopathic Umcka Cold Care or Cold and Flu care. The reason I love this product is that it has third-party clinical studies to back its claims — and for me it is always helpful. Umcka shortens the duration of colds and flu and reduces the severity of coughs, congestion, and sore throat, as well as speeds the healing of sinus and bronchial infections. Customers often report back to us that they had good results with this product too.”

While the Bard rightly pointed out that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” you have to admit this much: however odd the name Umcka might sound, it rolls off the tongue a lot easier than “Stevens’ Consumption Cure.”

Also on sale is our line of Host Defense products from Fungi Perfecti, a family-owned, environmentally friendly company specializing in using gourmet and medicinal mushrooms to “improve the health of the planet and its people.”  Founded by mycologist and author Paul Stamets, Host Defense utilizes a new wave of technologies harnessing the inherent power of mushrooms and fungal mycelium in its ever-expanding family of mushroom-based supplements for supporting natural immunity.

Among the cold and flu defense products popular with our customers are our elderberry-based supplements.  While we have several to choose from, our New Chapter and Nature’s Way brands are both on sale as Member Specials.  The medicinal use of elderberry actually dates back to the fifth century BCE writings of Hippocrates, who described the use of tonics derived from elderberry (Sambucus nigra).  In the Middle Ages, elderberry was traditionally used to help support the immune system as well.  We’re talking old school here.

If you want to further armor-plate your immune system, Heidi also recommends Source Natural’s Wellness Formula, which addresses “immune system components that include protective barriers such as the skin and mucous membranes, cell-mediated immunity involving T-lymphocytes and thymus support, and humoral immunity consisting of B-lymphocytes and macrophage interactions.”

If a cold or flu bug does manage to slip through a chink in your immune defenses, there’s a final product on sale that Super Defender (that would be Heidi) wants you to know about: Barlean’s Olive Leaf throat spray.  As the ancient Egyptians and, yes, Hippocrates (the guy got around) would have told you, olive oil isn’t just for cooking — and Barlean’s Olive Leaf Complex Throat Spray is a convenient, super-antioxidant solution for promoting a healthy immune system and wellness, while its natural peppermint, lemon and sage are refreshing and soothing to the throat.

With products like these to choose from, keeping yourself from getting a cold or the flu could just be one of the healthiest things you do all year.

Click here for a YouTube video interview with Heidi “Flu Defender” Bookstaver.

In the case of its vitamin lines, New Chapter’s focus is less on food supplements than it is on “supplemental food” (a term it has actually trademarked). 

I recently became familiar with New Chapter Organics thanks to our inventory blowout.  One of the items on sale in our Vitamin Department was everyMan, a whole-food based multi-vitamin “specifically formulated for the needs of active men” (there is a version for you active ladies as well) with herbs and minerals designed to combat the effects of stress (not something I have a lot of in my job, but there’s the rest of the world to consider), support heart health and bolster the immune system. 

Checking the supplement facts on the carton, I quickly counted nearly 25 separate vitamins and minerals listed under the “Probiotic Nutrients” category, along with a variety of herbal blends and extracts divided into various support functions, including a stress/energy support blend (contains organic maca and organic schizandra), cardio support blend, immune support blend (contains organic elderberry and organic astragalus along with whole-food vitamins C & D3), and a prostate support blend (hey, I did say every man, right?).

One of the things about the New Chapter Organics brand that appeals to me, as I’m sure it does to many of our customers, are the company’s guiding principles:

• To deliver the wisdom of nature, thus relieving suffering and promoting optimal health.
• To advance the organic mission, nourishing body and soul with the healing intelligence of pure whole foods and herbal supplements.
• To nurture and sustain Mother Earth, the source of natural healing.

In the case of its vitamin lines, New Chapter’s focus is less on food supplements than it is on “supplemental food” (a term it has actually trademarked).  Its holistic approach to product development stresses organic (formulated with organic ingredients), probiotic (cultured with beneficial live probiotics), and whole food (bioavailable and easy to digest). 

While our Inventory Blowout Sale may have blown by, we have a number of New Chapter Organics products that are on special Member Sale for the remainder of July, and Vitamin Department manager Heidi Bookstaver informs me that there will be about 15 different New Chapter products that the Co-op has secured some special member pricing on as well.

By the way, a final note about New Chapter Organics that will make you feel happy as well as healthy is the fact that the company devotes 10 percent or more of its after-tax profits to the conservation of tropical rainforests and the “sacred seeds” that sustain all herbal traditions.  Sustainable is as sustainable does, after all — particularly when it comes to the “every man” in all of us.

By the way, I encourage you to visit the New Chapter website.  In addition to the gorgeous site, you’ll find it to be an excellent resource on the relationship between food and health.

Heidi Bookstaver (l) and Linda Ledbetter

I often joke that asking someone to define the Boise Co-op can be a bit like the parable of the blind men and the elephant, in which each of the blind men describes the animal based on the part he is touching.  It’s a tree (the leg), a mountain (the body), a snake (the trunk).  The beast is hard to realize in its whole.

To some degree, our customers have the same challenge with how they perceive us.  Who we are has a lot to do with what they are looking for.  And while we don’t think of ourselves as a “Health Food Store” per se, that is precisely the category we won in the Idaho Statesman’s recent “Best of Treasure Valley 2011″ awards.

It should come as no surprise, however, that so many people voted for us in the health food store category.  While the winners primarily consisted of vitamin and supplement suppliers, what put us at the top of the list was, in fact, our diversity — as suggested in the Statesman’s article:

Just walking along its aisles — packed to the brim with vitamins, teas, tinctures, restorative remedies and all things local or organic — makes one feel healthier.

Getting back to the blind men and the elephant, with so many different things we could be called — from Vitamin Shop to Organic Grocer and Deli — I suppose that if we had to pick one single, all-encompasing moniker, “Health Food Store” feels pretty good.  Which is why the presentation of the award to Heidi Bookstave, our Vitamin Department manager, serves as a proxy for not only all the Co-op employees who have worked hard to make our store a health resource, but to all our customers who have entrusted us with that role.  We humbly thank you!

Hemp is the distinct oilseed and fiber varieties of the plant species Cannabis sativa L. It is a tall, slender, fibrous plant that has been cultivated worldwide for over 10,000 years.   Similar to flax, hemp provides raw materials for both food and fiber. It is an environmentally sustainable solution for potentially thousands of products ranging from food and body care to plastics, paper, textiles, building materials and even ethanol. It is important to note that hemp has no drug value. Hemp seed contains little to no measurable amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive ingredient in drug varieties of Cannabis. Using hemp products will not cause a false positive drug test. Learn more about the issue at www.TestPledge.com.

Foods made from hemp seeds have become a staple in co-ops and grocery stores across the country. The light, nutty flavor of hemp seeds (similar in taste to toasted pine nuts) make them a perfect raw ingredient for delicious breads, cereals, waffles, nut butters, protein powders, nutritional oils, non-dairy milk and even ice cream and other non-dairy frozen desserts.  Hemp seeds are a nearly perfect food source. High in digestible protein, healthy Omega essential fatty acids (EFAs) and naturally occurring minerals, hemp seeds are also free of gluten and other common allergens such as those found in soy, dairy, peanuts and tree-nuts.

Nutrition and medical experts agree that including EFAs (the “good” fats) in your diet can have important health benefits, including improved heart health, brain function (especially in children), skin conditions such as eczema and immune function. However, as our bodies do not produce EFAs, we need to obtain them through our food.

Hemp seeds have a perfectly balanced 1:3 ratio of naturally occurring Omega-3 and Omega-6 EFAs for our body. And unlike other seeds and nutritional oils, such as flax and fish oil, hemp seeds also contain Super Omega-3 Stearidonic Acid (SDA) and Super Omega-6 Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) in nutritionally relevant amounts that help to reduce inflammation and improve mental functioning, as well as make up for potentially impaired fatty acid metabolism.

Additionally, hemp oil’s Omega-3 EFAs and vitamin E content make it an ideal ingredient for body care products. The EFAs soothe and restore skin in salves and creams and give excellent emolliency and a smooth after-feel to lotions, lip balms, conditioners, shampoos and soaps.

Hemp fiber is one of the strongest natural fibers on Earth. Hemp also offers greater breathability than cotton, which accounts for nearly 25% of pesticide use. Hemp can be grown without any pesticides or agricultural chemicals and is a non-toxic source of fiber for clothing that is gaining popularity among leading designers. The strength of hemp fiber makes it a favorite for specialty paper, popular in today’s ecologically conscious marketplace. Paper pulp made from hemp hurds (the woody core fiber) is superior to short-fiber wood and is an ideal additive to strengthen recycled post-consumer waste (PCW) pulp, thus expanding PCW’s use.

Today, millions of cars built by Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Lotus, Mercedes Benz and BMW contain hemp composites for door panels. Energy efficient homes are built with hemp concrete, which helps sequester carbon, and retail stores are using hemp fiberboard displays. Imagine a future where hemp is just another useful material for all kinds of earth-friendly products.  All it takes to realize that future is for enough of our decision makers to get over their cannabis paranoia and see hemp for what it is…a sustainable source of food and fiber.

Here’s to next year’s National Hemp Week!