January Favorite

My favorite this month is, Dr. Singha's Mustard Bath.  January is a difficult month here in the north, it gets very cold and is wrought with illness.  For me, that means two things: a very hot bath and time to indulge in some comfort items.  I get both of those, and more, with Dr. Singha's Mustard Bath. 

Dr. Shyam Singha is a popular acupuncturist and Aryurvedic physician who has used this formula in his practice for many years as a way of eliminating acid waste and balance pH.  Mustard has always been known to have cleansing properties, and with the hot water of a bath, it helps, "the largest organ of elimination, the skin, to release impurities".

Many ask if it smells like mustard.  I find it smells more of the wintergreen in its ingredients than anything else, but your bath water will be yellow from the mustard.  I find that the very minty aroma helps open my sinuses and the bath itself really seems to detoxify my skin.  I feel very refreshed after one of these hot mustard baths, and really think my immune system gets the little boost it needs this time of year from the mild cleansing properties.

According to Dr. Singha, this mustard bath formula can also aid in: stress, muscle and joint soreness, congestion, skin conditions, periodic tensions and sleeplessness.  This product is new to the Co-op, affordable, and a perfect way to indulge, heal, and ward off the chill of those very cold January nights.

Why MegaFood?

I can't say enough great things about the company MegaFood.  There is a big difference between supplement companies, and MegaFood proves that over and over again.  MegaFood creates their supplements from food. If you look at any MegaFood label you will see the food that a particular vitamin or mineral is sourced from, i.e. oranges for vitamin C, carrots for vitamin A, cabbage for vitamin K, broccoli for folate, etc. 

They use a gentle drying process, unique to their company, to slow dry the fruits and vegetables in order to retain their nutrients.  MegaFood is located in New Hampshire and they attempt to locally source their fruits and vegetables as much as possible.  They actually have farms growing specific crops of produce that may not be market ready but excellent for supplement production.  An example of this is their cranberries.  When we shop for cranberries for some juicy cranberry muffins or a rich cranbery sauce for our Thanksgiving table, we look for plump light, bitter tasting cranberries.  MegaFood has a local farmer growing a specific variety unlike the cranberries we are used to in our produce departments, they are smaller and more bitter and perfect for a nutrient rich supplement. 

Although we carry a variety of high quality supplements, I believe its important to know why MegaFood can sometimes be twice the price of the other brands.  I've been told by employees of MegaFood that they have visited several other supplement companies and when you walk in they contain vats of different liquids and powders, but when you walk in to MegaFood you see crates of fruits and vegetables.  It's important to remember that MegaFood supplements are also always free of pesticides, herbicides, gluten, and soy.

With the cold and flu season well under way, some great MegaFood supplements to help with prevention and enhancing immunity are the Complex C (made with oranges, blueberries and cranberries), or their probiotic (new to the Co-op): MegaFlora.  And they are on Co-op Deals through January 29th!