Thursday, December 27, 2012

Sinus Season



It's that dreaded time of year, sinus season!  Although sinus problems can haunt many all year long, they seem magnified during these cold, dry months.  I have found that the best solution is a neti pot. 

A neti pot is a safe and effective way to maintain healthy sinus processes.  It helps to flush the nasal passages of bacteria and irritants, and to relieve  pain, pressure and congestion.  The Co-op currently carries neti pots made by a small company in northern California called Baraka.  Increasingly miserable from chronic sinus problems, Baraka's founder, Sue Libby,  recieved a neti pot from her mother.  It helped tremendously, and she began a new path to create a high quality neti pot.

Baraka is a small company, but they carry a healthy, sustainable line of neti pots and neti pot products like salt rinses and sinus oils.  They strive to minimize packaging and source organic ingredients.  The clay for the pots come from Ohio and their salts are sourced from an environmentally protected area off the coast of France.

I have to say that my Baraka neti pot has rid me of sinus problems for awhile now.  When I first moved to Grand Marais I suffered from some serious sinus problems.  I bought my first neti pot years later and I have not regretted it.  I rarely suffer sinus problems now and swear by Baraka's products.  My personal favorite is the Dry Nose Oil.  With wood heat and dry winter condition, the Dry Nose Oil has been a lifesaver.

We are expecting a big shipment of Baraka products next week, so look for them on your next trip to the Co-op!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Smells Like The Holidays

The holidays are in full swing, and there is nothing I love more than the smells of Christmas.  A sticky sweet ham, freshly baked cookies to the fresh, crisp scent of the Christmas tree, all heighten the senses and set the mood for a wonderful holiday.  On those days when the cookies aren't baking in the oven and you can't quite smell the tree, a do-it-yourself room spray can bring those scents to life without also creating lots of dirty dishes.

 You'll need to start with a mist bottle (available at the Co-op).  With that at the ready, all you need is some water and the essential oils of your choosing.  The typical dilution for a room spray is 48 drops of essential oil to 4 ounces of water.  Mix in the mist bottle,shake well, and spray throughout your room. 

Here are some great recipes I've found that truly capture that smell of fresh baked goodies and that great pine scent of the Christmas tree:

Holiday Fruit & Spice Spray
12 drops sweet orange essential oil
12 drops lemon essential oil
4 drops cinnamon essential oil
4 drops clove essential oil
4 ounces water

Forest Room Spray
14 drops pine essential oil
6 drops sweet orange essential oil
4 ounces water

Happy Holidays!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

The Essentials

Supplementation is a tricky thing.  There are so many questions, "How much vitamin D do I really need?", "What form of calcium should I take?", but the one constant is our body's need for essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids are otherwise known as Omega-3's and Omega-6's, and although most of the vitamins that our body does not make on its own can be provided through a diet rich in fruits and veggies there are very few sources of essential fatty acids.  One needs to consume these Omega-3's and Omega-6's in a 2:1 ratio, respectively.  We get plenty of Omega-6's in our everyday diet, they include vegetable and seed oils, soybean and corn oils, meat, certain fish and eggs.  The problem arises with the Omega-3's.  Although there are some Omega-3's found in flaxseed oils, chia seeds and some leafy greens, the fundamental Omega-3's come only from oily, cold water fish such as tuna, herring, sardines, anchovies, and algae. 

A recent Harvard University study revealed that there are 93,000 annual deaths from insufficient consumption of  Omega-3's.  According to the American Heart Association we should eat fish twice a week if we have no history of heart disease.  If fish is not a regular component in your diet, you may need to start thinking about Omega-3 supplementation.

This month Nordic Naturals is on sale through our Co-op Deals program.  Quality is extremely important when it comes to fish oil supplementation and with increasing pollution, especially PCB's in our water, and excessive heavy metals such as mercury concentrating in our fish, choosing a safe fish oil can be a challenge.  Nordic Naturals is at the forefront in pureness of product, they are regularly chosen by universities for use in their clinical research, and at any time you can call Nordic Naturals to receive a Certificate of Analysis which will include the freshness, purity, and potency for the particular batch of fish oil you purchased.

I never tire of discussing fish oils and how they work in our bodies, feel free to pull me aside at any time if you want more information on this great supplement.  And remember: they are essential!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Favorites

My favorite this week is Weleda's Pomegranate Regenerating Hand Cream.  I'm usually not a big fan of products that smell of fruit, but they got the subtle pomegranate scent just right with this one. And it couldn't have come from a better company.  Weleda strives to be as clean and natural as possible, "all natural" isn't enough for this company, "our ingredients have to be effective too.  They have to work with your body's own ability to heal, restore well-being and impart radiance."

I have recommended this product to many of our shoppers and the testimonials have been pouring in.  One local woman coated one hand with Weleda's Pomegranate Hand Cream, and the other hand with another hand cream.  Because the Pomegranate Hand Cream states it helps, "visibly improve the firmness of your skin", she went home and asked her husband if he could tell which hand had the "firming" properties.  He picked the hand with the Pomegranate Hand Cream.  She came back and tried it again (it could have been a lucky guess).  Since we have testers out, she once again coated one hand with the Pomegranate Hand Cream, went home asked her husband, and again he chose the Weleda Pomegranate Hand Cream hand. 

This Wednesday, November 21st, is Wellness Wednesday.  We have some testers out of this great hand cream as well as some free samples, and all Wellness products are 10% off!  We'll also have our Wellness Wednesday Raffle where you can enter to win a full-size Weleda Pomegranate Hand Cream.  See you there!


Thursday, November 8, 2012

Are you in need of rescue?

Your Co-op staff is definitely in need of rescue!  We're in the midst of a lot of changes here at the Co-op with the big move to our temporary location, which had me thinking about the stress and anxiety we face in our every day lives and how to solve this in a healthy manner.  Rescue Remedy quickly came to mind.

My first experience with Rescue Remedy began with a long, family roadtrip from Grand Marais to southern Florida. If any of you have driven anywhere past Duluth with several small children you know that it's not always the tableau television and movies present for us of that happy family playing games and singing songs.  So I brought along some Rescue Remedy Pastilles because several people told me how great they were for young children and I didn't have much confidence that my two young boys were going to be able to keep it together for those long days stuck in the car.

The Rescue Remedy test occurred on day two.  While driving through Tennessee, the temperature rose from 50 to 90 degrees within 45 minutes.  We quickly discovered that we had no air conditioning in our car (why would we, we're from northern Minnesota), we were all still dressed in our Minnesota garb (more than one layer, wool socks, etc.), and we were hungry driving around some unknown city because my husband had a hankerin' for some real southern food.  It was the perfect storm for a complete family breakdown.  As the whines and the shouts grew I remembered the Rescue Remedy in my bag.  I pulled it out gave one each to the boys, then decided to take one myself.  Ten minutes passed and I noticed I was calm.  Although I'd like to blame my boys for the chaos, the reality is that most of the whines and shouts were coming from me, I am a ticking time bomb when hungry-you don't even want to know what I'm like when hungry AND hot, it was nothing short of a miracle.

Rescue Remedy is a Bach Flower Remedy which infuses wild flowers in natural spring water by steeping in the sun or boiling.  According to Dr. Edward Bach, the British physician who started Bach Flower Remedies, they are "a safe and natural method of healing.  They gently restore the balance between mind and body by casting out negative emotions such as, fear, worry, hatred and indecision which interfere with the equilibrium of the being as a whole.  The Bach Flower Remedies allow peace and happiness to return to the sufferer so that the body is free to heal itself."

We have many forms of Rescue Remedy here at the Co-op: sprays, drops, pastilles.  Come check them out, and I hope they can be of rescue.





 

Thursday, November 1, 2012

In Fine Fettle!

The Wellness section of the Cook County Whole Foods Co-op now has a blog!  In Fine Fettle is its name, and I bet you're wondering what that means.  It is an Old English saying that means "in good condition."   Websters dictionary describes fettle as, "state or condition of health, fitness, wholeness, spirit, or form."  I thought this very fitting for all we try to achieve here at the Co-op, and what I hope to project with our Wellness section.  Because being "in fine fettle" doesn't mean simply eating the right foods, or being active, it's an holistic view of health.  Your mind, your body (what you put in it and on it), your environment, clean drinking water, proper rest- all play a role in your overall health.  It's about wholeness, it's about health, it's about spirit, it's about fitness and form. 
I love talking about our products, almost as much as I love using them.  I hope to keep you up-to-date with what's new in the wellness world, great products we have on-sale, new products, and of course, some of my favorites.