Health and Wellness

By Valley Natural Foods Staff When I first learned about B Corp Certification, I thought oh no, another certification on top of non-GMO, USDA Organic and Fair-Trade labels that will confuse people. However, after doing a bit of research, I realized that B Corp Certification is the creme de la creme of third-party validation, focusing not just on whether a product is organic, fair trade or non-GMO, but on the organizational level too. This certification reflects analyzing a company's environmental performance, how it treats its workers, its governance in regards to transparency and engagement practices and how well its products and services improve the lives of its customers. To receive B Corp certification, a company must fill out a lengthy assessment that measures its success in the areas mentioned: worker impact, environment, governance and customers. Companies that receive at least an 80 out of 200 points, qualify

2018 is here. Phew. With the new year comes a new wave of motivation that we definitely welcome. The list below includes some tips for things to do with that new-year motivation to make a healthy 2018. Find an excuse to walk more. Even if it's just a quick trip outside, walking has the potential to do wonders for your mental and physical health. Try new foods as often as possible. If there something new and intriguing in produce, give it a try it might be a new fave. Are zoodles a thing you've been eyeing for a while but never took the plunge, now's the time. Drink more water. Consider getting a Klean Kanteen or other reusable water to cut down on waste as well as chemical exposure. Wake up on time to give yourself some "me" time. Less

On Saturday, December 16, and Sunday, December 17, 2017 we will be offering a FREE evanhealy gift to the first 20 customers with a purchase of $50 or more in evanhealy products!* Come visit the kiosk on Saturday, December 16 from 11am-2pm to talk to an evanhealy skincare expert who can help you pick the right products for your skin-type.                                                                                                  Beauty Based on Experience Evan Healy is a holistic aesthetician who started her career in the natural personal care industry in 1984. With her extensive background in aromatherapy, homeopathy and Ayurveda, she started evanhealy

This week’s focus is all about inspiring you to put together the perfect gift basket. At Valley Natural Foods we have plenty of unique items for creating the perfect basket, well almost… Although we do not sell baskets, we do sell great basket substitutes, like our Valley Natural Foods Reusable Rag Bags or Golden Road Imports Fair-Trade purses and backpacks. To me, gift baskets (or themed gift bags) are a great way to make a gift more personal, and it’s easy to cater to your budget. Here are some ideas to create a cohesive gift with items available at Valley Natural Foods: For the Bloody Mary Enthusiast My recent acquired taste for Bloody Mary’s inspired this gift basket idea. It all began when we started carrying Suckerpunch Gourmet Bloody Mary Mix. The name alone drew me in, and as I took a

Every year I like to come up with unique gifts for my friends and family, but this year I seem to be running short on time for being as creative as I once was. Instead I’ve turned to Valley Natural Foods for my gift giving needs. Stay tuned, each week as I’ll be offering suggestions on some of my favorite gift items and gift ideas available at Valley Natural Foods this holiday season. This week my focus is all about the essentials… essential oils of course!  My love for essential oils started last holiday season when I attended a craft party. Each guest brought a different craft idea and enough supplies for everyone to create unique, hand-made gift items. One of the crafts included making gifts from essential oils, like sugar body scrubs and carpet deodorizers. They were so easy to

Our wellness department recently added handcrafted, cut-your-own Pacha Soap to our shelves! Beautiful Pacha soaps are scented with pure essential oils and colored with herbs, plant extracts, roots minerals and clays. All ingredients are sustainably and ethically sourced, and contain no sulfates, parabens, phthalates or silicones. The benefit of cut-your-own bulk soap allows you to control how thick you want your soap bar. Special bags are supplied to store your soap. If you need assistance with cutting, our staff will be happy to help you! Pacha Soap is a fast-growing, mission-driven company. When you purchase their soap, a bar is given to someone in need and helps provide careers for men and women in developing nations. To learn more about Pacha Soap's mission, visit their website: www.pachasoap.com.

Gut Shot Farmhouse Culture Gut Shot sounds scarier than you think; in fact it’s quite good for you! Gut Shot is a probiotic rich drink that is made from organic vegetables. The juice is pressed from fermented vegetables and full of live active cultures. With such a small serving size of 1-1/2 oz. you can add it to smoothies, use it as a salad dressing, or drink it plain. Gut Shot helps keep your gut happy and healthy and are organic, non-GMO, vegan and gluten-free. We now carry the following flavors of Gut Shot: Classic Ginger Beet Kimchi Gut Shot comes from the same makers of Farmhouse Culture Sauerkraut products that are also carried at Valley Natural Foods. If you like their sauerkraut go ahead and give Gut Shot a try. For more information and recipe visit: farmhouseculture.com.   Bone Broth Protein A trendy new “superfood” has made an

Stirrups on a western saddle are adjusted so the rider’s knees are slightly bent and the balls of each foot firmly planted. Here the rider finds balance on the back of a horse. Yet each person is different when it comes to movement. Some ride swiftly on the back of a gelding; others pound the pavement in running shoes. No matter how you move, the importance to a balanced life is to move to your own groove. Three employees of Valley Natural Foods offer insights to the different ways they focus and move to find balance in their lives. All three work in the wellness department and know about the importance of lifestyle to one’s overall health. By: Charli Mills, Editor, Living Naturally (Valley Natural Foods' print publication). Featured in the Spring 2016 Living Naturally edition. Click here to view the entire issue. Photos by: Susie Hessburg   RITA, Shift Lead “You can walk

We envision how to keep balance in our lives—work, play, family, study and home life. We work on creating a healthy lifestyle for our families and ourselves. By: Eileen Johnson, RN, Valley Natural Foods. Featured in the Spring 2016 Living Naturally edition. Click here to view the entire issue. Photos by: Melissa Berg New and vital thinking has us considering the promise of a balance that stays true to values of protecting, sustaining and allowing the earth, its wildlife, our fellow human beings—and ourselves—to heal and flourish. The wellness department at Valley Natural Foods pursues a balanced approach to building awareness of authentic product selections by seeking to introduce customers to new options in the market. Evan Healy stays true to the belief that the skin is the largest organ of the body, and that properly balancing four basic elements—oil, water, clay and Shea—establishes a healthier and more stable protective mantle. This protects the skin from harmful and damaging bacteria. Healy searches for raw materials that are sustainably

Did you know that your day doesn’t start when you wake up but before you go to bed? According to Anna Wiens, an instructor at Valley Natural Foods, following natural body rhythms is as crucial as what we eat.  She uses Ayurveda, an ancient healing system of India, as the foundation to help people explore how to not only be aware of their natural body rhythms but how to embody this knowledge through simple integration techniques and tips. Through this blog, we will travel throughout the healing world of Ayurveda as a tool to help you embody a healthy lifestyle. At Valley Natural Foods, we want to not only provide you with healthy options but give you the support you need to experience positive, lasting effects. What really is Ayurveda? Wiens reveals that the word "Ayurveda" means “Signs of Life” and it uses five