Natural Choices — Health Food, Organic Produce, Gluten Free, Vitamins, Supplements — Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana

Posts Tagged ‘dietary supplement’

There’s quite a buzz about the new Farmers’ Market in Columbus, Indiana!

Mark your calendar and put a reminder on the steering wheel so you don’t forget to stop on the way home from work!

Fresh produce straight from the farm

Wednesdays

From 4 – 7 p.m.

 Natural Choices Community Market

North parking lot

Fill your basket with farm fresh fruits and vegetables at the Natural Choices Farmers' Market.

Of course, the store will be open during Farmers’ Market hours so you can get all the shopping done at one time.

“At Natural Choices,” owner Carolyn Behrman says, “our No. 1 goal is to provide the Columbus area with high-quality, healthy eating options as we work together to improve the health of our community.”

Carolyn has scouted the area to find local farmers who grow a good variety of produce. Now is the time to bring vegetables and berries home to either can or freeze them. With a little preparation you can be sure your family will enjoy the flavor of summer all through the winter months as well – and there is nothing better than delicious green beans or a tomato sauce made from farm-fresh tomatoes on a cold winter’s night!

Drive, bike or walk over and after making your selections at the market, pop inside the store to find packaged and frozen foods, gluten-free foods, organic and locally grown produce, beef and buffalo meat, as well as a wide selection of dietary supplements, health and body products, pet supplies and cleaning products.

Reduce the toxins in your home and food. Find out how at Natural Choices!

See you at the Farmers’ Market on Wednesday!

–Ellie of the Natural Choices Blog Team

Despite it being summer time and people being out and about and active in so many ways, there are nights when it is difficult to sleep. It could be stress, it could be lack of physical activity to wear you out, or it could be a myriad of other things. On those nights, it doesn’t matter to me what is causing me to stare wide-eyed into the darkness, all I know is that I want to go to sleep.

There are several herbs and plants that can provide some relief – and help you get some shut-eye, on a regular basis.

Chamomile has long been used for a relaxing tea.

Chamomile, besides being a great herb for digestive upset, is also widely known and used as a bedtime beverage in tea.

My grandma used to say a little chamomile tea is the best thing for most things that ail you. She would drink a cup of tea before bed and swear she slept like a rock.

It is the root of the valerian that is used in natural supplements.

Valerian is another plant known as an effective and reliable sedative and sleep aid.

According to the American Botanical Council, valerian is not like over-the-counter and prescription products in that it is not habit-forming nor does it leave you with that drowsy or hung-over feeling in the morning.

Another great way to ease into a good night’s sleep is to develop the habit of a relaxing bath before bed. Frontier National Products Co-op suggests a milk bath. Their easy instructions:

Infuse a handful of chamomile flowers and jasmine flowers in a small pot of warm milk for a few hours. Pour into your bath water.

Sounds like something you can start while preparing dinner and have ready just in time to take a nice, relaxing bath before going to bed.

Keeping dried lavender in a dish or bath has a relaxing effect in a home.

Getting sufficient recuperative sleep is critical to good health and long life.

Finding  ways to get a good night’s sleep naturally is not as difficult as you might think. Stop by Natural Choices and peruse the dietary supplements to find combinations specfically formulated to be sleep aids. Then check out the tea selections and herbs to find what you need or want to create your own tea and bath regimen.

You might also look at the essential oils to find those oils such as jasmine or lavender to use in aromatherapy and make your bedroom a scented haven for relaxing, restful sleep.

–Ellie of the Natural Choices Blog Team

Terry Lemerond informs us that approximately 21 million Americans are effected by osteoarthritis. Lemerond says osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease and can be exceedingly painful and negatively impact daily routine and life. Lemerond shares that men typically develop symptoms of osteoarthritis before age 45 – often in the hips, knees and spine. Women, on the other hand, see onset after age 55 and it seems to effect hands and knees most commonly.

Osteoarthritis is when the cartilage between the bones in a joint deteriorate. Eventually, bones have nothing between them and they become sharp, the rubbing creates friction and the joint is damaged.

Turmeric dietary supplements are available at Natural Choices.

The pharmaceutical industry has long focused on arthritis as it creates pain and inflammation and can be debilitating. But the drugs prescribed come with a long list of side effects, many serious. Many people have found some relief using glucosamine sulfate (GS) over the last 15 years or so. But Lemerond says there are three herbal products that are far more effective than GS. They are curcumin, boswellia, and Indian Gooseberry.

The great thing about curcumin and boswellia is that while they do inhibit the Cox-2 enzyme, which provides relief of pain and inflammation, they do not completely block the enzyme. Some of the Cox-2 enzyme is needed for good health.

Curcumin comes from the turmeric root.

Curcumin comes from tumeric. Tumeric is a root in the ginger family and is a popular Indian spice. Curcumin is bright yellow and can be used as a food coloring. There have been many studies which show that curcumin is useful in the prevention of arthritis damage as well as for the inflammation and pain. So if you suspect you are developing arthritis or have recently been diagnosed, curcumin may be a natural supplement you should learn more about.

There are a variety of supplements including turmeric and arthritis combinations available at Natural Choices. If you can’t get to Columbus to shop, call (812) 375-1677. Orders can be shipped right to your door.

It’s worth some research to find out what natural herbs can do to help if you suffer with the pain and inflammation of osteoarthritis.

–Ellie of the Natural Choices Blog Team

As a teacher, we learned that the scent of mint stimulates the brain, so we tried to “freshen” our classrooms with mint-scented essential oils. Teachers will try anything to help kids learn!

Mint smells good, tastes good and improves health.

But the benefits of mint go far beyond the scent aspect. For years the herb has been used medicinally for many conditions and ailments. At Organic Facts, they have quite a list of uses including: 

• Digestion
• Nausea and headache
• Respiratory disorders, cough
• Asthma
• Fever
• Skin care, pimples
• Female sterility 
• Cancer
• Oral care
• As an additive in food stuffs, cooking, personal products and home products

Everyone knows about the after-dinner mint to aid digestion and the mint flavored breath fresheners, but did you ever consider mint oil as an antiseptic? Or, as Organic Facts suggests, “mint juice is an excellent skin cleanser.” They also suggest it can be used to treat insect bites and stings as well. Who knew?

The use in teas is especially pleasing, and calming in both winter and summer. There are literally thousands of mint tea recipes on the Internet, but it’s pretty much put the washed  leaves in boiling water, let steep for 15 – 20 minutes. Cool, pour over ice and you’re done! It sounds like you decide how strong to make it according to your own preference and whether to add other teas to it.

Mint is a perennial that can be grown in the garden.

Gardens Ablaze told me something I didn’t know. Perhaps because I am always battling to lose weight, the thought that there are people who work equally as hard to gain weight never really occurred to me. But Gardens Ablaze says, 

Mint also can be used as an appetite stimulant. It reduces hunger for a short time, but when the effects wear off the hunger returns stronger than before. For those lucky enough to need to gain a few pounds, a tea might be tried 30 minutes before a meal for appetite stimulation.

From a gardeners viewpoint, mint is one of those plants that take hold in a garden and just go wild. Its spread is difficult to control and becomes a battle to the point gardeners often eradicate the plant and swear it will never come close again. 

So I think rather than battle it in my garden, I will take a trip to Natural Choices in Columbus, Indiana where I can find products from essential oils to teas to dietary supplements that will let me add mint to my diet and home without the headache in the garden!

Although, Organic Facts did say mint was good to use to get rid of headaches …

–Ellie of the Natural Choices Blog Team