Todays Health Food Stores: There May Be Nothing There For you Anymore.

By Jim Swank

Health food stores are emerging at a rapid rate across the country. They are expanding their numbers increasingly. Many health food stores are worker owned cooperatives and consumers' cooperatives due in part to their growth of popularity during the counter culture movement of the 1960s and 1970s and the ability of cooperative buying power to bring lower costs to the consumer.

Products
Regulators need to consider regulations to better protect vulnerable patients from incurring significant costs due to their purchasing of natural health food products lacking evidence of benefit and of questionable safety. GNC has its own line of homeopathic products as well as natural herbs. The recent boom in health food stores has provided an enormous variety of high quality products that are heads above the processed junk loaded with preservatives currently sold in today's super markets. In addition to the wider array of health food products, health food stores are often a good source of milk substitutes, cruelty-free cosmetics, bulk grains, nuts and seeds, organic fruits and vegetables, non-toxic cookware, vegetarian meat substitutes, non-dairy cheese alternatives, fat-free natural pastries, and fast-food delis.

Organic
Don't assume that chickens or eggs in health food stores are raised on pasture or are fed organic feed. It is more labor intensive on pasture and organic feed costs twice as much. Therefore, many suppliers use wording that gives the impression of pasture or organic to increase their sales and selling price.

Supplements
A health food store is a type of grocery store that primarily sells organic foods, local produce, and often nutritional supplements. The employees in health food stores differ widely in how much they know about supplements and what they can do. A health food store might also sell herbal supplements, dietary aids, body care items and many more products that might help you lead a healthier lifestyle.

Sugar
Most health-food store owners would steadfastly refuse to carry coffee, regular tea and chocolate because of the caffeine and would not sell baked goods made with sugar or white flour.
But Herb Ferleger, who owns “Food for Thought” as well as “Capitol Health Foods” on New York Avenue in Huntington, has a different attitude. The health-food pastry's greatest claim to superiority is that it is, according to the label, ''sweetened with fruit juice,'' as if that were better than sugar, corn syrup or honey. They don't taste very good, especially if you've come off of a standard Western diet high in refined sugars, refined carbohydrates, white flour, and so on.

"The main thing you want to look out for in juices is that you are getting a lot of true juice and not a lot of sugar. Some things disguised as juice can have quite a lot of sugar," Anderson warns.
Health food stores are notorious for disguising sugar with many fancy-sounding names like cane juice and cane syrup and honey -- these are all sweeteners and are no better than sugar.

Research
Researchers posing as typical consumers found employees of these stores readily giving information and product recommendations. The researchers found that, health food stores are recommending a variety of products. Early research suggested that antioxidants could be helpful in preventing heart disease, but newer research has called that theory into question. He emphasized patients should also take responsibility for researching how other remedies could affect their treatment.

Vegetarian
Health food stores often offer foods that attract people with special diets, such as people with wheat and gluten allergies, diabetics, vegans, vegetarians, and raw foodists. In addition to the wider array of health food products, health food stores are often a good source of milk substitutes, cruelty-free cosmetics, bulk grains, nuts and seeds, organic fruits and vegetables, non-toxic cookware, vegetarian meat substitutes, non-dairy cheese alternatives, fat-free natural pastries, and fast-food delis. A lot of health food stores have special products for individuals on special diets, such as gluten-free diets as well as vegan and vegetarian food. "Being vegetarian is not necessary, but if you choose that lifestyle you can get a lot of benefits.

This article was written by Jim Swank. For more information on health and nutrition, go to Jim`s website at: http://www.healthandbizguru.com

Jim Swank has been in the health care field for a number of years. His particular area of expertise is Health and Nutrition. He has a special interest in sharing how nutrition can help those with learning disabilities. For more information on health, fitness and nutrition, go to his website at: http://www.healthandbizguru.com