Nutrition
We believe that food supplements are often a useful and sometimes vital addition to an individual’s diet and may also have a significant part to play in the prevention and reduction of many common illnesses and diseases. In our nutrition department you’ll find everything from single herb tinctures and multi strain probiotics to full spectrum multivitamin and mineral complexes and essential fatty acids. The nutrition area is constantly evolving as new research highlights the advantages of using nutritional supplements and herbal medicines as an important port of call for health and healing. Our staff regularly attend industry training to ensure they are kept up to date with the latest research and so enable our customers to make the best choices when selecting products.
We stock an extensive range of vegetarian and vegan vitamins, minerals and supplements from some of the leading brands: Solgar, Terra Nova, Lamberts, BioCare, Nutri Advanced and Viridian, to name but a few. We choose these companies carefully, they manufacture excellent supplements from quality ingredients, utilising highly absorbable forms of vitamins and minerals to provide optimal benefits. Obviously food supplements should never be used instead of a balanced and healthy diet, but many people find they benefit from a little added “help” at times of stress, starting a new fitness regime, during pregnancy or embarking on a vegan or vegetarian diet.
To complement our supplements we also have a broad selection of herbal products from the following companies: A. Vogel, Nature’s Answer, Pukka, Living Nutrition and Indigo Herbs. Herbal supplements can come in many forms, teas are generally the way most people consume herbs, but there are also whole herb tinctures made with fresh herbs direct from the fields, dried and powdered whole herbs encapsulated and extracts or standardised herbs which usually come in the form of capsules or tablets, standardised herbs give a more accurate dose of the active ingredients. Many herbal remedies have been used for hundreds of years and so have a long history of traditional use and anecdotal evidence. However, over the last 15 years or so many herbal supplement companies have sought licensing for their products. Many of these licenced herbs have either a proven use within the EU for at least 10 years with recognised efficacy and an acceptable level of safety or have provided safety and efficacy data from the company’s own development research and external research bibliographic data. We’re confident of the efficacy and safety of the herbal remedies we provide, however we would always advise checking prior to taking herbal medicine especially if you are taking prescription medication.
Over the last few years, research has increasingly shown the benefits of maintaining a healthy gut microbiome and as such, we offer lots of probiotic products that can be used in addition to a healthy fruit and vegetable rich diet, either in the form of fermented foods like sauerkraut and kefir or in the form of supplements from companies such as Biocare, Renew Life, Optibac, Proven and Udo’s Choice. There are a huge array of probiotic strains available with differing actions and benefits for both the digestive system and many other parts of the body, take some time out to chat to us about your requirements so that we can help you select the best product for your needs.
In response to our customers needs, we have recently expanded our range of dried medicinal herbs, adaptogenics and mushroom powders from Mushrooms 4 Life, Indigo Herbs, Four Sigmatic, Rio Amazon and Hybrid Herbs as well as introducing several ranges of CBD oil including Zen CBD, Improve Me and Kiki Herbs. Research is still relatively in it’s infancy regarding many types of herbs and mushrooms that have been traditionally used for ailments or performance enhancement over hundreds of years, but the information available shows a lot of promise that these natural products have much more to offer than was originally thought.
We have trained staff available most days to give free general advice on diet and nutrition as well as making recommendations for specific health problems. Also available in store is the excellent Healthnotes Online Natural and Complementary Health System, it’s easy-to-use and incorporates research gathered from scientific studies published in over 550 medical and scientific journals which is regularly updated. This system also allows us to check some drug interactions, however we do always advise speaking to your doctor prior to making the decision to take supplements or herbs alongside prescription medication.
Always call ahead if you are making a special journey to see our product advisors, there can be occasions when there may not be one available. Customers are always seen on a first come first served basis in store. please be aware that there are some health conditions and supplements we are not legally allowed to advise on, additionally we are not able to give nutritional advice over the telephone or via email.