We’ve had many customers request it, so we will be having another large organic wine tasting at the store on Saturday, July 9th from 11-3. We will be focusing primarily on white and rose wines for summer, but should have a couple reds to sample as well. Please be sure to mark your calendars, it should be a nice time and a good way to taste a variety of organic wines from around the world.
We’re at 7228 W. College Drive in Palos Heights, I hope we see you there!
The fireworks on the 4th (and 3rd of July in Palos Heights) are wonderful to watch, but for many pets it can be a rough time. We have two products I wanted to recommend that we think can really help pets to feel calmer during the holiday.
The first is Vital Planet Calm for Pets. They’re soft chews with relaxing supplements that are safe for pets that can help them to feel less stressed and anxious. The nice thing about these treats is that they don’t need to be used daily for them to be effective; they can be used as needed and can really make a difference.
Another long time favorite is our Green Gorilla CBD for Pets (in liquid or lamb dog treats). They’re best known for pain relief for older dogs, but just like how CBD can help with stress and anxiety in humans, it can also help pets to feel relaxed and less stressed.
Stop in the store before the 4th (we’ll be closed on Monday for the holiday) to pick something up for your pet that can help them get through what might be a stressful time for them.
Saffron is a spice with a long history, and has been used since the time of Ancient Greece (some sources say it was even used before then). It’s collected from the small golden stigmas from the inside of the autumn crocus flower. At various times in history, the spice was worth its weight in gold! It’s been used as a perfume, in cooking and baking, and medicinally for thousands of years.
Saffron is still used in various recipes that we eat today, but beyond food, research has found several health benefits from using saffron extracts- two of the benefits I’ve been most impressed with are its uses for boosting mood and also for the eyes.
Saffron has been used by many for general eye health for a long time. Just this past month, however, I came across a couple studies that really surprised me, and convinced me to start taking saffron daily.
There are many supplements that can help to preserve eyesight and prevent vision problems, but I had not come across anything that had been found to actually improve eyesight, but that is what the two studies I read about were saying about saffron.
One of the studies found that participants who took 20mg of saffron were able to improve the light sensing cells in their eye’s retina in people with early age related macular degeneration, and that after three months of taking saffron were able to read one entire additional line on an eye chart! I have terrible eyesight, so I know how significant being able to read one more line on an eye chart is. Even more impressively, the scientists tested the long term benefits of saffron, and found that after an average of 14 months, those patients with early macular degeneration were able to read two lines further on an eye chart than they had at the beginning of the study.
The amounts used in the study were a normal dose of saffron that could be found in one pill- I mention that because some studies use amounts of a supplement in unrealistic doses that most people would not be able to take without swallowing handfuls of pills.
Age related macular degeneration is the most common cause of vision loss in people over 50. Other supplements beneficial for eye health and macular degeneration are lutein and zeaxanthin. I wouldn’t recommend stopping those supplements in favor of saffron, but would suggest adding saffron to your daily regimen.
Another impressive benefit that scientists have found of saffron is its benefit for mood and for helping mild to moderate depression. An analysis of 12 studies on saffron and depression found saffron to be significantly more effective that a placebo and as effective as synthetic antidepressants for mild to moderate depression. For boosting mood, a typical dose is around 30mg of saffron per day, and in most people results were seen after about six weeks, though benefits may be felt sooner.
Saffron is a potent antioxidant with a long safety record, so I’d definitely recommend giving it a try. We have saffron available in supplement form at Pass Health Foods by itself, or in a product with ashwaganda- another herb that has been used for thousands of years that has many benefits- particularly for stress and anxiety. The product with saffron and ashwaganda is by the brand Solgar, called Stress & Anxiety Relief. That’s the one I’ve been using, since it has the daily recommended amounts of both saffron and ashwaganda in one tablet. Since it’s one we really recommend, we have it on sale for 25% off every day.
I wanted to write about multivitamins since I’ve seen a several interesting studies about them lately. I know a lot of people take individual vitamins rather than a multi, but there’s definitely something to be said about making sure you’re getting the recommended amount of all the vitamins and minerals, since realistically, it’s likely that you’re missing something- particularly if you have a special diet like people who are gluten free, dairy free, vegan, or vegetarian, or kids (and adults!) that are picky eaters.
Most research looks at people who take multivitamins long term, rather than just a few weeks.
One study, found in our May issue of Remedies Magazine (which we always have for free at the store) found that taking a multivitamin for 21 days out of the month “virtually eliminated inadequacies of B6, B12, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D”. The researchers wrote, “Adequate intake of micronutrients (vitamins and nutritionally essential minerals) is required for nearly all metabolic, developmental, and growth processes, and for good health across the lifespan.”
Many Americans are deficient in vitamins and minerals needed for daily health. Also, it’s important to note that the study above was talking about vitamin and mineral inadequacies, not severe deficiencies. If you’re severely deficient in a specific vitamin (vitamin D or iron for example, which are determined from blood tests), it’s likely you will need a higher dose that what is typically found in a multivitamin, and in that case we would probably recommend taking that supplement separately to be able to get a adequate dose to help correct a deficiency (please stop by the store for more specific info, since everyone’s nutritional needs are different).
One problem many people have with regard to diet is eating lots of high-calorie foods that are low in nutrients. A"junk food" diet high in fast food, soda, chips, and sweets gives us plenty of calories, but those foods are generally very low in the vitamins and minerals needed for our bodies to function properly. A multivitamin doesn't replace a healthy diet, but it can help to replace the nutrients that may be missing from the foods you eat.
Another recent study on vitamins linked vitamin C and E supplementation to a 38% lower adjusted risk for all cause dementia and a 40% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The supplement group also had a 23% lower risk of developing cognitive impairment without dementia.
Additionally, daily folic acid supplementation (a B vitamin found in multivitamins) helps to prevent birth defects in women of childbearing age. Almost half of all pregnancies are in women who weren’t specifically trying to get pregnant, so a daily multivitamin helps to check that box, just in case.
Another study I’ve read recently linked multivitamin use to a lower incidence of illness and infection, where the multivitamin users had a lower rate of illness and they missed fewer days of work or school compared to people who didn’t use multivitamins.
Each of the vitamins and minerals found in a multi have specific benefits, especially when taken on a regular basis. It’s not realistic to take each of the vitamins and minerals in a multivitamin separately, so a multi is a good way to go. We have a great selection of high-quality, food-based multivitamins at the store at reasonable prices, so please stop by this month so we can help find the supplement that’s right for you.
Finally, I just wanted to say that not all supplements are created equal, and that many common multivitamins and supplements found at grocery and discount stores are made of synthetic vitamins which are cheaper but not as well absorbed. A multivitamin is not a substitute for a healthy diet, but we’d definitely say it’s a good idea. We are very knowledgeable about supplements and are happy to answer any questions you may have, so please come by the store and see us. Is it the end of the world to not take a multivitamin? No, but we’d say there are definite benefits to taking one!
Pass Health Foods is located at 7228 W. College Drive in Palos Heights and this year we’re celebrating 27 years in business as a small, independent, women owned business!
Now that spring has sprung, I wanted to mention some wonderful organic white wines we carry that are perfect for heralding in the spring season or for Easter get togethers!
This is one of my favorite wines that completely embodies spring. It’s a light, fresh, crisp wine that’s only made in Austria, pronounced “Grooner Velt Liner”. We definitely recommend giving it a try, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed! It’s organic and vegan for $13.99 a bottle.
This is such a nice, celebratory wine from Italy. Everyone I know who’s tried it has loved it, even people who don’t consider themselves wine drinkers. It’s a sweet, sparkling wine that’s absolutely delicious and perfect for a spring brunch or lunch (or just for enjoying the mild spring weather on your back porch) and is $13.99 a bottle.
This is a wonderful, dry sparkling wine that’s perfect for mimosas! Prosecco and Champagne can be used interchangeably, since it’s just about where the grapes were grown- Champagne comes from the region of Champagne, France, whereas Prosecco is a sparkling wine from the Veneto region of Italy. We have two varieties of Prosecco at the store- one that is organic, sulfite free, and vegan for $16.99 and another that is organic and vegan for $12.99. Both are great celebratory wines perfect for an Easter brunch!
This organic white wine blend is made by Stellar Organics, a winery in South Africa. All of their wines are organic, sulfite free, vegan, and fair trade. This wine blend is lightly sweet, crisp and fruity and is a customer favorite for $10.99 a bottle
This delicious Chardonnay is USDA certified organic, vegan, and sulfite free. It’s sourced from the Mendocino region of California and is a lighter Chardonnay that doesn’t have the heavy oak and buttery flavors some varieties have, making it an easy drinking white wine that’s perfect for spring and is $12.99 a bottle.
We’ve had many requests for an organic, non-alcoholic wine, so we were happy we found this delicious alcohol-free wine from the South of France. It’s a wonderful wine that’s crisp and fresh and is a nice option for people who choose to abstain from drinking alcohol for $14.99 a bottle.
We have many more wonderful organic wines at the store, as well as local craft ciders and organic craft beer, so be sure to stop by.
We all love spring, but along with the world coming to life, the beautiful buds and blooms beginning to open can cause allergy problems for many.
For people who have problems with spring allergies, it's actually an inflammatory immune response to the tiny grains of pollen that are being released by everything bursting into bloom. With seasonal allergies, your body actually sees that harmless pollen as a damaging invader, causing immune inflammation and the symptoms we all hate: itchy, watery eyes and a stuffed, runny nose. Your body is actually trying to protect you, it’s just a little misguided.
For many people, it's hard to tell the difference to figure out if its allergies or a cold, though unfortunately allergies usually last a lot longer than cold symptoms.
Most people turn to over the counter medications for allergies, but those medications often come with side effects and many people find their effectiveness can wane over time.
Thankfully, there are natural products that can really help with allergies, without the side effects of conventional medications. One great supplement for allergies is quercetin. Quercetin has become much more well known in the past couple years, since it's great for the immune system and has potent antiviral properties.
Quercetin is great for allergies since research has shown its ability to help modulate the immune system and calm down the body’s overactive response to seasonal allergens like pollen. It also reduces histamine levels naturally- histamine is the chemical in the body responsible for symptoms like runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, and more. Quercetin is especially effective since it inhibits numerous anti-allergenic and inflammatory processes in response to allergens, not just histamine.
The anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory properties of quercetin have been shown in numerous studies, finding that quercetin has a significant inhibitory effect on histamine release. One study found that quercetin affected histamine release by 95% to 97%! Quercetin has also been shown to benefit asthma and allergic asthma since it works in part to help relax swollen airways.
For allergies, a typical dose that most people see benefit from is 500mg of quercetin twice daily. We have capsules by Solaray in that dosage that are on sale at Pass Health Foods. Quercetin is a plant pigment found in citrus and other foods and has a great safety profile.
Another (delicious) remedy for allergies is local honey. We have many customers who’ve seen great results from eating small amounts of local honey each day, for both kids and adults. Our honey is sourced from local beekeeping families and we do have a limited quantity of honey harvested last spring that we’ve been saving for allergy season. All of our local honey is great, but the spring harvested honey we especially recommend for allergies since the spring honey was made from the spring pollen from blooms in our area, the exact pollen that causes spring allergies.
Happy spring!
What a time it’s been with Covid. Things really seem like they’re turning a corner lately, and we hope it stays that way. We just took down the plexiglass barriers by our registers that we put up nearly two years ago- it felt so odd at first with them gone.
Since the indoor mask mandate has been lifted and the Covid numbers have gone down so much, masks will no longer be required at Pass Health Foods for shoppers or staff. We have told our staff that they should make the decision that they feel comfortable with for themselves. We will respect our staff and customers individual decisions with what they feel comfortable with in regard to wearing a mask. I know some people can’t wait to be done with them, while others still feel safer wearing them, since we’ve worn them for so long. I think it’s going to take a while for everyone to get back to normal, and for things to really feel normal.
We appreciate each of our customers for continuing to support us through a trying two years. Additionally, we will continue to offer curb side pickup for customers who prefer it. Thanks again for your support, we wouldn’t be here without you.
When people hear about testosterone, most people think only of men’s sexual health, but in truth, testosterone affects nearly all aspects of men’s health, from muscle development, mood, focus, and even heart and bone health. After doing some research on men’s health, I’ve come to discover an interesting thing about testosterone, that there are two main kinds in the body- total testosterone levels and then what’s known as “free testosterone”. It seems that men’s overall levels of testosterone are less important than the amount of free testosterone in the body. It’s estimated that 98% of testosterone in men’s bodies is bound to proteins, making it unavailable to perform its necessary role in the body, but there are also levels of “free” or bioavaliable testosterone which are able to be used for the effects of we’re most familiar with- sexual health, vitality, endurance, energy and metabolic levels, and more.
With age, men’s levels of free testosterone decrease, often leading to symptoms like muscle weakness, bone loss, problems concentrating, low energy, and reduced sexual function. Even men with healthy overall levels of testosterone can have lower levels of free testosterone, which impacts health and vitality. Research has found that after age 30, men’s levels of testosterone drop by roughly 1% per year, but the drop in free (or useable) testosterone can decline faster- by 2% to 3% per year.
Some men who have experienced significant drops in testosterone levels have tried hormone replacement therapy, though those synthetic hormones carry a variety of health risks. Many men, however, have had success with using natural products which unlike hormone replacement therapy can actually help their bodies to produce higher levels of testosterone naturally.
There is also newer supplement research on natural ingredients that have been found to not only increase overall testosterone, but more importantly, to improve the levels of free testosterone in the body.
Increasing free testosterone levels can benefit men of all ages, even men in their middle ages and younger. There is a new product by Life Extention called Testosterone Elite that has a blend of natural ingredients that has been specifically shown in research to increase levels of free testosterone, even in younger men. In a double blind, placebo controlled study, that unique herbal blend was able to increase free testosterone by 48%, bringing levels back to optimal, youthful ranges, which also corresponded to a reduction in depressive symptoms and an increase in strength.
Men’s testosterone levels can vary, though many men’s experiences with aging: lower energy and vitality, increases in weight (especially around the midsection), and others can be significantly affected by dropping hormone levels. Using natural products can encourage the body to enhance its own hormone levels vs. using hormone replacements, and can be a safer alternative to feel a bit more vitality.
The product I mentioned above, called Testosterone Elite, has been in clinical trials showing its ability to increase free testosterone levels in eight weeks in a one-a-day supplement. Supplement research and dosages are important, because you want to be using the same amounts shown to be effective in the studies; otherwise you’re wasting your time. Stop by Pass Health Foods for more information and so we can help you further. Aging is not a bad thing, but we don’t necessarily have to feel our age, particularly when it comes to the negative effects of aging.
In addition to natural products, exercise, particularly weight training, can make a big difference in men’s health and healthy hormone levels. You don’t need to be a bodybuilder to feel the benefits, and starting slow with simple free weights can be beneficial. Exercising with weights also helps with bone strength and reducing bone loss, and it’s something simple that can be done from the comfort of your own home.
We have some great new products in the store if you haven’t noticed them. Our new one-a-day food based multivitamins from Bluebonnet are one of our favorites. They have a 40+ Women’s one-a-day capsule that we really recommend since our other 40 or 50+ women’s multis are either in a larger tablet or the serving size is more than one a day. We also have a regular women’s one-a-day from Bluebonnet. They difference between them is that the regular women’s has 100% of the daily value of iron, where the 40+ does not. Women only need iron if they’re menstruating, so that can help you to choose between the two varieties.
Our Kal Magnesium Glycinate products are still out of stock because they’re being reformulated and they don’t have a timeline for when they’ll be back in stock, which is frustrating. We’ve brought in a few new magnesium products as a replacement in the meantime- one by NOW Foods which I really like that’s a combination of magnesium citrate, glycinate, and malate (all well absorbing forms) in a softgel that’s only $14.99 for a month’s supply. We also have a new magnesium by Nutrigold in well absorbing capsules that are bound to amino acids from rice to help with absorption (all of our Nutrigold products are 25% off every day).
We also have some changes to our probiotics- we’ve decided to discontinue our Renew Life probiotics (they’re on sale for 50% off while supplies last). We’ve had Renew Life as a brand for many years, it was started by Brenda Watson, a natural health expert, back in 1997 but a few years ago the company was bought by Clorox. We decided to discontinue the line because we just didn’t trust they were keeping the same standards for probiotics, and we have a number of other probiotics that we would recommend that we think are equivalent if not better.
In other probiotic news, we have been out of stock of Florajen 3, a probiotic we’ve carried for many years, for a long time now. We’re unsure about the future of the company since we’ve been trying to get a hold of them for months to place orders without a response. If they have products available in the future we will order them, but for now there are other refrigerated products we can recommend that are more potent, with a higher amount of strains, for less money. Next time you’re in the store please ask us for a recommendation for probiotics, since we have some really nice ones that you may not be familiar with.
I love merlot, and this South African variety is especially delicious. I feel like it has an additional depth and a bit of smokiness that isn’t usually present in other merlots I’ve had. It’s also vegan, sulfite-free, and is certified fair trade.
I love full bodied, dry reds, so this Cabernet Franc is my favorite. It has big, juicy flavors of ripe red berries, with smooth oak and spicy pepper notes. It’s the perfect wine for a cold Winter night! It’s a unique wine from Argentina that’s related to Cabernet Sauvignon that I’d definitely recommend trying!
I am a red wine drinker and this is a nice wine for any occasion. It’s smooth and hearty! I enjoy it with appetizers, dinner, or just a glass by itself. This organic malbec is sulfite-free, which I love- it’s an an all-around delicious choice!
I’m more of a bubbly, sweet, fruity wine drinker and this is my favorite moscato! Not only is it delicious, but it makes a great gift or wine to bring to gatherings (it has a gorgeous bottle)! At our wine tasting last month it was the most popular wine that people sampled!
Also this month, we’ve brought in a few sweeter wines after having customers ask. We’ve brought in a new organic reisling by Schlink Haus that’s a bit sweeter than the dry reisling we have by Art of Earth, and a new sweet white blend by Stellar Organics, as well as a unique, sweet German red called Dornfelder. I’d never heard of Dornfelder grapes before, but after doing some research it seems they’re the second most commonly grown grape in Germany. It’s a nice, fruity, easy drinking wine. Most red wines are served at room temperature, though Dornfelder is often recommended to be served slightly chilled.
We have a great assortment of organic wines at the store, so stop by this month to see our selection, we have something for everyone! We’re at 7228 W. College Drive in Palos Heights!
See our entire catalog of organic and natural wine and beer (including pricing) here.
Note: If you’re on a mobile phone, click on the small “+” in the upper right-hand corner to see the different sections of the catalog.
