Some listeners ask for a recap of our podcasts so they can refer to it later. So, here you go. (Don’t forget to listen to the podcast for more details and information, though.)

Natural Ingredients for Energy

There are ingredients to look for, and to be aware of, in energy drinks, gels, and supplements:

• A lot of energy products are very high in sugar. This is a concern not only because of calories, but also because sugar is just not healthy for you. Another concern is the artificial sweeteners in energy products.
• Look for herbal ingredients that are proven to be safe.
• Specific ingredients to look for are the B vitamins, vitamin C, yerba mate, goji berries and açaí. These provide energy and a lot of benefits.

The B vitamins and vitamin C are helpful for energy:

• The B vitamins help the body convert food into fuel and play an important role in the nervous system in helping to make the neurotransmitters, or chemical messengers in our brain.
  • B vitamins are easily destroyed when foods are processed, which is one reason many people are deficient. They are also depleted during stress.
  • They are water soluble, so they are not stored in the body for long and need to be replenished daily.
  • The B vitamins B-12, biotin and folic acid are particularly essential for energy.
• Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron, is important for immune system, is an antioxidant and is also needed for building strong muscles. Natural vitamin C is found in acerola cherry and açaí.

Some star energy product ingredients include:

• Yerba Mate is a South American herb that has high levels of antioxidants and xanthine alkaloids. These are natural stimulants that occur in herbs like this (including caffeine, theophylline and theobromine). Yerba mate has been used for centuries in South America to promote mental clarity and sustained energy.
• Goji Berries are packed with antioxidant carotenoids. That’s what gives them their bright color.
• Açaí (ah-sigh-EE) is a berry, and it’s a source of antioxidants and fiber, certainly needed for energy.
• Green Tea has a 5000-year history in China-and recent research associations-with health, energy and alertness. This is based on its antioxidant content and caffeine content which promotes alertness.

Many energy products contain caffeine.

• Some energy products do contain caffeine while others do not. This is from either added or from caffeine-containing herbs, which contain it naturally. Check the ingredients.
• Just because something’s natural, you still need to be aware of the ingredients.
• Some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others; some get rapid heart rate and other symptoms from caffeine. In those cases it should be avoided or in very low doses.
• Dr. Cass recommended no more than 150 mg of caffeine per serving. For some people 100 or less is better. (For comparison, a cup of coffee has somewhere between 100-150 mg of caffeine.)
• Bottom line is safety first. People are tempted to guzzle energy drinks, which is not a good idea. You have to use judgment. Notice how your body responds.
• When used all the time, energy products do not give the same bang as when used periodically.

Some listeners ask for a recap of our podcasts so they can refer to it later. So, here you go. (Don’t forget to listen to the podcast for more details and information, though.)

Lifestyle Tips for Balancing Energy

• Many of us experience reduced energy due to our physiology working in overdrive for extended periods of time.
• What causes the physiology to work in overdrive is not always simply working too hard or getting inadequate sleep.
• An underlying element in lowered energy may be related to poor digestion, poor assimilation, and poor elimination.
• The outcomes can surface into symptoms that we associate with the “stress of life” such as sleep difficulties, and lowered energy.
• While it is true that many of us migrate to stimulating energy products that are really common – over the counter types of products that can give us a quick boost of energy – this approach does not address the underlying elements.
• Often overly stimulating approaches without proper adaptogenic and causative approaches can further deepen the stress to the physiology.
• Another concern is that these stimulating items may be filled with unnatural ingredients.
• The body is fully equipped to achieve optimal energy when obstacles to wellness are removed. That’s a real foundational practicing aspect to naturopathic medicine.
• Our approach to optimal energy levels should always draw upon the wisdom inherent within the body and mind. To do this we must keep impurities in the body to a minimum.
• There are many adaptogenic plants that serve us well to both protect us from stress as well as activate the natural energy systems of the body.
• The expert’s favorite herbal remedies are Rhodiola Rosea, American or Korean Ginseng, the Ashwagandha plant from India, Holy Basil ( a very popular herb now used in India and now in the U.S. for optimizing energy,) and Schizandra berry (often referred to as “the 5 flavored herb.”)
• Every one of these is considered an adaptogenic plant – which means that they facilitate the body’s adaptogenic systems and allow us to respond to stress more effectively.
• Other strategies that are very important are to adopt a dietary plan that maintains an alkaline chemistry within the blood. Whole and fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds, and nuts provide the opportunity to prevent the body from becoming overly acidic.
• Another strategy is to consume adequate clean water daily drinking small amounts throughout the entire day.
• Maintaining a healthy posture can also optimize energy and for this reason a regular practice of yoga is often very valuable.

As part of Whole Trade Guarantee™ Month at Whole Foods Market, we encourage you to explore the world of Divine Chocolate – owned by cocoa farmers, made for chocolate lovers. Lovingly grown under the tropical rainforest canopy in Ghana, Divine’s cocoa beans are carefully fermented and dried by the farmers who co-own the company. The great news is that when consumers purchase Divine Chocolate products for their loved ones, they will also do a good thing for the farmers in Ghana by ensuring that they receive a Fair Trade price for their cocoa beans.

Comfort Kumeah is a mother of five, a grandmother and a member of Kuapa Kokoo cocoa growers’ cooperative. She teaches kindergarten (her classroom often exceeding 120 students) and works on the farm whenever she isn’t teaching, on Saturdays and during the school holidays. Here she talks about Fair Trade and how it has helped her family and community.

Each bar of Divine Chocolate is adorned with traditional West African Adinkra symbols. Each symbol has its own special meaning, representing something integral to Ghanaian culture. These symbols are still in use today serving to deliver messages of goodwill.

Learn more about Divine’s fair trade mission and hear more of the farmer-owner’s stories. Divine Chocolate, share the love!

It’s Whole Trade Month, which means time to celebrate the Whole Trade Guarantee and the hard-working folks who produce these outstanding products. By no coincidence, Whole Trade Month falls around Valentine’s Day, when we often think about chocolate and roses, two of our staple Whole Trade products. But the Whole Trade Guarantee encompasses so much more. From bananas to coffee to body care, we sources thousands of items from producers who share our commitment to quality, the environment and healthy working conditions.

But, before we go much further, maybe we should take a step back and reintroduce the Whole Trade program for those who are unfamiliar.

We believe that small choices you make every day really make a difference in the world. The Whole Trade Guarantee allows our customers to use their buying power to create new economic opportunities for workers in the developing world. The program includes products that are grown organically or respect the Earth without formal organic certification.

Strictly speaking, our Whole Trade Guarantee promises that every product meets the following criteria:

• Meets our high quality standards
• Provides more money to producers
• Ensures better wages and working conditions for workers
• Cares for the environment

We believe we have a responsibility toward all entities involved in our business: our customers, shareholders, Team Members, suppliers and the environment. The Whole Trade program allows us to extend this commitment to our producers in developing countries. In fact, we currently support communities in more than 50 countries via the Whole Trade program. Check out our interactive map, which shows these countries at a glance.

Whole Trade is your passport to exploring the world at its most delicious, exotic and beautiful while empowering hard-working farmers, artisans and entrepreneurs in developing countries. Throughout the month, we’ll be telling the stories of some of these very people. We hope you find them as inspiring as we do.

Be sure to look for the Whole Trade Guarantee logo the next time you are in our store, and rest assured that when you pick up a Whole Trade product, you are making a difference.

What’s your favorite Whole Trade product?

You might not think about it, especially given the small size and long life of your plastic cards, but the volume of cards out there creates an enormous impact! Most of the 17 billion plastic cards produced every year¹ are made of virgin PVC. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans use more than 1.5 billion credit cards alone, which if stacked would reach 70 miles into space²! When these cards expire, we just throw them away, contributing more than 75 million pounds of PVC to the waste stream every year³!

We thought there had to be a better way. And while there is, we quickly learned that there is no perfect solution. We examined dozens of different substrates, from recycled PVC to cards made out of wood to PLA-based biodegradable cards. There’s even a PVC-based substrate that biodegrades! But we found none of these to be the silver bullet.

One of our primary criteria was that the substrate had to perform. We loved the idea of using a resilient paper, but then realized that one time through the washing machine and the gift card (and all of the info about the value on that card) would be gone. So we looked to more conventional materials.

We considered a PVC substrate that biodegrades, but we couldn’t get enough info about the safety of the substance that causes the PVC to breakdown, nor do we know what happens to the PVC once it biodegrades. A good option, perhaps, but not great. We also thought long and hard about a PLA-based card, made from corn, which would biodegrade in an industrial composter at 130°F degrees (though we’ve not had luck breaking them down in our own backyards). Unfortunately, all of the PLA based options out there are made from GMO corn. Even those that claim to be GMO-free still come from plants with GMOs in the protein in the plants. So we ruled PLA-based cards out.

Eventually, we were able to locate a vendor who can take back our spent gift cards and recycle them into new gift cards. Although the cards are still made of PVC, they are now made almost entirely from a combination of post-consumer and post-industrial recycled plastic. We are excited that customers can now bring us their old gift cards, and we can recycle (not downcycle) them into new cards, thereby closing the loop. It’s not perfect, we know, but it is a step in the right direction. We’ve also gotten rid of the cardboard backings to which we used to affix our cards and replaced it with an optional mini-shopping bag that is made from 100% post-consumer recycled FSC-certified paper.

Our hope is that in the near future we’ll find a better solution. Given the size of the industry, and the demand for more environmentally friendly solutions out there, we are sure that this will happen. We will continue to work with our supplier, and our colleagues in the industry, to push for this better option. In the mean time, we’re doing our part to keep this plastic out of the landfill, and in turn, to live our core values.

So when you give our gift cards, you can share all of this with your recipient so they know that you are on top of the environmental aspects of everything…or not. You could just smile and say “happy holidays” knowing that you’ve done your part.

¹ International Card Manufacturers Association
² http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/making-credit-cards-landfill-friendly/
³ Earthworks Systems