Herbal plants sold at market in Japan
When you feel the onset of illness or get that urge to improve the quality of your life, where can you turn to find the herbs, healing plants, and supplements you require to make those healthy new choices?
Herbal plants sold at market in Japan
You’ve heard all the buzzwords—whole foods, organic crops, farm-to-table movement—and now you’re determined to follow a better diet, including all those nutritious, antioxidant herbs. Fortunately, we live in an era of instant gratification. If you are suddenly transfixed with the notion of a healthier body, you can go online and find almost any herb or natural supplement you’ve read about and order it in quantity. But that’s only part of the equation. When you are starting out on a new journey, it’s important to have a roadmap, and the same goes for any expeditions into natural, healing foods. You will need a knowledgeable guide, someone who can initiate you into the language and customs. That person is the proprietor of a health-food or natural-foods store.
HEALTH-FOOD STORES
Unlike the clerks in most other stores, health-food store managers understand that part of their job is guiding newbies through the sometimes-confusing world of herbal supplements and alternative medicines. They will not only help you choose a remedy for an existing ailment, they can show you an array of herbs that boost immunity and help keep diseases at bay. These stores also carry organic foods, local produce, environmentally conscious products, and special-needs diet items, and should have a stock of essential oils, distilled from herbs and other botanicals, that can be used medicinally, as aromatherapy, or simply as enlivening scents.
Herb stand at a local farmers market in Richmond, Virginia
ASIAN GROCERIES
These large, vegetable market–type stores can be goldmines for locating fresh herbs, hard-to-find dried herbs, and healing spices. And their prices are usually quite competitive. Try Japanese markets for sampling different types of beneficial seaweed and algae or Korean markets for gut-healthy fermented kimchi. Indian markets offer their own blends of masala, curry, or chai spices, and stock exotic teas.
SPECIALTY SHOPS
These are the gourmet groceries that specialize in hard-to-find items and artisanal breads, beverages, and dishes. They are ideal for finding unusual culinary herbs or spices that you might require for medicinal purposes. Look for vanilla beans and saffron—you may pay a premium but you will be getting the real thing.
HEALTH FOOD LINGO
Superfood: Any food that offers high levels of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Most fruits, vegetables, and herbs fit this definition.
Organic: Produce grown without manmade pesticides, fertilizers, or GMOs, and livestock raised without unnecessary chemicals, medications, feed additives, or growth hormones.
Probiotic: The term indicates that a food replenishes the natural, healthy fauna in the gut.
Fermentation: When the sugar in a food or beverage has been broken down by the presence of yeast or bacteria.
Gluten free: Foods that contain no gluten, a mixture of proteins found in wheat and some other grains. Gluten-free foods include rice, cassava, soy, corn, potato, tapioca, beans, sourghum, spelt, amaranth, and buckwheat.