At Natural Grocers we have advocated for health and wellness since we started way back in 1955. Part of that advocating means keeping our finger on the pulse of the next big things in wellness.

(Hint… it’s not good)

This time of year is a marker of sorts: The cooler fall months usher in a holiday season full of sweet temptations and loads of comfort foods, coupled with the start of cold and flu season. But what does the season of sweets and treats have to do with the cold and flu season, or more specifically, how you weather cold and flu season?

As more people eschew meat for a plant-based diet, the market for meat alternatives has exploded, with an ever-expanding number of offerings that proclaim to taste like meat and even “bleed” like meat.

The holiday season brings with it a welcome of out-of-town family, friends near and far, and food adorned with holiday flair. What’s not-so-welcome is the dreaded indigestion or heartburn (or both) that comes with our tendency to overeat, or eat foods that we normally wouldn’t.

Dear Almost Winter,

If black seed oil were a cartoon superhero, it would save the world with its signature super phytonutrient constituent, thymoquinone.

The last time I visited the dermatologist for my annual skin-cancer check, she started the checkup with a surprise recommendation: Sensible sun exposure—without sunscreen—to support vitamin D production (FYI, a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 reduces the production of vitamin D in the skin by 99%).¹ The surprise wasn’t that I should get some unprotected sun exposure to optimize vitamin D

Mashed, roasted, au gratin—potatoes are the perfect complement to a crisp October evening, and a very good thing indeed, when you know how to choose them, and the healthiest ways to use them.

Welcome to October! We’re glad you’re here because we’d love to chat about what’s on our minds this month—a family tradition that’s been going strong at Natural Grocers since 1989. It’s the one about turkey, and also Tofurky. 

Feel a cold coming on? Think zinc. Dealing with bouts of acne? Think zinc. Perhaps you’re struggling with male infertility. Or depression. Again, it's zinc to the rescue! But don't we get enough of this important nutrient just by eating healthy? Probably not.