I took a visit to local Long Beach health food store Vitamin City after reading some great reviews on yelp.com and hearing great things from patients. 

Although larger chain health food stores abound, I found Vitamin City unique in the special products they carried for much better prices and that they are family owned.

Many people have questions about organic food, and if it really is healthier.  From all the research I have read it’s not only important that the organic produce is pesticide free but also locally grown.  This ensures that the produce contains the highest vitamin, mineral and enzyme content that can often be lost with food from far away sources.

Vitamin City had a huge selection of locally grown produce at amazing prices.  For those whose schedules don’t fit the local farmers markets these deals are very comparable.

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As well, Vitamin City had the largest supply of raw milk, goat milk, and sheep’s milk I have seen to date locally from very safe sources.  More and more research is coming out showing the health benefits of raw unpasteurized milk because of the natural enzymes, and bacteria it contains.  These are lost during the heating of the pasteurization process.  A study of nearly 15,000 children ages 5 to 13 in five European countries published last year by the University of Basel in Switzerland showed that those who consumed raw milk had lower rates of both asthma and hay fever.

I came away with two items:  Goat Milk Kefir, and Organic Raw Kombucha tea.  One of the main qualities of both of these products is that they contain Probiotics.  Probiotics or “Good Bacteria” are bacteria that naturally live in our stomach and intestines from the time we are babies.  With prolonged antibiotic therapy, poor Western diet, and physical and psychological stress these natural bacteria can become depleted.

This can cause gut “dybiosis” or a “dys” difficult, biosis “living” environment. Good bacteria are necessary for our immunity as studies have now found that there is a large part of our immune system located in our gut, called GALT or “gut associated lymphoid tissue.”

Gut dysbiosis has been linked with bowel disorders, arthritis, immune function (chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia) and many other illnesses.

Citations

  • Collins MD, Gibson GR. “Probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics: approaches for modulating the microbial ecology of the gut.” Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):1052S-1057S.
  • Lamoureux L, Roy D, Gauthier SF. “Production of oligosaccharides in yogurt containing bifidobacteria and yogurt cultures.” J Dairy Sci. 2002 May;85(5):1058-69