Natural Products Expo West 2014: brand insights

That is why I found this year’s key note from Dr. Andrew Weil so reassuring – the key message: the secret to health is in keeping things simple, balanced and in moderation. There’s been a lot of posturing about what is best- raw? paleo? vegan? etc. “There is an enormous amount of dietary fascism out there-there’s no perfect diet. Humans are omnivores-we can eat a lot of different things, so we need a healthy variety”. 

(credit: expowest.com/New Hope Media)

Dr. Weil kept it big picture by sharing a few steps to eating well that are always  good reminders-here are the key take aways:

-Eat as many plant-based foods as much as possible: fruits, veggies, herbs and spices. Plant based foods are high in phytonutrients- plants produce compounds for their own defense systems, which can protects ours.

-Try to reduce sweeteners, limit your sugar intake daily. Understand the difference between whole fruit and fruit juice (certain juices can have high glycemic indexes)

-Eat whole grains (if you can crush bread into a ball, go grainier)

-In general, eat fewer processed foods, less sugar and flour, a good variety of plants and lower your intake of animal meat.

So in the spirit of keeping things simple, here are a few brands that caught my eye at the show, offering straight forward, easy to understand and inviting messaging.