Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Selecting Natural Ingredients

Several health and herbal food stores have opened shop following an increase in the trend of using natural and organic food supplements. These stores contain a variety of ingredients to choose from; each with their own designated use and function to help you concoct your own personalized brew. Before, these were done through catalogs, but because of the dawn of these shops, people are becoming more aware of these products.

What to Look ForFreshness is the key in selecting the herbs to use. Nettles are fresh with a bright green color. Oat straw is a chartreuse green and not yellow tan. These herbs are at their most potent when fresh which means a shelf life of a maximum of one year. Good stores do not stock so much on herbs so as to maintain their quality by renewing their supply often. Although some may cost a bit more, it is worth the price to get quality herbs than to get cheap substandard ones that are basically useless.

Buy OrganicOrganic fruits and vegetables are now finding its way to tables since this is considered to be the most nutritious. Organic foods are made without the use of artificial and chemical pesticides, fertilizers and even genetically modified products. They are all naturally grown food, which even tastes better. Some people charge as much as an arm and leg for organically grown products and some stores respond to the demand for quality yet cheap organic foods. If this is the case in your area, you can instead grow your own vegetables, fruits and herbs.

Grow Your OwnIn growing your own food stuff, you can be quite sure of what goes into it, without the fear of it having any pesticide residue and harmful ingredients. Isn't it fun to be able to just go into your garden to pick out the herbs you need to cook your favorite dish? And it doesn't have to be a big garden. Pots of different shapes and sizes can form your herbal garden. And putting one up needs no backbreaking work at all.

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