The health of your family and your own body is important to living a balanced and happy life.
The team at theBOO wanted to find the best natural food store in Ottawa, but instead we found 5 fantastic health food stores with a wide selection of natural and organic foods.
Here are the Top 5 Natural Food Store In Ottawa:
- Natural Food Pantry
- Kardish Health Food Centre
- Ottawa Organics
- Rainbow Natural Foods
- Herb & Spice Food Shop
The Best Natural Food Stores In Ottawa
Natural Food Pantry
Natural Food Pantry is a family run health food store with 4 locations in Ottawa.
The company was founded by Roger Payant in 1981 and is now run by his nephew Rick.
They offer a number of different product lines including:
- Gluten free
- Organic products
- Supplements
- Herbs
- Natural body care
Finally, their goal is to help the world become a healthier place through education and supporting individuals in taking health into their own hands.
Kardish Health Food Centre
With 7 different locations across Ottawa, Kardish Health Food Centre offers “a better life in store.”
Kardish employees are knowledgeable and attentive to their customers and take pride in helping their customers learn about the food and products that they sell.
Also, on top of regular product samplings, they have a fantastic wellness blog that provides loads of helpful information.
Ottawa Organics
Looking for natural food delivery?
Ottawa Organics is the health food store for you.
They delivery fresh, organic, local produce sourced from over a dozen different local Ottawa & Gatineau organic family farms.
On top of that, they carry organic milk, local bread and vegan prepared foods that they will deliver right to your doorstep.
Rainbow Natural Foods
Rainbow natural foods is another family owned company that offers a great selection of natural and organic food products.
Their mission, which is guided by 10 principles, is to promote and provide healthier choices.
We love that they have a Military Members and First Responders Discount Day (on the 3rd Thursday of every month) and give back to their community.
Herb & Spice Food Shop
Serving Ottawa’s Centretown neighbourhood for over 40 years, Herb & Spice Food Shop has all your healthy living needs in one place.
They carey everything from organic produce to herbs and spices to baby and child products.
Located at 375 Bank Street, in one of the coolest buildings we’ve seen, environmentally conscious customers can experience zero waste shopping.
What To Know About Natural Food
In the quest to eat healthy in an increasingly unhealthy world, consumers continue to be misled.
Around the world”Natural Food” is a marketing label – not an indication of the nutritional value of the product you are buying,
For example – take a look at some “natural” blue smarties:
Clearly, smarties are not what most people would consider health food.
In Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency restricts the term “natural” to foods that have minimal processing, do not contain additives or had any significant changes made to the makeup of the food.
Luckily for us Canadians, the CFIA does a good job of keeping citizens aware of what they are really buying and eating.
However, you must always still read the labels and shop at trusted natural food stores.
Natural Food vs. Processed Food
Why is natural food considered better than processed food?
For starters, let’s look at how the USDA defines processed food:
“Processed food is any food that has undergone any changes to its natural state – washing, cleaning, milling, cutting, chopping, heating, pasteurizing, blanching, cooking, canning, freezing, dying, dehydrating, mixing or packaging.”
None of that sounds too bad, right?
Well, here is the kicker.
The term “processed food” also includes any item that has added preservatives, flavours, nutrients or other substances such as salt, sugar and fat.
Also, in an effort to extend the shelf life of most foods that you find at the average grocery store, the act of processing food items removes nutrients through the first set of practices listed above, and then adds unhealthy ingredients to improve taste or further lengthen shelf life.
If you are going to eat processed foods, look for minimally processed items which most closely resemble the original, nutrient filled product that you are looking for.