If there was a coronation for Whole Foods royalty, I’d at least be on the court. When I started making small changes toward my healthy aka clean lifestyle journey, Whole Foods was my refuge. I knew that I could explore through its aisles and be safe from hazardous toxins. More importantly, Whole Foods was a castle of wholesome items and ingredients. I spent hours picking multi-colored new vegetables and had many conversations with employees about beauty product ingredients. Not only did I enjoy these research-filled shopping trips, but also used their venue as a gathering place to work or meet friends.
I’m aware of articles, blog posts and folks complaining about Whole Foods’ high prices. Whether it’s a bad rap or true, I believe it’s not them, it’s me and my shopping habits. I’m the one choosing to buy too many packaged goods, pre-cut produce and high-end mineral makeup. So while I love Whole Foods and hope that we never have to break up, I’ve branched out to other markets and found useful online resources. Not everyone has a Whole Foods or healthy market nearby, so these tools below can help inform and make available resources for a healthy aka clean lifestyle.
Clean Eating
1. Thrive Market
Thrive Market is the first online retailer that delivers healthy and natural foods at wholesale prices. Think Whole Foods items at discount store prices. Items range from name brand organic and sustainable non-GMO packaged foods, beauty products, baby items and household products. For every annual membership sold, Thrive donates to low-income American families, as well. I recently signed up because they have most of our family favorites ranging from RAOS tomato sauces and Pirate’s Booty to Dr. Bronner’s Castile soaps and hundreds of organic beauty products. Though some of these can be purchased at my local grocery store, I’ve seen them cheaper on ThriveMarket.com.
2. Food Scores App
The Environmental Working Group recently launched their Food Scores app that has the ability to scan packaged goods (or type in products) to receive a breakdown of the toxicity present in each ingredient. It’s fast, fun and helpful when reading labels. There are a number of apps out there that have this technology. However, the Environmental Working Group’s methodology evaluating each and every ingredient gives them tremendous credibility.
3. Fooducate App
Similar to the Food Scores app, the user can educate themselves by using a barcode scanner to educate themselves about the ingredients in the food selected. Where this one differentiates from EWG’s application is that it lists healthier substitutions and includes a food diary/health tracker within the application.
Active Living
4. Headspace App
Whether it’s the stress of doctors appointments, kid activities or the day-to-day of managing life, I was pushed to investigate Zen-ful practices and found the Headspace app. It’s simple to use and takes only 10 minutes to go through the daily sequence. I also find the voice to be soothing, so enjoy doing it.
Non-Toxic Living
5. Skin Deep Database
I first found the Environmental Working Group when researching ways to better understand the ingredients in cosmetics. Since I’m not a scientist, most of the ingredients were hard to pronounce and difficult to understand their merit. Researching one beauty product took several hours as I tried to understand each ingredient. So when I stumbled upon EWG’s Skin Deep database, I jumped for joy because they could do it for me. Staffed by scientists, this database provides safety ratings on more than 72,000 products.
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Do you have any websites or applications that you use regularly to help promote health and wellness? What are your favorite places to shop for healthy items. For a more comprehensive list of tips and informational tales, check out our Healthy Living Resources page.
