Given the recently published concerns about the poor eating habits of Vincentians, it is well-timed that the nation welcomes a new health food store.{{more}}

Mother-and-daughter team Petra Jones and Marsha Toombs have opened Healthy Choice Living, which not only offers a wide selection of health foods and products but also provides clients with diet plans to help alleviate the causes and symptoms of conditions that afflict many Vincentians.

Toombs, who has been practising as a Health Consultant in New York for the past three years, decided to embark upon this venture with her mother, Jones, because it has been a dream of theirs to help people live healthier and longer lives.

“People should not be dying from illnesses like diabetes,” she insisted. “They can be prevented!”

Toombs pointed out that people often forget that a healthy body starts from the inside, and cannot be achieved from just taking care of the outside. She said that living a healthy lifestyle is a holistic approach that should include healthy consumption as well as a regular exercise regimen.

“It’s not enough to just give people herbal supplements and then the next day they’re chomping down on a piece of fried chicken,” she said.

As an introductory incentive, Toombs is offering a free consultation for clients who are suffering from diabetes, obesity and hypertension, among other ailments.

At Healthy Choice Living, there is an emphasis on detoxification before treating ailments because Toombs believes that the body must be rid of toxins before healing can begin.

Healthy Choice Living offers supplements such as cinnamon capsules, which lower blood sugar, and sugar-free snacks for diabetics; and colloidal silver, which boosts the immune system.

There are also a variety of slimming products available, such as green tea, Slim-Fast and black seed bitters; and natural remedies, such as goji berry, that can help to enhance mood and sexual drive in men and women.

Toombs acknowledged that health food products cost a bit more than their high-fat/salt, over-processed counterparts, but countered that they cost less than treatments required for ailments that stem from unhealthy eating.

“Vincentians should love themselves enough to invest in their health,” she said.

She also made a call for mandatory health classes to be taught in schools because an increasing number of children are beginning to suffer from health conditions that previously mostly afflicted adults.

“It’s imperative that we start with the youth first,” Toombs pointed out.

She encouraged parents to provide their children with healthy snacks, such as fresh fruit and vegetables; and to cut carbonated drinks out of their diets because they are high in sugars.

“We need to go back to local foods,” she insisted. “SVG needs a health revolution.”

Healthy Choice Living is located on the first floor of the McDowall Building on Grenville Street and opens from 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday. They can be contacted by phone (784 456 2549 OR 784 433 3715), email (healthychoiceliving@yahoo.com) and via their website www.healthychoicelivingtoday.com.(JV)