Welcome to the new and improved look of ‘Creative Nature’! If you are a regular visitor to our site, let us first take this opportunity to thank you for your custom, we hope that you will find this new site even better! For those of you who don’t know, or who are new to Creative Nature let us give you a brief description of who we are and what we do! Creative Nature was created 7 years ago and our goal was to find the finest nutritionally dense health foods on the planet and to source and supply them ethically and sustainably. Over the years we have become recognised for having achieved these goals and through education, information and an unwavering commitment to quality are now one of the leading health food companies in the country. Our hope, is that this new site will help you find the right ‘health giving foods, simply and cost effectively. Over the next few months we will be launching new products, new special offers and reporting the latest news from the health world. We hope that you will check back regularly to see the latest developments and we look forward to exceeding your expectations. ‘Let Nature Be Your Guide…” Below you will see some responses to recent articles seen in the press over the past month. Important Information on Goji Berries (last updated 02/06/08)
You may have seen on Gardeners World this week, that, according to DEFRA (Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs) Goji Berry Plants may be home to certain quarantine pests and diseases which can affect crops such as potato and tomato, here in the UK. Creative Nature recommend you avoid buying these Plants and instead simply buy the Berries which hold no danger to Britains fragile ecosystem. For more information visit http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/lycium.htm The latest news from The Daily telegraph.co.uk No botox for Beckham
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 03/04/2008 Victoria Beckham shuns botox for a natural wrinkle-free remedy... Victoria Beckham has shocked fellow celebrity friends by shunning botox injections to help keep her skin wrinkle free.
Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham show off their svelte figures during The Spice Girls world tour
The Spice Girl and fashion designer has told friends that she doesn’t want to have a frozen face like the rest of Hollywood, and has been eating exotic Goji berries in a bid to help smoothen out her skin. Goji berries, which contain up to 500 times more Vitamin C than oranges, store linoleic acid which is an essential fat that plumpens up the skin and makes it appear more youthful.
To buy 3 Goji Berries for the price of 2, please follow this link: http://www.creative-nature.co.uk/3-for-2-on-goji-berries-ningxia-300g.html
Creative Natures Response to: Professor Regan's supermarket secrets
In response to Horizon’s ‘Professor Regan's supermarket secrets’ aired Tuesday 27th on BBC2. Creative Nature would like to touch on some rather interesting points raised. Firstly for those of you who may have missed it, the programme aimed to look at various products on the supermarket shelf which stated various claims and then to put these claims to the test ‘scientifically’. Along with Organic Food, Smoothies and Pro-Biotics, ‘Superfoods’ were put to the test. I would firstly like to say that we at Creative Nature welcome scientific research into any of our products as we believe far more studies into the effects of nutrition need to be conducted, it is still a very misunderstood and underestimated area of science. However the programme we had eagerly anticipated proved to be ironically unscientific! Firstly the scientific expert, Professor Regan who was to inform the public on nutrition turned out to be an obstetrician, (mid wife/gynecologist) not a food scientist! Professor Regan, began questioning a producer of margarine, rich in plant sterols, about the possible side effects (of which there are none reported). She concluded that though such foods with added plant sterol-ester had in fact proven effective at lowering cholesterol she would rather take a pill called ‘Statin’.
This pharmaceutical drug made from a toxic mould has many side effects including:
“Reversible myositis is a rare but significant side-effect of the statins. The statins also cause headache, altered liver-function tests (rarely, hepatitis), paraesthesia, and gastro-intestinal effects including abdominal pain, flatulence, constipation, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. Rash and hypersensitivity reactions (including angioedema and anaphylaxis) have been reported rarely.” (The NHS National library for health)
There are also reports that statin may cause depression. It is not lost on us that this state-funded programme, seems to be promoting a drug which a government health advisor recently stated should be given to all men over 50 in a mass medicated blanket approach, regardless of their current health?!
Let us move swiftly on to the ‘scientific’ findings of ‘Superfoods’. The good news is that the program concluded that ‘Superfoods’ were proven to have high nutritional densities and high levels of antioxidants.
Quote, ‘Foods known as Superfoods do have high nutritional qualities so will go into the basket but as there is no evidence that any one food can provide miraculous health benefits, the ‘term’ Superfood must be discarded.’ Creative Nature agree to this conclusion on a number of points, firstly science has proved ‘Superfoods’ have superior nutrition to other foods. Secondly we agree that there is no one miracle food, we recommend eating a combination of many different healthy nutritious organic foods (different coloured foods often indicate different properties so eat a range of colours). Thirdly, we also agree that the term ‘Superfood’ has been branded around without any clear definition of its meaning. The Creative Nature definition (as shown on our home page) is clear and if it were to be used as a standard, would resolve the issue.
Although the higher nutritional properties of Superfoods were recognized the benefits of having superior nutrition and higher antioxidant levels was questioned. (The benefit of eating pesticide free produce was also questioned!)
Let me first address the issue of antioxidants. The programme gave the impression that no one really knew what antioxidants were or what there role was in the body. It suggested it was being used as a buzz word to confuse the customers. A conservative estimate suggests that actually over 30,000 scientific papers have been written about free radicals and antioxidants in the last 20 years and as long ago as 1930 Sir C.V Raman was awarded the Nobel prize for his pioneering work with antioxidants. It is widely accepted within the scientific community that free radicals do contribute to the aging process and that antioxidants do have the ability to stabilise these free radicals.
Only the week before on ‘Horizon’ itself, professor Kirkwood stated ‘The thing that drives the aging process we now know to be the build up of damage in the cells and organs of our bodies. To clear up any misunderstanding of what antioxidant are and what they do, and so that Creative Nature can not be accused of using buzz words to confuse the public! Here is how antioxidants minimise the effects of harmful free radicals. Free radicals are simply unstable atoms. Perhaps the most well known free radical which effect us all everyday is our very own Oxygen atom. Every time we breathe we are subjecting ourselves to free radicals. The Oxygen atom has a nucleus in the center with tiny electrons circling around it like satellites orbiting the earth. Any atom that has eight electrons in its outer orbit is stable, but oxygen has only six. It is therefore very unstable and it needs two more electrons to stabilise. When Oxygen comes into contact with other atoms it may steal two electrons from them, this produces a fire like reaction that releases heat energy. Alternatively the oxygen atom may simply attach itself to one or more atoms to share electrons, as it does with hydrogen to make water (H20) or carbon to make Carbon dioxide (CO2). Either way this is called “oxidation”.
In your body, oxygen captures electrons from digested food releasing the energy you use for all the activities in your body. This process produces CO2 which you exhale, but what remains in your body are electron-deficient molecules called “free radicals”. Free radicals are highly reactive, short lived molecules that can damage proteins, fats, and even DNA inside of our bodies. Every day our cells get about 75 thousand free radical hits to their DNA. They are dangerous because they roam through your body attempting to replace their missing electrons by stealing electrons from your vital cells and causing damage which usually disables their ability to reproduce as healthy normal cells. Scientists agree that oxidized compounds wrinkle your skin, damage internal organs, damage DNA and contribute to the signs and symptoms of early aging. The natural way to resist oxidized damage is to provide your body with anti-oxidants
Please note: the essential function of an antioxidant is to supply electrons to electron-deficient free radicals so they no longer steal electrons from vital cells.
What science has shown is that we benefit from a variety of antioxidants, so in any case don't rely on a single source, remember variety is the spice of life!
Hopefully that clears up the question of why we need antioxidant rich foods, now let us look at the findings from Horizon concerning vitamins and minerals.
A rather unscientific test was conducted on 5 pairs of twins over 3 weeks. One twin was given a diet of 5 a day standard fruit and veg and the other a diet of Superfoods. After 3 weeks a blood test showed that although the Superfood group had eaten more nutrition, they had no higher levels of vitamins in their blood than the control group. It was concluded therefore that the body only takes the nutrition it requires and excretes the rest. Therefore excessive amounts of vitamins and minerals are not necessarily required?
An interesting conclusion, however, if, as the test suggest, the body only takes the nutrients it requires, it poses the question, ‘does the body always require the same amount of nutrients?’ Is it not logical to suggest that during times of sickness, stress, or physically demanding activity the body may require far more? During such times if by eating superfoods an excess of nutrients were available, would the body not utilise them? Imagine if for some reason the body were to require more nutrients and they were not available, what would be the outcome?
Trying to draw any conclusion from such a small test is unreasonable but if anything it highlights the difficulty in trying to quantify the benefits of ‘Superfoods’. There is after all no way of studying prevention and few ways to quantify a feeling of well being often expressed by those people on a ‘Superfood’ rich and balanced diet.
This small ‘Horizon’ study would perhaps have been better off questioning the subjects on how they felt rather than trying to come up with a scientific conclusion. True Scientific Studies which have sought to find the benefits of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are often conducted over several years, one of the largest published studies was the Nutritional Intervention Trials in Linxian (Blot et al. 1993). In that study, in a population of 29,584 subjects, a daily dose of 15 mg b-carotene, 30 mg vitamin E and 50 mg Se over a 5-year period significantly reduced overall mortality by 9%, mortality from cancers by 13 %, and specific gastric cancer mortality by 21 %. These results were consistent with results of observational studies on the protective effects of antioxidant nutrients, and especially b-carotene.
Creative Nature ‘Superfoods’, as with all plants have evolved over millions of years and we humans have evolved with them. We have developed a synergistic relationship. If a plant contains high levels of nutrition there is a good reason for it! I would question the validity of any programme which surmises that organic nutritious foods are no better for you than pesticides or pharmaceutical drugs, common sense and intuition surely dictates otherwise!
To conclude I would suggest that as with most things in life the experience is of greater value than the theory. Try incorporating Superfoods into your diet and feel the benefits for yourselves. (28/02/08)
16/02/08 Creative natures response to: Sunday Times, style Section, article: Super con? For those of you who did not see the article, ‘Super Con?’ in the Sunday times at the weekend, allow me to summarise. The basic premise of the article was that… and I quote ‘It doesn’t matter how many Superfoods you eat, your body can only absorb so many nutrients’ (Peta Bee). This statement is technically true, however for most of us our diets rarely contain enough minerals and vitamins for optimum health. For those lucky few that have more than enough, the body safely excretes the excess in various ways. The article went on to say, ‘British experts have now issued a sobering warning to the nutrient obsessed: superfoods don’t actually exist. It does not however say who these supposed experts were or where this ‘sobering warning’ was issued!? To give credit where credit is due, the article did contain some quotes from actual health professionals who quite rightly stated, (and here please allow me to summarise various comments) that ‘Superfoods’ should not take the place of a balanced diet. Quite true, though I would suggest ‘Superfoods’ are an essential part of any balanced diet. I must also pick up on the remarks concerning Wheatgrass. With this regard the article suggests that claims are far fetched and that there is little evidence of its benefits... Try telling this to Ann Wigmore, founder of The Hippocrates Health Institute, preeminent leaders in the field of natural and complementary health care and education since 1956. She writes in her book "Why Suffer", how she healed her own body from cancer of the colon, arthritis, hernia, migraine headaches, blood poisoning and depression with the help of Wheatgrass and Living Foods. Since then this institute and many like it have helped thousands of people to overcome many different ailments and to optimise health. One need only surf the net for 10 minutes to find a wealth of research and information. There is in fact plenty of supporting evidence to suggest that Wheatgrass is in fact a true and valuable ‘Superfood’ The article Super Con states a 30g serving of cooked spinach contains more vitamins than a shot of Wheatgrass? In fact providing you test the juice of the grass within 15 minutes of juicing it has been found to contain every vitamin and mineral so far identified by science and 1 shot is said to have the nutritional equivalent of 3 ½ pounds of raw organic green veg!! The article does however bring up one very valid point and that is, there is currently no definition of a ‘Superfood’. This does pose a problem, as it enables any food to gain the title of ‘Super’. Perhaps this is the real ‘Super Con’? To clear up this issue let us show you the criteria of what defines a Creative Nature Superfood. Please feel free to apply this definition to other foods being claimed as Super! Creative Natures definition of a ‘Superfood’ • A Food With High Nutritional Density.
All ‘Creative Nature Superfoods’ have a sufficiently high mineral or vitamin content to have a positive effect on health.
• A Food Sourced Ethically and Sustainably.
All ‘Creative Nature Superfoods’ have been cultivated, harvested and produced ethically and sustainably, with care for the environment and all living things.
• A Food Which is Either Organic or Wildcrafted.
All ‘Creative Nature Superfoods’ have been cultivated without the use of pesticides or agro-chemicals.
• A Food Packaged in Environmentally Sound Packaging.
All ‘Creative Nature’ tubes are 100% recyclable.
• A Food With History of Therapeutic/Functional Use.
All ‘Creative Nature Superfoods’ have a history of therapeutic/functional use, some of our superfoods have been utilised by their indigenous communities for thousands of years. • A Food which is Easily Assimilated by the Human Body
Over time plants and humans have evolved a synergistic relationship which enables the nutrients from plants to be easily absorbed by the human body. support the WSPA Creative Nature would like to show their support for the WSPA. Creative Nature believe that we all have a responsibility to do what we can to ensure the survival, health and happiness of all living things. For more information click here. 11/02/08 ‘Great British Bum Diet’ Since the ‘Great British Bum Diet’ was published in this weeks ‘You’ magazine, we’ve had loads of request from people looking to supplement their diet with… ‘Bum Friendly Superfoods’! Heres some simple steps to feeling happy with your bum!! - Drink more Fluids, particularly Still Water (not sparkling).
- Add Himalayan Crystal Salt to the water to provide essential elements and minerals, (needed to help rid toxins). Only ever use Himalayan Crystal Salt, never use standard table salt.
- Eat essential fats, Cold Pressed Hemp Oil, Shelled Hemp Seeds, Cold Pressed Pumpkin oil and Hemp Protein are all great sources of these.
- Eat foods to nourish the liver, both Spirulina and Goji Berries are effective liver tonics. Milk Thistle is also excellent.
- Free Radicals can cause cellulite so eat foods high in Antioxidants, these include Goji Berries and Raw Cacao products.
- Cellulite can also be caused by an Oestrogen Imbalance, Maca Root, Capsules or powder can balance the hormones.
- Always take breakfast to get your metabolism working in the morning.
- Pour a bowl of cereal, add a few Apricot Kernels, a handful of Cacao nibs and Goji Berries, then sprinkle Bee Pollen to sweeten (ideally instead of sugar). You will have yourself a really delicious and nutritious start to the day.
To improve your intake of nutrients found in fruit and vegetables you don’t even have to eat the fruit and veg themselves (though we would recommend it!) For those of you without the time or the inclination to prepare raw food, you can take a big step in the right direction just by adding a spoon of Barley Grass into a cup of Apple Juice. It tastes lovely and will naturally provide you with most of the vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy life and… a Bum to be proud of!! | 
