Great Cheaper Health Food Hunt

bentim

I consider Holland and Barnet to be the biggest rip-off merchants in the country esp. for vitamin/mineral supplements.Having tried every(that I know of) supplier in the U.K. I find that ZIPVIT (www.zipvit.co.uk) are by far the best for value for money,quality and strength of products by far.
Try the website and compare...you will be pleasantly surprised.

And NO! I do not work for the company..they're just great value.

merryend

I registered as a discount customer some years ago to get a permanent 25% discount on the full range of Protein shakes, supplements, Protein bars, multivitamins, energy drinks etc from Herbalife who are a global health/nutrition company.

Products are sold directly to the customer - they are not available in shops.

You can get cheaper products on the high streets but I've tried several brands and Herbalife is the only one that I notice a positive 'feel good' factor.

Look for your local Herbalife distributor in the Phone Book or check out Herbalife website. Or ask me for my web address!

Rabbitx

Hi, thanks everyone for all the wonderful information on this site. We have a local food coop, set up and run by it's members. It sets up stalls on alternate Saturdays in a local hall. and offers affordable health food. There may be one near you. Ours is the Ipswich Ripple Food Cooperative, it has a web-site and I'm sure it's members would be happy to offer advice to anyone wishing to start their own.:easter:


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petshopgirlemma

If anyone is in the manchester area, Unicorn in Chorlton is brilliant for health foods and you can bulk buy REALLY BIG! The only sell foods that are vegan and additive free so they are good for special diets too. Mostly organic.

Tiger_greeneyes

I've never heard of Kefir before reading this thread but I've ordered some from ebay (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/compassion-at-the-plate), I'm looking forward to trying it I've been asking the shop owner (Andrea) heaps of questions and she's been really helpful. The Kefir I've ordered is £2.75 plus p&p (48p I think). It works out cheaper than than two weeks worth of supermarket bought probiotic drinks - that's including the cost of adding the milk to it. Andrea told me that if I keep 20-25% of the drink and keep topping it up, it'll ferment itself all over again - the initial cost of £2.75 is a fantastic investment - and invaluable when you consider the health benefits (google's a mine of information ).

I buy my rice from an Asian supermarket - I get 20kgs of white basmati rice for £10. As a comparison, Tesco Value basmati rice is 99p per kg.

Basmati rice is the best rice you can get if you're diabetic or hypoglycaemic (like me) - I've had it recommended to me countless times by different nutritionists and dieticians. We get through loads of it

If you didn't want quite so much rice, you could always club together with a few people and share it out.

SallyD

In Asda yesterday stocking up on 5 tins of pulses for £1 (chickpeas nice and big) and found Ragu 500g range of sauces at £1.18 each or 2 for £1:rolleyes: checked out the ingredients and no nasties :j I know its easy to make a tomato sauce but I am not always that organised and 50p a jar does'nt break the bank.

Loon Fung is a big Chinese cash & carry in London sure to have other branches check them out for the berries - I am.

Joyful25

Wow, there is so much helpful advice on here :j ; never heard of kefir before, am very tempted to make it up....only problem is my fussy husband, do you think it can be 'flavoured' to take away what sounds like a sour or unpleasant taste so he's prepared to give it a try?!?? We currently use one of the main brands of probiotic drinks, but it can work out so ££ with both of us drinking one a day - and by the sounds of it we need to drink about 20 a day for any benefit! :eek:

I buy packets of seeds from the supermarket (linseed, hemp, pumpkin mainly)and store them mixed up in a Tupperware pot to put in smoothies (I wear a brace, so not a good look when you eat them on their own!!). Packets of seeds endorsed by a certain health food expert that are very small for the price you pay are about two aisles away from the cooking section where you can buy several own-brand packets for the same price, and they last longer (but only eat about 100g a day as some like pumpkin seeds can be a little fattening in excess)

Am just buying a new house with a garden, so hope to grow my own organic produce once the garden's been dealt with....

I would also perhaps suggest sourcing the suppliers of health foods direct and negotiate whether they'd be prepared to supply you - my husband has done it a couple of times with his greatest passion of cashew nuts and whilst it might seem inconvenient to buy in bulk if you haven't got much storage space, it can work out quite a few pounds cheaper (worth it, when you buy something you just know you're going to eat!!).

And frozen/canned produce really is the place to be....if I buy fresh veg, with only two of us to feed and hubby's small appetite, we just don't get through them quickly enough. The only thing I have a problem with is packaging - my conscience wants to buy fresh because it comes with no packaging, and frozen/canned obviously does.

Anyway, have written more than enough, just wanted to thank you for some great tips.

patcat

I have been using Kefir for about 2/3 years. I strain it every morning for about half an hour so that you are left with the consistency of yoghurt then I add a teaspoon of honey to it, lovely.No doubt this would be just as good in unstrained and used as a drink.

Deals_2

thanks in advance

Rabbitx wrote: »

Hi, thanks everyone for all the wonderful information on this site. We have a local food coop, set up and run by it's members. It sets up stalls on alternate Saturdays in a local hall. and offers affordable health food. There may be one near you. Ours is the Ipswich Ripple Food Cooperative, it has a web-site and I'm sure it's members would be happy to offer advice to anyone wishing to start their own.:easter:


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Rabbitx

Thankyou for your question, I will try to get more information for you to give you a starting point. Every coop will have different experiences and unique profile, as each one provides it's members with what they want. This is one of the many advantages, as it helps to reduce wastage. They are great places for networking with people too, from allotment holders to large families. the main advantage is that food can be bought in bulk to meet the members needs, and since they are run by members, overheads such as staffing are extremely low. These are also a great way to support local produces.
These sites will may help you to get started, there is obviously a bit of research involved, but the effort is worth it in the long run.....

http://www.myspace.com/ipswichripplefoodcoop
http://www.cooponline.coop/about_setup.html
http://www.ipswichripplefoodcooperative.co.uk/links.html

I hope that helps