I
have always had a passion for health and nutrition. I’m a great believer that
you are what you eat and as a qualified Holistic Therapist I know that what we
feed ourselves on the inside has as great a bearing on our health as what we
put on it. In fact I’d say it has a greater impact.
We
now live in a “quick fix” world. Everything is achieved on the run. We are
always in a hurry rushing from one important meeting to the next, running
around after the children, or just generally packing our lives full of
important things to do. However, what generally happens is that we reach for
snacks to fill the hunger gap on the run rather than taking the time out to eat
healthily. It’s a shame because over time the body becomes depleted of the vital
nutrients it needs and we can end up getting sick or not operating on top form.
The
food we eat, particularly fruits and vegetables are sadly far less densely
filled with the vitamins, nutrients and phytonutrients they once were due to intense
farming practices. This means that the need to supplement is more of a
requirement now than it ever used to be.
Children
as we know can be fussy eaters and making sure they eat a varied and balanced
diet can also be a challenge at times. Rickets has been making a comeback in
recent years mainly due to the use of sun screens which can block the skins ability
to absorb large amounts of vital vitamin D. Therefore for children the need to
supplement can now often be a consideration.
My
girls are good eaters and love food. I involve them in the process as much as
possible and try to educate them on how what they eat affects their bodies.
Even at a young age they can learn so much. I do often supplement their diet
with vitamins, minerals and oils so when the opportunity arose to try out and
review some of Viridian’s range of supplements I jumped at the chance.
Viridian Nutrition was founded in 1999 and is a leading brand of ethical vitamins. They use only
the purest of ingredients and are environmentally aware. Viridian is a
UK-based, family owned company who guarantee products are non-GM,
non-irradiated with 100% active ingredients with no nasty additives, no added
sugars, no colourings or artificial flavourings.
Many
nutritional supplements are made up of glues known as binders to hold the
tablet together. This can be a real issue if you are hyper allergenic. In
addition some use magnesium stearate, stearic acid, shellac, talc and
colourings which is a real worry. Viridian pride themselves on the fact that
they make their capsules, liquids and powders as pure and simple as possible,
avoiding all the nasties and have shown that it is possible to make a range of
nutritional supplements which are acceptable to the majority of people.
As
taken from their website:
"Our mission at Viridian Nutrition
is to bring health and wellbeing to everything we touch. From the fields where
much of our ingredients are grown through to the recycling bank where the glass
bottles are collected, we wish to follow the ethical principle of 'care for
others as we care for ourselves'.
At the heart of Viridian Nutrition is a
philosophy that cares for the natural products movement supporting organic
growing, the essential nature of health and whole food stores, the respectful
preservation of ancient health traditions and the sensitive introduction of
innovative complementary health foods, supplements and concepts.”
I
was sent a bottle of their ViridiKid 100% Organic Omega-3 Oil, ViridiKid
Multivitamin and mineral for the girls and for myself a Viridian High Five B-Complex
with Maganesium Ascorbate to try out and here are my thoughts.
Firstly,
I like the fact that Viridian are committed to making their range as pure as
possible. The first thing I noticed was that the vitamins and minerals are in
capsule form rather than the typical tablet which has bound the ingredients
together. Choosing the right multi for your kids is a challenge. Cartoon
shapes, blackberry flavours, syrups and powders are all on offer but they are
often full of sugar or sugar substitutes which are misleading parents according
to Viridian.
As
Cheryl Thallon, founder of Viridian Nutrition says, “Virtually every child’s vitamin tablet contains sugar or aspartame to
make them tasty and easy to take. I have a child myself and did not want
her taking a daily dose of unnecessary additives in this way. So we set
ourselves the challenge of developing a couple of kid’s products which are easy
for children to take, but without any nasties – ViridiKid Multi and ViridiKid
Omega-3 Oil are the result.”
The ViridiKids
Multivitamin and mineral capsules are small and certainly for Sophia (aged 7) were
the right size for her to swallow whole with her morning drink. Jess although 2
is still too small to swallow tablets whole with a drink so Viridian have designed
them so we were able to sprinkle the contents of the capsule into juice,
smoothies or yoghurt overcoming this issue. I tried this out myself in some
yoghurt and have to say that the contents did not overpower the flavour of the yoghurt
I mixed it in with which impressed me. This vitamin and mineral capsule is
free-from gluten, wheat, lactose, added sugars, salt, yeast, preservatives or
artificial colourings.
The
100% Organic Omega-3 Oil is lovely and a gorgeous colour. It is a mix of certified
(by the Soil Association) Organic Flax Seed, Hemp Seed, Avocado, and Pumpkin
Seed, oils. It is free-from gluten, wheat, lactose, added sugars, salt, yeast,
preservatives or artificial colourings. It is flavoured with organic vanilla
oil and organic orange skin oil but to be honest having tasted it myself, these
two oils are not that strong. Some children may not like the oil taste in
general but I’ve always had a drink nearby so they can sip at this to take any
oily taste away if taken on the spoon. You can also mix this oil into
smoothies, salads and even soups. I prefer that oils are taken in their purest
form rather than as a capsule as the body is able to utilise it straight away
without breaking down the capsule, so this oil is great for that purpose and I’d
definitely use it again.
I
was sent a High Five B-complex with Maganesium Ascorbate for myself. This was a perfect
choice for me as a busy, often stressed mother of two spirited girls ! I liked
the fact that these capsules weren’t overpowering in smell. Other B-complex vitamins
I have taken have actually made me gag when I’ve taken them purely from the
smell of the vitamins themselves. This didn’t happen with Viridian’s range and
I also found that they didn’t repeat on me which can often happen to me
particularly B-complex. This product as with all their range is free-from gluten,
wheat, lactose, added sugars, salt, yeast, preservatives or artificial
colourings.
The
Viridian range has more than 180 vitamins, minerals, herbs, tinctures, balms,
amino acids, specialty nutrients and nutritional oils. More than 40% of
the Viridian range is certified organic by the Soil Association. As well as
purity and the environment, Viridian Nutrition is also dedicated to charity.
They have as a significant charity donation programme supporting children’s and
environmental charities.
I
have come across Viridian nutritional supplements before but I have to say that
I’d not realised the vast range they have on offer and that the range is so
pure, ethical and environmentally friendly. Their main website is well worth a
visit as it has lots of information on their range. You can also connect with
them on Facebook and Twitter.
Have
any of you used the Viridian range of nutritional supplements? I’d love to hear
your thoughts. Until next time xx
********
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Disclaimer:
I was given a bottle of ViridiKid 100% Organic Omega Oil, a bottle of ViridiKid
Multivitamin & mineral capsules and a bottle of High-five B-complex with
Magnesium Ascorbate to try out and review for this post. My views, thoughts and
opinions are honest, true and my own feelings on the products I tried. I’ve
been impressed with the part of the range I have had the opportunity to use
thus far and will be looking at trying out some more of their products in the
future.
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