Great Holiday Gifts from Himalayan Salt Shop (Christmas Wish List 2010)

When I start looking for Christmas gifts for my family and friends, I always try to find something that is unique a different and if you remember a while back I featured a beautiful salt lap from the Himalayan Salt Shop and if you don’t remember you can check it out HERE and I’m telling you I love my salt lamp and I have since bought a couple for my friends and one of my great aunts for Christmas!!!! Well I was recently contacted by the Himalayan Salt Shop about doing another review but this time it was featuring a product from their recently launched health and wellness website Entrance to Health, so I immediately agreed to do it!

About Entrance to Health (Taken From Website):

Welcome to Entrance to Health. This is a website dedicated to promoting the well-being of the individual via natural, organic, and holistic means. There are always new topics, information, and products in this ever-changing industry, so check back frequently, as we are constantly updating. Also, should you have any questions, feel free to email us at support@entrancetohealth.com.

Some of the major areas of health that we cover are weight loss and weight management, overall cardiovascular and heart health, and immune system health. We also cover natural and organic ways to practice personal hygiene via apothecary (personal care) and essential oils. Below you will find a summary of each category we cover. Then, on the left of the page, you can click on each specific topic for details. Enjoy!

Weight Loss and Weight Management
According to studies, 67.8 percent of North Americans are overweight or obese. In fact, last year, one percent of these 200 million people spent $5 billion on gastric bypass surgery. This highlights the problem we have with excessive weight and obesity in our country. We need to start watching our diet and researching what foods are better for us and what new information and products exist to help us in this quest. It is literally a matter of life and death. Here, at Entrance to Health, our weight management section will educate you and prepare you to effectively control your diet.

Heart Health
As we all know, the heart is the battery of our body. As we also know, heart disease is a leading killer. Needless to say, it is extremely important to keep our heart healthy. Through years of research certain ingredients have been found to have significant positive effects on the cardiovascular system, such as L-arginine, resveratrol, inulin, and certain vitamins. In our Heart Health category you will learn of these revolutionary ingredients and how they can help you live a longer life.

Immune Sytem
Our immune system is the initial guardian of our well-being. A strong immune system can stop disease before it starts. A doctor by the name of William Hennen has dedicated his life to studying the immune system and developing groundbreaking supplements to improve it. Also, marine phytoplankton is another little-known, yet powerful ingredient that can help make our immune system a formidable barrier against infection. Probiotics, which are gaining popularity in many foods we now see, help keep the gastro-intestinal system strong, which in turn keeps the immune system healthy. Other, better known, immune system boosting ingredients include Acai berry, Maqui berry, and other superfruits. Check out our immune system section for all the details of these and many other immune system boosters.

Personal Care (Apothecary) & Essential Oils
What is apothecary? In the sense we refer to it, it is the natural and organic way to care for yourself and your belongings. Everyday we use a myriad of consumer products that contain impure ingredients and even some toxins. By simply using or even being near these products, we can degrade our health. In our apothecary & essential oils section, we explain some of the hazards of conventional household products and offer natural and organic solutions.

Our Thoughts:

I was sent a couple of packets of their all-natural, organic, nutritious, immune boosting energy drink Azul to review and to be quite honest I don’t have the worlds great immune system and during this time of year I have a hard time fighting off the slightest illness like a common cold so I was very happy to see that Azul was their review product of choice!!!

Here is a little about Azul (Taken From Website):

Azul is perhaps the best all-natural, organic, nutritious, immune boosting energy drink on the market. It has a very pleasant fruity taste. It has a myriad of ingredients that help strengthen the immune system to ward of disease. It also has many organic ingredients that help provide energy. It also serves as a source for many major vitamins. Basically, it is an all-in-one vitamin, energy, and immune system boosting drink.

We have all heard of natural drinks that are said to be beneficial to our health, but Azul is truly a world-class category creator. It possesses a high number of superfoods and superingredients that puts it ahead of the competition. Many may know know of the Acai berry (which is also in Azul) and many may also know of the know of the Maqui berry (in Azul as well). But these are just two of the dozens of superfoods in this all-inclusive drink. In addition to these well-known superfoods there are 22 more for a total of 24 raw whole foods. Aside from being revered for its ingredients, Azul is also renowned for how it is made and even how it is packaged. The super fruits in Azul are air dried to preserve their integrity. They are not pasteurized like other drinks which kill much of the benefit. No preservatives are used either which also compromise the benefit of foods. With Azul there is no need for this due to the proprietary procedure of pop granulation which is a natural process allowing for Azul to be made with the highest effectiveness.

Azul is also packaged in biodegradable small portable pouches for a minimal carbon footprint. No heavy, bulky glass and no waste. It is easy to bring with you and mixes with about 8-12 ounces of water (depending on your taste preference).

Azul has an Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) value of 14,800. This is of the highest you will find. This value that measures antioxidant capacity, in other words, Azul is very high in antioxidants. Antioxidants help destroy free radicals in the body. Free radicals can damage cells and lead to all types of disease, so Azul can help ward off disease, thereby keeping you and your immune system healthy. Just to give an example, we have included the ORAC units of some common foods below (per 100 grams). By the way, the foods with asterisks next to them are also in Azul.

ORAC Values

AZUL 14,800

*Cranberries 9,584
*Blueberries 6,552
Plums 6,259
Blackberries 5,347
*Raspberries 4,882
*Strawberries 3,577
Cherries 3,365
Raisins 3,037
*Grape juice 2,377
*Oranges 1,819
*Peaches 1,814
*Beets 1,767
Spinach 1,515
Alfalfa sprouts 1,510
Broccoli florets 1,362
*Grapes, red 1,260
*Agave 1,247
*Golden Kiwi Fruit 1,210
Onion 1,034
Corn 728
Eggplant 933
*Bananas 879
*Carrots 665
*Apple juice 408

In addition, along with many of the common foods on this list Azul was also created using a perfect combination of many of the “super fruits” such as maqui berry (40,000), açai berry, pomegranate, mangosteen, GAC fruit, coconut and goji berry with even higher ORAC values.

To go even further, Azul also contains Marine Phytoplankton, a superfood found in the ocean that is the base of the plant kingdom with 400 times the energy ofd any other known plant.

So how does Azul taste? It has a natural fruit taste that is simply delicious. Try it for yourself.

So now back to my thoughts on the packets of Azul that I was sent to review!! Now, I’ve tried immunity drinks in the past and to be quite honest I had quite a hard time drinking them and getting them down because of the awful taste, but that was so not the case with the Azul that I was sent to review! I actually love the taste of Azul, it tastes just like a fruit juice that I would drink anyways so why not add the benefits of having a boosted immune system????

I’ve drank all the packets that I was sent and I have to say my favorite way to drink them was with fresh crushed ice and it’s amazing!!!! I am so pleased with the few samples I was sent that I am planning on purchasing more real soon because I simply love the taste and since starting to drink them I’ve felt better and I haven’t yet had a nasty cold yet this season so I would say that it has boosted my immune system somewhat already!

Bottom Line:

 I have really enjoyed not only reviewing the salt lamp from the Himalayan Salt Shop but I’ve also been very impressed with the Azul samples that I was sent from their sister site Entrance to Health! Not only does Entrance to Health have great immunity boosting products to choose from but they also offer several other products for weight management (which I’m fixing too look into real soon as well), heart health, personal care and many more to choose from!

If you are looking for a unique gift to give this holiday season I would totally recommend looking into purchasing a salt lamp from the Himalayan Salt Shop and if you are looking for some health and wellness products for yourself I think you should check out the selection of products available at Entrance to Health!

Buy It:
To puchase the products mentioned above visit the Himalayan Salt Shop or Entrance to Health!

This review is based strictly my opinion. Others may have a different opinion with the product listed above. I did receive the products mentioned above complementary for this review. No monetary compensation was received.