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Because of the economic crunch, many national grocery store chains are being forced to scale back their inventory and product offerings, and the nutrition bar category — which is packed with a bunch of candy bars posing as nutrition bars — is feeling the crunch.

Kroger, which offers PureFit Nutrition Bars in nearly 1,000 stores nationwide, is hands down the largest and most popular retail partner we have. Because our bars are offered in so many of their locations throughout the U.S., we need your help in communicating to Kroger just how important it is to you — our loyal customers — to be able to find our bars in your local market.

The next time you visit a Kroger store, please be sure to tell the store manager that you want Kroger to continue to carry the award-winning and all-natural line of PureFit Bars. Similarly, you can send Kroger a message about this online by clicking here.

Thank you in advance for your continued support our bars. Great things are in store for 2010, and with your help, you’ll soon see what that is at your local Kroger store!

Sincerely,

Robb Dorf, Founder & CEO
PureFit Nutrition Bars

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For years, my good friend and performance kinesiologist Brian Dorfman recommended that I start doing yoga. Like a lot of competitive athletes and people interested to staying in shape as they get older, I was looking for that little extra something to improve my athleticism. Fearing I wasn’t flexible enough for yoga, I avoided it like the H1N1 virus. Finally, about 10 years ago, I took Brian’s advice and started doing yoga on a regular basis.

While the benefits of yoga are far too great to cover in a single blog post, I can tell you that my regular Tuesday evening yoga class — which I’ve been working into my schedule for 10 years now — has dramatically improved my life.

Trust me when I share with you this simple fact: You do not need to be flexible to do yoga. The majority of my classmates, some of whom would tell you they’re THE most inflexible people (no pen intended) on the planet, are using yoga to successfully increase their strength and flexibility just like me.

My first yoga instructor was John Childers, who still teaches here in Orange County, California (mostly around Newport Beach, Irvine, and Costa Mesa). John began studying yoga as an extension of his meditation practice in the late 1980s, and in the early-90s was one of the original teachers at Yoga Works. Later, he created the first 200-hour Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher-Training Program for my part of the country. I strongly recommend you check out John Childers yoga classes if you ever get a chance.

Over the last year or so, I have stuck to my regular routine of doing yoga every Tuesday evening at Triad Yoga & Pilates, an award-winning studio where the owners and instructors really practice what they preach. I’ve taken Mark Devenpeck’s yoga classes and can personally vouch for their “excellentness” (yes, I just made up a word). I haven’t had the pleasure of taking a class with Newton Campbell, but he did take a class with us recently, and I can tell you that he possesses a combination of strength and flexibility we should all aim for.

My regular instructor at Triad Yoga & Pilates is Peter Karpiuk, and he too is a most excellent instructor. Peter plays music in the background as we stretch, and while I’m yet to hear Bon Jovi, I’m pretty sure it’s coming!

For more information on Triad Yoga, visit http://www.TriadYogaCA.com. And for those of you who live outside of the Orange County, California, area, I strongly encourage you to check out a beginner’s yoga class at a yoga studio in your local area. At first, the experience may seem uncomfortable and taxing, but like anything that’s worthwhile and difficult to do at first, yoga, as time goes on, becomes increasingly beneficial and easier to perform.

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One of the most common questions we get asked by our customers is: “When will we be able to buy PureFit Bars in our local grocery store?” It’s a great question, and while there are a ton of reasons why it’s challenging to get our bars into every store in every town, we are working hard on making it happen. Here’s a short list of the latest grocery stores and specialty retailers to carry the award-winning line of PureFit Nutrition Bars:

• Whole Foods Market in El Segundo, California
• Emerald City Smoothie in Tacoma, Washington
• Emerald City Smoothie in Mukilteo, New York
• Emerald City Smoothie in South Windsor, Connecticut
• Emerald City Smoothie in Issaquah, Washington
• Valley Natural Foods in Burnsville, Minnesota
• Mary’s Health Hut in Homewood, Illinois
• Fairway Market in Redhook, New York
• Fairway Market in Manhattan, New York
• Sunshine Health Foods in Morro Bay, California
• Back to Nature in Chicago, Illinois
• Back to Nature in Arlington Heights, Illinois
• Dean’s Natural Foods in Albany, New York
• Coast Health and Nutrition in Gulfport, Mississippi
• Grahams Gluten-Free Living in Riverton, Wyoming

For a complete list of PureFit retailers, visit our Online Store Locator.

Be sure to check back next week when we’ll post another list of new retailers. In the meantime, help us sign-up a new store or retailer in your area and we’ll send you 4 FREE boxes of PureFit Nutrition Bars. Visit our Referral Page for details, because all it often takes to get our bars into your neighborhood store is you asking the store manager or buyer to carry them!

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This is a busy weekend for us. In addition to attending Expo East in Toronto, PureFit will be participating in the 25th Annual Sports Authority Sports & Fitness Expo, which is part of this weekend’s Portland Marathon.

How is it possible, you may be wondering, for us to be in two places at the same time? It’s easy… we have an amazing group of employees who always go above and beyond to promote the world’s best-selling wheat- and gluten-free sports nutrition bar. While I will be north of border handing PureFit’s participation in the Canadian Health Food Association’s Expo East event, Jason Stockstill from our Sales & Marketing department will be in Portland helping The City of Roses’ runners get ready for the Portland Marathon.

If you’re in Portland for the weekend, be sure to stop by the PureFit booth in the Sports Authority Sports & Fitness Expo, located in the Ballroom / Exhibit Hall of the downtown Hilton Portland and Executive Tower, and be sure to hello to Jason and his lovely assistant, Natalie. (Natalie, by the way, runs Beyond Fitness where she proudly sells the complete line of award-winning PureFit Nutrition Bars.)

For a complete list of PureFit’s Portland, Oregon retailers, please use our Online Store Locator / Where to Buy tool.

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In just a few days, Canada’s largest natural and organic food industry tradeshow will take place in Toronto, Ontario, and PureFit Nutrition Bars — which are sold in more than 300 stores throughout Canada — will be there.

The Canadian Health Food Association’s (CHFA) Expo East (October 2-4, 2009) is expected to draw more than 3,000 traditional and natural and organic grocery retailers, pharmacies, online retailers, and more, all of whom are interested in stocking their shelves with the healthiest products available.

To me at least, the Canadians appear to be well ahead of the U.S. market in terms of carrying wheat- and gluten-free products. My experience is that our neighbors to the north do not tolerate the kind of crap we Americans allow in nutrition products. Unlike us, Canadians demand clean products, which is why PureFit is doing such a booming business north of the border.

The Canadian Health Food Association, the largest trade association in the country for the natural and organic products industry, organizes Expo East. A trade-only event, Expo East takes place at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, and features an educational conference (October 2) and trade show (October 3-4). CHFA is celebrating 45 years this year, and PureFit is excited to be part of the equation.

For a complete list of PureFit’s Canadian retailers, please visit our Online Store Locator / Where to Buy tool.

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Despite the fact that we’re living through one of the worst economic recessions of our lifetime, the U.S. nutrition market grew 8.7% to $101.8 billion in 2008, according to the latest research from Nutrition Business Journal, while the nutrition bar category alone grew 3% to $2.2 billion during the same period. Why should this matter to you — someone in the market for a healthy nutrition bar to give to your family or to use for yourself if you suffer from Celiac Disease or a wheat or dairy intolerance?

While the natural foods market has grown to gigantic proportions, so too have your choices in the nutrition bar category. Sadly, not all of your choices — heck, hardly any of them — are actually any good for you or your family. That’s why it’s so important that PureFit attends industry conferences and trade shows like Natural Products Expo East, which take place this Thursday through Saturday at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston, Mass.

Last year, nearly 26,000 retail store owners and buyers, along with members of the media and food manufacturers, attended Expo East. The show’s healthy attendance echoes the continued strength of natural and organic products like PureFit Nutrition Bars. For PureFit, a show like this is yet another opportunity for us to meet face-to-face with people who make decisions about what you are able to buy in your local grocery store.

For a list of local PureFit retailers in your area of the country or Canada, please visit the PureFit Online Store Locator, which is sure to grow after Natural Products Expo East. Also, if you happen to be in Boston attending the show, stop by and see us… PureFit is located in booth number 1263.

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Every kid has strong feelings about the end of summer and going back to school. Some love seeing teachers and friends and can’t wait to roll up their sleeves and attack the course work, while others feel – shall we say – just a little different about the whole experience. Needless to say, if you’re the parent of a child with special dietary needs associated with celiac disease, you too might be feeling a little excited or stressed about sending your child back to school.

Thanks to the growing influence of the Web, more information than ever is now available to help parents understand their child’s rights when it comes to schools making accommodations for students with food allergies and intolerances.

To begin with, it’s important to know that according to the U.S. government, public schools are not necessarily required to make an accommodation for children with celiac disease, and if a school does choose to make accommodation, the gluten-free substitution does not need to be identical to that of the non-gluten-free option.

Taking a step backward for a moment, in 1973, the United States Congress passed Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability and states:

No otherwise qualified individual with handicaps … shall, solely by reason of her or his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance…

To be protected under Section 504, a child must have a disability that is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; has a record of such an impairment; and, is regarded as having such an impairment.

Sadly, celiac disease by itself does not qualify a student for special accommodations, even under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with Disability act. Title II of the Act requires equal availability and accessibility in state and local government programs and services, including public schools. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture oversees school lunch programs and requires public school systems to provide substitutions for “qualified disabled students” whose disability restricts their diet, but since many school systems are set up to follow the qualifications associated with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, celiac disease — because it isn’t defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities — rarely qualifies for special accommodations.

It seems for now at least, parents of children with celiac disease must be extremely strong and vocal advocates for their kids. To learn more about what you can do to help your child and their school navigate the myriad of issues associated with celiac disease and back to school, visit the Celiac Sprue Association’s Getting Along at School web page.

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IDEA Health & Fitness Association — the leading membership organization of health and fitness professionals worldwide — is holding its 25th Annual World Fitness Convention this week in Anaheim, California, and PureFit will be there exhibiting in the IDEA Fitness and Wellness Expo Hall.

More than 23,000 personal trainers, group exercise instructors, fitness program directors, mind-body teachers, health club owners, and fitness center managers belong to IDEA, and an estimated 5,000 of them will be in attendance at this week’s 25th Annual World Fitness Convention.

Over 150 exhibitors from the industry’s leading fitness and wellness companies — including PureFit — will be represented in the IDEA Fitness and Wellness Expo Hall, located in the Anaheim Convention Center, August 12-15, 2009. Best of all… the Expo is free and open to the public, and anyone who is able to attend will get an early look at all the newest and most innovative fitness equipment, apparel, and nutrition products from top brands like PureFit Nutrition Bars, Reebok, Nautilus, K-SWISS, Rio Wear, Under Armour, Skechers, and more.

For more information, see the 25th Annual World Fitness Convention website, and be sure stop by the PureFit booth if you make it out to the IDEA Fitness and Wellness Expo.

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Curious to see if you have the genes associated with celiac disease? Now you can without ever leaving your home! Prometheus Laboratories, a San Diego-based pharmaceutical company, recently received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for MyCeliacID, the first do-it-yourself, at-home, saliva-based genetic test dedicated to celiac disease.

Approximately 1 in 100 Americans have celiac disease. Some have common symptoms, such as bloating, diarrhea, and general gastrointestinal distress, while others have symptoms like anemia, infertility, weight loss, or osteoporosis. It is estimated by the celiac community that 60% of children and 41% of adults newly diagnosed with celiac disease had no symptoms at all.

From Tiffany Janes of Atlanta Gluten-Free Food Examiner:

Most people with celiac know that the tests for these conditions are lacking greatly in terms of accuracy. False negatives on the blood panel alone have been quoted in the 20% range. Obviously, if someone tests negatively on the blood test, their doctor isn’t likely to schedule a endoscopy looking for further indications of celiac disease.

Even when people have the endoscopy is performed, many doctors take only one or two biopsy samples. Dr. Cynthia Rudert of Atlanta explains that the proper way to do that test, is to take at least six samples since the small intestine is so ling. Taking only two samples might not catch the damaged villi. This might result in a false negative or inconclusive results.

Many in the medical community who are “in the know” about celiac, prefer to use the California based lab Prometheus Labs for their patients celiac blood tests, among other things. To quote one doctor “generic lab techs don’t know how to read a celiac panel. That is why so many people with celiac are testing negative for it”. If you have a celiac blood panel run and can get your doctor to use Prometheus to interpret it, you should do so.

MyCeliacID uses a recently approved saliva-based version of the blood test used by doctors — it is said to identify distinct genetic sequences associated with celiac disease, and is touted as the only test that provides you with a measurement of risk of developing the disease relative to the general population.

MyCeliacID is available online. According to the company website, a licensed physician will review and place the order in accordance with state and federal law after a test request is made online. Then, after testing is performed, the physician will review and release the result (accessed online via a secure link, usually within 7 days from receipt of the saliva sample).

Learn more at MyCeliacID.com.

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An important discovery in the health & fitness industry over the past 17 years is this simple fact: Our bodies burn stored body fat faster while working out if (and this is a pretty big if)… if we eat a diet composed of a moderate amount of carbohydrates and protein, and a low to moderate amount of good dietary fats.

It is especially difficult to lose weight when eating a diet primarily consisting of carbohydrates, especially if you workout a lot, because when you eat like that, you force your body to burn carbohydrates (sugars). When you switch the equation around a bit and eat a diet composed of about 1⁄3 protein, you allow your body to burn stored body fat — which is the reason most of us workout. In other words, the ratio of the carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in your diet determines if you will predominately burn carbohydrates or stored body fat.

Let’s face it. We are always burning calories, and without getting too technical, it’s the hormonal reaction from the foods we eat that determines what we will burn for energy. The normal response in the body to eating carbohydrates, (e.g., breads, pastas, fruits, sweets, etc.) is a rise in blood-sugar levels. To counteract and prevent excessive blood-sugar levels, the body produces insulin. Insulin stores calories as fat and glycogen (i.e., stored carbohydrates in the liver and muscle) and any excess as body fat.

The opposite hormone to insulin is glucagon. Protein in the diet releases glucagon, which mobilizes stored glycogen in the liver and bloodstream, allowing the muscles to burn fat, their preferred energy source. That is why when you burn more stored body fat, not only do you lose body fat, you have more energy and endurance.

Just think how good you feel when you eat a well balanced meal, like a chicken breast salad without gobs of dressing, versus a high-carbohydrate meal like pasta and bread. Not only are you usually not hungry for many hours after a balanced meal, you probably don’t feel lethargic, irritable, or bloated. Simply put, by adding a little protein and subtracting a few carbohydrates from your diet, you will experience body fat loss, have better energy, and look and feel great.

To learn how to maximize your diet for fat-burning, download a free copy of the PureFit Fat Burning Guide.

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