Even with Whole Foods now under construction less than a half-mile further south on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., I will continue to shop at Nutrition Smart — which opened in Wesley Chapel in 2008. All of the produce is organic and not really higher priced than Publix — and definitely less expensive than Whole Foods.
The store has great selections of healthy eggs (below left) and grass-fed beef (right), as well as bulk products like healthy pumpkin seeds & popcorn, plus coffee & much more.
i heart bees raw honey (below right), Sami’s Bakery breads (below left) & Ice Cream for Bears (Below) are just some of the healthier products at Nutrition Smart.
There’s bulk coffee and healthy nuts, seeds, popcorn and more. There’s raw milk, grass-fed beef, top-quality eggs and a huge variety of the most popular brands of healthy dark chocolate (and thankfully for me, quality milk chocolate, too, even though I know it has none of the health benefits of dark chocolate). There’s even Ice Cream for Bears, which is made only with honey (get it?) instead of sugar.
Throughout the store, one of only two in Florida (the other is in Pembroke Pines near Hollywood), there are items marked as “Flocal,” as in “Florida Local,” meaning the products are grown or made right here in the Sunshine State.
Among those Flocal options is Sami’s Bakery bread, which is made in Temple Terrace and has gluten-free, high-fiber and low-carb breads that actually are delicious. There’s also i heart bees raw, unfiltered Florida honey that is grown across the state and is packaged in BPA-free pouches.
And, store manager Fausto Soriano and health & beauty care and wellness manager Joe Geier, who took photographer Charmaine George and me on another tour of the store, are proud that Nutrition Smart has “the largest selection of vitamins and supplements in this area,” according to Joe. Both are well aware of every health trend, including the fact that so many people are taking GLP-1 medications to help with weight loss these days that they are turning to supplements like creatine to help build back muscle mass that also is lost when GLP-1s like Wegovy (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide) are taken, especially long-term.
Also extremely popular right now are collagen peptides (like the Florida-based Healthy Living Proteins brand shown right), which help improve skin hydration, reduce wrinkles, provide joint and bone density support and also can help with muscle mass when combined with resistance training.
“And, best of all,” Fausto says, “the people we have on the floor are all extremely knowledgeable about what we sell. If there’s something you need, they’ll ask the right questions to help you choose the best option for you.”
Divine Leaf Vegan is A Hit!
The popular Divine Leaf Vegan café inside Nutrition Smart make a The Beyond Patty Melt that is truly…divine.
“We used to run the juice bar in the back of the store ourselves,” Fausto says. “But, not only was our tenant the Divine Leaf Vegan Café the first vegan restaurant in Wesley Chapel, serving delicious sandwiches (like the Beyond Patty Melt on the next page), it also makes amazing healthy smoothies.” This month’s special is the Harvest Moon Smoothie, which is made with apples, mangoes, cashews, dates, blue agave nectar, house-made caramel sauce, cinnamon and Garden of Life turmeric booster. It literally tastes like a caramel apple.
Customer Appreciation Day-Oct. 24!
One of the best days of the year to give Nutrition Smart a try is its annual Customer Appreciation Day, which takes place this year on Saturday, October 24. It’s a full day of fun, education and savings that includes FREE goodie bags, starting at 8 a.m. — while supplies last — and FREE samples and vendor demos throughout the entire day. There also are free raffles — and you don’t have to be present to win. Raffle prize winners will be contacted via text the following Monday. There also will be a live DJ on-site from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and much more.
“A lot of people do find us on Customer Appreciation Days,” Fausto says. “Once we get them in the store, they usually always come back.”
And, although I first found Nutrition Smart before it opened as Wesley Chapel’s first — and for now, still the only — “green” grocery store, I also keep coming back for its excellent produce, Jannah’s favorite spearmint tea and Sami’s Bakery bread, plus two of my favorite healthy cookies (I’m partial right now to the chewy Alyssa’s Healthy Oatmeal Bites) and more.
For more info about Nutrition Smart (1821 BBD), call (813) 341-4444 or visit NutritionSmart.com. See the ad below for a coupon that gives you 20% off purchases of $75 or more & 10% off purchases of less than $75.
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