The New Year celebration may have passed, but every day proffers a new chance for people to eat in a healthier manner. You may have seen that happen among your health and wellness business’s customers, as many of them may have started adopting more controlled eating habits.
Knowing that people may be turning to your business to help them achieve their health goals, like losing a certain amount of weight or controlling their blood sugar, it’s important for your business to be able to offer practical advice while advocating a healthy relationship with food and nutrition. Your customers may depend on your expertise when they want to overcome any hurdles that they might encounter during their wellness journey.
To that end, here are some tips that you can share with your customers as they shop in your store and start stocking up on items that will help them achieve a low-carb diet for weight loss.
Explore Alternatives to High-Carb Items and Ingredients
One way to help your customers make healthier lifestyle choices is to advocate for alternatives to the high-carb items and ingredients they’re used to. A good example is that of coconut oil, whose evidence-based health benefits include curbing appetite and providing the body with a quick source of energy. The medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) found in coconut oil are also being studied for their potential to increase the number of calories the human body burns. For these reasons, coconut oil MCT products are highly in demand for people who are on a keto diet.
If you want to continue supporting your customers as they pursue healthier habits, consider providing them with the tools and supplies they need to continue their journey. This means coordinating with a healthy ingredient supplier, such as a company that specializes in sourcing and processing coconut oil for MCT products, so that you can make them available to your own customers.
Determine Why a Low-Carb Diet Is Needed in the First Place
It’s also important for your customers to understand why they’re looking into overhauling their eating habits. Perhaps they’re going through this process because they had a wake-up call and they want to improve their health to ensure a better quality of life. There are also those who want to have a greater degree of control over their bodies and maximize their physical capabilities. Still, there are those who want to eat well because it makes them look and feel better.
All of these are valid reasons, and understanding why your customers are making an effort to change will enable you to assist them better in reaching their goals. If you have the opportunity, speak with your customers and link them to professionals whose work aligns with your business practice, like nutritionists and dietitians.
Know That Low-Carb Diets Have Their Share of Detractors
Just like every trend and movement, the low-carb diet has its own set of detractors. It’s best that your customers know about the pros and cons of such a diet before they fully commit themselves to it. This way, they can make informed decisions about their eating habits and they won’t be too surprised in case they get negative reactions from other people.
There are certain myths about losing weight that pertain to keeping one’s calorie intake under control. These include the assumption that a low-carb diet is hard to stick to or that most of a person’s weight is water weight anyway. It would be good for you to arm your customers against such misconceptions and direct them to reliable sources if they have questions or concerns about their new dietary habits.
Acknowledge the Risks That Come with Reducing Carb Intake
Of course, suddenly changing your diet comes with its own set of risks. A significant decrease in your carbohydrate intake can lead to constipation, headaches, and muscle cramps. At the same time, severe reductions in one’s carbohydrate intake can lead to ketosis or the process of breaking down fat into ketones, which will then be consumed as energy. This, in turn, can result in side effects like bad breath, weakness, and fatigue.
Make it a point to raise this with people who are sourcing products from your business and advise them to ease themselves into the process of changing their typical food intake. Customers who are dealing with health conditions like gestational diabetes from their pregnancies should also be directed to their doctors and nutritionists for the final say in which health products and supplements they should take.
Anticipate Hurdles and Prepare for Them Properly
Changing one’s diet can be a difficult process at the beginning, but it’s also a challenge to sustain a healthy diet even though your body has adjusted well to it. It can be tempting to have cheat days, especially during times of stress and when there are special occasions.
Prepare your customers for such instances so that they know how to stick to their diet. For instance, during the holiday season, encourage them to think about how they plan to celebrate and to stick to their diet while still having a good time. This will help them moderate their intake of certain high-carb or high-sugar food items and to not overeat after they feel full. Little actions, like social media reminders for your customers to eat delicious and healthy foods during the holidays, will help them keep their discipline and maintain their hard work and progress.
Healthy food stores and other related businesses play a large role in empowering people to choose to eat well. These tips will help you not only maintain your customers’ health goals for losing weight, but also enable you to fulfill your role as a member of a community that encourages healthy eating habits and smart eating choices.
