For 52 years, Kankakee Natural Foods has been a community resource for healthy food, vitamins and supplements. Originally opened in 1970 by Harland and Berdell Wingert, the business was eventually passed onto their son, Delbert, and his wife, Pamela.
In recent years, Pamela has worked to grow the store into a space that serves many facets of wellness, and two years ago she opened the BioEnergy Center for an “integrative wellness experience.”
“Educating the customers is really important to us,” she said, explaining that this education process includes getting customers to understand how the body works and what might be needed to help them with their symptoms.
“We’re about teaching people about their bodies and what their bodies might require: whether you do it through food, a vitamin or therapy … our goal is to help them to define a roadmap,” she said.
While they don’t exist to be a form of medicine, Wingert explained that their purpose is to be “preventative and proactive” to help people live a healthy lifestyle.
This is where learning about the body comes into play. When one understands what their body requires, it helps keep them on a healthier track to avoid possible health complications in the future.
“I always tell my clients, we’re not about the pills,” said Pamela. “All the pills in the world are not going to make you healthy.”
The retail portion of Kankakee Natural Foods is divided into aisles of supplements and of healthy food options, including produce. There also are beauty and household supplies.
<strong>BioEnergy Center</strong>
Wingert, a certified bioenergetic technician, designed the center “with a different approach to wellness.” The bioenergetic tools come from around the world and the center offers a number of different bioenergetic therapies, including: biocharger, theragem crystal fusion, SQQI bed, advanced ERE, iMRS 2000, Migun massage bed, photon light mat, amethyst bio mat in salt room, reflex SOL, body sound chair, oxygen bar, Bemer, halo ultra blue, far infrared sauna, vibration therapy and tranquility zero-gravity chair. They also offer ionic foot detox therapy.
“You have about 4,000 pores in your feet, so that’s where a lot of toxins come out,” she said.
The technician shared that these resources have been helpful for individuals undergoing something strenuous on the body, such as chemotherapy.
In her office, Wingert conducts Asyra testing, which is an electromagnetic bioenergetic testing that looks for areas of energetic imbalance in one’s body. It detects energetic blocks in the physical, emotional and physiological parts of the body.
The facility has about three outside practitioners that come in by appointment only during Mondays when the store is closed. These include a Lymph Enhancement Therapist, ParaWellness Research and Myofascial Pain Therapy.
A popular service available during store hours is Thermography, which is an imaging alternative to mammograms. Aside from breast imaging, Thermography also can include a men’s and women’s health screening (which looks at head, thyroid, cardiovascular, breast and abdomen) and full-body imaging.
A lab is on site every Saturday for bloodwork, and they offer IVs and vitamin shots, such as B-12 and Vitamin D, every other Saturday. The next scheduled time for the IVs and shots is April 9.
Looking ahead, Wingert is excited to continue building more of a presence on social media for Kankakee Natural Foods and has plans for a podcast come fall. On the show, Wingert will interview the companies that supply items for the store.
“I think a lot of people have a lot of questions,” she said, giving examples of not knowing the difference between various brands and vitamins. “I want to keep it more of a down-to-earth podcast, but using a lot of doctors and companies for educating the consumer.”
Kankakee Natural Foods is located at 1035 Mulligan Drive, Bradley. Store hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
BioEnergy Center hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday; and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays.
For more information, call 815-933-6236 or go to <a href="https://www.kankakeenaturalfoods.com" target="_blank">kankakeenaturalfoods.com</a>.