Visiting NOW Foods: Way More Than Just Food!

This post was sponsored by NOW as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

A couple of weeks ago, I got the opportunity of a lifetime (for a health nut): to travel to the headquarters of NOW Foods for a tour, meet other healthy influencers, and try a bunch of NOW products I didn’t even know existed.

Some of the NOW Foods products I got in my swag bag (plus a few old favorites). Also notice the Halloween crow in the background.

This year, NOW is celebrating 50 years in business as a trusted natural products manufacturer! After meeting several NOW employees—including the CEO, Jim Emme—on my trip, I can tell the company is sincerely dedicated to providing customers with a comprehensive approach to wellness through their huge line of high-quality, natural and affordable products. For more about their story and products, visit NOW’s 50th Anniversary Page here.

Some of the fresh foods we combined with NOW ingredients during the challenge

The night before our tour of the NOW Foods manufacturing facility, we participated in a very heated influencer cooking challenge! We learned about the NOW range of foods and then split into teams to see who could create the best entree and mocktail with them. My team won—naturally. 🙂

After the cooking challenge, we were treated to a healthy dinner, again made with NOW ingredients.

In the morning, we woke up bright and early for a group kickboxing workout fueled by NOW BCAA Big 6. I’ve written about BCAAs many times before, as they’re my #1 favorite sport supplement.

One of my favorite parts of this trip happened after our workout. We DIYed our own post-workout smoothies and got to hear about NOW’s sports supplement line while we drank them. (If you’re curious, I put bananas, berries, spinach, Vanilla Plant Protein Complex, French Vanilla BetterStevia, and almond milk in my smoothie.)

You might have heard before that the supplements industry is not regulated, but in fact, it is. NOW goes above and beyond, using rigorous internal testing AND third-party testing to ensure what’s on the label of its sports and nutritional supplements is what’s in the bottle. For serious athletes, this is very important as it ensures they don’t ingest any banned substances that could get them disqualified from competition.

We got to peek into many of NOW’s testing labs during our tour of their facilities. Here’s what one of them looks like:

One of many labs where NOW Foods products are quality tested

Supplements being packaged!

After our tour, but before heading back to the airport, we enjoyed a DIY beauty product tutorial. We used NOW essential oils to create a bath soak and a refreshing lavender facial spray. How cool is that? I saved the recipes and brought home the extra ingredients so I can easily whip up a new batch whenever I want.

As I mentioned, this year is NOW’s 50th anniversary. To celebrate, they’re hosting the “Celebrate NOW” Instant-Win Game, where you could win one of 50 prizes of $10,000. If you find a golden ticket inside a special gold-cap NOW bottle, you instantly win $10,000 upon meeting eligibility requirements and prize verification. For more details, official rules, a list of eligible products, and alternate means of entry, check here.

I hope you enjoyed coming along with me on my trip to Illinois to visit NOW Foods! I’ve been incorporating their products into my life since then (my fave being my new essential oil diffuser) and will continue to do so, knowing they’re safe, healthy, and high-quality.