It all began with a father’s love for his son. Romy Sia, the chief executive officer and co-owner of Healthy Options, struggled to find food and snacks for his young boy, who suffered from multiple food allergies. The family had to travel abroad just to get clean, natural, unprocessed food — and this was over three decades ago.
In response, Sia, along with Christian Tan, founded Healthy Options, opening its very first branch in 1995 at Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City. Today, Healthy Options is the largest all-natural products store in Asia and boasts 34 branches in the Philippines.
Shopping at Healthy Options can be intimidating at first—not only because the products are expensive, but also because someone starting a healthy lifestyle may not know where to begin. The store offers rows of herbal and food supplements and shelves filled with snacks and ingredients, all seemingly promising to heal, manage symptoms, or simply boost one’s health.
At a recent media event hosted by Healthy Options to launch their new campaign, titled “Be Kind to Future You,” Sia assured the press that all his store staff—who, he noted, are college graduates and paid above minimum wage — are available to assist customers. Besides, he pointed out, with the advent of Google, customers can perform pre-shopping research and take responsibility for their purchases.
It’s true—before heading to Healthy Options, one can easily check which products to buy, which to avoid, or which ingredients might interact with their medications.
Sia emphasized that staff members, when asked by customers, would advise them to consult their physician first, especially if they are taking maintenance drugs. The 65-year-old Sia clarified that they do not encourage customers to buy herbal medications and supplements as replacements for their doctor’s prescriptions. That’s how cautious Healthy Options is.
Frequent customers
Sia shared that cancer patients and people with diabetes are among their more frequent customers, seeking organic, natural, healthy foods. People ,suffering from ailments, allergies, or taking multiple medications, visit Healthy Options for food they can enjoy guilt-free and worry-free, backed by their own research.
“Ginkgo is a good product for blood thinning,” Sia shared with me when I mentioned my dangerous blood-clotting disorder while munching on their exquisite sisig croissant at their café, Baking Therapy, which offers a selection of gluten-free foods. Of course, as I learned from the man himself, always consult your doctor.
He also mentioned that ginkgo biloba flies off the shelves during exam weeks, with students purchasing it for memory and brain power.
At the media event, we sampled a variety of snacks sold at Healthy Options—from trail mixes, truffle chips, chocolate chip cookies, and gourmet popcorn, to crunchy frozen strawberries covered in decadent chocolate. I must admit, they were all delicious. And yes, checking their price tags, they definitely hurt the pocket.
But Sia argued that price is irrelevant when it comes to health. “I mean, you spend a lot of money on fancy coffee and expensive restaurants, so you might as well spend money on healthy, organic products.”
“No matter what age we are, we need to start thinking about ourselves, and we should be very particular about what we put in our bodies,” he added.
“When we think about being kind to ourselves, we often think about indulging (in junk food)... So, the things we do when we’re young, we don’t realize they have an effect in the future,” Sia said.
He then described how meticulous Healthy Options is when it comes to their products. Sia claims that when they purchase from farms, they don’t just take the farmer’s word for it. They painstakingly interrogate all their suppliers to ensure that no artificial chemicals are in the products—and to verify the truth, they have the products and ingredients tested in a laboratory.
Sia, who appears fit and healthy for his age, is deeply passionate about wellness. He educated the media on various health issues, including the risks associated with store-bought chicken, which he said are often injected with growth hormones and steroids. He stressed the importance of ensuring that the chicken people consume is organically raised and free-range.
Adequate sleep
Sia also emphasized the importance of getting adequate sleep.
“How many hours do you sleep? Are you proud of getting just two to three hours of sleep a day?” he asked the media, his tone reminiscent of a concerned grandfather.
A week later, as I was browsing through Healthy Options (I was looking for healthy chips, chocolates and mints), I was, like at the media event, quite impressed by the range of products: from shampoo to toner to pretzels to magnesium citrate, rice, flour, baby food and nursing products, and fresh meat. Yes, they are very, very expensive — three to four times the price of what we usually get at our neighborhood grocer.
But Sia’s arguments about the price of his products echoed in my mind: “If you get sick, how much do you pay for hospitalization and confinement?”
True enough, prevention is key. But a wellness journey isn’t just about eating the right foods. It’s also tied to sleep, stress management, exercise, annual check-ups and understanding our genetic predispositions to certain illnesses. But if one needs access to specific organic products, there’s a popular store that offers an option. At the end of the day, it really is up to you whether to choose to be kind to yourself — and if you do, there’s Healthy Options waiting for you.