Gò0dNews

FEATURED
COVER STORY
For years, the natural and holistic approach to good
health has battled against the “Band-Aid” approach
of pharmaceutical companies. Ed Jones,
owner of Nutrition World is committed to standing firm
against the competition. His passion is to inform people
of how accessible good health is and how it is up to
each individual to take responsibility for his or her own
health.
A Chattanooga transplant from Jacksonville,
Florida, Ed grew up in the Brainerd area and observed
his father’s business ethics. As a child, he remembers
a Shaklee representative talking to his parents about
vitamins. Ed appreciated the idea of being able to take
control of his own health by seeking a healthy lifestyle
and learning how the human body is affected by natural
herbs, vitamins, and minerals.
“I remembered all the vitamin bottles lined up
and the concept that you could alter your own health.
Deeply engrained in me was the idea that we have influence
and control over our health. Most people didn’t believe
that back then, but something clicked in my head
and I thought, If we have control and influence over
our health, why would we not take advantage of that’
Whether through food choices or vitamins, he became a
lifelong student of nutrition in every area.
During his last year of high school, Ed began working
at GNC. He told his dad he thought it would be
good to have his own business in nutritional supplements,
but he put the idea aside to pursue a career in
18 // January 2015
Nutrition World
“Embracing Natural Healing”
by Ed Jones
law enforcement. When he was just seventeen years old,
he talked his father into letting him take a cross-country
trip by motorcycle all by himself. In ten days, he traveled
from Chattanooga to Florida and all the way to the
Rocky Mountains.
With his passion for adventure and also for helping
others, Ed attended MTSU and majored in criminal
justice. He witnessed many of the riots going on and
wanted to make a difference in the community.
A New Path
After graduating, Ed went directly to the Chattanooga
Police Department. While patrolling, Ed would
listen to cassette tapes about nutrition in his car. As he
gathered information, his passion for health and helping
others took the necessary turn to follow the path set
before him.
“I enjoyed being a patrolman for a few years, but I
realized that I didn’t want to make it a career. When a
spot opened on Mountain Creek Road in Four Squares
Mall, I opened a store there and stayed a few years until
I moved to a better location,” Ed says.
His Passion
Ed enjoyed the challenge of developing and running
a business. His dad encouraged him to follow his heart.
“Life is too short not to follow what is deep-seeded in
your heart, and that is what I did,” Ed shares.
He started Nutrition World in 1979 and eventually