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Editor’s Note: This article initially published in “Chilton County Wellness: February 2022.” Copies are available at The Clanton Advertiser office, 1109 Seventh Street. N in Clanton. 

STORY BY ELISABETH ALTAMIRANO-SMITH

PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY

Suly Romero, Ruth Hernandez and Graciela Gomez came together to turn a dream into reality: to empower women. After Gomez visited a nutrition center in Hoover 10 years ago, she had the idea to bring a nutrition center to Chilton County. The three women opened Jemison Nutrition in 2018 and have been motivating women through health maintenance and nutrition ever since.

“While the nutrition center is for everyone, our focus is on women,” Gomez said. “Women have many stresses during their daily life. They (traditionally) take care of the family and home. They cook, and they still want to look nice and feel good about themselves.”

Jemison Nutrition sells nutritional items such as shakes and teas but also offers healthy food items as well, such as savory waffles and cheesecake.

“The ingredients we use to make all of our products are healthy and nutritious,” said Romero. “We are using protein powder as our base for our waffles, and cheesecakes and Stevia instead of sugar. We do not use sugar for anything we make here.”

Herbal teas at Jemison Nutrition are also centered on problematic health issues.

“We have many teas to choose from including: lemon, chai, cinnamon, peach, pecan and many others,” said Gomez. “Each herb is helping to fight a health concern. Aloe helps comfort people that are ailing with gastritis. Some of our products have collagen which helps women maintain stronger hair, skin and nails. Everything on our menu helps boost metabolism and energy, which helps burn fat.”

The center also has a daily aerobics class that are available to anyone in the community. Gomez leads Zumba dance class and encourages anyone interested to visit. The classes are $5 each and meet at Jemison Nutrition Monday-Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m.

“This is an ideal place to bring your friends for breakfast or lunch,” said Romero. “Meet them for aerobics class and have some cheesecake. It’s a fun place!”

Jemison Nutrition is located at 24850 Hwy 31, Jemison, AL. Hours of business are Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.