New Wayne Health Market Stemmed From Owner's Journey To Conquer Illness

WAYNE, NJ — Understanding Wayne's newest marketplace requires knowing not just what they sell, but what they don't sell. Green Life Market's banned ingredients list runs about a page, give or take.

If you're looking for genetically modified foods, products with MSG or high fructose corn syrup, you won't find a lick of that at Green Life Market. That's the point, according to owner Kamel Yassin, who opened the market's third location mid-February at 29 Route 23.

Green Life Market will hold its Wayne grand opening on Saturday.

"Banned products are like preservative products that have added color, genetically modified products," Yassin told Patch. "We try not to carry anything that’s harmful to the body."

A decade ago, Yassin bought another health marketplace he frequented — The Art of Healthy Living in Butler, which was set to shutter before his purchase. Yassin turned the store into the first Green Life Market. The business's offerings range from vegan to paleo to the juice and smoothie bar to organic foods cooked in the kitchen each day.

The complete commitment to healthy products can't be found at almost any other grocery store, Yassin says. In Yassin's case, his life depended on it.

Yassin, who is Palestinian, came to the United States in 1980. He attended college and taught part-time at Fairleigh Dickinson University, graduating at the top of his class, he said.

Before founding Green Life Market, Yassin worked in several fields. After taking several roles in biomedical engineering, he shifted gears and worked in electronics.

Yassin open an electronics store called Sound City. In 1987, they became the first of such stores to put a home theater on-site, he says. It wasn't fancy. They bought an old theater seat from Canada for the 2,000-square-foot establishment. But it caught on, and sales kept pouring in.

The entrepreneur exited the industry in 2008 — the same year he came down with an unknown illness. Yassin had been a top student who thrived in multiple industries. But suddenly, sickness bogged him down.

"I couldn’t even walk for a few months," Yassin said. "Sometimes I would have panic attacks. My neck hurt. I couldn’t stand."

In early 2012, Yassin honed in on solving the mystery of what ailed his body. It wasn't cancer. It wasn't multiple sclerosis. It wasn't diabetes or blood-pressure issues. But something felt clearly wrong, so Yassin made a spreadsheet and looked into every disease out there.

After conducting research, Yassin concluded he had Lyme disease, which he'd never been tested for in all those years. So he changed his diet, changed his life and brought over "blessed seeds" from the Middle East.

In Islam, Muslims call the black seeds Habbat al-Barakah, which translates to the blessed seeds. But whether you call it black seed oil, black seed extract, Nigella sativa oil or a host of different names, several different religions and cultures have praised the seed's nutritional qualities since ancient times.

"I learned a lot, and I realized that for me to fix myself, I need to do this particular protocol," Yassin said. "I have to do the black seed, because supposedly it goes into the filament in your joints and gets rid of that disease once and for all."

Yassin began an expansive health regimen. Soon enough, he says his symptoms went away. He could walk. He no longer felt agoraphobic. And then Yassin tested negative for Lyme disease.

As a shopper at The Art of Healthy Living, Yassin heard the owner was closing the store. After a conversation with ownership, Yassin bought the business and turned it into Green Life Market.

The first Green Life Market featured many of its predecessor's products. Then they brought in hummus, baba ganoush and more as the market grew from its The Art of Healthy Living origins.

Green Life Market later opened in Andover. But the Wayne store gave the business its first opportunity to build a new location, rather than replace a pre-existing establishment. The Wayne market is the biggest Green Life Market yet at nearly 12,000 square feet.

Yassin emphasizes the importance of building a community's trust with each store, which involves helping customers find products that positively impact their health. One example Yassin provides is when a mother sought something for her daughter's acne.

Once again, he recommended the black seed oil capsules. Two weeks later, the girl's acne was gone, Yassin says.

Ten years since Yassin conquered his sickness and opened the first Green Life Market, he's seen so much change. Yassin's youngest son was 12 when the Butler store opened, learning the business. He now manages the vitamin department in all three stores. One of his sons oversees Green Life Market's delis and prepared foods, while a different son started a similar business in Pennsylvania.

Now, Yassin has seen his young granddaughter sitting in a shopping cart at Green Life Market.

"Isn't it amazing how we grew this family business with our family of customers?" Yassin recently wrote on Green Life Market's Instagram page. "Thank you to all of our customers who supported us and continue to support us in this journey of health. We are all in it to be healthy including Liliana."

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