Explore Coverage

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

The 3 Most Important Foods to Eat Organic

For many people, switching to an all-organic diet is simply not practical or possible. And I completely understand this.

So, if a person can’t keep an entirely organic household, what organic foods should they buy?

My Top 3 Most Important Foods to Eat Organic

1) MILK If you have kids, organic milk should be the absolute number one priority for the entire household. Do whatever you need to do to make sure that the children are drinking organic milk.

Artificial bovine growth hormones (rBST) are injected into approximately 20% of all U.S. dairy cows in order to increase milk production, and industry studies by consultants report that this hormone is safe for both the cows and consumers.

Yet, Dr. Samuel Epstein, Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition and an international leading authority on the causes and prevention of cancer, says these studies were not only paid for by Monsanto and others but that that these claims are “blatantly false.”

Dr. Epstein, an author of several books including “What’s In Your Milk”, warns that:

– rBST makes cows sick. Monsanto has been forced to admit to about 20 toxic effects, including mastitis, on the label of Posilac, the rBST product that when administered to cows makes them produce more milk. Monsanto’s Posilac product was acquired by Eli Lilly in 2008.

– rBST milk is contaminated by pus, due to mastitis, an infection of the udder commonly induced by the hormone, and also by antibiotics used to treat the mastitis.

– rBST milk is chemically and nutritionally different than natural milk.

– Milk from cows injected with rBST is contaminated with the hormone, traces of which are absorbed through the gut into the blood of people who consume this milk or products made from it.

The bodies of young children are still developing and they need to have the safest, most nutritious milk available — organic milk.

Growth hormones, or rBST, are forbidden in organic milk.

If I were a parent, I would want to know if the milk that is served in my child’s school contains growth hormones or not.

2) MEAT If you haven’t seen Food, Inc yet, please do so and then you’ll understand why it is #2 on my list.

One of the major agricultural atrocities in this country is the existence of Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations (CAFOs). Animals are raised in the most inhumane, despicable way possible and are given antibiotics in order to ward off illnesses that the housing conditions are sure to cause.

Organic meat comes from animals who are not given growth hormones or antibiotics, and in my view, is the best meat you can buy.

3) FRUITS AND VEGETABLES WITH PEEL/SKIN Non-organic fruits and vegetables are allowed to be sprayed with synthetic chemicals such as pesticides, insecticides and herbicides.

Fruits and vegetables where you eat the skin, such as grapes, strawberries and spinach, are the foods that should be purchased organic.

The rind or peel on organic oranges, bananas and avocados does provide some protection from chemicals. However, by no means does it provide 100% protection or anything close.

Also, do not be fooled into thinking that you can buy a fruit and vegetable wash, even the best one on the market by Vermont Soap Organics, and think that you can simply wash off pesticides from conventionally-grown produce. It absolutely won’t happen.

Pesticides have penetrated the exterior and are deep inside of the food.

A message from E3Live

"My Everyday, Must-Have Green Organic Aquabotanical"

The best testimonial that I can give is that I drink this every single day, as it impacts my mood in an incredibly positive way.

E3Live + BrainON is certified organic, fresh-frozen AFA (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) with a concentrated, aqueous, organic extract of Phenylethylamine and Phycocyanin.

Learn more.

Go deeper

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Want to Learn More About the Vegan Ketogenic Diet? If So, You’ll Definitely Want This Book

Everywhere you turn these days, you’ll find news and stories about the ketogenic diet.

This low-carb, high-fat, high-protein diet is helping people lose weight and giving them much needed mental clarity.

However, one of the misconceptions of the keto diet is that animal products are an essential component of it. And for people who only eat plant-based, this can be quite disconcerting.

Along with her co-author Nicole Derseweh, my good friend Whitney Lauritsen — also widely known as the EcoVegan Gal — has just come out with a fantastic book called The Vegan Ketogenic Diet Cookbook, and it is a phenomenal resource for people looking to explore this lifestyle.

Not only does it clear up a lot of the confusion about the keto diet requiring the consumption of animal products, but it provides 75 delicious recipes. And when I was sent an early version of the book, I literally read it cover-to-cover in one sitting. I was that impressed by it.

Go deeper Arrow

A message from Tradin Organic

Why Tradin Organic is Prioritizing Regenerative Organic Farming

At Tradin Organic, we believe that regenerative organic farming is key to growing healthy and nutritious food ingredients — for now and for future generations.

And in Sierra Leone, we have grown the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified cacao.

Learn more.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Potatoes are on the Non-GMO Project’s High Risk List – What Does That Mean and What Do Shoppers Need to Know?

In a recent issue of Organic Insider, I discuss the decision by the Non-GMO Project to place potatoes on its High-Risk list.

Joining soy, corn, canola and a few others, this is by no means a prominent distinction. Rather, it is something that every crop should seek to avoid because it means that the likelihood of consuming a genetically-modified version of this crop in the U.S. is extremely high.

Go deeper Arrow

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Another Reason to Eat Organic — The Water Supply in the Midwest is Becoming a Serious Health Risk

I got a comment from someone the other day who said “Why should we care about GMOs (genetically-modified organisms)? Let them grow what they want. It doesn’t impact the people who eat organic.”

Unfortunately, this individual could not have been more wrong.

GMOs impact everyone, including people who eat 100% organic, and a recent study from the Pesticide Action Network confirms this.

Water sampling results from communities across four Midwestern states — Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota — indicate Atrazine is present in drinking water at levels well above those linked to birth defects and low birth weight.

WHAT IS ATRAZINE AND WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT

Present in 94% of our water supply, Atrazine is a toxic weed killer and 76 million pounds of it is dumped onto our farms each year, mostly for corn.

And the health effects of Atrazine?

Go deeper Arrow
livingmaxwell: a guide to organic food & drink