Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Organic Wine — Does it Contain Sulfites?

In wine, there are naturally occurring sulfites and added sulfites. The naturally occurring sulfites are a by-product of the fermentation process and it is nearly impossible to have a sulfite-free wine.

Winemakers have been working with sulfite agents, added sulfites, for hundreds of years. They were originally introduced in Europe as a preservative and are used to prevent spoiling.

It is possible, however, to have a wine that is free of added sulfates and that is organic wine. The four main attributes of USDA certified organic wine are:

– Made from grapes that are certified organic

– No toxic or synthetic chemicals, preservatives or pesticides may be used in the grape-growing process

– No added sulfites in the winemaking process

– The sulfite level (from naturally occurring sulfites) cannot exceed 20 parts per million.

Aside from USDA certified organic wine, which is not too common, there is also wine that has “made from organic grapes” on the label. The two main differences difference between a wine that is “made from organic grapes” and a USDA certified organic wine:

– It can contain added sulfites

– Approved sulfite level is higher — 100 parts per million.

As you can imagine, winegrowers who use heavy amounts of chemicals on the grapes will also want to use added and synthetic sulfites, so as to increase the shelf life of their wine.

Some people are concerned about sulfites because of allergic reactions. Others do not want synthetic sulfites in their body.

My take: If I were still drinking (it’s been 22 years already with no alcohol), I would be looking for USDA certified organic wine only. I would not want to be putting synthetic sulfites into my body, and buying certified organic wine would be the only way to prevent this from happening.

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Better Choices

Organic Broccoli Sprouts Provide Amazing Health Benefits…..and Sulforaphane

If you ever go to a talk by Dr. Brian Clement, founder of the Hippocrates Health Institute and the person in this video discussing the merits of Green Juice vs. Green Smoothies, you can be guaranteed to hear this: eat and juice sprouts.

The reason that he is saying this is because sprouts have incredibly important health properties. They have very high levels of nutrients and enzymes, which provide the body valuable energy to detox and strengthen the immune system.

According to the Hippocrates Health Institute, the other key benefits of sprouts include:

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Better Choices

Cancer Expert Says Hormonal Milk is Not Safe; Organic Milk is the Clear Choice

For many people, organic milk is the first organic food product that they will buy.

This is largely because milk serves as an important source of nutrition for kids. It, therefore, begs the question “what exactly is my child drinking?”

Not all milk is created equal

Hormonal milk contains a genetically engineered hormone called Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST), which is produced by companies such as Monsanto and Elanco.

rBST is 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.

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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Another Reason to Eat Organic – Decrease Pesticide Exposure by 90%

Here are a few things that we know.

1) In its pioneering testing several years ago, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) identified up to 493 chemicals in Americans of all ages, including 287 industrial chemical pollutants found in the cord blood of 10 babies born in 2004.

So, from the time we are in the womb of our mother, our body is flooded with synthetic toxins.

2) Even though this EWG data was collected a decade ago, not much has changed since then, in terms of our exposure to chemicals.

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