Very rarely do I write about supplements, but I came across one recently that I think is fantastic – Collagen Peptides from Vital Proteins.

And even though I have only been using it for a relatively short time, I am already noticing improvements in my hair, skin, and performance levels when working out.

First off, what is collagen and why does it help our body?

Collagen is the most abundant protein in our body and is found in our muscles, bones, skin, ligaments, blood vessel walls, and tendons. It comprises 30% of the protein in our overall body and 70% of the protein that makes up our skin. Collagen is essentially the “glue” that holds our body together.

Not surprisingly, as we get older, collagen production decreases. Poor dietary and lifestyle choices (processed foods, sugar, smoking, too much sun, chemical overload), stress, sickness and long-term strenuous exercise play a role in reduced levels in collagen as well.

So, if we think about collagen being that “glue” that holds our body together, we need to make sure that we are doing what we can to maintain collagen levels. When that “glue” weakens or decreases, we suffer from wrinkles, sagging skin, muscle soreness, and joint and muscle pain. Read more »

(To follow my day-to-day organic food adventures, please be sure to add me on Snapchat: maxorganic)

I have been consistently traveling to San Francisco for many years now but for some reason, Greens Restaurant was never at the top of my list.

And what a mistake that was because the brunch at Greens Restaurant might the best that I have ever had. Yes, ever.

Opened in 1979 as part of the San Francisco Zen Center and consistently among the most acclaimed restaurants in the city, Greens Restaurant has been a pioneer in working directly with local and organic farmers in the Bay Area. The fresh, super-high quality ingredients are immediately noticeable in each dish. Read more »

(To follow my day-to-day organic food adventures, please be sure to add me on Snapchat: maxorganic)

While there have been plenty of documentaries about GMOs and even feature films about GMOs, I can’t remember seeing a cartoon that went directly after genetically-modifies seeds themselves. Until now.

Thanks to the Clif Bar Family Foundation, we are introduced to a trash-talking organic seed named Mr. Seed. Read more »

(To follow my day-to-day organic food adventures, please be sure to add me on Snapchat: maxorganic)

At first glance, it might seem like an outlandish statement to say that The Organic Coup is one of the organic industry’s most important companies. After all, it only has two locations and was started by people who have never run a restaurant before.

But when you understand just who these individuals are and the concept they have launched, you’ll come to see that this is not hyperbole in the slightest.

Based in California, The Organic Coup is the country’s first certified organic fast-food restaurant and was founded by Erica Welton and Dennis Hoover, two of the most influential organic food executives in the U.S. Read more »

If you are a big believer in the power of flowers, which I certainly am, and are looking for something special and unique for Mother’s Day, the flower essences and elixirs from Lotus Wei are the perfect gift.

Founded by Katie Hess, who has over 13 years of experience in working one-on-one with clients using flower remedies, Lotus Wei creates flower elixirs and essences that evoke the precise feelings you want to experience. Read more »

In the summer of 2001, after being on Prozac for more than a decade, I made the life-altering decision to go off of antidepressants.

Despite what doctors and nearly everyone else around me were saying – that I had a chemical imbalance and that antidepressants were essential to keep me going – I believed otherwise. Intuitively, I knew that there was a better way to live, yet almost no one in my support system was in agreement with this line of thinking.

For the millions of people facing depression and who have similar doubts about medication being the only answer, a book has arrived that completely validates our concerns.

In the New York Times best-seller A Mind of Your Own: The Truth About Depression and How Women Can Heal Their Bodies to Reclaim Their Lives, Dr. Kelly Brogan, an MIT and Cornell-trained psychiatrist, gives us the hard facts about antidepressants and busts all of the widely believed myths about this class of drugs.

In fact, the medical community is so terrified of the truth being exposed in A Mind of Your Own that Dr. Brogan and this book have been blacklisted by the mainstream media. Yes, blacklisted!  Why? Read more »

Over the last few years, there has been a lot of buzz, mystery and intrigue surrounding a secret company in Silicon Valley called Juicero. Not only has it raised more than $100M from venture capitalists, but it has been called “the future of juice” and “the biggest tech start-up you’ve never heard of”.

Well, as of this morning, the company is no longer in stealth mode and has officially launched to the public.

And what you will find is something that I believe to be the most disruptive juicing technology since Norman Walker invented the Norwalk cold-press juicer in the early 20th century.

Founded by former Organic Avenue CEO Doug Evans and backed by blue chip investors such as Kleiner Perkins and GV (formerly Google Ventures), the company aims to do to juicing what Apple’s iTunes did to music – to create an entire ecosystem that will completely change the way we juice at home. Read more »