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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Are Fermented Foods the Key to Happiness?

Whether it is with a salad or any other dish that I am making at home, organic fermented foods – usually sauerkraut (above) or kimchee – can almost always be found on my plate. Why is this?

I have come to understand that if we want to have a strong immune system, we must take care of our gut and provide it with beneficial bacteria.

And that is exactly what fermented foods give us – beneficial bacteria.

Dr. Natascha Campbell-McBride, a Russian neurologist and founder of the GAPS Diet, says that:

“about 85% of our immune system is located in the gut wall. This fact has been established by basic physiology research in the 1930s and the 1940s. Your gut, your digestive wall, is the biggest and the most important immune organ in your body. There is a very tight conversation and a relationship going on between the gut flora that lives inside your digestive system and your immune system.

Your gut flora—the state of the gut flora and the composition of microbes in your gut flora—has a profound effect on what forms of immune cells you will be producing on any given day, what they’re going to be doing, and how balanced your immune system is.”

Dr. McBride also believes that an imbalanced gut will result in a host of physical and emotional disorders, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, asthma, skin problems, digestive issues, and autoimmune disorders. And this doesn’t even begin to mention all of the health problems that many children face such as autism, ADD, and allergies.

An imbalanced gut also leads to depression, and this has particular relevance to me.

I took antidepressants for almost 11 years and struggled with serious bouts of depression after going off of the drug in 2001.

Given that 90% of our serotonin — one of the key neurotransmitters responsible for happiness — is produced in the gut, we must have plenty of beneficial bacteria.

For me, that is reason enough to make sure I have a steady flow of organic fermented foods –  sauerkraut, kimchee, beet kvass, kefir, cultured vegetables – in my diet.

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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.

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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Food & Water Watch Unveils its New Smart Seafood Guide and “Dirty Dozen of Fish”

If you are looking for organic fish in the U.S., you will not find it. Why?

Because there is no such a thing as USDA certified organic fish, as national organic standards for fish have not yet been approved.

That being said, some fish are certainly better to eat than others, and Food & Water Watch recently released its Smart Seafood Guide.

The Smart Seafood Guide gives an excellent analysis of over 100 different fish, provides regional guides, and offers helpful suggestions so that consumers can make the healthiest and most sustainable choices possible.

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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Pure Rooms – Setting a New Standard for Healthy Traveling

For those of us who are extremely committed to health and wellness, the reality is that maintaining this lifestyle is very difficult when traveling.

At home, we have much greater control over our environment, but we lose that control when we go on the road, regardless of how aesthetically pleasing the living conditions may be.

Fortunately, the world is starting to change, and there are now businesses entirely focused on meeting the needs of the wellness-minded traveler.

One such company that I recently discovered is Pure Wellness, whose main offering is a Pure Room — a hotel room unlike anything I have seen before.

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