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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

While we constantly hear about the tremendous health benefits of drinking tea, one thing that almost never gets mentioned in this message is just how critical it is to drink organic tea.

In a recently released report called Tea Steeped in Toxics, the excellent non-profit Beyond Pesticides gives us an inside look at what is going on in the tea industry. Needless to say, what they uncover is very ugly and very scary.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

When it comes to eating, I like clean and light food.

My body seems to reject heavy sauces, fried foods, and sautées, even if they are 100% organic.

I like simplicity in a meal and as a result, I tend to cook a decent amount for myself. Why?

Not only is cooking at home the most inexpensive way to eat organic but I can have exactly what I want.

Whenever I make quinoa, millet or a big salad, one of my favorite things to put on these dishes are black sesame seeds.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Stories about the toxicity of our food supply just keep rolling in.

As I wrote about recently, numerous samples of conventional apple juice were found to have unsafe and illegal levels of arsenic. And now orange juice is having its own set of problems.

Coca-Cola, which makes Minute Maid and Simply Orange, reported to the FDA on December 28th that some Brazilian growers of oranges that are used in the company’s juices and those of its competitors had sprayed their trees with carbendazim, a toxic fungicide.

As a result, the FDA temporarily halted all shipments of imported orange juice while it conducts field tests. Products already on supermarket shelves that have “low levels” of carbendazim (80 parts per billion) may still be sold.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

When people get into a debate about whether organic food is worth it or not, the first issue that always comes up is price.

While organic can cost a little more, there are numerous ways to make it less expensive, such as buying in the bulk bins or purchasing directly from local organic farmers.

Yet, what is often missing in this discussion is how organic is so much better for the planet.

And this is something that absolutely must be part of the narrative as to why organic is the superior choice, particularly because the global food system is responsible for 44-57% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

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.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Whenever I get asked the question of which are the best tasting organic foods, my response is always the same: the Biodynamic ones.

For quite some time, I have been wondering why exactly Biodynamic tastes so delicious, so I went digging for an answer.

THE BASICS

To understand why Biodynamic tastes so good and different from the rest, let’s first discuss its origins and then define it.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Aside from the fact that conventionally-raised animals can be pumped with synthetic growth hormones and can be fed genetically-modified grain that has been sprayed with super-toxic pesticides, there is now another scary reason to avoid conventional meat: superbugs.

In results from a just released study, Consumers Reports found that 18 percent of the ground beef samples from conventionally-raised cows contained dangerous superbugs resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics used to treat illness in humans. This is compared with just 9 percent of ground beef from samples that were sustainably produced.

Consumer Reports purchased 300 packages – 458 pounds – of conventionally and sustainably produced ground beef from grocery, big-box, and natural food stores in 26 cities across the country.