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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

For someone who loves organic food so much and cooks so often, my refrigerator is surprisingly empty. How could this be?

Well, I go food shopping A LOT and pretty much only buy whatever I need for the next meal that I’ll be eating. I have the good fortune of being able to do this because an amazing organic market is literally less a one minute walk from my apartment.

Plus, I LOVE going food shopping and making multiple trips to the market in one day is not exactly a burden. Staring at all of the amazing fruits and vegetables in the produce section is one of my favorite things to do.

Even though I do tend to “buy on-demand”, you’ll pretty much always find these 10 organic foods in my kitchen:

COCONUT OIL I am a huge fan of coconut oil.  Not only is it high in lauric acid and great to use after a workout but it is one of the few oils that you can safely heat and cook with. (Olive oil is not one of them.)

Aside from using organic coconut oil in my smoothies, I use it as a moisturizer as well.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

When you go into the produce section of Whole Foods, you’ll notice signs that say “ANDI Score” with a number associated with that respective food.

Created by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, ANDI stands for “Aggregate Nutrient Density Index” and ranks a food’s nutrient density on a scale from 1 to 1000.

The ANDI scores are calculated by evaluating an extensive range of micronutrients, including vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidant capacities, and by dividing the nutrient level of a food by its caloric content (N/C).

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

It is a proven fact that our children are born with a shocking number of harmful chemicals in their bodies.

A study from the Environmental Working Group showed that 232 toxic chemicals were found in 10 cord blood samples of infants.

Some of the chemicals included BPA (a hormone disruptor), toxic flame retardants, synthetic fragrances used in common cosmetics and detergents, and PFBA, which is used to make non-stick and grease-, stain- and water-resistant coatings for cookware, textiles, food packaging and other consumer products.

Organic Insider

Better Choices

It seems like every day that passes, the USDA approves another very risky GMO crop, all to the benefit of biotech/chemical companies and to ZERO benefit for consumers.

This time, the USDA has approved a first-of-its-kind genetically-engineered (GE) apple that doesn’t turn brown after bruising or slicing.

The apple, developed by the company Okanagan Specialty Fruits, uses a relatively new form of genetic engineering called RNA interference, or gene silencing, which has raised numerous concerns from consumer groups, environmentalists, and the apple industry.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Despite the fact that it has become a burgeoning trend in the beverage world, cold-brew coffee is still a relatively unknown quantity to the average person on the street.

In a very unscientific poll that I conducted, the majority of people that I talked to had heard of cold-brew coffee but couldn’t give me a good answer as to what it is and why people should be drinking it. And to be perfectly honest, I was pretty in the dark about cold-brew as well.

While I know that choosing organic coffee is a must, because coffee is one of the most chemically-treated crops in the world, I, too, had many questions about this increasingly popular drink.

Organic Insider

Better Choices

In a recent online survey of a 1,000 health-conscious consumers conducted by Market LOHAS – Mambo Sprouts Marketing Research, it was found that 80% of shoppers seek out non-GMO products, with 56% saying non-GMO was key to brand buying versus 52% for organic.

Hence, a product that has the words “Non-GMO” on its packaging is going to carry more weight with consumers than “Organic”.

On many levels, this is incredibly worrisome, mostly because shoppers are making the absolute wrong and unhealthy decision at the supermarket.