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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

5 Strategies for Keeping an Organic Diet While Traveling During the Summer

Now that we are in the midst of summer, many people are going away for weekends or for an extended period of time.

For me and many other individuals, a vacation does not mean a vacation from organic.

I have been working with several clients on this very issue and thought that I would share my tips and strategies for eating organic while traveling.

1) Bring your own food If you are traveling by air, car, bus or train, always take food to eat. This could be nuts, fruit, salad, energy bars. Anything. You never want to be stranded and hungry when the only option available is fast food or junk food.

Not only do you want to bring food for your travel to the destination but also bring food for your arrival. I like to pack organic oatmeal and palm sugar, so I always know that I am going to have a good breakfast the following day.

After all, you just don’t know what your host or your hotel will have for food, if anything, and you don’t want to be scrambling first thing in the morning. This is especially true if you arrive at night and don’t have time to go food shopping.

2) Bring a juicer or blender If you are driving to a vacation spot, bring your juicer or blender, if possible. There is nothing like having fresh juice and your host may not know much about juicing. So, you’ll be having a positive influence on them as well.

Or, bring a blender. If you have bananas, nuts and superfoods such as cacao, you can put together a smoothie in no time. See my video on how to make nut milk. It is super-easy.

You can also make a smoothie with tea. Read about that HERE.

3) Do research in advance Before I go anywhere, I like to know where the organic restaurants and organic supermarkets are located.

For example, when I go to Natural Products Expo West each year (the biggest organic food trade show), I always stay at a hotel very near to the Whole Foods. There are many other hotels closer to the Anaheim Convention Center but close proximity to organic food is more important than close proximity to the venue.

I am thinking days in advance about what I am going to be eating.

4) Have a conversation with your guests If you are staying with friends, have a conversation with them about your eating habits.

Tell them that while you don’t want to be difficult, eating organic is very important to you and is part of your new health routine. If they care about you and love you, they won’t mind and will try to accommodate you the best that they can.

5) Develop a new mindset Embracing an organic diet is all about developing a new mindset.

It isn’t about just showing up and eating whatever is available.

But it is about preparing, doing research and stepping outside of your comfort zone.  It is about doing the work in advance to make sure that you are able to constantly feed yourself the most nutritious food available — organic food

A message from Tradin Organic

How Tradin Organic is Helping Coconut Farmers in The Philippines

For more than a decade, Tradin Organic has been working with local partners in The Philippines to bring a diversified range of organic products to the market, such as coconut oil, tropical fruits and even cocoa.

The company is helping to support local farmers by assisting them with technical support and organic certification, in addition to paying Fairtrade premium on top of the organic premium.

Learn more.

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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Organic Restaurants – A Very Important Question To Ask

I get asked all of the time by people “how do I know that the food that I am eating is organic?”

Well, when we buy food in the supermarket, there is an organic certification process managed by the USDA. Those organic food products have the organic seal.

Yet, what do we do when we go to restaurants?

While there are very few restaurants that have actually been certified organic (there used to be one in NYC called Gustorganics), most of them are not.

In this video, I share with you the one question that I always ask when I go to a new organic restaurant. The answer gives me a good idea about how serious they are about organic.

A message from E3Live

"My Everyday, Must-Have Green Organic Aquabotanical"

The best testimonial that I can give is that I drink this every single day, as it impacts my mood in an incredibly positive way.

E3Live + BrainON is certified organic, fresh-frozen AFA (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) with a concentrated, aqueous, organic extract of Phenylethylamine and Phycocyanin.

Learn more.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

5 Questions with Dr. Joel Kahn, Leading Cardiologist and Author of The Plant-Based Solution

Last April, I was in Denver attending the National Organic Standards Board meeting and went to dinner one night at True Food Kitchen.

Sitting at a community table, I struck up a conversation with a woman across from me and she proceeded to tell me that she had recently switched to a vegan diet.

“So, do you know Dr. Joel Kahn? The cardiologist from Detroit,” I asked.

Given that the plant-based world is a tight community and that Dr. Kahn is a social media star, I had a feeling that she might have known him.

“Do I know Dr. Kahn?” she responded with her face completely lit up. “He’s the reason I am a vegan today! Everything he talks about online and in his books convinced me to go plant-based!”

With the release of his excellent new book The Plant-Based Solution, Dr. Joel Kahn is looking to make a similar impact on many more people.

I recently caught up with my friend, and here is what he had to say.

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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

The Mystery Behind Organic Honey

One question has been really bothering me as of late: Is there such a thing as USDA certified organic honey?

Despite the picture you see above, there is good reason for me to have serious doubt.  Here is why.

In the past, I have spoken to numerous local beekeepers and when I asked them if their honey is organic, they have all told me that there is no such thing as USDA certified organic honey.

Yet when I go to the market, I see one or two brands of honey that have the USDA organic seal on the label. Almost all of the honey that has the seal on it comes from Brazil, which has made me wonder whether there is some type of corruption going on with the certification.

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livingmaxwell: a guide to organic food & drink