How to Eat Better

By Jon Benson

How would you like to feel better... look better... stop struggling with excess body fat... and help support your community? No joke.

Simply choose to eat fresh veggies and meats instead of mass-produced foods.

Filmmaker Chris Taylor - creator of the documentary Food Fight (foodfightthedoc.com) - points out some of the many benefits of organic foods:

1. You will eat less when you eat organically grown foods. Your body's
natural appetite mechanisms kick in when they are not suppressed by the chemicals found in grocery store foods.

2. Long term, you will save big bucks on doctors' bills and other medical costs.

3. You will taste food, perhaps for the first time. Once you taste what "real" carrots taste like (or real broccoli... or real beef), you will never want to settle for less. Food should taste fantastic!

4. By supporting local farmers, you will be helping to build a stronger bond-based community.

What about cost? Well, it's a bit more expensive to eat this way... but not much. And because you eat less - and save on medical bills - it balances out.

Don't think you have to make every meal nothing but organic veggies and grass-fed farm protein. No way. But changing just ONE meal a day... or two... will make a world of difference.

It's Fun to Know: Detecting Counterfeit Wine

Wine enthusiasts with deep pockets pay tens of thousands of dollars for the best vintages. But are they getting what they pay for?

Well-known wine merchant Harry Rodenstock was sued by billionaire Bill Koch after experts determined that the four bottles of 1787 Chateau Lafite he purchased from Rodenstock (supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson) were fake. Oh yes, the price tag? $500,000.

Less-notable vintages - usually from the French Bordeaux region - are faked all the time. Old bottles and counterfeit labels are used to deceive consumers, who often can't taste the difference. (But that's another story.) Even sommeliers can be fooled.

Enter the "electronic tongue" created by Spanish researchers. It analyzes a drop of wine and checks its unique chemical signature against a database of certified vintage wines. No more guesswork. Either it's the real thing or it isn't.

(Source: Popular Science)

Word to the Wise: Sententious

"Sententious" (sen-TEN-shus) - from the Latin for "opinion" - is another way of saying "self-righteous."

Example (as used by Gregory Maguire in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West): "'I do not listen when anyone uses the word immoral,' said the Wizard. 'In the young it is ridiculous, in the old it is sententious and reactionary and an early warning sign of apoplexy. In the middle-aged, who love and fear the idea of moral life the most, it is hypocritical.'"

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2596, 02-19-09], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.