Organic food is grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, chemical weed killers, or other chemical products. They must meet the same quality and safety standards as any food.

So What Makes Food Organic?

According to the USDA Organic Regulations the following standards apply to food production:

• No use of conventional pesticides, petroleum fertilizers, or sewage based fertilizers
• Land used for crops can have no unapproved chemicals applied to it for 3 years prior to crop harvest.
• The use of hybridizing and irradiation is prohibited.
• Fertile soil is managed through crop rotation, cover crops, tilling and cultivation. This may be supplemented with natural (animal and crop) waste and certain synthetic fertilizers.

Farm operations with a gross organic income of greater than $5,000 must be certified by USDA officials to label products USDA Organic.

Farmers who use organic means to grow food spread mulch or manure to fertilize or keep weeds from growing. They also practice crop rotation to allow the soil time to recuperate the nutrients used during the last crop season. Instead of pesticides, the use of beneficial insects, birds and pest traps are used.

Conventional industrial farming makes use of chemical fertilizers for optimum growth, insecticides to kill pests, and chemical herbicides to stop weeds from depleting the soil of nutrients needed for the crop.

When you eat the peel or skin of an organically grown vegetable or fruit you’re getting the highest concentration of nutrients in the food, but not chemical pesticide that can penetrate the peel. There is no conclusive data that indicates organically grown fruits and vegetables are any different in nutrient count or type, but removing the peel to be sure you aren’t consuming unwanted chemicals certainly detracts from the nutrient and fiber content.

Organic produce still should be washed or scrubbed thoroughly to reduce dirt and bacteria.

Things to Remember When Buying Organic Food

Also remember that Organic produce will spoil faster than conventional produce because there are no preservatives or wax on the food. So to use organics you must plan ahead, knowing they have a shorter shelf life.
There are three types of organic products with the USDA approved seal, so read the fine print. They may be labeled:

• 100% Organic (self explanatory)
• Organic – This label is used if the food is at least 95% organic.
• Made With Organic Ingredients – This label is used for foods that are at least 70% organic.

The USDA does not certify any food less than 70% to be organic.

There are many foods labeled Hormone Free, All Natural or Free Range, but these foods are not organic. Only foods grown and produced according to the USDA organic standards can carry the Organic label.

Organic foods typically cost more that comparable items, due more expensive farming techniques, the smaller crops, and tight government regulation. This is something each consumer must decide. Is organic food worth the extra money?

Some consumers say they can taste the difference between organic and conventional foods. The only way to be sure is to take your own taste test. Have you eaten a real tomato lately?

When you see the packages of meat marked “organic” next to the less expensive “regular” meat, do you wonder if there is any real difference? Why is organic so great? Is one or the other actually better for your family? You might be surprised at some of the facts about the difference in these meats.

Organic beef is raised without antibiotics, hormones, or other medication. The animals are allowed to graze in open pastures, provided a balanced diet of organic feed that contains no animal products, and clean housing to minimize disease.

Conventional beef is fed animal byproducts (totally against their vegetarian nature), kept in close quarters,  given growth hormones to increase size, administered antibiotics and other disease preventative medicine. The antibiotics are necessary because the cattle are kept so close together. They are fed animal byproducts as a cheap source of protein, which comes from the left-overs of beef, chicken, pork, and horse slaughter houses. They are also fed grain, usually laced with pesticides, which cause a change in the PH balance in their intestine (it becomes more acidic) which in turn encourages an increase in the numbers of E-coli.

A cow raised in a natural state on pasture land has room to move around decreasing the fat content of the animal. They eat a natural diet as nature intended. Mad Cow Disease does not develop because they are not supplemented with animal products in their feed.

A cow raised in a feed lot is packed in with up to 100 other cows. If one gets sick, they all get sick, which is why they are all routinely given antibiotics. The industry for general beef production wants the cattle as large as possible as quickly as possible, hence the growth hormones. These hormones and medications are passed through with the animals’ waste. As the waste is absorbed into the ground, the hormones and medications are taken with it eventually ending up in the area’s water table.

Organic Meat is Healthier

Organically raised beef is healthier. It contains less overall fat, and has more Omega 3 fatty acids and Vitamin E content. It doesn’t have to walk around in its own waste, which dramatically reduces your risk of eating E-coli contaminated meat. When you eat organic meat you are not consuming hormones or other medications, and their waste isn’t contaminating our water supply with hormones and antibiotics.

Packages are now displaying cooking instructions to kill any E-coli in the meat with high temperatures. But I’ve seen E-coli under a microscope, and I prefer not to eat those little worms living or dead.

When looking for Organic meat, the package should be clearly marked with a round organic seal. The National Organic Program has a regulation that requires all organic livestock to be traceable. This means that if you have a problem with the meat on your table, it can be traced back to the farm and even the individual animal.

The USDA Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards:

• Animals must have access to the outdoors, including access to pasture for ruminants.
• Meat animals and poultry may be vaccinated.
• Meat animals and poultry may not be given de-wormers for any period of production. Dams cannot be given de-wormer during the last third part of gestation or during lactation.
• Meat animals and poultry cannot be growth-implanted, given growth proponents, fed urea, or given antibiotics for any reason.
• These animals must be fed 100% USDA organic feed. The standards allow for certain vitamin and mineral supplements.
• Meat animals are raised under organic management from the last third of gestation, or no later than the second day of life for poultry.

Here’s some more information on organic beef from Dr. Greene.

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Would you believe that spicy food, especially chili peppers, have monumental physical and mental health benefits? It’s true. If used regularly as part of your diet you may experience better moods, be more alert, get sick less often and even increase your life expectancy.

Chili Peppers contain significant quantities of vitamin C; 91mg. per ¼ cup of fresh peppers. The red peppers (not the green) also have high concentrations of beta-carotene. The heat from any type of hot pepper triggers the pain receptors in your mouth, which turns on the feel-good endorphins in the brain. This decreases feeling of stress or depression, and is a great way to end or begin a day on the job. Splash some hot pepper sauce on your eggs.

People in countries that regularly eat hot and spicy foods have a much lower incidences of everything from cancer to thrombosis (blood clots).

The chemical in chili peppers that give them their heat is called Capsaicin. It is shown to:

• Lower ‘bad’ cholesterol
• Stop cancer cell growth in the laboratory
• Increase endorphins in the brain (endorphins are mood enhancers)
• Increase metabolic rate – thereby increasing weight loss
• Act as a blood thinner and breaks down clots
• Lower Triglycerides
• Aid in digestion
• Reduce nerve pain (arthritis, psoriasis, shingles)
• Some even saw improvement in their bad acne.

Capsaicin is measured in parts/million. This is translated into Scoville units. For perspective on how this works; A Sweet Green Pepper has 0 Scoville units, the hottest known chili pepper, the habanero, averages 250,000 Scoville units.

The health benefits are can be enjoyed in fresh, dried, ground or pickled chili peppers, as well as in the powdered version or in a hot pepper sauce.

Turmeric, a relative of Capsaicin, is found in Curry Powder. Curry’s name comes from the chemical Curcuma which is found in the Turmeric and gives the bright yellow color. Curcuma has shown importance in several areas:

• Removes plaque deposits in the brain which may help with Alzheimer’s disease
• Reduce inflammation
• Aids in muscle repair

According to the University of South Carolina researchers, athletes should eat foods containing curry for a few days before a game.

Adding spice to food makes whatever dish you are preparing more satisfying for a longer period of time, which makes it a great all natural and healthy diet aid.

As people age they lose some of their ability to taste, just like hearing or eyesight loss. That’s why many times they use more and more salt which, of course, carries its own health risks. Using strong spices and peppers in their food preparation may help increase their enjoyment of food and lead to less salt use.

If you are unfamiliar with the different types of peppers and their heat indexes, try some Anaheim Peppers from California first. These are the most popular pepper sold in the U.S. Their Scoville units range from 100 to 10,000 units. Ones grown in California tend to be milder than the ones found in New Mexico.

There are many ways to eat them and lots of recipes can be found on the internet to give you new ideas for spicing up your healthy meals.

If only our brains were like our computer, improving our memory would be a simple upgrade. Just buy some new hardware and you’re good to go. Unfortunately, our brains are much more complex than that. 

Think of your brain like a muscle. To build (real) muscle, you don’t just go get muscle implants, you have to exercise and provide your body with the nutrients needed to build new muscle. 

Your brain works in a similar fashion. Your brain’s “muscle” power can be built with proper exercise and nutrition. There are several ways in which your brain can be exercised, but first it’s helpful to understand exactly how your memory works.

How Memory Works

Simply put, memory is the act of recalling information that your brain has previously processed. However, the process is very complex and involves multiple components.

The major components of the brain used in memory storage and recall are:

• The hippocampus, a primitive structure deep in the brain, plays the single largest role in processing information as memory.
• The amygdala, an almond-shaped area near the hippocampus, processes emotion and helps imprint memories that involve emotion.
• The cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain, stores most long-term memory in different zones, depending on what kind of processing the information involves language, sensory input, problem-solving and so forth.
• In addition, memory involves communication among the brain’s network of neurons, millions of cells activated by brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.

These components are used in varying degrees depending on whether information is being stored in the short-term or long-term memory. 

The Specifics of Short-Term Memory

As its name implies, short-term memory is for short-term storage. Hence, items stored in the short term memory are generally forgotten very quickly. If read a phone number, most people would be able to easily repeat it back. However, it’s likely that you wouldn’t be able to repeat it 5 minutes later unless you gave a concerted effort to remember it. 

The average person’s short-term memory can hold around 7 items. That is why you can remember a phone number for a few minutes, but need your credit card number in front of you when ordering something.

Tips to Improve Your Short Term Memory

Brain Exercises

People are creatures of habit. When we perform tasks in the same way each time, our brain uses the same neural pathways to send the signals needed to complete those tasks. This could be the way you get dressed, the route you take to work or the way you put your makeup on.

Use Mnemonic Devices

This involves using things you are familiar with to remember things you aren’t familiar with

• Visual images - Try this when trying to remember someone’s name. Associate the face of a friend or a pleasant image with the new person’s name. Recently I met someone named Morgan. To remember their name I associated Morgan Freeman’s face with their name. For someone named “Mike” you could associate a picture of a microphone with their face.
• Create a sentence using words with a first letter that represents the list that you are trying to remember. If you were trying to remember the order of the planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – you might use “Many Very Elderly Men Just Snooze Under Newspapers.” This is often used by medical students learning muscle groups, bones and other anatomical features.
• Acronyms, which are initials that creates pronounceable words. HOMES would be an example for remembering the Great Lakes - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.
• Grouping information: Take a long string of information and break it up into chunks that are easier to remember. When remembering your Social Security Number, do you remember it as a 9-digit string or as a group of 3 numbers, 2 numbers and 4 numbers? 
• “Method of loci” is an ancient memory tactic that is still in use by memory experts today. This involves associating a list of items with stops or “loci” on a journey. Try associating each item on your grocery list with each intersection you drive though on your way to work. This is one of the most powerful memory techniques. In fact, Clemens Mayer, the 2006 World Memory Champion, used a 300-point-long journey through his house for his world record in “number half marathon”, memorizing 1040 random digits in a half hour.

Additional Things to Consider

Your brain requires the same things the rest of your body needs to be healthy. Things like plenty of sleep, good nutrition and low stress levels can help your memory retention and recall significantly.