Comments & Wellness Tips

A little over two years ago, our family went from owning two cars to one and bought a scooter that gets about 80 miles per gallon. We’re loving it now that gas is over $4 per gallon! About that same time, we also starting commuting to work using our bicycles and our feet.

By choice we live in town, near parks, shopping and public transportation. We’ve designed it so that we live about a mile from both my office and my wife’s office. It’s perfect. Some times I notice that I haven’t driven the car or ridden the scooter in a couple of days in a row! We have a true urban lifestyle, right here in Flagstaff.

Living an urban lifestyle is not new to me. I lived in New York City for a time in downtown Manhattan. During that time, I didn’t own a car. I walked, used the subway or took a taxi. When I needed a car to leave the city, I rented one. In fact, in the urban lifestyle, the ability to drive is never assumed. A standard question on employment applications is “do you have a driver’s license?”

I’ve now lived in Flagstaff for nearly 20 years and during that time, I’ve grown accustomed to the “freedom” of driving anywhere, anytime I choose. So two years ago, when my wife and I decided to re-adopt a more urban lifestyle, I have to admit that I felt a little uncomfortable.

At first when I would walk to work, I felt self-conscious as the motorists drove past me. In my mind they were thinking “oh, he must not be able to afford to drive”, or “he must have lost his license”, or “what’s wrong with him - where’s his car?” I know that’s what they might have been thinking because I recall having those same thoughts over the years as I sat in my car at the traffic light watching someone walk across the street carrying a sack of groceries. In fact, the very first day I began my new urban lifestyle, I hadn’t walked a block from my house when a friend who was driving by saw me and immediately stopped and jumped out of their car wondering what was wrong asking if I needed a ride!

“No thanks” I said, “I’m just walking”. With resignation, my friend accepted my answer and slowly drove off.

In the west, we drive. We drive to work. We drive to get food. We drive for fun. We drive to the gym to get some exercise. In fact, the only reason to walk is to get some exercise. For a while when I was walking to work, the only time I really felt comfortable was when I was wearing shorts, tennis shoes and a tee shirt. That way people might think that I was only out getting some exercise - not commuting to the office.

These days, I don’t have that problem. I look forward to my walks. I proudly commute with my brief case in hand, sometimes even wearing dress shoes, as I walk to work. Now that monsoon season has started, I admit that I’ve relished the thought of carrying an umbrella and walking in a downpour!

Commuting with your feet carries with it a return to simplicity - the simplicity of childhood when learning to walk was the “freedom” that the car becomes to the adult. Walking brings a few minutes of simple slowness into my life, where time expands and I notice the birds singing, the sun on my shoulder and other people out mowing their lawn, riding their bikes and doing what I’m doing - walking!

Now I look at the people commuting in their cars and I give thanks for having this short time where I have no stress, can breathe deeply and circulate the blood in my veins - the perfect receipe for wellness, something that I know the motorists along side of me don’t have at that moment.

It’s taken me a while, but I now feel I’ve finally overcome the social stigma of walking.

Back in October 2007, I wrote about the call in Britain for banning certain artificial food coloring additives.  Well, today, the Center for Science in the Public Interest called on the Food and Drug Administration to ban 8 food colorings citing research linking them to hyperactivity and behavior problems in children.  The colorings the center seeks to ban are: Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, and Yellow 6.

For a list of food additives and colorings and their associated risks published by the Center, click here.

Below is the text of the article I wrote for our e-newsletter, The Mountain Wave, in October.

Wellness Tip: New Research Confirms Link Between
Food Additives and Hyperactivity

The idea that food additives can cause hyperactivity in children was first proposed by allergy specialist Dr. Benjamin Feingold in 1975. This sparked international inquiry with mixed results. In a new study financed by Britain’s Food Standards Agency and published online by the British medical journal The Lancet researchers have conclusively confirmed this link.

The study focused on a variety of food colorings in combination with sodium benzoate, a common preservative. In the six-week trial, researchers gave a randomly selected group of several hundred 3-year-olds and 8 and 9-year-olds drinks with color additives and sodium benzoate — a mix that mimicked children’s drinks that are commercially available. Their diet was otherwise controlled to avoid other sources of the additives.

A control group was given an additive-free placebo drink that looked and tasted the same.

All of the children were then evaluated for inattention and hyperactivity by parents, teachers and through a computer test. Neither the researchers nor the subject knew which drink any of the children had consumed.

The researchers discovered that children in both age groups were significantly more hyperactive and that they had shorter attention spans if they had consumed the drink containing the additives.

In response to the study, the Food Standards Agency advised parents to monitor their children’s activity and, if they noted a marked change with food containing additives, to adjust their diets accordingly, eliminating artificial colors and preservatives.

The color additives used were:

While some of these color additives are not available in the U.S., its still a call for each of us as consumers to read beyond the marketing on the front of a food label, and read the list of ingredients. One rule of thumb: the shorter the list of ingredients the better. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, think twice about eating or drinking it.

Sources:
Wikipedia: Sodium Benzoate
NewsTarget.com: Ground-breaking study links food additives to hyperactivity in children
Childrensdisabilities.info: Developmental Disorders and Food Additives
NYTimes.com: Some Food Additives Raise Hyperactivity, Study Finds

At Mountain Waves Healing Arts, we go to great lengths to help teach our guests and clients how to use the power latent in themselves to heal. That power does not lie in the practitioner, instructor, counselor, the modality, ritual or class taught. Rather, the power exists in the person seeking to heal. More specifically, it exists in their belief that they can heal.

As I work with clients in massage and bodywork sessions, I make it clear to them that I as the therapist can not make them relax. I can only help them achieve a level of comfort and trust in which they can let go and let themselves relax. They are the one doing the healing - and my clients do it over and over again with regular success. As they become more practiced in achieving this trust for themselves, they’ll realize that they really don’t need me to facilitate it.

This approach is the anti-thesis of the medical model, which says that the doctor has the power for the successful outcome of the patient’s condition. The patient is merely the one to be acted upon (or operated upon, depending on the the doctor’s medical degree). In fact, many doctors scoff at the patient who self-diagnoses their condition by saying they are unqualified to do so.

Yet, this medical model regularly proves that the source of healing power lies in the patient when placebos are used in studies of the efficacy of a new pharmaceutical or treatment.

“A placebo is a substance or procedure which a patient accepts as a medicine or therapy but which has no specific therapeutic activity for the condition. Any effect is thought to be based on the power of suggestion.” Wikepedia

Hence the terminology “the placebo effect”.

“A placebo effect is a therapeutic and healing effect of an inert medicine or ineffective therapy…. [It] occurs when a patient’s symptoms are altered in some way by a treatment, due to the individual expecting or believing that it will work. The placebo effect occurs when a patient is treated in conjunction with the suggestion from an authority figure or from acquired information that the treatment will aid in healing and the patient’s condition improves. This effect has been known since the early 20th century.” Wikepedia

The difference between the placebo effect and self-healing is in the awareness of the patient. For a placebo to work it must be prescribed by an authority figure who provides the suggestion that it will work. It’s really about deceiving the patient that the power is in the placebo, rather than in themselves.

This is the key to a new product set to be released next week called Obecalp (placebo spelled backwards). It was created by a woman who is the mother of three young children. As she says on her website, “I invented Obecalp when I realized that children might need a little more than a kiss to make it go away.” This product, given in a chewable cherry flavored pill (or soon to be released liquid), is really an inert pill that is made up almost entirely of the sugar dextrose. It truly fits the definition of placebo when given to a child by a parent under the deception that it is medicine.

What really is her intention here? If someone is ill in a way that requires more than a reassuring hug and a kiss, then I’d be the first to suggest they really do need medical attention. But if a parent’s reassurances can’t satisfy a child who doesn’t need medical attention, then is the issue really about the child’s illness or the parent’s inability to parent?

Proper parenting takes attentive work which can be exhausting - especially during times of a child’s illness or injury. These are times when as a parent you sometimes feel powerless to help your child heal. The truth is you’re right. You never had the power to heal your child. Only your child has that power. Accepting that as a parent, is as difficult as the medical doctor accepting that they are only the facilitator of their patient’s healing. After all, our children look to us as parents to be all powerful. Right? But it’s so hard to teach a child how to recognize their own power within themselves, why not give them a little sugar pill so mommy or daddy can get some sleep and be ready for that important business meeting in the morning.

To me, choosing to use a product like Obecalp is really an attempt to hide from this truth and avoid looking at our own insecurities. It’s not about making the child feel better, it’s about making us, as parents, feel better.

Here are some additional perspectives on the topic that you might find interesting:

Treating Childhood Ouchies with Placebos

Experts Question Placebo Pill for Children

Invented by a Mother

Forget all of the anti-aging creams, botox, and plastic surgery. The real secret to anti-aging is all around you and best of all - IT’S FREE! But first, we have to understand the process of aging.

Aging, at it simplest level, is caused by oxygen (O2). That’s right the element that is the third most abundant by mass on the planet is the problem. Oxygen is highly corrosive and is the catalyst that causes iron to rust, fire to burn, and living cells to die. And worst yet, the stuff is everywhere!

Proteins, carbohydrates and fats all contain oxygen, as do our teeth and bones. Even our water is made of the stuff (H2O). In fact, chemists characterize water is oxidized hydrogen! Oxidation is the process that causes the slow corrosion of iron that results in rust. Fire is described as “rapid oxidation” of a fuel. Aging in humans is the result of free-radical production from the oxidation of the chemicals in our body.

Pure oxygen is toxic and living beings can overdose on it when breathing it at high pressures. That’s why scuba divers use different mixtures of breathing air that is delivered at appropriate pressures for the depth of the dive to avoid oxygen toxicity.

So if oxygen causes aging, it stands to reason that if you hold your breath, you’ll live forever. Well, this paradox proves to me that the universe and its creator has a sense of humor. The thing that will ultimately result in our death is the same thing that gives us life! All living things on this planet are destined to die as the result of living. So let’s embrace that fact and rust away with enthusiasm.

The key to aging well is to actually breathe. How we breathe is important. Many people are “shallow breathers”. This means that they don’t fully inflate their lungs during inhalation. When you see these people breathe, you see their shoulders rise. Since they are only inflating the top part of their lungs, half of their lung capacity is not being utilized.

Air enters the lungs because of the negative pressure created by the diaphragm muscle at the base of the rib cage. In order to fully inflate the lungs, the diaphragm must pull down and displace the abdominal organs like the stomach and intestines forcing them outward. In a proper breath, the belly expands and the shoulders stay steady. Try it both ways and you’ll feel the difference.

Breathing fully helps stimulate the para-sympathetic nervous system which triggers the endocrine system to release hormones that reverses the state of heightened stress. Stress is a major factor in all disease in the body. By simply regulating your stress levels, you can achieve greater wellness which will impact how well you age.

This is because the body has natural processes which reverse the oxidation effects of oxygen. Enzymes in the body create other chemical reactions the help to repair the damage created by this free-radical oxidation. But the effectiveness of these processes are reduced when the body is in a heightened stress condition that occurs in the normal western lifestyle.

This is why stress reduction modalities like massage, yoga, tai chi and meditation that focus on breathing and stress reduction can improve your longevity. The bottom line is to breathe. Breathe deeply for longer life and live deeply while you breathe - because living is intended to be our cause of death.

Price increases in fuel will have an impact on your waistline in a variety of ways, but perhaps not in the positive ways you might imagine. But first, what does the price of gasoline have to do with how much you weigh? It’s simple economics.

Most obviously, the foods that the average American eats are grown, processed and packaged at farther distances from where we eat them than ever before. Out of season fruits and vegetables are shipped half a world away to keep the supermarket shelves stocked year round. Processed foods are manufactured in one central location then shipped. The most common carrier these days is commercial trucking which relies heavily on cheap oil to move those products to market. So as the price of fuel rises, the cost of shipping rises and the price of the food shipped rises accordingly.

Secondly, the impact on food prices is directly related to the ramping up of ethanol production for our fuel supply. Currently, corn is the major source of ethanol in the United States.  Corn is also a major component in almost every food on your kitchen table today. Corn is the first choice in sweetening foods in the form of high-fructose corn syrup because it is sweeter, more stable and less expensive than sugar. Processed foods from soda to breads contain this sweetener in abundance.

Corn is also in milk, eggs, beef, chicken and other “non-processed” foods like them. How? The dairy farmer feeds his milk cows and egg laying hens corn. That angus cow on your plate was raised on corn, as was the chicken in your soup. Not to mention that humans occasionally like to eat the stuff before it’s consumed by other animals in the form of corn on the cob, canned/frozen corn, popped corn, etc.

So we have all of this competing demand for the simple kernel of corn: gasoline refiners, food manufacturers, dairy farmers, ranchers and people (not to say that the folks doing the other jobs aren’t people too - but you get my point). Back to the economics, as demand increases when there is a limited supply, prices rise. In 2005, corn sold in the U.S. for under $2 per bushel. Today, it sells for more than $5 per bushel. That’s a 150% increase in just over 2 years!

This price increase doesn’t affect the food supply evenly however. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the prices of processed foods will increase at a slower pace than the prices of food staples like eggs, dairy, fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry. That’s because there is more margin in the production costs for food processors in which they can absorb the rising cost of corn, than for the farmer or rancher. This means that the more nutritious whole foods will rise in price quicker and higher than the processed foods of lower nutritional quality.

Here’s how these price increases are likely to affect your waistline. Research has shown a correlation between obesity and income. People in lower socio-economic populations tend to eat fewer whole foods and more processed foods - the type of foods that contribute to obesity. So as food prices rise and you have to make a choice about where to spend your dollar, people who have less money to spend will likely spend it on the lower priced processed foods that are high in calories and low in nutrition, thereby fueling the already epidemic rates of obesity in the U.S.

A silver lining on the cloud may be that as fuel prices rise, people may drive less and actually begin walking or riding bicycles. This may offset the increased consumption of processed foods, keeping the obesity trend in check or even help to lower it. One can only hope.

Today I’m known by many as a massage therapist. But years ago I received my bachelor of fine arts degree in film and television production. I worked in the industry creating documentaries, commercials and corporate educational programs.

Yet, we only have one television in our home. We don’t have cable or satellite programing either - much to the constant lament of our two teenage children. However, I find the programming on network television insulting. The only television I make time for is Nova and Frontline on PBS. Occasionally I watch the local news which I find insulting every time they refer to the newscast as a “show” as in “later in the show well have your complete weather forecast followed by more stories about people doing nasty things to each other.” It’s really all trash and I’m relieved not to be part of the industry any longer.

So this week, when my daughter informed me of the incentive from her algebra teacher to gain student participation in “Turn Off Your TV Week,” I gladly told her that I’d join in her efforts. After all, we’ve been without TV in the past. One time the TV actually broke and I delayed having it repaired for two weeks. After it was repaired, I forgot to plug it in and no one really missed it! It can be done.

But if you’ve been addicted to the TV for some time now, it can be like withdraw from electric morphine.

So, I’d like to give you some reasons to make the effort more justifiable. To start, TV viewing is entirely passive. Sure you might cheer your favorite sports team, or laugh at the misfortune of someone caught in an embarrassing situation in what we label “America’s Funniest Videos” - but you’re not doing anything! You’re sitting in a chair, passive.

This passivity is the root to the increase in the rates of morbid obesity, diabetes, heart disease and their related complications like asthma, arthritis and depression. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that nearly 20% of children aged 2-17 are categorized as obese. And the trend is getting worse. As a result, the CDC recommends, among other things, “reducing time spent watching TV and other sedentary activities.”

Some interesting stats:

There are 2.55 people in the average American household, yet the average American household has 2.73 televisions! We have more televisions that people in the U.S.!

50% of American households have 3 or more TVs, whereas in 1975 only 11% had 3 or more TVs.

57% of children aged 9-13 have a TV in their bedroom.

Based on these simple figures, it seems that our culture values passivity and isolation - two key components of anyone suffering from disease. As a comparision, those centarians (people who live over 100 years) tend to have lifestyles that are active with strong social networks. I bet they don’t watch much TV - they’re too busy with their social lives. It’s true!

So to help ease your withdraw from the electric morphine, here are some things to keep you busy during the “shakes”:

Eat a healthy meal together as a family
Play a sport, like a game of baseball, soccer, frisbee, tag
Fly a kite
Play a musical instrument
Build something like a birdhouse
Listen to music
Read a book
Bake bread
Garden
Play a game like cards, Scrabble, Monopoly, etc.
Go camping
Go for a walk
Meet your neighbor

The list can go on and on.

The bottom line is try it. The national no-TV week started on April 21 and runs through April 27th, but you can start now, because there really isn’t anything on to watch.

Here are some other resources you might find helpful or interesting:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Center for Screentime Awareness

Turn Off Your TV

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a draft report concurring with the conclusions of a scientific panel that there is “some concern” related to neural and hormonal disruptions in humans who are exposed to a chemical compound called bisphenol-a or B.P.A.

B.P.A. is used to manufacture a rigid yet transparent polycarbonate plastic (#7) that is a component in things like the plastic coating for iPods, food can linings, baby bottles and the familiar “Nalgene” type of water bottle. This is significant because the report cites that 99% of human exposure comes through food ingestion, implicating soda cans, water and baby bottles.

The report concludes that in animal studies, there is “clear evidence of adverse effects” on fetus and newborn development in high dose environments. Yet, in lower dosage environments, there is still “some evidence” of disruption to the reproduction of the studied animals and “limited evidence” of developmental disruption especially related to the prostate gland and urinary tract development in male mice. This is due to BPA’s ability to mimic the body’s natural hormone estrogen.

The bottom line is that this plastic, while under scrutiny for the past several years, is now being identified, by government officials, as posing some human risk and requiring further study. The Canadian government yesterday reported that they are nearly ready to declare BPA a human toxin. Official word from Health Canada is still pending.

Because of the properties of the polycarbonate plastic, BPA can leach into the food contained by the plastic, especially when the food has a high acid content (like tomato sauce), is heated (like baby formula), or the container has been washed with harsh cleansers. Polycarbonate plastic has been measured to leach BPA fifty-five times faster when it contains a hot liquid.

This is especially important with polycarbonate baby bottles, since most adults heat baby formula while in the bottle with a microwave or in a saucepan with water, increasing the leaching of BPA into the infant formula. Because of the small size of infants, the exposure risk through the baby bottle is magnified compared to consumption of BPA by an adult, not to mention the disruption to the infant’s development at such critical stages.

So what to do? The plastics known not to leach are #2 HDPE, #4 LDPE and #5 PP. Consider using one of these plastics to hold food and avoid #7 polycarbonate, #6 Polystyrene and #3 Polyvinyl chloride. Only heat foods in a microwave with glass or ceramic containers. As for baby bottles, I guess Mom was right: good old glass is still the time tested standard that is yet to be surpassed.

For more information and reference sources, try these links:

http://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/chemicals/bisphenol/BPADraftBriefVF_04_14_08.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol-A

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/business/worldbusiness/16plastic.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

It’s that season again in Northern Arizona. Runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing. Sure, plants are starting to bud, flowers are starting to pop out but this is also the driest season of the year. Along with the wind, the dramatic reduction of precipitation in spring time dries everything out very quickly - including ourselves.

As we move out of winter, especially one with an average amount of precipitation like this year, we may have fallen out of the habit of staying fully hydrated. In winter months, we tend to drink less water because we don’t feel hot. This may not be a big deal when we have more moisture in the air during consistent winter storms. But now that the air is dramatically dryer, if we haven’t increased our water consumption in proportion to the drying air, we can rapidly become dehydrated.

If you are familiar with me at all, you’ll know of my constant preaching of drinking at least 1/2 of your bodyweight in ounces of water each day. This rule of thumb is a good guide to staying properly hydrated, especially in our climate of Northern Arizona. As for what to drink, I’m pretty consistent in sticking to just plain water, or watered-down fruit juice. Coffee, tea and other caffeinated beverages should not be counted in those ounces.

Here’s why I don’t recommend counting those caffeinated beverages. Caffeine is a nervous system stimulant that, among many things, dilates blood vessels which increases the amount of blood being filtered by the kidneys - resulting in an increased production of urine. This is combined with caffeine’s effect of sensitizing the bladder’s trigger system to alert you of the need to urinate. The result is a net loss of fluids from drinking caffeinated beverages. For regularly brewed coffee, in order to derive the two cups of water in the two cups of coffee you are drinking, you’ll need to drink an extra cup of coffee to offset the diuretic effect of the caffeine! It’s simpler to stick to plain water.

One note, the study that found that caffeine is not a diuretic was funded by the National Coffee Association. Go figure. (Click Here to view that study)

So how does dehydration relate to allergies? A 1995 Danish study confirms the process by which dehydration triggers an increase in histamine production by the body’s endocrine system. Histamine production is a defensive mechanism by the body to preserve the vital water that remains in the body and to prevent further loss.

Not only does the body lose water through urination and perspiration, normal respiration also causes a large volume of water loss through the vapor exhaled during breathing. Histamine is part of the regulatory mechanism that controls bronchial contractions in the lungs. Bronchial constrictions during an asthma attack may be the result of the body’s attempt to minimize water vapor loss.

Although a natural product of the body’s endocrine system, histamine is an irritant to the body which produces the itchy eyes, runny nose and sneezing associated with allergic reaction. In a normally functioning system, a simple invasion by a virus, bacteria or pollen spore triggers histamine production to defend against and expel the invading micro-organism. However, dehydration can put this system out of balance, resulting in elevated levels of histamine circulating through the body. These elevated histamine levels produce symptoms similar to an allergic reaction even when there are no outside triggers creating the response.

If you then take an anti-histamine allergy medication to relieve these symptoms, you are then shutting down your body’s natural ability to produce histamine even when it’s necessary. I suggest that before reaching into the medicine cabinet, reach into the cupboard first and drink about a quart of water (with a pinch of salt), and see if after a few minutes your symptoms are lessened or even eliminated. If not, try again in another 30 minutes. If after these two attempts to rehydrate have no effect on your allergy symptoms, then try the pharmaceutical approach.

I believe you’ll find that water will be your best solution most of the time. Try it. You’ve got nothing to lose.

Additional Resources:

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA57092

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/caffeine_sports.htm

http://nutritioninfo.tripod.com/id19.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histamine

Some recent e-mail and web pages are touting some amazing health benefits of eating, or should I say “using”, bananas. Just do a Google search on a phrase like “banana health benefits” and you’ll come up with a variety of web hits that demonstrate some amazing things - some true and some unproven. This site is an example of what I mean (click here).

So here’s the reality on some of these fantastic claims.

Unsubstantiated Claims:

Bananas reduce depression because of their tryptophan content. The fact is that there isn’t that much tryptophan in a banana. If tryptophan helps with depression, maybe you should eat a turkey.

Bananas mixed with milk and honey can cure a hangover. Yup, along with about a thousand other cures too. The best cure for a hangover - limit alcohol consumption.

If you rub a banana skin on mosquito bites it takes away the sting. I’ve never tried it, but the same web sites also claim that the healing properties of the banana peel will also cure you of warts if you rub it on them. Oh, and after your done with your mosquito bites and warts, rub the banana skin on your shoes then buff them with a soft cloth for an amazing shoe shine! I’m not kidding - these are the claims!

Some of the actual benefits do include:

Cardiovascular improvement from the fiber and potassium contained in bananas.

Stomach ulcer protection and antacid effects from the protease inhibitors found in bananas.

The same stomach protection also seems to help the stomach’s ability to absorb calcium which can help to build bone and stave off osteoporosis.

Bowel movement regularity is improved by the pectin and fiber in bananas.

The antioxidants in bananas have been shown to cut the risk of kidney cancer by about 40%.

Here is a link to more good information about the benefits of bananas (click here).

So, while eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day are vital to maintaining good health, and bananas are a good part of that mix, be sure you are clear on what that banana is actually doing for you - besides of course simply tasting great and bringing a smile to your face.

One of the more hotly debated topics today is whether to buy organic or locally grown products. Well, here’s my 2 cents.

To me, the issue is about whether you really want to know what you’re eating - and whether convenience trumps that awareness. Here’s what I mean. Several years ago when professing to be vegetarian was chic, I would hear people tell me that “yes, I’m a vegetarian - but I do eat chicken.” I was never quite sure which food group the chicken was in, a fruit or a vegetable. Their reasoning was that being vegetarian when eating out was so inconvenient because at that time there were so few vegetarian choices on menus.

So, for the first part. Do you really want to know what you’re eating? Well if it’s packaged, start by reading the ingredients. In the U.S., food manufacturers are required to list ingredients in the order of greatest to lowest weight. So that first ingredient makes up most of the weight of the product.

If it’s not packaged like produce or bulk foods, do you really want to know where it was grown and under what conditions? Many people understand the inconsistencies of regulations related to the growing and handling of produce in countries outside the U.S. But there are fruits and vegetables grown here that contain high levels of pesticides (click here for a list) and meat products that contain high levels of hormones and anti-biotics. With these products, organic can be an important choice to minimize your exposure.

Aside from that, do you know the conditions in which your food was handled? Remember the spinach scare last year? The contaminant in that situation was e-coli bacteria. Buying organic spinach may not have made a difference, since manure (an organic fertilizer) can also carry e-coli bacteria. How about the cleanliness of the hands of the workers that picked, boxed and unpacked your fruits and vegetables. That isn’t affected by buying organic either.

If you really want to know what you’re eating, the best way to ensure quality is to grow it or raise it yourself. The next best way is to know the person who is growing it or raising it for you. This isn’t as difficult as you might think. Growing a vegetable and herb garden around your home during the summer months is a simple and fun thing to do. You might also consider a community garden in your neighborhood and share the expense, labor and produce with others. To obtain the items that you can’t grow for yourself, check out the many community farmer’s markets that spring up during the spring and summer months. There you can actually talk to the farmer or rancher and get to know them, maybe even arrange a visit to their farm or ranch.

After that, read the labels for the list of ingredients and the country of origin. I am amazed each time I walk through the produce section of the grocery store and see so many fruits and vegetables available that are “out of season” for our region. With the proliferation of cheap energy and global economies, shipping is no longer a factor. So many people today don’t even recognize that there are growing seasons for fruits and vegetables (check here for the growing seasons of many fruits and veggies). If it’s winter and your about to buy some summer season produce like peaches, you know they were grown half way around the world where it’s still summer.

If you doubt this, consider the proliferation of sushi (raw fish) restaurants in land locked places like Arizona! Serving raw fish requires that it’s fresh - and you can be certain that the fish wasn’t caught locally.

So, starting with my first choice: grow it yourself. Then, buy it from someone who did grow it themselves close to where you live. After that, consider organic especially for the “hot listed” products. And finally, read the list of ingredients and buy products that have fewer ingredients with names of things that you know and can pronounce.

Now, after all of that, what choice will you make when your in a hurry and short on money? How big of a part does the convenience and the cost of what you’re about to buy factor into the mix? In my thinking, that’s the real issue.