“More Matters;” “Fill Half Your Plate;” “Go for Color.”

Phrases like these, developed and disseminated by public health advocates, have become the rhetoric in nutritional guidance surrounding the consumption of fruits and vegetables—and for good reason!

I just returned from Stockholm after attending the 2014 EAT Food Forum.  The main objective of the Forum is to generate new, integrated knowledge and insights and to spur innovation along the value chain towards healthier and more sustainable food and production practices. 

Participants from all over the world joined in the discussion, including video addresses from Prince Charles of United Kingdom and Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization.

There are very few activities during our daily lives that keep us totally connected to the present moment without constant practice. Eating can be interrupted by a ringing phone or text, and working can be interrupted by a barrage of pressing emails. However when we engage in exercise and movement, we are automatically bound to that activity, in the flow of every step, jump, stroke, sprint—every moment.

It’s well known that happiness and other emotions can affect others through face-to-face interaction, but what happens when the conversation takes place through text on a screen, and our mood is instead represented by :) or :( ?

A recent study shows that moods can, in fact, spread virally through social media.

Take a moment to check-in and see how you are feeling after this past work week. Do you feel you have achieved what you intended as you look at the check marks on your to-do list? Did you feel anxious, exhausted, or stressed-out in the process, skipping lunch breaks or staying late?

Are you snacking on the run, cramming lunch down during a ten-minute break or mindlessly munching in front of a screen? If so, you’re not alone. Speed eating is all too common in our society. But this habit has many unhealthy side affects: poor digestion, weight gain, discomfort after meals, fatigue.  If practiced over time, speed eating may lead to obesity and a severe disconnection with our food, which affects not only our physical but also our mental and emotion health.

Five reasons to slow down:

With the food-filled holidays well behind us, the arrival of March—National Nutrition Month—is a great reminder to pledge ourselves to eating more mindfully. This month, let’s concentrate on cultivating and fostering our mindful eating habits, with the goal to continue the practice throughout the year—no matter the month or the season.

Let’s…

Take a moment to think about how often you jump to conclusions—at work, at home, with family and friends, or even amongst random people you encounter in daily life. In many cases, the sensitivities and opinions that we have accumulated over the years frequently cause our minds to leap to a conjecture that is just plain wrong. For example:

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word “antibiotic”?

For many, a visit to the doctor’s office comes to mind where our physician prescribes a treatment and sends us off to the pharmacy. After that it would seem that all we need to do is take the proper dosage to eradicate the bacteria—right? Unfortunately it’s not that simple, and closer look into antibiotics and their use will bring you shocking and disturbing facts that are not so obvious.