We believe that everyone should have access to affordable, organic food and we’re here to help make that a reality. Today we are kicking off an in-store sampling tour in approximately 1,000 Walmarts across the country to introduce quality organics to as many people as possible—and we want you to join us!

Today’s challenge: Check out when we’ll be in a store near you and give our products a try. Upload a photo from our demos to Twitter, Instagram, or to our Facebook page and include #Hunt4WildOats #Sweeps for a chance to win a prize pack. You’ll also be entered to win a grand prize of Wild Oats product for a year!

We hope you take a moment to play along on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

If you’re playing along on Facebook, simply upload your photo to our page with #hunt4wildoats #sweeps to be entered to win!

If you’d like to play along on Twitter, simply tweet us your photo with #hunt4wildoats #sweeps to be entered to win!

If you’d like to play along on Instagram, simply upload your photo with #hunt4wildoats #sweeps to be entered to win!

Good luck! Full Sweepstakes rules and details can be found here.

If you’re looking for a really scary sci-fi movie to ‘spook up’ your Halloween entertainment, I’d recommend a black-and-white flick from the late 1950s called “Fiend without a Face.”

It’s all about a scientist’s creation of “living thought projections” that become accidentally enhanced by radiation, resulting in invisible monsters that go around eating people’s brains.

While that film may be a bit hard to find these days, the same can’t be said for the invisible brain-eating substance lurking in some Halloween treats, as well as many other snack items – in fact, all kinds of processed food products.

It’s the “flavor enhancer” known as monosodium glutamate, or MSG. (one that’s on the 125 unwanted ingredients, or “No-No’s” in Wild Oats products).

And I’m not making up the part about eating people’s brains.  MSG is what some neuroscientists call an “excitotoxin” – a substance that destroys certain brain cells by literally exciting them to death. And kids, who don’t yet have a fully formed blood-brain barrier, can be especially sensitive to its effects, as well as older folks whose barrier may have been compromised.

But what MSG might do to your brain is only one of the reasons why you want to steer clear of the many foods containing this atrocious additive. Here are some more scary reasons, and why you want to make sure it’s out of your family’s diet.

• MSG can cause some very nasty gastrointestinal problems, including vomiting and other things that will necessitate frequent trips to the bathroom.
• It can result in tightness or pain in the chest, shortness of breath and asthma attacks (if you’re prone to them);
• It can put some people in the ER with things like atrial fibrillation, arrhythmia, palpitations or rapid heartbeat, and fluctuations in blood pressure;
• MSG can bring on all kinds of neurological problems, ranging from migraines and dizziness to panic attacks, disorientation and depression.

With a “rap sheet” of reactions that horrific, you’d think that food manufacturers would be going out of their way to avoid the presence of this insidious ingredient. But it’s a cheap, easy way to make food products seem to have flavor that’s really not there – because of the diabolical way it fools our brains and taste buds.

But you don’t have to be tricked into allowing this frightful fiend into your food. There are plenty of healthy foods, soups, and snacks you can enjoy that won’t spoil your day by putting you into a funk, into a panic or maybe even in the ER.

Or by slowly eating your brain.

The topic today is about preventing obesity-related disorders.  What?!?  Where did that come from?  No, I haven’t forgotten what I was talking about.  The fact is Granny Smith Apples  … more than Red Delicious, Braeburn, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Fugi or Gala Apples … win the “golden apple” award for the potential to help obese individuals become healthier.  All apples are good for you, it’s just that the Granny Smith Apples have that “extra something”!

A recent study from Washington State University found that obese individuals have an imbalance in their friendly bacteria, and that granny smith apples fixed the imbalance so that the friendly bacteria changed back to the mix found in non-obese individuals!  The mix found in non-obese individuals is healthier, especially in the area of decreasing chronic inflammation, a situation that is dangerous for all, and especially for the obese.

I know …  it seems that I am on a roll when it comes to the topic of our friendly bacteria!  The more we understand the importance of our friendly bacteria in overall health, the more we should be motivated to keep it healthy  –  hey, it keeps us healthy so why shouldn’t we return the favor?

We call it friendly bacteria but it so much more than friendly.  In the medical world, it is called our commensal microbiota!  (I know, “friendly” is a lot easier to remember!)  The commensal microbiota is directly responsible for all sorts of health promoting things (including the pharmabiotics they produce).  There are several different strains of friendly bacteria that make up your commensal microbiota.  The total amount of friendly bacteria is most important, followed by the balance of strains that make up the overall commensal microbiota community.

In the research, all seven varieties of apples listed above were tested.  The normally unbalanced commensal bacteria in obese individuals was corrected back to the balanced pattern seen in non-obese individuals by only the Granny Smith Apples.  All the apples contain many healthy components but the Granny Smith get the prize for that special something extra.  My guess is that it contains a unique prebiotic that is used by the friendly bacteria to create a healthier balance.

My take-home message:  A healthy population of friendly bacteria in our GI tract will work wonders for our overall health.  There are lots of things that we can eat to help keep the amount and balance in the “good” range.  It looks like we ought to be adding some granny smith apples to our diet.  You know what they say … An apple a day keeps the doctor away!  Sounds good to me!!

Additional Resources:

Journal Article

Probiotics

Commensal Microbiota

While some West-Coasters may have reason to doubt it (record heat waves being what they are), the season has shifted. Whether you are watching the leaves turn, contemplating the Holiday Season, or preparing to treat the inevitable cold & flu stricken in your household, Fall is officially upon us. With summer and its many delights receding from view, let’s take a moment to look at one of Fall’s seasonal gifts: the lovely leek.

These tall green & white vegetables belong to the allium family, making them relatives of garlic and onions; as you might recall, allium’s come loaded with nutritional benefits as well as flavor, giving you a host of reasons to add them to your recipes. With a milder (and oftentimes sweeter) taste than many of their cousins, even those for whom onions hold no appeal can be won over and reap the rewards.

A few notes on preparation: Clean your leaks thoroughly. Their tightly bound leaves trap dirt and grit, which can be an unpleasant addition to an otherwise lovely meal. The darker green portions of the plant are where the most phytonutrients will be found, so avoid over-trimming the dark green tips. Cooking them within a few days of purchase will guarantee the most bang for your buck, as leeks begin to lose their antioxidant properties after this time. (While their relatives may be hardier, give fresh leeks a try and I think you will see that their delicacy is also delicious, and worth the quick response!)

I enjoy sautéed leeks, poached leeks, grilled leeks, leek soups; on their own, as a side, and even as a cleanse (you may also be familiar with Mireille Guiliano’s Magical Leek Soup recipe from her book French Women Don’t Get Fat). For more recipe options, check out Martha Stewart’s seasonal leek recipe roundup here, or head over to HuffPost Taste’s collection here.  I hope you enjoy experimenting with these and other recipes, and please share- how do you like your leeks?

I struggle with the continual motion of life, that things change every second of every day and somehow all these moments compound into one thing: my current situation. I feel guilty that in the past I didn’t make the time to savor it all, to stop and reflect more often while living abroad and many various places in America.

Maybe I could start now, now that I am living with my eyes wide open because I don’t really have a choice to not pay attention to my surroundings. I moved to New York City a few months ago, and I feel like I arrived yesterday. I don’t know where I am half the time, and more often than not I have no clue why or what I am doing here.

Currently, I am sitting in my room writing and just a few minutes ago I was ironing the laundry I hung to dry in the sun. (When I lived in Italy I learned that not all clothes need to go in the dryer- I realized this because I didn’t have a dryer there!) In this batch of laundry was my grandfather’s Irish linen handkerchief that my aunt gave to me at my cousin’s wedding when I needed to dry my tears of happiness. I dirtied it on my recent move here, with mascara and cover-up, as I blotted away the sweat in my struggle relocating all my belongings to the new place I call home. Now, I have a guilty conscience that I stained something so dear to me that reminds me of my family history. Heirlooms are sacred to me. I couldn’t remove all of the beige and black marks. However, they are now part of the fabric I carry around with me during my every day travels, reminding me that my memories are not perfect, nor are they just the way I always want them to be.

My grandfather who owned the handkerchief, Pop Pop, died when I was one year old. When his life was coming to an end we were admitted to the hospital at the same time- I with a dilapidating disease called Osteomyelitis- a staph infection that eats away bone, and my grandfather was a few floors up suffering from lung cancer. My anxiety-driven but hopeful mother hustled between wards trying to cheer us up, that everything would get better.

Luckily my pediatrician, Dr. DeLorenzo, was able to salvage my tiny ankle and my ability to walk with intense surgery and an extreme course of antibiotics, but unfortunately my grandfather did not survive his struggle and died at a fairly young age, along with all his knowledge as a medical doctor and his love for humanity. I still feel at a loss that he was not a figure in my childhood, nor do I know how he has shaped my mother’s life and in return how he has effected my own personal experiences and family relations.

Now that I live here, with a whole new surrounding and set of friends, I can’t help but think, what if I just stopped here and didn’t move around any more- would I be happier? Would I feel as appreciative of my current situation if New York City was the city I lived in for the rest of my life? I would I stop trying to pause and reflect to appreciate my life like I currently do now that everything is so new and fresh?

But then I ground myself. My life stops spinning. I remember that this is just one moment, one feeling that is creating cloud cover. I smile at all the memories, happy and hurtful, and forgive my shortcomings. Luckily there is tomorrow, to eat and soak it all in and share it with somebody here and in the now.

So, now it is time to move on and keep living without hesitation. Stains and scars are just reminders of minor setbacks and realizations of a life well lived.