If you, or your kids are texting wizards, you’ll know that “K” is messaging shorthand for “OK.”

And that kind of fits here too, because if you get your daily K, it will help your body be A-OK!

I’m talking about something called the “forgotten vitamin.” Maybe that’s because it comes in after A, B, C, D and E, and after that middle alphabet territory that doesn’t seem to stand for any nutrients.

Sure, D is something we all need more of (see Dr. Daria’s series on this amazing vitamin). And the magic here is that K can actually help D do its job – and vice versa.

But K really is the forgotten vitamin. If you know of it at all, that’s probably about how it helps with blood clotting. But K is good for a lot more.

It can help keep your bones strong, protect your heart, is beneficial for your brain and also helps regulate blood-sugar levels.

Perhaps one of the biggest “gifts” K can give us is in the bone department. Research from Japan is showing that vitamin K can both reverse bone loss and increase bone density.

So now you’re probably ready to Google “foods with vitamin K,” but not so fast.

Because unless you’re a fan of fermented foods like natto (a traditional Japanese dish made from fermented soy), it’s not easy to get the right kind of K, or enough of it.

There are three kinds — a synthetic version called K3 (that many experts say can be toxic), K1, the kind you can get from eating lots of green leafy vegetables, and K2, the blockbuster those researchers in Japan looked at.

Our bodies can convert K1 – from the green veggies – into K2, and that’s great, but it’s not an optimal process.

To get the real benefits of K2, your best bets are fermented foods, such as the natto I mentioned. If you’re taking a K2 supplement (which should be one made from natto or nattokinase), be sure to take it with a food high in fat, so your body can utilize it as K is a fat-soluble vitamin.

And then you’ll be ready to text the message: GMKTD! Translation: “got my K today!”

Note: If you’re taking a blood thinner or have blood clotting problems, you should talk with your doctor about eating foods high in vitamin K or before you start on a supplement.

Happy Mission Monday! Between kids, school, work, practice, etc…where does the day go? No matter how full your schedule gets, how much (or how little) time you have, or your cooking experience; everyone has one or two quick and easy meals they can fall back on when life gets crazy. Tell us your go to meal ideas that help you beat the dinnertime crunch! We hope you take a moment to play along on Twitter or Facebook.

Today’s challenge: Time is crunched more than ever these days. Share your best 30-min or less meal idea for a chance to our products!

If you’re playing along on Facebook, simply comment on our Mission Monday post before 11:59 p.m. ET tonight to be entered to win!

If you’d like to play along on Twitter, simply tweet us your answer with #wildoatsmission #sweeps by 11:59 p.m. ET today to be entered to win!

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

Walking the trade floor at Expo East in Baltimore, MD, I’ve seen a number of familiar brands, faces, and products; I’ve also observed the following trends:

Gluten-Free: The range of offerings in the gluten-free category are expanding rapidly, pushing the boundaries of baked goods as once we knew them. This is good news for sufferers of celiac disease, those with gluten-sensitivities, and  perhaps even cookie-lovers in general. Of the many products I tasted, quite a number were tempting treats regardless of their special attributes.

Ancient Grains: While Quinoa has become somewhat common-place after a few years of meteoric rise, this year highlights new preparations and seasoned single packs to maximize the well-loved complete protein. Expo East brought out some of its lesser-known cousins: Amaranth, Kamut, Flax Seeds and Hemp among them. Oats were well represented as well, appearing in new configurations alongside these newer-to-market ancients. Breakfast lovers, rejoice- a whole new world of options is on the horizon.

Organic on the Rise: Organic continues to expand across all categories, as it attempts to satisfy growing consumer demand. At each meeting, it became apparent that all involved are aware of the need to solve for the inevitable gap between supply and demand, looking for sustainable solutions to keep organic ingredients apace.

Hormone and antibiotic free meats, Non-GMO Verified, Chia seeds and a continuing multitude of on-the-go options were also highly visible this year; I look forward to seeing (and sampling) the next crop of products to hit the shelves!

Jerusalem artichokes are a great source of Prebiotics….  Prebiotics, not Probiotcs!  Surely you’ve heard about probiotics, the “friendly” group of bacteria that must live in our GI tract for our health and survival.   Read my fellow Oatie Linda’s blog about Probiotics  for a great overview.  The value of a healthy balanced population of friendly bacteria is dramatic.

In my medical practice, some of our testing looks at the amount and type of friendly bacteria that is actually present inside a particular patient.  These bacteria do many good things, including the creation of the fuel sources needed by the cells that line our intestinal tract.  Here’s how it works (in simple terms):

• Prebiotics are certain types of fiber (from our diet or as a supplement) that are digested by friendly bacteria (probiotics).  The digested components are not taken into our bloodstream, so the digestion that occurs here is for GI health directly.
• The digestion of prebiotics by probiotics leads to the creation of different SCFA (small-chain fatty acids) that are used as the major fuel source for the cells that line our GI tract.  The health of those cells is directly tied to having enough probiotics to make SCFAs and enough prebiotics for your probiotics to digest.

Again, back in my practice, I can check for the types and amounts of probiotics present and also the types and amounts of SCFAs present.  So, when a patient has low probiotics, and/or low levels of SCFAs, the addition of prebiotcs is always recommended.   And, this is not just for GI health!  The health of the GI tract is directly tied to your overall health.

So, how can you make sure your diet contains prebiotcs?  It is actually a bit of a challenge.  Here’s where the jerusalem artichoke comes in!  All prebiotics are fiber but not all fibers are prebiotics.  Eating high fiber foods in general is a good start.  Of the foods considered high in prebiotics,  one of the best sources is jerusalem artichoke, also known as sunchoke.  There is no relationship between jerusalem artichokes and regular artichokes …. so don’t head out to the store to buy artichokes thinking you’ll get prebiotics!  Jerusalem artichoke is from the root of the plant, just like potatoes, yams and carrots.  You’ll find them at the grocery store and they look a lot like ginger.  They can be eaten raw (sliced thinly) or cooked.  Cooking does not destroy the prebiotic effect.  It is actually fun to figure out ways to add a small amount of jerusalem artichoke to your meals. They are great added raw to a salad.  They are great added to a potato au gratin dish (3 parts potato to 1 part jerusalem artichoke).  One of my favorites is roasted with cauliflower and brussels sprouts!!

So, if you haven’t discovered jerusalem artichokes before, now is a good time.  Other high fiber foods have some prebiotics, so all high fiber foods are good for you.  You don’t need to go overboard.  Jerusalem artichoke, or sunchoke, is a great source of prebiotics, and a fun addition to your healthy meals!

Additional Resources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23609775

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23498848

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23303175

Feeling a little blue or need a creative lift? Try taking in the Fall colors, or stroll through your favorite museum. It’s no surprise that beauty has a positive effect on us, but can it really make you happy? The answer is yes. But don’t take my word for it. Consider for a moment the dollars that pass through Sotheby’s or what one is willing to pay for any aesthetically pleasing item, and you will begin to realize that what we are trying to do quite literally, is buy happiness. We value beautiful things precisely for their ability to make us feel good. This is true in architecture and housing as well as art and nature. We recognize a thing of beauty because of the way it makes us feel.

Research has shown that looking at art causes the pleasure and reward centers of the brain to be activated. The more an individual likes the art they are viewing the greater the response. I have no external research to confirm this, but my own experience tells me that it is the same whether you are gazing out at rolling hues of green hills in the East, or the shifting shades of blue between sky, mountains, and islands that we see here in the Northwest. It’s also why we pay our athletes and actors so well. They bring us the beauty in both form and movement that we long for.

Ironically in spite of the fact that we love to purchase beautiful things and are willing to pay for them, it is not the buying or even owning that makes us happy. If it were, the average Nigerian who makes 300.00 a year would be miserable. In fact The Nigerians are reportedly the happiest people on earth. So what’s the point? Well just this. According to the Goldberg study, what makes people happiest, is living in, or being surrounded by, beauty.

As a measure, Androids funded research further discloses that:

Well-designed objects that are both beautiful and functional trigger positive emotions like calmness and contentment, reducing negative feelings like anger and annoyance by almost a third (29%)

Purely functional objects that are not beautiful increased negative emotions like gloominess and depression by 23%

Poor functionality hinders creativity, making it 45% more difficult to be creative

So,  if you ever needed a reason to indulge in your favorite sights, or purchase that “Oh so beautiful” – and functional item, here it is.

Moose Peterson The Psychology of Color

Color sensation and perception

Dallas News- Why we need beauty in our lives

5 things you think will make you happy but wont

The Pioneers – Why Does Beauty Make Us Happy?

Beautiful things make people happier

The Atlantic – The beauty- happiness connection

Psychology Today – The Elements of Beauty