Category Archives: general well-being

August 19, 2012 · 1:13 pm

What are Canary Melons?

I got turned on to this wonderful melon some years ago when they were offering free slices in a supermarket. The melon was so delicious that I went immediately to the produce department and bought one.

The Canary melon is a Casaba type variety also known as the Juan Canary and Spanish melon. It is called a winter melon because it matures in late summer. The name comes from the fact that it has a bright yellow skin the same color as a canary. Canary melon season is late summer into early September, Specialty Produce said.

Although it is said to taste like a good cantaloupe, in my experience, I have never tasted a Canary melon that was not more delicious than the best cantaloupe I ever ate.
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Why Should I Be Happy?

Regular readers know that I have taken a Positive Psychology course recently offered by Northwestern Memorial Hospital. I wanted to share some of the final class with you.

The following is excerpted from an abstract (say that five times fast) from a research report published in Psychological Science on how positive emotions trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being. The authors are Barbara L. Frederickson and Thomas Joiner.

It feels good to be happy. But is that the only reason we should try to be happy? The authors say that besides the immediate experience of happiness, positive emotions raise the likelihood that one will feel good in the future. That positive emotions trigger upward spirals of enhanced emotional well-being.

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What is Clean Eating?

Have you heard the term Clean Eating? If not, expect to in the coming months and years. Already, USA Today, which writes about the broad middle of American culture, has recognized the clean eating movement in a recent article.

Clean Eating “refers to the eating of food as close to its natural state and point of origin as possible, and the movement is a reaction against the health problems caused by our growing fast food-oriented diet,” USA Today reports.

Is this clean food?

“It’s also a rebellion against some of Big Agriculture’s controversial practices regarding beef, poultry and genetically modified crops. While eating fresh is preferred, canning and home-preserving are generally welcomed, too,” the paper continues.

People simply don’t trust processed food like they once did. They also don’t trust much restaurant food. And so they’re flocking to farmers’ markets, natural food stores like Whole Foods, and food co-ops, neighborhood ethnic groceries and farm-to-home delivery services, all in attempts to cut out the middle men who they think are destroying anything good in the foods they eat. Continue reading →