7th Gen Blog

The sun sticks around a whole lot longer, and our local farmers market opened this weekend. So despite a sudden dip into the 30s last night, it's safe to say that spring is in full swing in my northern neck of the woods.

In the United States, as well as globally, women hold great power by virtue of their spending habits. It is a fact that the majority of consumer products are bought by women - including cars and electronics. At every point in the purchase decision, women make choices that can lead to a company's success or to a company's scramble to see why their products are still sitting on the shelves.

You're stuck in traffic on an ugly Monday and the phone won't quit and the texts won't stop and dinner's pizza has gone cold and the radio is squawk, squawk, squawk, 'til you lose your patience. Where the heck is a tree when you need it? Wait… What? A tree? You bet. That's all science says we really need.

It's called brain fatigue, the mental Rubicon we cross when life's barrage of noise, haste, and demands overloads our cranial circuits and reduces us to overly forgetful short-attention-span shadows of our former selves.

Blueberries are a sweet summertime treat that are also a helpful weight-loss aid. The juicy morsels are full of fiber, which helps you feel satisfied after eating, and which can help flush out your system so you don't get bloated. They also contain phytochemical C3G, which research suggest may help increase fat metabolism and stir up production of leptin, which decreases appetite.

Other benefits of blueberries are the vitamin C and antioxidants present, both of which help fight off cell-damaging free radicals, thereby helping to prevent illnesses such as cancer and diabetes.