Here’s my good-for-you trifecta for romancing that special someone this Valentine's day!

The next time you work up a sweat and grab a glass of water to rehydrate, take a second to say thanks. According to the United Nations, more than 1 billion (yes, billion) people lack safe, clean drinking water, and more than 2 and a half billion don’t have access to adequate sanitation.

But for those of us who have clean water, water can be a wonderful thing. Water, the most vital of vital nutrients, varies in mineral composition from place to place. The Blue Zone scientist Gianni Pes discovered that the water in Nicoya, Costa Rica, is particularly rich in calcium.

Last week, deep in the University of San Jose’s archives, we found a map showing water hardness (calcium and magnesium content) in different regions of Costa Rica. We noticed that here in Nicoya, water is the hardest. To confirm this, we tested the drinking water in 20 different areas throughout Nicoya. The result: The water is off-the-charts hard in this area—at least 500 parts per million!

The World Health Organization has studied so-called “hard” water and found that water with more minerals (hard water) affords its drinkers some health benefits, specifically in terms of their cardiovascular health. While scientists don’t fully understand the reasons populations drinking hard water show lower rates of cardiovascular mortality, it is important to note that calcium and magnesium in water seem to offer added protection for one’s heart.

So be sure to stay hydrated – not everyone has clean water at their fingertips.

This just in! Diet soda makes you, um....fat?

Diet soda has been reported to increase your chances of developing Metabolic Syndrome. This health issue, as defined by The New York Times, is: “the collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels — and elevated blood pressure.”

Metabolic Syndrome, a scary way of saying dangerously overweight? In walks diet soda, a seemingly harmless tool for dieters and people watching their refined sugar consumption, yes? A beverage you would want to drink if you were watching your diet, or trying to lose weight. I used to drink at least a can of diet soda a day.

But now, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota, diet soda consumption increases the likelihood of developing Metabolic Syndrome by 34 percent. (For The New York Times article follow this link: http://www.nytimes.com, and for the American Heart Association Report follow this link: Dietary Intake and the Development of the Metabolic Syndrome. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.)

The study followed subjects who developed Metabolic Syndrome, people who were already prime candidates before the diet soda came on the scene. Meaning, the diet soda did not magically add junk to their trunk, but if you were already heading down that path by consuming a high fat, high calorie diet, the soda upped your odds for developing Metabolic Syndrome by 34 percent. I am talking only drinking one can of soda a day and boom! Thirty-four percent increase.

I’ve been having a stressful week. I am planning my wedding and let’s just say a beer was cracked before noon the other day, and the words “increase our budget,” were uttered. What did I do? I took my own advice and ate some pistachios. Putting my list of Grocery Aisle Super Stress Reducers to the test.

I’ve taken it one step further. For all you friendly folks who can never-seem-to-find-enough-hours-in-the-day here is a great recipe. It’s packed with Stress Reducing Antioxidant Power. For Real. My version is modified from a recipe for:

Mache Salad With Blood Oranges, Pistachios, And Pomegranate, that I found at www.epicurious.com.

It’s Super Tuesday and some of us folks still feel the power of underdog victory. If the Giants can beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl ,who knows what can happen today!

Bring on Super Tuesday! Bring on...the snacks!

I woke up this morning with a very pressing, existential question on my mind. If Mitt Romney were a healthy snack, what would he be? Something with apples, I think. After putting the presidential candidates through my own personal wringer, I’ve narrowed down my selection; Hillary is Chicken Breasts Stuffed With Fontina, Artichokes, And Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Obama is Raspberry Banana Bread and McCain is definitely Peppered Beef Stroganoff.

Could that free spirited Ron Paul be anything but Chicken With Shallots, Prunes, And Armagnac?

I think not.

For all the above recipes visit: www.epicurious.com. They have their own Super Tuesday recipe lowdown, and all the above candidates-as-dishes come from the Web site's featured “Celebrate Super Tuesday” section.

Here is a one I pulled special. Vanilla Bean Apple Crisp, I’ve nick-named it The Mitt. Apple crisp can be a light answer to apple pie. I’ve taken to adding a spoonful of apple crisp to a bowl of vanilla yogurt and sprinkling a tablespoon of granola on top. Served it this way, and you’ve just turned a earthy desert into....believe it or not, a pretty good breakfast or snack. Enjoy! http://www.epicurious.com/recipes.

This weekend I saw a movie called The Savages starring Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as a pair of middle-aged siblings caring for their estranged father when he can’t take care of himself anymore.

In one scene, Linney’s character gives her dad – who suffers from dementia – a few ginkgo biloba vitamins. "Here dad", she says, "these help with memory." It's a desperate eleventh hour quick fix, but it had me wondering: what can we do today to boost our memory for tomorrow?

Evidently a lot! Let’s start in the grocery aisle.

Salmon

Salmon is full of omega-3 fatty acids that support brain cell membranes. Eating foods rich in omega-3’s (fish and flax) is like sending your brain to yoga, it keeps membranes flexible.

Eat your...Chocolate?

Prevention Magazine has a lot to say about the positive affects of dark chocolate and cocoa! For the full article follow this link (http://www.prevention.com).

Here's the crux, according to researchers chocolate can:

Pressed to meet that deadline? Forget your mom’s birthday? Forget your own birthday? Remembered your own birthday? I know the perfect solution: hightail it to the grocery store!

While I won’t recommend frantically eating the first thing in sight to calm wild nerves, I will recommend eating the following three foods when you feel stressed out. Well, me and those nice people at Women’s Health Magazine who have taken the time to detail nine super foods that really fight stress. Read on for three foods to enjoy when you are TSO (Totally Stressed Out).

We now know that binge drinking – in addition to making you talk too much, hit on that hot chick and do your best karaoke rendition of “The Weight” by The Band – also makes you stupid! Like, big picture, long term, later-in-life stupid. Did we really need a scientific explanation to figure that out?

A study reported on by the New York Times right before New Year’s Eve (way to kill the buzz, guys) shows marked cognitive slowness in older mice who binged on alcohol in their early adolescence:

Did you know you’re only as healthy as your last meal? I had no idea. I, like many of you operate like this: I eat healthy, I don’t eat healthy. I don’t drink at every meal, but I go out with friends on Friday and I have a few beers. I eat a high fiber cereal for breakfast, I go out for lunch and enjoy a sandwich and a side of fries. In other words, I believe in dietary relativism, not dietary strictness. Well, those smarties over at Time Magazine are shedding some not so friendly light on my dietary relativism. It turns out, we’re only as healthy as our last meal. Oh, man!

How It works

When you eat a greasy burger on a white bun with cheese, grilled onions and bacon? Your body triggers a “biochemical cascade” causing inflammation of blood vessels and nervous system changes. The flip side is - and this is great - a healthy meal (fruits, veggies, lean meats, fish, whole grains) returns your body to its optimal state.

I recently went organic. It’s a lot like quitting smoking. If you want to eat healthier without breaking the bank, read on for some tried and true tips from a girl who just made the switch.

For me, going organic meant giving up the ease of going grocery shopping down the block and instead driving ten minutes (not a big sacrifice) to the nearest grocery store. More significantly, it meant being one of those people, those uppity, yogafied folk who smell like essential oils, and it meant potentially doubling my grocery bill every month. Yes, I am someone who thought it was stupidly expensive to buy organic food, and more than a little pretentious.

For years I’ve put the cabash on it, passing judgement on those who eat organic insisting I can never afford such a luxurious lifestyle. “I’m no pretentious, tofu loving yuppie! A hex on spelt bread!” Yup.

Well, now I’m one of ‘em. One fast food filled road trip, New Year’s resolution and slowly creeping scale later, and I totally shop at Whole Foods.

But before making the switch, my fiancé and I had a meeting of the minds and put a cap on our spending. Just because we’re eating organic, doesn’t mean we need to double our grocery budget. Here are seven ways you can eat healthy and save some cash: