Infographic: When to Purchase Fruits, Vegetables & Herbs

June 27, 2012 4:53:52 PM

Kitchen 101: Fruits, Vegetables & Herbs | Chasing Delicious

chasingdelicious.com

The Produce posters are now available for purchase in 8×10 and 11×17 prints at the Chasing Delicious Store . 
I'd be remiss if I simply focused on imparting technical knowledge in these Kitchen 101 posts without talking about ingredients, particularly the biggest misconception about produce today: it is naturally available year-round. Though you may be able to find just about every type of fruit, vegetable or herb everyday of the year in the grocery store, a majority of those items are not in season. If you are buying a strawberry in december, you are likely purchasing a fruit that was picked six months ago and stored in a climate controlled facility. Or you are buying a berry that has spent the last few weeks in a shipping container as it trekked halfway across the globe from somewhere in the southern hemisphere. This extra time between picking and eating means loss of nutrients, flavor and more.
Time spent in transit is not the only over-inflated aspect of buying produce out of season. Massive refrigerated storage facilities and cross-globe journeys are expensive. There's a reason that summertime $1 pint of strawberries  is magically $8 six months later. And then there is the environment. The carbon footprint associated with out of season produce can be astronomical.
The biggest problem with buying out of season produce though is the lack of freshness and sacrifice in flavor and nutrients. There are far too many, far too boring reasons to elaborate on this point but I will say there is a reason many high end restaurants and millions of foodies around the world only buy produce when it is in season.  You save money, contribute a smaller carbon foot print, are getting a better product that typically tastes much better and you know  it hasn't been sitting for half a year somewhere.

My favorite part about abiding by an ingredient's natural availability is what I like to call the Thanksgiving-effect.  Most of us only eat those famous turkey-day dishes on thanksgiving because the meal, and each particular dish, is more special that way. Approaching fruits and vegetables with the same zealous attention to seasonal availability makes that tiny dewberry window in May all the more special.
That being said, there are many factors that effects a particular ingredients season. The strawberry season down here in Texas is much different than it is up north. Location is not the only variable that plays a part. Seasons can change from year to year as weather, pests, bumper crops, soil conditions, etc can all play their part as well. Certain vegetables and fruits have so many varieties or such a long season that they can be considered to be in season year-round as well.
Click through to bookmark, print or purchase three posters on the seasonal availability of fruits, vegetables and herbs (for those of us living in the northern hemisphere).

Tips for sourcing in season produce

 While these charts will provide you with a general understanding of what is in season when, there are three additional steps you can take to ensure you are eating in season produce.
First, I suggest taking the time to befriend the produce manager at your local market or store. They will likely work directly with distributors (and if you have a good market/store then they will work directly with farmers) so they will be able to know the quirks of that year's season. If you are unsure, just call them up and ask if the produce they're receiving is farm-fresh from your hemisphere or if it has been in storage. It wouldn't hurt to know your store/market's operations or general manager either.
Second,  become good friends with some local farmers too. It is almost impossible to grow decent produce out of season and most local farmers won't have the resources to store produce for long periods of time; the produce you see at their stand was likely picked just a few days ago. Approach the farm with due diligence as well;  visit the farm and be nosey about how they manage their operations.
Third, – and this is your best bet – grow your own produce. You will quickly learn, especially if you live somewhere with weather extremes (like Texas or Canada with their hot and cold weather extremes respectively), that it is almost impossible to grow good, tasteful produce out of season. This first hand experience and understanding will give you pause when you go into the store to buy tomatoes in January.

Buy a print: 8×10  | 11×17

Fruits

While fruit from a botanical sense can mean a very different thing from fruit from a culinary standpoint, both are incredibly vast categories. In the kitchen, if it's sweet and grows on a plant then we call it fruit. Because of this there is no unified fruits season, or characteristics for fruits as a whole that will help you identify good, in season fruit.
When looking at fruits, look at color, size, shape and try to spot any noticeable blemishes. Most fruits are typically very bold and vibrant when ripe so dull-colored fruit can be a sign of an unripe or undeveloped fruit. You've spent your life around produce so any fruit that looks abnormally small or large is probably a sign that it may not be in the best condition. And anything with a blemish, bruise, hole or other out-of-the-ordinary mark should be avoided.

Tips for picking fruits: Don't squeeze the damn thing. Not only will this tell you little to nothing about the quality of the fruit but all it does is damage it or you or the next person who comes along and picks it up. Instead pick it up and feel the weight. Most fruits, especially oranges and apples, should feel heavy for their size; this is typically an indication of a dense, juicy fruit.

Take the time to read the sticker on the fruit. Where is it coming from? Whether or not you care about the carbon footprint associated with a particular fruit, its origin will tell you a great deal about how long it has been since it was picked and even if it is in season or not.

Citrus: Most citrus will not ripen off the tree so what you buy is what you will end up with. With limes and lemons, the darker the color the sweeter it will be and the lighter the color, the more tart it will be.

One of the reasons some fruits have such a large growing season is because of the number of cultivars developed. Some fruits though have a naturally long growing seasons and others which typically have short seasons have been successfully grown in areas where the growing season is extended.

Cultivars: Take the time to research different cultivars. While some new inventions are truly delicious, many have been created to support long growing seasons and not always for delicious flavor and top-notch quality.

Buy a print: 8×10  | 11×17

Vegetables

Vegetable is another term that encompasses a very wide range of items in the kitchen. Because of this there is no unified vegetable season, or characteristics for vegetables as a whole that will help you identify good, in season vegetables.
While color, size, shape and noticeable blemishes can help you identify good vegetables, many vegetables are naturally void of color, come from the ground so they are covered in dirt, or are irregular in shape. Vegetables that are colorful are typically very bold and vibrant when ripe so dull-colored vegetables can be a sign of an unripe or undeveloped vegetable. Again, you've spent your life around produce so trust your intuition. And as always anything with a blemish, bruise, hole or other out-of-the-ordinary mark should be avoided.

Tips for picking vegetables:  Smell can be a very good sense to pay attention to when buy produce, especially for many vegetables. Most will have a delightfully pungent smell – obviously specific to the type of vegetable – so those with no smell might not be fresh or were picked too soon.

Again, read the label on the vegetable. Where it comes from is a big indicator of freshness and whether it is in season in your area or not.

Buy a print: 8×10  | 11×17

Herbs

While herbs tend to reflect a more specified type of comestible, they are still varied and cover numerous genus of plants and therefore cannot be classified all together. While in cooking herbs typically refer to leafy greens or flowers and spices to the rest of the plant, in botany and here I use herb to refer to the plant as a whole including all of it's parts.
Most herbs are green (as most herbs are some form of leaf) so you should always be on the lookout for a vibrant green. A lighter green, yellow or brown leaf could all indicate a poor quality herb.

Tips for picking herbs: With herbs, you can trust both sight and smell. Most herbs are a vibrant color at their healthiest and most herbs will also carry a very strong smell.  The best indicator for fresh herbs is taste. Don't be afraid to clip off a leaf and take a taste. I not only do this in the market, but I will do it when I'm at a nursery trying to pick a particular variety of herb to purchase.

Herbs are also some of the easiest edible plants to grow. In fact, many of us probably have some sort of herb growing in our garden already, whether we know it or not. While each plant will require it's own growing conditions most require lots of sun, a warm growing season, well drained and nutrient rich soil and occasional trimming. You should never let an herb grow flowers (unless of course the flowers are the portion you use) as an herb left to flower will have bitter leaves.

Growing herbs to make spices:  Not only can you grow herbs for their leafy greens but you can grow them to harvest spices as well (using the seeds, pods, fruits, stems, etc from the plant). While this take more work and a bit more attention to harvest times the results are well worth the extra work.

I hope this little look into fruits, vegetables and herbs is helpful. Whether you are a strict seasonal-only shopper or not, knowing what produce is in season when can be very advantageous. Not only will you notice fresher taste and stronger flavors but you will see a marked increase in savings, and a heightened sense of anticipation and appreciation for each season.

Note about this post:  The post is meant to be used as a reference and has been researched and collected from numerous sources including but not limited to: Karen Page and Andrew Dorenburg of "The Flavor Bible", Glenn Rinsky and Laura Halpin Rinksy of "The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional" and from Bi Friberg of "The Professional Pastry Chef, Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry" Fourth Edition. 
Check out the other Kitchen 101  posts or view the Produce Calendars page.
Don't forget to check out the Chasing Delicious Store  where you can buy all three posters or the fruits , herbs and vegetables posters separately.  Ten percent of all poster sale profits will go towards supporting  education in the culinary arts.  

To Top

Infographic: When to Buy Produce

Easy Ways to Add Nutritional Value to Any Meal

March 3, 2012 9:39:28 PM

Easy Ways to Give Any Meal a Powerful Nutritional Boost

lifehacker.com

You don't need a bunch of pills and supplements to make sure you get your daily dose of vitamins and minerals. There are plenty of easy ways to add a big nutritional boost to your dishes and make an already healthy meal even better for your mind and your body. We asked a nutritionist to give us some pointers on simple ways to get a big improvement in our diet, and here's what he suggested.

Improve Your Meal by Sprinkling On Some Delicious Nutritional All-Stars

We sat down with Andy Bellatti , a Seattle-based registered dietitian and nutritionist who's helped us before with our first food myths post and its myth-smashing sequel . We asked him how you can boost the nutritional content of your meals. It turns out there are some nutritional all-stars that make for great additions to soups, stews, yogurt, pilafs, salads, and more. Here are a few:

•  Chia Seeds . More commonly known as the seed that makes the infamous chia pet fluffy and green, chia seeds are also a remarkable source of fiber (4 grams per serving), magnesium ("a mineral most Americans don't get enough of," says Andy), and well over a day's worth of heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids. Plus, Andy notes that serving of chia seeds will add about 60 calories to your salad, stew, or oatmeal—a tiny caloric boost when compared to the nutritional gains you get. Photo by José Maria Silveira Neto .
• Nutritional Yeast . Nutritional yeast is actually a favorite of mine, and Andy loves it too. I stumbled onto it when entertaining a vegan friend, who suggested I sprinkle some on popcorn. Sure enough, nutritional yeast has a very cheesy, Parmesan-like flavor that's good on vegetables, in dips, and anywhere you want a cheesy, umami flavor boost. "A 2 tablespoon serving," Andy notes, "provides 4 g of fiber, 8 g of protein, loads of B vitamins, and as much potassium as a small banana. Some brands are especially fortified with vitamin B12." You can't go wrong here, especially if you love savory foods.
• Nori (Seaweed). If you haven't tried adding nori strips or snacks to your diet, you're missing out on another delicious savory boost with big nutritional bonuses. Most people know nori from their sushi rolls, but it can also be ripped and flaked over soups, salads, and even laid over noodles. Nori is also rich in vitamins A and C, and EPA (a type of omega-3 that's normally found in fish…because they eat sea vegetables.)
• Wheat Germ . Wheat germ is another staple in my kitchen, and adds a crunchy, nutty, and mildly sweet flavor that's specifically good as a lightly crunchy topper for yogurt, cereal, or oatmeal, and is also a great additive to mix in if you're making your own cereal or granola or even whipping up a batch of energy bars . "A 50 calorie, 2 tablespoon serving," says Andy, "delivers 2.5 grams of fiber and is an excellent source of manganese, zinc, iron, and thiamin."
• Cocoa Powder and Cacao Nibs . Two different products born from the same plant, cocoa powder can add fiber, potassium, and magnesium when sprinkled into a smoothie or mixed into a drink. Be sure to get unsweetened, non-alkalized cocoa ('non-alkalized' means its other healthful compounds aren't processed away.) Cacao nibs on the other hand are 100% cocoa, and include the fatty acids available in the pure product. They're sharp, bitter, and crunchy, offering a kind of coffee-like flavor that's great in granola, oatmeal, cereal, and more. Andy points out that they're also great sources of fiber, magnesium, and zinc.

• Hemp Seeds . Ah, hemp. It's good fortons of things, but on your food they add a serious nutritional punch to your salads, stews, cereals, granolas, oatmeal, and just about anything else you can add it to. For all of its nutty flavor, Andy reminds us that you also get 6.5 grams of protein (as much as one egg) per 2 tablespoon serving, along with 2 grams of fiber and a good bit of your recommended daily allowance of zinc, iron, magnesium, manganese, and yes, omega 3 fatty acids. Title image remixed from jurgajurga(Shutterstock).
• Oat Bran . Everyone's had an oat bran muffin, and even if you didn't care for it, oat bran itself has great heart benefits, incredible amounts of fiber (2.5 grams per 2 tablespoon, 30 calorie serving) and sizable dozes of phosphorus, selenium, and manganese. Andy suggests adding them to smoothies if you don't want it in baked goods, and we suggest mixing some in with your granola, hot cereals, or on top of yogurt or cottage cheese.
• These are just a few great boosts you can add to just about any type of meal, specifically breakfasts, cereals, salads, soups and stews, a steaming pot of lentils, or even dairy. It's just the tip of the iceberg however, and you can also add a nutritional punch with some more common seeds and superfoods, like ground flax, pomegranate seeds , and sunflower seeds . All of these are great sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber that can be added to soups, salads, and stews, or stand on their own as a healthy mid-day snack. Plus, everything listed here should be available in your local grocery store or health food store. They may not all be cheap, but your health is worth it.
  

   

  Note: These Are Healthy Additions to a Healthy Diet

  These nutritional boosts are designed to make a healthy diet even healthier. None of them are a magic bullet that make sure you get your recommended dietary allowance of necessary vitamins and minerals—there is no such single fix. Andy notes that the idea here is to add these boosts to healthful, whole meals. You're not going to sprinkle some ground flax onto a pizza and somehow make that pizza good for you. Adding some chia seeds to a bowl of oatmeal, or some hemp seeds to whole grain pancake batter, will boost flavor and texture as well as nutritional content. When you're taking these tips to heart and introducing them to your diet, make sure you're also making the dietary changes necessary to maximize their impact. Photo by Rachel Hathaway .
  Do you have any favorite healthy additions to your meals that add protein or vitamins to your favorite meals? Share your meal boosting tips in the comments below.
  Andy Bellatti, MS, RD is a Seattle-based Nutritionist and the author of the nutrition blogSmall Bites . You can follow him on Twitter at @andybellatti . He offered his expertise for this story, and we thank him.

Food Tip: Wash Berries in H2O w a touch of Vinegar

March 3, 2012 9:20:16 PM

Rinse Berries in a Vinegar Solution to Keep Them Fresh Longer and Mold-Free

lifehacker.com

It's pretty disappointing to come home with fresh, scrumptious berries only to find them rotting and covered in mold just a few days later. Cook's Illustrated says a little vinegar solution can keep that fuzzy mold off your delicate berries and extend their life.
The vinegar and water solution destroys bacteria and mold spores, helping the berries last longer. Here are the instructions for the best way to wash, dry, and store berries:

1. Wash berries in bowl with 3 cups water mixed with 1 cup white vinegar. Drain in colander and rinse under running water.

2. Place berries in salad spinner lined with 3 layers of paper towels. Spin for 15 seconds or until berries are completely dry.

3. Store berries in paper towel-lined sealable container, keeping lid slightly open to allow excess moisture to escape.

Alternately, you could just dunk berries in hot water to give them a few extra days of mold-free life, but the vinegar rinse might be more effective. Reddit user am4zonreports that using a vinegar rinse helps raspberries last a week or more and strawberries almost two weeks.

How To: Frozen Oatmeal at Home

March 3, 2012 9:07:28 PM

Recipe: How to make frozen oatmeal at home for .12 cents a serving.

cathiefilian.blogspot.com

DIY Frozen Oatmeal * .12 cents a serving!

Our mornings have been pretty rushed lately….so in an effort to make our mornings go a little smoother and our bellies happy with good food - I decided to make our own version of frozen oatmeal.

We have tried various brands of frozen oatmeal and they are pretty good, quick to make and pretty pricy.  I figured I would give a DIY version a whack and see how it tasted…..WOW - it is good and so inexpensive to make.  I figure 12 quick breakfasts cost us $1.50.  That is about .12 cents a serving.  Eddie loves them and it is just enough food to get him going.  We have been considering 1 frozen disk a serving - of course you could use two disks for a bigger bowl.
 We used Old Fashion Rolled Oats from Fresh and Easy .  Next time I am going to make steel cut oatmeal.  We cooked as per the package instructions.

To make 12 small servings:

3 cups dried Rolled Oats

5.5 Cups of Water

1 Teaspoon of Salt

Cook via Package Instructions for the brand you choose.

Place silicone muffin cups on a cookie sheet or cutting board.  Fill the cups 1/2 way full with cooked oatmeal.

 You can add some mix-in prior to freezing.

Mix-ins For Freezing:

Brown Sugar

Rasins

Nuts

Dried Fruits

Mini Chocolate Chips

Honey

Agave

 We added a spoonful of brown sugar.

  Top off the cups, cover with cling wrap and place in freezer until the cups are frozen solid. Pop the frozen oatmeal from the cups and place in a zip-top baggie for storage. 

Place a frozen oatmeal disk in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 2 minutes.  Remove and stir.  Microwave for an additional 30 seconds.  Top with milk, fruit, etc. and ENJOY!

To Top

Sex Ed Curriculum for Conservatives

March 4, 2012 4:53:36 PM

A Sex Ed 101 Curriculum for Conservatives | Common Dreams

www.commondreams.org

Recent national kerfuffles over abortion and contraception access bring up many important questions: Should employers retain control over your wages and benefits after they sign them over to you? Is contraception, a service used by 99 percent of American women, really so controversial? How much state regulation should there be over women's most private decisions? But amidst all those questions is one overarching one: Do conservatives need a crash course in sex ed?

Radio show host Rush Limbaugh speaks at a forum hosted by the Heritage Foundation on the similarities between the war on terrorism and the television show 24, in Washington, June 23, 2006. (REUTERS/Micah Walter)

Usually, when we think of the sex education debate, we think of junior high and high school kids putting condoms on bananas. But recent events indicate that this country needs remedial sex education for adults, specifically social conservatives who wish to hold forth on reproductive rights without seeming to know the basics regarding who has sex and how it works in 2012. With that in mind, I designed a quick curriculum for these surprisingly necessary courses.
Intercourse 101: It Takes Two to Tango. After voting for a mandatory ultrasound bill that serves no other purpose than to shame abortion patients for their sexuality, Virginia delegate David Albo complained in the legislature that he's not getting the sex he feels entitled to from his wife. CNSNews columnist Craig Bannistershamed women on the pill for being "sex-crazed co-eds" who exhibit too much "sexual zeal" — before ending his piece by wistfully wishing he could have sex with all the sexually active women he just insulted. Rush Limbaugh, who is on his fourth marriage and is an admitted Viagra user , called Sandra Fluke , a Georgetown University law student who testified before Congress about her use of contraception, a "slut" and a "prostitute."
In this first section of the remedial sex education course, we will discuss this sexual double standard: When having sex, men are behaving well and women behaving badly. The midterm will be an essay on the following prompt: "If women are supposed to say no to sex, whom do you propose straight men sleep with?"
Contraception 101: History as Prologue. Many conservatives appear to believe that prior to the Obama administration requiring employers to fully cover contraceptive care as part of their health plans, contraception wasn't considered a medical service, but something more like a party item you pick up with your beer and cigarettes. Tina Korbe of Hot Air argued that supporters of the new regulation "labor under the illusion that contraception is a medical necessity." Limbaugh argued that health insurance covering contraception means women are "paid to have sex." The reaction on the right suggests that this is the first time in history someone has suggested that contraception care be included in general health benefits.
During this portion of the class, we will look at the history of medicalized birth control. Students will learn (in conjunction with another mandatory class, The Pill 101) that the birth control pill has always been controlled by doctors and pharmacies, and that insurance companies treat it as medical care by offering the drug with a co-pay. Special attention will be paid to the 28 states that already require contraception coverage, the existing Medicaid coverage of contraception, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decision that found that contraception coverage is a normal part of women's healthcare that should be covered by healthcare plans.
Premarital Sex 101: A Quantitative Look. Underlying many of the arguments over women's reproductive healthcare is a widespread fear of women using these rights to have sex outside of marriage. During the Arizona Republican primary debate, Rick Santorum blamed contraception for the problem of teen pregnancy, presuming that teenagers in a contraception-free world would instead abstain. Utah Republicanstate representative Bill Wright defended a bill banning discussion of contraception in schools by saying: "Why don't we just be honest with them upfront that sex outside marriage is devastating?"
Contrary to students' expectations, there is no high-level math prerequisite for this course. The statistics involved are relatively straightforward. Students will learn that 95 percent of Americans have premarital sex and have done so for decades without bringing ruin to the nation. In addition, students will read literature showing that the teen pregnancy rate actually declined after the sexual revolution, leaving it at half the rate it was in the 1950s. Students will be asked to research why it is that blue states, where residents are more likely to use contraception and delay marriage, have lower rates of divorce and teen pregnancy .
The Pill 101: A Scientific Look. The ignorance on display on the right regarding the birth control pill, which has been around as a contraceptive for over 50 years, has been astounding. Limbaugh's comment — "she's having so much sex she can't afford her own birth control pills" — indicates that he believes there's a correlation between the number of sexual encounters and the number of pills necessary. Limbaugh also seems to think mothers and women who use birth control are mutually exclusive categories, saying: "How do you become a mom if you're into birth control?" Additionally, with words such as "slut," "prostitute" and "sex-crazed" flying around to describe women on hormonal contraception, it appears many conservatives believe that the drugs exist primarily for use by single women with multiple partners.
Students in our remedial sex ed course will take their time learning about hormonal contraception. They will learn that women on the pill must take one every day for it to work, no matter how much sex they're having. Students will discover that monogamy isn't enough to prevent unintended pregnancy, and thus married and monogamous women use the pill just as single women do. To drive home what not using contraception would mean for women, married and otherwise, students will be asked to watch the TLC show about the Duggar family , with its 19 children, and then offer a five-minute presentation in class.
As evidenced by the ignorant rot tumbling out of various right-wing mouths in response to these controversies, a curriculum of this kind is sorely needed. Perhaps female Democrats in Congress can write a bill funding Sex Education for Grown-Up Pundits and help elevate the conversation with a little basic understanding.

Educate Yourself: Daily Brainwashing Techniques

February 21, 2012 4:47:12 PM

Brainwashing Techniques You Encounter Every Day (and How to Avoid Them)

lifehacker.com

While it's pretty unlikely that you're a target of deliberate brainwashing, it is likely that you're subject to some of the common techniques associated with the less-than-ethical practice. Here are a few common methods you encounter on a regular basis and what you can do to avoid them.
First things first, what is brainwashing exactly? Wikipedia offers a concise definition:

Mind control (also known as brainwashing , coercive persuasion, mind abuse, thought control, or thought reform) refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator(s), often to the detriment of the person being manipulated".

Basically, it's a form of extreme manipulation. We often associate the practice with cults and don't consider its presence in everyday life, yet the techniques used in brainwashing are frequently leveraged by advertisers, news networks, politicians, and others. Alex Long, writing for hacking blog Null Byte, provides an outline of some of the most common brainwashing techniques . Here are the most notable:

• The manipulator offers you a number of choices, but the choices all lead to the same conclusion.
• The same idea or phrase is frequently repeated to make sure it sticks in your brain.
• Intense intelligence-dampening is performed by providing you with constant short snippets of information on various subjects. This trains you to have a short memory, makes the amount of information feel overwhelming, and the answers provided by the manipulator to be highly desired due to how overwhelmed you feel.
• Emotional manipulation is used to put you in a heightened state, as this makes it harder for you to employ logic. Inducing fear and anger are among the most popular manipulated emotions.

When reading this list, you're likely able to think of a few examples of these techniques. News channels and political parties often repeat a consistent message when they want to get their point across. Short snippets of information is also a common tactic on news networks. Advertisers love to offer choices that all lead to their product, and emotional manipulation is common in people you'll encounter as well as in most forms of media—even seemingly (and sometimes actually) harmless mediums like film. These techniques are everywhere. They aren't turning you into a zombie, but they are informing many of your choices. The good news is that you can avoid them if you're proactive.

How to Avoid Brainwashing Techniques

Avoiding brainwashing techniques often involves avoiding the brainwashers themselves, but this is next to impossible. Taking advertising as an example, you can't avoid them all and attempting to do so can be rather expensive if you still want to watch television and movies. Your best bet is to cut out what you can and, when you can't, seek balance. Finding balance is often easiest by simply providing yourself with the information you need. All you need to do is the following:

1. Identify the manipulative message you've received.
2. Find an opposing message, whether it's manipulative or not. Also attempt to find the most neutral and unbiased account of that same message.
3. Compare your different sources and decide how you feel.

Brainwashing, whether mild or extreme, is possible in a large part due to isolation. If you only hear the brainwashed message on a regular basis, and rarely (or never) expose yourself to alternatives, you're going to be far more likely to accept what you hear without thinking. If you want to avoid the brainwashing techniques discussed in this post, your best bet is to surround yourself with a spectrum of information rather than simply settling for the message that makes you feel comfortable. After all, that's often what the message is aiming to do.
For more on manipulation, check out our posts on manipulation in advertising ,emotional manipulation , and planting ideas in someone's mind .