Let me ‘cut to the chase.’ The British Medical Journal published a study on January 22, 2015 presenting an argument that statins save fewer lives than simple lifestyle changes like exercising and eating sensibly. Yes, I know that many people don’t want to be bothered by changing their eating, smoking or exercising habits. It’s no […]

There is neither a single food nor single group of foods that can be consumed that offer optimal health. Balance and variety are an important aspect of diet. If we want not only to be healthy, but also to enjoy our meals, then we should remember balance and variety. We should be very mindful of […]

Do you sometimes wonder if we Americans need some sort of food villain?  Dietary fat…. remember anything with fat was bad (1990’s)?  Then carbs, that never was a very clear message – no differentiation between simple carbs and complex carbs, but the message was that protein is the miracle food and fat is a wonderful […]

I’ve heard it said that Chocolate Season begins with Halloween and ends with New Year’s resolutions. I’m certain that’s just a joke, because as anyone who fills Easter Eggs knows – most of the children enjoy chocolate candy in their eggs and Easter never falls between Halloween and the first of January. It seems to […]

I’m attributing my pumpkin enthusiasm to this cool autumn day and the color splashed in every direction that I gaze. Somehow bright orange pumpkins got inseparably united in my brain with the glory of autumn. Since I moved to the mountain west from my native southern California, autumn has become a big deal. I’ve only […]

Don’t you just love it when all it takes is one easy step, one easy change and you’ve solved a problem?  I do.  I know with many public health problems, that’s exactly how they seemed to be solved. I realize that finding out about just adding a vitamin, mineral or developing a vaccine or medication […]

I love surprises; no on second thought I only love pleasant surprises. Having said that, I must share a recent very pleasant one. I’d have to say it was almost a pleasant shock. I received my master’s degree in public health in 1985; so it’s been almost 30 years of the joys (and sorrows) of […]

A new wave of my personal research all started when I attended an online seminar called Pesticides and Food; Eating Safely and Sustainable, presented by The Forum at Harvard School of Public Health. I learned some interesting new facts during the hour presentation; among them were: GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) exposure is sub lethal to […]

It seems pretty clear that eating more fruit and vegetables is a very important part of keeping humans healthy. It’s not a colossal shocker when we read headlines notifying us that eating seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day will reduce our risk of death by 42 percent. The latest headlines based […]

Today I’m celebrating differences. I must admit that there have been times that I wished that some of my friends loved science and math as much as I do. I wished that I could share with them the beauty that I see in both science and math. But today I’ve reminded myself that the reason […]