This is the third in my little series on easily doable ideas for making lifetime changes. Easy changes in eating habits that lead to greater health pay back a lot for just a little.  The three are: (1. An Apple a Day – the big payoff for adding fruits and vegetables; 2. A Nutty Little […]

After writing last week’s Apple a Day (keeps the statins away) article, I found a nice piece that may help convince you that making small changes instead of the all-encompassing ‘I’m going to become healthier’ type of change. It’s an LA Time article by Mary MacVean called; With New Year’s resolutions, it’s best to think […]

On November 13, 2013, Ben Hirschler for Reuters in London reported that the battle with diabetes and its disabling, life-threatening complications is being lost. This article notes that the number of people affected has “soared to a new record” this year, the majority of cases being type 2 diabetes – “the kind linked to obesity […]

This particular evening is symbolic for many of the opportunity to make positive changes in lifestyle habits for a healthier new year. It helps many to draw a line in the sand; the demarcation between the past and a new start. Two articles that may be of benefit for new beginnings thinking are: New Directions […]

Whether you celebrate Christmas, as I do, another holiday, or your tradition is to ignore the entire season – extra eating often enters our lives during this time of the year. Celebrating holidays and events is not just American – it’s part of human culture. We can look back into scriptures and know that long […]

According to a Wells Fargo analysis published in October 2013, sales of regular sugar-sweetened soda dropped another 1.7% during the month of September. It seems that sluggish sales of sweetened soda have been reported quarter after quarter for Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper for quite a few years now. I’m trying to be compassionate for […]

Polyphenols are chemically active compounds that are involved in a huge number of roles in the body, including regulating genes, inflammatory and enzyme activity, cell to cell signaling and receptor sensitivity. You don’t really need to know much about the over 4,000 polyphenols; but scientists study them because they seem to be very involved in […]

On Thursday, November 7, 2013, the FDA finally got around to saying that trans fats aren’t safe in foods. Ya think? The FDA gave notice that trans fats will be removed from the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) list. It will be the second item to be removed from the list since the list was […]

When plums are dried, they have the deep crevasses that often grace the faces of the elderly. In a society that idolizes youth, something that is wrinkled as …… well, a prune, doesn’t have much of a chance for popularity. Years ago the California Dried Plum Board changed the name of prunes to dried plums; […]

A small bit of information in this week’s food technology news caught my attention. Two reasons why this one stood out from the background of so much food engineering is first that there have already been short-term failures in creating new fat-like molecules in the lab (Olestra); and second, that following the creation of the […]