Picnics seem like a celebration of summer, a season with a little more freedom; freedom to roam onto the back deck, backyard, the local park, along a highway, and beyond. It’s exciting for the children to break with their everyday schedules. Picnics offer an inexpensive way to bring a little interest and variety to a […]

Summer officially begins in nine days; in North America some traditions are saved for the summer – gathering in the yard for a barbecue is one of them and another is drinking soda pop. I do realize that soda has now thoroughly permeated the entire year for many people, but it is still drunk more […]

You’ve probably figured out, if you’ve been coming here for a long time, that I’m always happy to read about new research that supports healthy life-style habits. Today I’m writing about two studies that both found evidence that what we eat is related to keeping our brainpower revved up. I’m sure that I’m not the […]

Mary Ireland discusses the new research on the difficulty of controlling type 2 diabetes in children and teens, identifying resources that can help with lifestyle changes that may be beneficial in reducing the chances of being diabetic.

Mary Ireland discusses a new “nutritional” product for children.

A rose by any other name is good and beautiful – Let a thousand of them bloom! There are diets and eating plans of all stripes. Some are fad diets designed to get quick results and make money off your anguish.  You soon yo-yo back up in weight as your body rebounds from feeling starved […]

Mary Ireland discusses some of the complications associated with diabetes and high blood sugar levels.

Diabetes and the diabetes epidemic have been in the news a lot lately. It can be difficult to understand the mechanisms that cause diabetes. I thought I would discuss one, very important aspect of diabetes — blood sugar levels. Your blood sugar level is the amount of sugar, in the form of glucose, present in […]

Doesn’t the word snack just sound small – a little larger than having a bite or nibble, but not a meal and certainly not a feast? I mean, just a little snack – right? Years ago, Sophia (Estelle Getty), one of The Golden Girls said, “A few more snacks like that and the only thing […]

Mary Ireland discusses the side effects of statins and how eating whole grains have been shown to reduce total serum and LDL cholesterol.