Sometimes I ask Vic what he wants for breakfast; and he comes back with “mush.” It is without doubt not a term that entices my appetite. It’s probably one of those terms that are tied to his childhood. But since it’s not tied to my childhood, it sounds, well ….. mushy. A month or so […]

I was just sharing the recognition of the approaching return of oatmeal season with my husband, Vic, this morning at breakfast. We generally only eat two different cereals; shredded wheat mostly while the weather is warm and old-fashioned oats when it’s cooler. If you’ve been reading this blog for many years, you know that Vic […]

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 […]

Are you trying to get into an early morning breakfast routine? One easy way is to throw a box or two of cold cereal and a jug of milk on the table. My guess is that is exactly what goes on in many homes – no real research, just a stroll down the cereal isle. […]

Eating a plant-based diet, not only protects your waistline, but it also guards your purse. It’s interesting that so many people erroneously espouse the idea that eating fruits and vegetables is terribly expensive. I’m fortunate in that I’ve shopped and cooked for many decades and in my experience, fresh fruit and vegetables do not have […]

Some years ago, I enjoyed a conversation with a school food service director from the city in which my family and I lived. I’ve never forgotten her explanation of the challenges she faced in taking advantage of using the whole foods available from the USDA surplus school nutrition commodity program. She explained that when she […]

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 […]

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

Mary Ireland discusses findings from the “Breast Cancer and the Environment: A Life Course Approach” study released last week and gives dietary suggestions for reducing cancer risk.

Did you know that there are still lots of unanswered questions regarding the benefits of fiber in the diet as related to colorectal cancer? It’s certainly an issue worth understanding; as colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer – accounting for about 9.7% of all cases of cancer – about 1.2 million […]