In this land of plenty, the greater majority of us have access to more calories (energy) than we need. Those extra calories add up to excess stored energy – fat; many are diligently struggling to recover from succumbing to the enticing holiday indiscretions that led to un-needed and unwanted stored energy. In short: ‘Oh my […]

My post last week covered research showing that dieting alters hormones so that after the dieting stops, a person is hungrier and has a slower metabolism than before dieting. The subjects in the research were on an extreme low-calorie diet, which consisted of Optifast shakes and two cups of low-starch vegetables, totaling just 500 to […]

The first time that I read the “Fat Trap,” an article in the New York Times, a picture of two scoops of chocolate ice cream drizzled with caramel appeared to the side on each of the eight pages of the article. It really made me angry. I thought how sad it was that potentially some […]

Mary Ireland gives suggestions for creating a healthier lifestyle in 2012.

There are many not-so great things about getting older. But one thing is really great, the perspective gained from experiences with many holiday meals. Yesterday, was Christmas Day – About as perfect a Christmas Day as could be imagined. Today however, I had a few twinges of remorse – for over-eating. If you’ve spent as […]

Since I wrote Enjoying Chocolate – A Spoonful of Reality about a year a half ago, there have been two new reviews – two meta-analysis studies finding links between cocoa consumption and cholesterol profile improvements.

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.

There no question that starting the day with a good breakfast is important; it’s especially important for children, for their health and for their school performance. Public programs have been designed to provide breakfast for ‘at risk’ children to insure the children start the day with the energy and nutrients to power their thinking for […]

Mary Ireland discusses the importance of mindfully incorporating more exercise into our daily lives.

Every so often an article arrives at a new perspective that has the potential to influence us to reshape our thinking about a subject – maybe even influence our behavior. Today I’ve read and thought about just such an article; titled: Free will and the obesity epidemic, which was published in Public Health Nutrition on […]