Author Archives: Dr. Sukol

Gratitude 12/25/2022

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Today, friends around the world are gathering to celebrate, and I am thinking about gratitude. It’s a good time to look around and take stock.  

I was born an optimist. I always see the glass half-full. I always turn lemons into lemonade  — what else would you do with them? While it is true that I have, unsurprisingly, had my share of bad days, with a few very bad days thrown in for good measure, I will be the first to tell you that they have made me a better person, and a better doctor as well. Once, when a friend sent me a “positivity challenge,” I smiled to myself because, as far as I’m concerned, it’s never been positivity that was the challenge!  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Cauliflower Latkes

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At our house, the ingredients for potato latkes have been collected on the kitchen counter, and our guests will begin to arrive around 4:30. It’s hard to imagine getting tired of potato latkes, but here’s a recipe for something a little different that you may be excited to try later this week if and when you’re ready for a change. Continue reading →

A Monthly Column

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A few months ago I was approached with a lovely proposal.

Would I like to author a new monthly column on health and wellness for the Cleveland Jewish News? You bet I would! I am thrilled to be able to share these with you today.

I’ve included links to the first two columns below, and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them! They are not meant to take the place of YHIOYP. I’ll keep writing this blog just as I always have.

The first column is entitled Real Food Nourishes; Manufactured Calories Entertain.

The second is Developing [a] Firm Foundation: Three Pillars of Wellness.

The next one will be out the second week of January! Til next time, stay well!

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Citrus Edamame Salad

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You are in for a treat this week, but not that kind of treat. This salad is fantastic on its own, in a scooped out tomato, alongside a slice of butternut squash, or on a bed of greens or grains (quinoa, whole wheat pasta, or brown rice, for example). You can spoon some into the bottom of a Ball jar to start building a to-go lunch for work or school, and it makes a wonderfully colorful addition to a large festive serving platter covered in fruit slices, dips, pickled veggies, crackers, chunks of cheese, smoked fish, and the like. And did I mention how great the leftovers taste? It’s packed with flavor, protein, phytonutrients, nourishing fats, and fiber: in other words, it’s the whole package. Enjoy! Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Weekend After Thanksgiving Soup

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This recipe is perfect for getting back on track after Thanksgiving. It will take most of the day to cook, but just 10 minutes to throw together. Some years we actually start it while we’re cleaning up, and leave it to cook slowly all night long. Except for the scallions and ginger, there’s a good chance you already have all the other ingredients. The only labor-intensive part of this recipe is the time spent looking through the bones for bits of meat. But don’t feel the need to go looking for every last piece. Whatever you have will be enough. If you don’t see much turkey on the carcass, that’s fine too. Since most of the flavor comes from the bones themselves, the broth will be delicious whether or not the bones are stripped clean. Continue reading →

Real Food for Real People

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In discussing the nutritional value of the things we eat, I often talk about real food, by which I mean food that has not been ultraprocessed, refined, stripped, polished, fortified, degerminated, enriched, or otherwise modified. Real food means fruits, vegetables, legumes (beans and lentils), nuts, seeds, whole grains, fish, eggs, dairy products, and meats, like poultry, beef, or game. And that’s about it. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Luscious Lentil Salad To Go

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Here’s a wonderful recipe for you to try! Especially after weekends of the kinds of food extravaganzas that the coming weeks are sure to bring, this salad will be a great choice for helping your digestive system to get back on track. Lentils are a very special food. Not only are they a fantastic source of protein, but they are also rich in fiber. There are only a few categories of foods that can make that claim. Not just that, but they are delicious, especially as prepared in this recipe. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: October Soup

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I was looking back through old posts, and discovered this one from 2011, eleven years and almost 1000 posts ago. Though I do not remember who gave me this recipe, I do know that it came from someone I was working with at the time.*

I arrived home from work one particular evening to find my daughter frying onions, and I asked her what’s for dinner. “I don’t know,” she said, “this is as far as I’ve gotten.” Her amusing reply put me in mind of a guy named Jeff whom I had met many years prior. He became famous in our family, and remains there to this day, because of something he used to say: “First I fry the onions and garlic, and then I decide what to make for dinner.” And that is what my daughter was doing. Continue reading →

Real Breakfasts for All You Champions

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Last week I wrote about the sorry story of how boxed cereals came to predominate morning choices for breakfast; this week I’m sharing some of my own breakfast choices. The first thing I am going to point out is that my breakfasts do not differ significantly from other meals I eat through the day. That is to say, I don’t keep a separate list of breakfast options from lunch and dinner options. While I would say that I probably eat less spicy stuff at breakfast time, it’s more of a suggestion than a hard-and-fast rule, as you will see.

A major category of breakfasts in my house is the leftovers I find in the refrigerator, with or without a little extra something. So it could be that I heat up a bowl of leftover stir-fried vegetables, and that might be enough by itself, but I might also add some leftover rice if there is any. Or maybe I will fry an egg and slide it on top, or melt a slice of cheese (vegan for me) on top.  Continue reading →

Not a Breakfast for Champions

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Breakfast cereals, generally speaking, are not particularly nourishing, although they do have a praiseworthy origin. They were invented near the turn of the 20th century by health spa owners offering an alternative to the eggs, coffee, and beef, bacon or sausage that constituted the usual breakfast of the time.

Not coincidentally, the invention of breakfast cereal also provided an economical use for the crumbs that fell to the bottom of the bread ovens at the health spas. The word “cereal” itself is a synonym for “grain,” and it is derived from Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture. We have strayed a long way from that origin. Continue reading →