On many occasions, patients have asked me whether it’s okay to eat fruit. They’re worried about whether they should eat a food that they know is rich in sugar. Let’s think about this for a minute. Does anyone really believe that fruit is what’s causing the epidemics of diabetes and obesity? You can rest assured that the obesity and diabetes epidemics are not being caused by fruit. I think of fruit as “nature’s candy” and while it’s true that some fruits contain a lot of sugar, it is always accompanied by a large amount of fiber. Continue reading
Author Archives: Dr. Sukol
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is my own personal word-of-the-decade. Mindfulness is the polar opposite of multitasking, which is not at all what it sounds like. Despite popular opinion, multitasking does not enable you to get a whole bunch of different things done all at once. When you multitask, what you are actually doing is switching your attention incessantly from one focus to another, and giving none your full consideration. To multitask is to invest heavily in attention-switching at the expense of learning. A waste of your precious energy, multitasking frazzles your nerves and impairs your ability to focus.
The antidote to multitasking is mindfulness. Continue reading
Eating Well and Being Kind to Yourself (with recipe)
I come from a family of knitters. Our family lore includes a story about my mother and maternal grandmother knitting at the movies, with my 10-year-old mom doing the “easy” parts, and passing it to her mother for the sleeves and shaping. And the fact that my grandmother volunteered to knit the less popular dark blue sweaters for the Navy instead of khaki sweaters for the Army. It didn’t matter to her because she could knit in the dark.
So when I finally decided that it was time for me to learn to knit, it was a little overwhelming. I took some books out of the library, one of which said to make your projects with the best yarn you can afford because the results will be better, and you’ll be more pleased with the finished product. That resonated with me, because it’s exactly what I say about food. Continue reading
Self-Care Resolutions
Late last year I had an interview with a major news network on the topic of New Years’ Resolutions. I decided not to talk about the popular though self-defeating goals that are nearly impossible to sustain and end up making people feel badly about themselves and their efforts. I didn’t discuss limiting calories, denying yourself things that bring you joy, joining a gym, or signing up for a yoga class. Instead I decided to talk about being kind to yourself. Continue reading
My Dad and His Ketchup
My dad used to bemoan the fact that most national brands of ketchup, barbecue sauce, and similar ultraprocessed items listed high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as either the first or second ingredient. He knew that high-fructose corn syrup was associated with the explosive epidemics of obesity and diabetes, and he hated the idea that so many people were unaware that they were putting themselves at risk. He was on a never-ending personal mission to improve the quality of the food that he fed his family. He spent a lifetime encouraging family, friends, and casual acquaintances (otherwise known as his pre-friends) to eat less HFCS. And, although he was not usually the kind of person to ask for even small favors, he once asked if I would post an entry on the subject. I was happy to say yes.
Continue reading
A Corn Continuum: From Real Food to Manufactured Calories
Today I am talking about the difference between real food and manufactured calories.
When you make a choice about what to eat, the question is this: Is this real food that nourishes, or is it manufactured calories, an invention of the 20th century? Some things in life are black and white, like a coin toss at the start of a football game. But it’s not always so simple. Between black and white may be found a spectrum of grays. That’s what I want to talk about today. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Carrot-Mint Salad
I ate my first carrot-mint salad many years ago at the table of a Moroccan-Israeli neighbor who brought her culinary heritage with her when she came to Cleveland. She taught me that there is something unbelievable about the mix of sweet carrots and mint. Sometimes the simplest combinations create the most remarkable tastes. Here is a carrot salad from Claudia Roden’s Book of Jewish Food. It is such a delicious recipe that I once watched a table full of people make a bowlful disappear in hardly any time at all. It’s a great recipe for every day, but it’s also wonderful for special celebrations. Continue reading
Three Pillars of Wellness
I’ve been writing a monthly column for the Cleveland Jewish News since last year, and today I’d like to share one of the posts I wrote early on.
Wellness is like a pyramid with three pillars: eating patterns, activity patterns, and rest & relaxation patterns.
There’s tremendous synergy among these three pillars. You go for a great walk; you sleep better that night. You get a lousy night’s sleep; you circle the vending machines (or the fridge) all day. You eat too much; you don’t feel like moving. Everything is connected, so we can make small changes feel like a million bucks.
You don’t need to train for the Olympics. You just need to move. How much? A little bit more than before. If that means a 5-minute walk after breakfast instead of hanging out on the couch, then 5 minutes it is. If it means adding 10 minutes of stretching before your daily 2-mile run, then give it a try. Small changes, beginning wherever you are today. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Two Israeli Fennel Salads
By the time you read this I’ll be in Israel visiting my son and daughter-in-law, and celebrating the first birthday of my beautiful grandson. The next few weeks will be inspired by the delicious meals and celebrations for which Israelis are famous! First up are a couple of salads using the vegetable fennel.
Fennel is a very special bulb of a vegetable, with the faintest sweet taste of…what?…licorice(!)…but very faint, so don’t be put off. To me it tastes more like the bergamot that gives Earl Grey tea its characteristic flavor and aroma. If you’ve never eaten fennel before, these recipes are a perfect introduction. Continue reading
Four Old Friends Share a Treat
Last weekend I met up with three friends in Philadelphia to enjoy a very long weekend together. Growing up together in the neighborhoods of Levittown, New York, we have been friends since fourth grade. Except for the pandemic, we get together once a year or more from the four different states in which we have made our adult lives. This time we picked a very old house near Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Built in the 1850s, the house’s kitchen was located underground (first floor), with four more floors above it. The entry and dining room were on the second floor (ground level), with a sitting room on the 5th floor, and bedrooms on floors 3 and 4. We quickly became nimble at navigating the extremely steep, winding staircase.
We cooked a lot of our own meals in the updated kitchen and spent at least as much time hanging out as walking through Center City, goggling at the displays in the Reading Terminal Market, admiring the public art — especially near the Art Museum and along the Ben Franklin Parkway, visiting the Liberty Bell, and seeing a play at Walnut Street Theatre, not to mention enjoying the excitement of the local win that sent the Eagles to the Super Bowl.
I don’t have to tell you that the meals we prepared were nourishing and healthy, with loads of fresh fruit and vegetables, beans, whole grains, nourishing fats, and high-quality protein. Of course they were. And a few days into our visit, one of our happy crew happened to remark that the reduction in the amount of sugar she was eating appeared to have reduced some of the GI symptoms she’s had since forever. I don’t really know if she meant for me to hear, but I did. And I was absolutely not surprised. What passes for food in this country continues to stun me. Continue reading