The holidays are a particularly meaningful time to think about the most valuable gifts that we receive. I’m talking about the words of wisdom that are passed along from one generation to the next. Around the holidays, a few years ago, a few of my friends from work got talking about our grandmothers’ old-fashioned expressions, beliefs, and bits of sage advice. You may think these expressions are quaint and old-fashioned, but they are really much more. These sayings are the collective wisdom of our ancestors, the survivors. Here are a few of the ones for which I am most grateful. Continue reading
Category Archives: Strategies
Winner by a Mile
Last year, an article entitled “Can We Say What Diet is Best for Health?” was published in the scientific literature, and James Hamblin wrote a story about it for the Atlantic. He called it “Science Compared Every Diet, and the Winner is Real Food.” You know, I would have edited out the word “Real” and then called it, simply, “Food.” The original article was written by David Katz and Stephanie Meller, of Yale School of Public Health. Continue reading
Get Ready for my TEDx Talk!
I’m thrilled to announce that I will be giving a TEDx talk at the end of this coming week!! I have been invited to speak this coming Friday on the subject of Real Food vs. Manufactured Calories, otherwise known as Your Health is on Your Plate! Yes, it’s really happening!
As if this weren’t exciting enough, in addition I had the opportunity to hear a few of the talks this past week at a rehearsal, and I must tell you that I was completely blown away by them! Not exaggerating. I cannot wait to hear the rest!!
If you would like to learn more, click here. Click here to find out about tickets. Continue reading
Plant-Based Eating and the Esselstyns
I had the pleasure last week of hearing Dr. Caldwell and Anne Esselstyn speak on plant-based eating. Their strategy, which works beautifully for them, is to include among their food options only those items that belong to the macronutrient category I term “intact carbohydrates,” i.e., carbs with an intact fiber matrix. This is in contrast to “stripped carbs,” which have had their fiber matrix removed. Their diet is very similar to the vegan diet, with one major exception as enumerated below.
Intact carbs are rich in fiber, and consist of these four food categories: vegetables, beans, fruits and [whole] grains. In addition to fiber, a second major benefit of intact carbs is their color. No other food group contains fiber, and no other food group has such a tremendous variety of colors. Each color represents a different phytonutrient, so the more colorful your food, the more antioxidant power your diet will provide. All good. Continue reading
Take Back Your Sugar Bowl
Did you know that most sodas are sweetened with a teaspoon of sugar per ounce? That means the average 12-oz. can of soda (pop) contains the equivalent of 12 teaspoons of sugar. Excessive, to say the least.
Would you ever consider adding 12 teaspoons of sugar to your glass of iced tea? It seems absurd when asked this way, but people do it all the time when they choose a can of soda. So what’s the issue? We’re talking here about the crazy amounts of hidden sugar in processed items.
To me, it’s not necessarily the amount of sugar that people add themselves to the foods they eat, but rather the amount of sugar consumed inadvertently when eating something prepared by someone else, in this case something else, that something being the soft drink arm of the beverage industry. It appears that your sugar bowl has gotten into somebody else’s hands. Continue reading
It’s Basic, but not Simple
I was having a conversation with my friend Howard the other day. He’s a doc, too, and we enjoy talking together about practicing medicine, taking care of patients, what it’s like, what we learn from it, and how we can do better. I am very grateful for Howard, and for the fact that we have been having this conversation for almost 25 years. Continue reading
A Novel Approach to Epic-Sized Portions
Most of us keep a budget of some kind; limits keep us on track. It may be tight and to the penny, or it may be simply a rough idea of what’s available. Whether you are used to flying commercial or private, eating off paper plates or porcelain, keeping your accounts flush and staying within a budget helps to avert disaster and to achieve long-term goals for yourself and your family. Continue reading
A Good Week Gets Better With Intention
It has been a busy week! I was interviewed for a piece in U.S. News & World Report about my favorite topic: real food! Continue reading
Be Kind to Yourself
It just came to me that I spend my days teaching people how to be kinder to themselves, and that this kindness is designed to manifest itself in three major spheres: 1) eating patterns, 2) activity patterns, and 3) rest & relaxation patterns. It’s all about being kind to yourself, about nourishing your heart and soul with better food, more movement, and quality rest. It will be so good for you. Continue reading
United We Continue to Stand
When I cared for adults in an internal medicine practice in suburban Cleveland, I frequently observed a wonderful phenomenon. It was not at all unusual for patients to bring along their children and grandchildren, fresh from a prior appointment across the hall with their pediatrician. Beautiful, bright-faced, fresh-scrubbed, engaging, chubby, usually well-behaved, American children. The pediatricians’ well-intended recommendations on reducing the rate of weight gain continued to be unsuccessful, and my patients’ faces told me that the ongoing exhortations had become tiresome. If they knew how to fix this problem, they told me, they already would have. Continue reading