Low Thyroid The thyroid gland, one of the most unremarkable features of our anatomy, not even large enough usually to make a bulge at the front of the neck where it resides, is actually quite important to good health and well-being. People with severe hypothyroidism, the clinical term for low thyroid function, have rather obvious […]
Sports Nutrition Basics This is the first in a series of articles on nutrition for special needs. The following is from a talk I recently gave at Whole Foods in Tempe Arizona to runners getting ready for a marathon. I reprint it here, because the principles below apply equally to all sports participants, even if […]
Herb Of The Month: Tea Tree (Melaleuca Alternifolia) Tea tree oil is a very popular product in health food stores, very handy for its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial effect, while being safe for topical use. Sometimes athlete’s foot and toenail fungus will respond better to repeated applications of tea tree oil than with any other application. […]
Herb Of The Month: Wood Betony Wood betony Wood betony or Stachys betonica was so highly prized in Europe that an Old Italian proverb advised: “Sell your coat and buy betony.” The Medicina Britannica of the 17th century primarily extols its virtues with regard to headache, claiming that “I have known the most obstinate […]
By Jo Robinson The latest fiasco in the U.S. livestock industry is that thousands of hogs and chickens have been raised on feed contaminated with melamine, the same chemical that has sickened thousands of cats and dogs. According to the U.S.D.A., some meat from those hogs and chickens has already entered our food supply. How […]
Herb Of The Month: Coleus Forskohlii Coleus forskohlii is a useful herb for a number of applications. It may be most useful in that it increases intracellular amounts of cyclic AMP. This is a naturally occurring compound in the body that allows for a lot of different cellular functions. One of the functions it seems […]
The Pharmaceuticals In Drinking Water An Associated Press investigation this March found a vast array of miscellaneous pharmaceuticals in the drinking water that supplies the households of at least 41 million Americans. These include antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones from oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy. These last drugs have previously been shown […]
Herb of the Month: Wild Marjoram (Origanum vulgare) Wild Marjoram (Origanum vulgare) has been used since ancient times as a remedy for poisonings with narcotics. One of the features of this plant that enables such a detoxification is that it is a “diaphoretic” which means that it will cause sweating. It is also a carminative, […]
Ideas to Improve Your Health The following is a talk I gave recently at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona. I was signing the book that I recently co-authored, 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health The title of this book is 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health, which has 101 chapters each written […]
Bread is a vehicle. In a sandwich, it drives other food neatly and with little spillage into a bag or wrapper, into a lunchbox and then to the mouth. Popular at drive-ins, the sandwich can be sort of neatly eaten with one hand while the other hand sort of competently manages the steering wheel. Bread […]