Across America, food "scraps" are often trimmings, skins and seeds tossed in the garbage. But as I started investigating these "waste products," I quickly found many of these actually serve as edible food parts with robust nutrition. In fact, many ancient cultures, including Chinese medicine and Native American remedies, tapped the healthy compounds in some of…
After being demonized for much of the 90s, dietary fats have made a strong comeback over the past two decades. Most people now realize that including healthy fats in their diet is important for many essential functions, but still, this doesn't mean that they are necessarily eating enough of it — especially in proportion to…
Your skin is a very complex organ and its appearance has the power to express a lot about your overall health. In fact, your skin is the biggest and heaviest organ of your entire body. It provides protection and structure for your veins, tissue, other organs and bones. It’s not only those of us who…
Esophagitis is inflammation of the esophagus (the muscular tube connecting your mouth to your stomach). It causes pain or difficulty swallowing food and pills, and can make eating very uncomfortable. When it goes untreated, esophagitis can lead to changes in the esophagus that can make it hard to swallow food without choking. (1) There are…
What is a fennel bulb? For starters, fennel is technically an aromatic herb, but it's bulb-like stem (aka fennel bulb) is commonly used as a vegetable. Thanks to its similar texture, celery is sometimes seen as a fennel bulb substitute, but fennel has a unique flavor all its own. Unlike celery or any other vegetable, fennel…
Have you ever heard of lactation cookies? Maybe you've seen them for sale in the baby food aisle and were curious about how a cookie can possibly improve your milk production. It turns out, many women turn to foods and herbs to help increase their milk supply. Fenugreek and blessed thistle are two of the…
I had been a professional food writer — as in, it was literally my job to eat my way around the world, reporting on the most delicious foods for magazines — for half a decade, and a bona fide food lover for 25 years before my “iron stomach” began to fail me. It started with…
For many of my patients, menopause spells absolute misery. Hot flashes cut into their sleep and create heart palpitations; they frequently feel irritated or “off;” and they often sacrifice their sex life during the transition. Hormonal imbalances like estrogen, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which decline around middle age, contribute to these and other issues. (1)…
