Healthy Eating

Before I disclose the secret ingredient, let me reveal it is not love, sociability or friendship. At least not exclusively – despite that these cherished values may encourage us to reach-out to others in the first place. Such prizes of humanity are indeed the more fulfilling results of a congenial dinner as compared to any winning kudos for pulling off a fancy gastronomic shin-dig…

Do you love cooking? Or, are you a non-foodie in a food centric world? Yes? Then, like me, you would avoid the Annual Food Festival in Ubud. But, this year, it caught me unaware.

Out for a walk, I found myself in a snarl of pedestrian traffic. I had little choice but to join the crowd. I was Alice tumbling down a rabbit hole headfirst into foodie wonderland. Read More

Finally, the FDA is catching up with reality. By mid-2018, all packaged foods will be required to contain the updated nutrition facts labels. Read More

I like salty foods. I realize that this is not considered an especially smart thing to admit to these days. Nevertheless it’s true. I like salt. Sweets are good too, but, it wouldn’t be devastating for me to cut back drastically. Well… maybe not “drastically,” since I already try to avoid too much sugar. But, when it comes to salt, like many people, I need to work on my restraint. Read More

By the time we reach our 60s, most women tend to fall into two camps when it comes to their health. One group acts as if “the damage has been done” and refuses to make significant lifestyle changes like working out or eating healthy organic food. Other women “refuse to sink” and spend a great deal of time and energy getting their bodies and minds in the best possible shape. Read More

Until a few weeks ago, I never understood the appeal of cooking. When I was younger, I had a fear of the kitchen. Having lost my mom at a young age, I didn’t feel that I had the skills to produce my own culinary masterpieces. Read More

When I was a young woman, I could eat an entire pizza and never gain an ounce. Now that I am in my 60s, it feels like I could gain 10 pounds just from saying “pizza” out loud. On second thoughts, hopefully writing it down in this article won’t have the same effect! Read More

When I lived in Seattle, the home of Starbucks, I used to reach for a cup of strong coffee before my feet even touched the ground. Moving seemed impossible without a single tall skinny latte. Later, when I moved to Europe, I started my love affair with tea. I even made a thermos of green tea every night so that I didn’t have to get out of bed without it. Tea was the first thing that touched my lips every day. It became a ritual… then a form or meditation… then a way of life. Read More

Local health food stores have always been magical places for me. This may seem funny, because when I discovered them almost 40 years ago, they were often in dingy basements, staffed by earnest macro-biotic types, and stocked with unappealing tofu, brown rice and medicinal herbs. Read More

Recently, we’ve seen a number of claims on popular websites that “happy foods,” such as chocolate and coffee, can improve your mood. On the surface, these claims seem to good to be true. After all, who wouldn’t like to believe that having a Kit Kat with your morning coffee is the path to positivity and happiness? So, we decided to see what science has to say on this subject. Read More