Diary of a KAD

Let’s talk about food & avoiding cancer.  Is there a correlation?  Some think so.  For the purposes of this post, let’s assume the two are connected and that making some food and nutrition choices can help to avert the “C” word. Well, we know red wine helps.  That’s been proven, but it doesn’t fit into a macrobiotic diet – one that embraces Asian theories of yin & yang – negative & positive energies at work to balance your body.  It typically consists of a well-balanced diet with high fiber, low fat, lots of vegetables and grains, vegetable protein, and limited meat, with an emphasis on eating seasonal organic food and is said to reduce your chances of getting the big C.  It’s perfect food is brown rice, allegedly balanced 50/50 with yin * yang.  Unfortunately, things like wine and coffee are out (booooo!).  There is no refined sugar in this diet & it seems that flour is a no-no.  Here’s a list of macrobiotic super-...

Most of my readers are super informed, healthy eaters.   But if you ever get stuck in a rut, here are a few easy tricks to get you through the week, no matter how busy your schedule is these days. 1.      Plan your meals – make your grocery list based on meals.   Cook a lot on Sunday night and freeze it.   Make it a priority. 2.      Use a slow cooker – a healthy dinner is made when you get home from work J 3.      Lunch – by far the toughest meal of the day because you’re in an office.   Pack your lunch the night before, like you did when you were a kid going to school.   Make it a priority. 4.      Set realistic goals – don’t task yourself with eating healthy ALL the time.   Settle for 75-80% of the time.   Or give yourself a day each week to eat whatever you want.   Or 3 meals a week, where no rules apply… whatever you can manage.       5. ...

Every year, the research on the health benefits of red wine piles up.   So, here’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while… make the case for drinking red wine (RW). Sleepy baby: New research shows that RW (especially Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti, and Merlot) contains melatonin, which regulates the body clock.   Drinking a glass of RW before bed may help you sleep.   I personally find that 1 melatonin + 2 glasses of RW = 4 hits of the snooze alarm. Heart & cholesterol: RW contains the antioxidant resveratrol, which is studied more than college sophomores, by pharmaceutical companies because they think it’s a wonder drug.   It may prevent damage to blood vessels, reduce "bad" cholesterol, prevents blood clots, protect from obesity and diabetes, increase life expectancy, and reduces inflammation (which helps overall physical health since many diseases and ailments can be attributed to inflammation, including PMS). Midnight toke...

“She’s always had an enormous empathy for the person who really has gotten a short straw in life… when people have terrible experiences unrelated to their actions, it hits a cord with her immediately,” says Warren Buffet, about his sister, Doris Buffet. Doris Buffet grew up during the depression.   Her own financial situation has been up and down throughout her life, but now she is fabulously wealthy and wants to give it all away. She gets thousands of letters from people that want or need her help.   She sends them a questionnaire, sometimes requesting IRS statements, doctors bills, and other paperwork.   Then she talks with them on the phone & says it’s very easy to tell who genuinely needs her help.   She has responded to more than 10,000 people and believes that maybe 3 or so have taken advantage of her.   The rest were deserving and she adamantly won’t “give to SOB’s.” Examples of who she has helped:   a grandmother who wanted gravestones for her...