Otoscope $24.00, Avoiding Antibiotics, Priceless

Your small child comes down with an earache. He’s hurting, he’s crying! What do you do? I was in this position more than once, as a young mother. “The eardrum will bust, your child will go deaf!” is what the M.D.’s told me. Should I fill the prescription for antibiotics, I wondered? Well, I didn’t. Much to the shock of my friends and relatives, my babies never had prescription...

Amelia’s Recycling Project

Happy birthday to Amelia, a regular patient of mine who has been coming in since 1992. She’s now seventy. You could say I have gotten to know her (and her husband, daughters, and grandkids, too) pretty well. She likes to sew. She’s been making the cutest heating pads out of fabric scraps, which she fills with rice and star anise. We sell them here in our office, so we...

Twinkies are Forever

I give credit to Hostess Twinkies for being the first to open my eyes to a healthier lifestyle.  There was a time, as a child, when I would eagerly accept Twinkies, although I preferred the pink Snowball things.   Once, I stashed a package of Twinkies in my fishing tackle box in anticipation of a happy day of fishing with my father.  Time went by.  I grew into a teen...

Chip Clips, now Canning Jar Funnel

Anybody here have a “chip clip” in their kitchen? How about a canning jar funnel? It’s interesting what our stuff says about us. One of best things you can do to support your healthier lifestyle is to look around for some kitchen tools that make your job of prepping and storing whole foods more fun. Here’s a link to a recent post by Mrs. Homegrown of Homegrown Evolution http://www.homegrownevolution.com…check...

Running Shoeless

Do we really need a good pair of running shoes to run well?  In this video, a Harvard professor points out that humans have been running for a long, long time…without their Nikes on.  I like the fact that he is questioning the status quo and enjoys running without any expensive footwear.  But what about asphalt and concrete?  Perhaps it’s best to stay on sand, grass, and other soft...

Is it Organic?

I was telling a patient recently to check out one of the new Asian supermarkets in town.  In the produce section, you can find wonderful greens, purple sweet potatoes, exotic mushrooms still growing in their little plastic tubs, and more.  “But they don’t have organic, do they?” my patient asked.  Not as much, I admitted, as say, Henry’s or Whole Foods.  But today I got my McDougall newsletter (sign...

Flu Shot or Falafel Sandwich?

The Center for Disease Control (cdc.gov) is our government agency in charge of monitoring/preventing disease outbreaks in the United States. When it comes to the flu, they break down statistics by “season.” It’s not unlike the football season or holiday shopping season to me—a little too much hype when there are many other pressing health care issues we should all be debating. As I was driving to work recently,...