Category Archives: Food

The Big Pink Blitz

October is when we all leap onto the breast cancer awareness bandwagon. Everyone can be a hero in the fight. All we have to do is to wear pink, the official color of breast cancer awareness. Voices exhort us, not … Continue reading

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Free medicine

When Jack’s life-long potassium deficiency disappeared, everyone, especially the doctor, was gob-smacked. His condition had required him to ingest mega-doses of the mineral all day long, or risk not being able to get out of bed. For twenty years, each … Continue reading

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Going vegan

I’m not a PETA person: in fact, I own a mink coat (for which I have no use here in Costa Rica) and I’ll tell you– if you get in my face– how nasty minks are, and how they deserve … Continue reading

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True homeland security

Are you feeling particularly secure right now? You should be, because we’re spending 39.5 billion bucks a year to give you the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing that the folks at the Department of Homeland Security are on … Continue reading

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Let food be thy medicine

According to Anton Checkhov, “Doctors are just the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.” That’s a bit harsh. My mother used to say, “Doctors bury their … Continue reading

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Going a little crazy

A few months ago, I felt pretty strongly that I didn’t have cancer, even though I’d found a lump in my breast.  I was scared, but I felt healthy. I’d been doing all the right things: eating well, exercising and … Continue reading

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Fat maven

Articles about the benefits of coconut oil have been catching my attention lately. It appears to be a panacea; however, when claims made by advocates seem miraculous, I get suspicious. Coconut oil is a saturated fat. I’d always heard, and … Continue reading

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Juicehead

It’s not what you think, though I do like my fermented grape juice. I watched the documentary, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, about a thirty year-old Australian guy who turned to a diet of fruit and vegetable juices exclusively. The … Continue reading

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What’s that smell?

One day last week, I got a whiff of something noxious nearby. The smell was not unlike ones I’ve sniffed driving through Pennsylvania farming country— fertilizer, maybe. A bitter, acrid smell invaded my senses. I felt it in my nose, … Continue reading

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Breaking Up With Hooligans

In Roxborough, the Philadelphia neighborhood where my family moved in 1963, the first fast food restaurant to litter the landscape was Gino’s. We’d eaten steak sandwiches and hoagies from Delassandro’s, in Wissahickon, for years, but Gino’s was the first hamburger … Continue reading

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