February 26, 2024

Want To Boost Immunity? Try These Dishes

Even though the calendar (and the groundhog) says we’re less than six weeks from spring, we’re still in the middle of cold, flu, and Covid season. It’s important to boost your immune system to help ward off these nagging afflictions. It’s much easier to keep them at bay than to fight them off once they’ve settled in. If you haven’t already, you should read the article by our contributing writer and nutritionist Ginger Hultin. It provides in-depth descriptions of foods that contain vitamins, minerals, and compounds that help your body fight diseases. These FoodTrients can be found in delicious recipes […]
February 26, 2024

CRP: A Critical Marker of Inflammation

Have you ever wondered how you can know if you have inflammation in your body or not? Inflammation is a natural process in the body that’s critical to healing from a wound or illness but if left unchecked and chronically high due to irritation from a poor diet, lack of sleep, a sedentary lifestyle, underlying chronic disease, or high levels of emotional stress, the body can experience long-term, damaging inflammation. To determine if you may have systemic inflammation, a C-reactive protein (CRP) blood test is a simple way to see if you might have high levels of this protein that […]
February 26, 2024

Game Hen & Rice Combine for Hearty Stew

Cornish Game Hen and Brown Rice Stew This thick and hearty stew is my take on the classic Asian chicken soup. The brown rice makes it even healthier thanks to its high-fiber, selenium-rich properties. Feel free to add carrots, celery, or spinach to the mix. Add hard vegetables earlier in the cooking process and greens or herbs later. I like to soak the brown rice overnight before cooking it. This shortens the cooking time by about 20 minutes. Serves 4-8  Ingredients  1 inch peeled gingerroot 1 Tbs. canola oil 1⁄4 cup chopped onion 1 whole Cornish game hen, cut into […]
February 26, 2024

The Top 5 Medicinal Mushrooms for Immunity

Top 5 Medicinal Mushrooms for the Immune System Many mushrooms are known for their nutritional and medicinal purposes but did you know that they’re also powerful supporters of a strong immune system? Multiple studies have shown that mushrooms possess benefits such as antioxidant, liver protective, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antimicrobial, and even blood sugar lowering properties, but emerging research highlights the unique ways they help protect the body from viruses and bacteria. Studies speculate that mushrooms may be the answer to many health challenges people face — including supporting healing — and can be developed into functional food or medicine for preventing […]
February 26, 2024

Build the Life You Want and Get Happier!

Ophrah Winfrey and Arthur C. Brooks believe you CAN get happier . . . and have a great adventure getting there. In Build the Life You Want, Brooks and Oprah invite you to begin a journey toward greater happiness no matter how challenging your circumstances. Drawing on cutting-edge science and their years of helping people translate ideas into action, they show you how to improve your life right now instead of waiting for the outside world to change. It’s easier to believe in happiness when times are good, but sometimes life’s hardships can feel like impossible barriers, making happiness feel out […]
February 13, 2024

Let’s Celebrate the Year of the Dragon!

Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year, is a very important holiday for me. Although I was born and raised in Southeast Asia, my father was three-quarters Chinese and my mother was half Chinese. We always celebrated the lunar new year by making special meals full of symbolism. For instance, we made a sweet sticky rice cake called tikoy because it symbolizes unity and togetherness and good luck that is supposed to stick to you all year long. We also cleaned the house and bought new clothes to wear on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. And […]
February 13, 2024

Delicious Dishes That Can Help You Detox

We’re well into the new year, so it’s time to think about cleaning out our systems and starting fresh. However, I’m not going to suggest a juice cleanse or an exotic tea. You can try these from time to time for a short while, but you can also detox in other ways. Why not enjoy delicious foods that support the body’s natural detoxification systems, including that vital organ/filter, the liver? What exactly is “detoxification?” It’s the processing and removal of compounds in the body that cause damage to tissues. We often associate detoxing with expensive specialty products, vitamins/minerals, herbal extracts/teas, or other […]
February 13, 2024

How Many Hours of Sleep Do You Really Need?

I have a retired 64 year-old patient, I’ll call him Bob, who tells me that he never sleeps more than 5-6 hours a night and that he’s always up with the sun, full of energy for his active retiree day and never gets that mid-afternoon sleepy slump.   He’s doing well, has no major health concerns, and this amount of sleep seems to be working well for him. Another patient I have, I’ll call her Ellen, 46 years-old, working full-time every day as a busy legal secretary, tells me she’s a zombie unless she has at least 9 hours of sleep a […]
February 13, 2024

Surprise! It’s Spaghetti Red Pepper Sauce

One of the easiest ways to broaden kids’ palates is to start with a food you know they like and make minor tweaks. This familiar marinara sauce incorporates roasted red peppers. Hemp seeds add a little protein and a pleasantly nutty undertone. The sauce flavor will likely be slightly different than they expect, but not enough to set off tiny alarm bells. It’s vegetarian and Gluten free, too. Spaghetti with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce Ingredients: 2 red bell peppers, sliced (about 2 cups) 1 small to medium onion, peeled and sliced (about 1 cup) 1 Tbs. olive oil ¼ tsp. […]