Donnie Yance is an internationally known master herbalist and nutritionist. He is the author of the book, "Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer" and "Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism"
As I write this, our home is filled with the welcoming scent of home-baked cookies. Over the past few weeks, Jen and I (with plenty of help from our children) have been busy baking treats for the holidays, which we enjoy sharing with family, friends, and neighbors. I believe that treats can be a part of a healthy diet, if made with good quality ingredients and eaten in moderation.
Continue reading “A Healthy Holiday Treat: Chocolate Brownies”
I often feel that there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do all that I want and need to do. I imagine that you sometimes (or often) feel the same way. For most of us, the holiday season adds one more layer of busyness to our already full lives. At times like this, I remember the wise words of Mother Teresa, who encouraged us in moments of difficulty to begin again, to stay on task and to focus, always remembering to love fully in every moment. In this way, moment-by-moment, we create our destiny.
In the last twenty years, osteoporosis has morphed from a relatively rare (albeit serious) condition affecting elderly women into an epidemic threatening close to half of all post-menopausal women and almost one-third of men in the United States. What’s changed? Frankly, not much except the hype. Unfortunately, I believe this is yet another case of the medical establishment and drug companies creating disease diagnoses by manipulating diagnostic criteria. The more medications prescribed for osteoporosis and osteopenia, the more profits for the corporations. And not a lot of doctors are offering healthy, natural solutions prior to doling out prescriptions, either.
It’s December, and that means holiday celebrations. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, or Winter Solstice, holiday festivities and preparations take center stage this month. We delight in celebrating the holidays, especially gathering with family and friends and sharing a good meal and conversation around the table. We both enjoy the evergreen scent of the Christmas tree, the celebratory holiday lights, finding a special gift for one other, and the joy on our children’s faces on Christmas morning. Our daughter Stella has already selected her favorite (healthy) Christmas cookie recipe for Santa and eagerly anticipates the daily blessing on her advent calendar. At the same time, on a deeper level, our thoughts turn to the spiritual meaning of this holiday season. After all, the meaning of the word “holiday” originally meant “holy day.”
A recent article published in The New York Times is entitled “The Island Where People Forget To Die.” In this fascinating true story, the author writes about Stamatis Moraitis, a Greek American who returned to his native island of Ikaria after a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer in his mid-60’s. That was in 1976; although Moraitis hoped for nothing more than a peaceful death on the island that he loved, he instead found his way back to health. Today, at 97, Moraitis continues to thrive on Ikaria.
Many people consider the humble dandelion to be a pesky weed, and attempt to eradicate it from their lawns and gardens with toxic herbicides. But no matter how many poisonous chemicals are dumped onto dandelions, the bright yellow flowering plants not only survive, they thrive.
The scientific name for dandelion is Taraxacum officinale, which translates as “the official remedy for disorders,” acknowledging the esteemed position that dandelion has held as a medicinal herb. For centuries, dandelion (both the leaf and root) has been used in traditional healing in cultures around the world.