The FDA announce recently that they monitor arsenic levels in apple juice 10 parts per billion (ppb) is the new ‘action level.’ Now, it seems to me that there shouldn’t be any arsenic in apple juice, but as it turns out, arsenic occurs naturally in the environment in very small amounts, and this inorganic form is not […]
It’s an interesting day when Cookie Monster gets invited to TEDMED, a national conference on medical innovation. They host some of the wisest, most creative people in the medical field every year to spread the word about new ideas. Leave it to Cookie Monster to remind us that old ideas about health can be packaged in a […]
You may have seen some of Atul Gawande’s titles on my bookshelf. He’s a gifted writer whose books have highlighted some of my biggest frustrations with the ‘medical machine’ and how it runs. The Checklist Manifesto is one of my favorites. Dr. Gawande is a master storyteller, and in the New Yorker article, he weaves together the […]
At our dinner table last evening that one of the kids asked: “What were your five fruit and vegetable servings today, Mom?” Flashback to the wellness visits earlier that day at my office. I ask kids all the time about their favorite fruits and vegetables, and I teach ‘Strive for five’ and ‘Eat around the rainbow.’ But […]
It’s not everyday that my patients 1. have a website, 2. are out to save my heart, 3. and write to tell me about it. But today, I was struck by the importance of what this patient had to say. At her neighborhood elementary school near my practice, there are some amazing kids and the grown-ups […]
My daughter and her father have an amazing green thumb, and growing things seems to naturally attract them. It won’t be long before their fresh fruits and vegetables remind me just what summer tastes like. A number of years ago, my family joined a vegetable co-op where every Friday the farm owners (who also happened […]