Making A Mother Proud

For Christmas, my 8-year-old asked to help other kids around the world who don't feel as safe and secure with their families as she does with hers. So based on a friend's recommendation I made a donation in her name to Plan USA, a really wonderful non-religious charitable organization that helps children around the world. I couldn't afford to sponsor a child, but I did donate to the Childrens' Fund, a stop-gap measure until children are matched up with sponsors. I think I'm going to make it a regular gift.

She's a good kid. I'm proud of her. I hope you'll follow her compassionate example.

News Flash: Balanced Diet Is Healthy

Ah, science. Brilliant and self-serving. Utterly useless and yet absolutely vital. Millions of dollars in research to confirm what we already knew: there is no magic antioxidant bullet. Eating a balanced diet of unprocessed foods really is your best defense against cancer.

Want to be healthy? Along with regular exercise (another rant altogether), Eat Something Different Every Day. Preferably something as unprocessed and nutritionally dense as possible. Processed flour and sugar are instant diabetes. Processed meats and other foods containing nitrites (even in small amounts) are instant cancer . A good rule of thumb: if you couldn't make or harvest the raw ingredients yourself (should you have the time and inclination to do so), you probably shouldn't eat it.

It is my honest belief that all kids should take nutrition classes in high school along with bio, chem, and other basic sciences. If we were all raised with a thorough understanding of how food is utilized by our bodies, what nutrients do, etc, I really do think there would be a much lower incidence of obesity, type II diabetes, and other nutritionally-based illnesses.

But educated masses aren't marketing slaves, and the poor HMO's are already struggling, and we can't have that...