Loa’s Column
Herbally Yours
Mealtime should be enjoyed and food should taste good. But somehow, just like with so many things in our culture, a good thing has gone too far. Do we really need to “dip”, fry, dye, and flavor-enhance every bite we consume? In the grocery store the other day, I counted shelf after shelf of sauce: sauces to cook with, dip into, marinade, toss in and (as Yul Brynner said in “The King and I”:) “et-cetera, et-cetera, et-cetera.” The problem is, we’ve upped the anti. Food has gotten more and more flavor-enhanced until it seems we’ve reached the point where if it doesn’t hit the tongue as powerfully as a bright orange “nacho-chili-lime-whatever-chip”, we can’t taste it.
Pump It Up
Tom was the local hearth throb. He never missed a workout. He spent hours at the gym (where I was working my way through college) lifting weights for his upper body, mostly his biceps. His legs were thin but he said the “curls were for the girls.” He never wanted help, said he “had it [...]
Go Bananas
When I was a kid we had a pet monkey named Bono (as in Sonny–not like the rock star in U-2). She was great at birthday parties. You didn’t need balloons or cake, just her and believe me the party was ON! I knew two things about her–she loved bananas and she was really smart. The more I learn about bananas, the more I realize just how smart she was.
The Fast Lane
Consider what unravels you the most–maybe sitting in rush hour traffic, overworking, divorce, loss of a loved one or job, a chronic serious illness, a physical injury, or just plain “living in the fast lane.” The good news is your amazing human body came with a small but tiny army to see you through the [...]
