Speaking of Wellness
‘Eat Locally, Think Globally’: It All Began With Joan Gussow, 1928–2025
Before there was Michael Pollan, there was Joan Gussow—writing, teaching, and sounding the alarm about the industrial food system as early as the 1970s, three decades before The Omnivore’s...
Onscreen Smoking Makes a Comeback (and Why That’s Not Cool)
As someone who grew up in the 1950s, my impressionable years were full of messages that promoted smoking. My father smoked. I saw TV ads where “doctors” endorsed Camels...
Got Covid Symptoms? Should You Still Test Yourself?
It’s been almost six years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and a lot has changed about the way we view the illness. We now have vaccines and...
My Beef With the Science: How the Red Meat Industry Skewers Results
As avid followers of health news, you may have noticed that the headlines on certain subjects seem to flip-flop at regular intervals. Nutrition is a notorious area for this:...
Autism: Continue to Follow the Science
Back in the first half of the 20th century, young children who had severe difficulties with communication and behavior were often labeled as having a childhood form of schizophrenia. According...
Small Acts of Kindness = Increased Happiness
During my years of practicing medicine, I often received gifts from my patients—things like homemade cookies and similarly thoughtful offerings. And while I absolutely enjoyed the cookies, it was...
When Words Hurt: Here’s What Your Doctor Shouldn’t Say
I’m going to cut to the chase here: Doctors are not always good communicators. I do believe most of us are compassionate, and try to convey that. Still, we...
Blood Sugar Monitors for Everyone? Not So Fast
Imagine if, any time you indulged in a piece of cake or a bowl of chips, you could know what those carbs were doing to your blood sugar levels...
The Triumph of the Polio Vaccine, and Why We Still Need It
Of all the public health advances over the past century, I’m hard pressed to think of a bigger success story than routine childhood vaccinations. Every year, they save the...
BMI or BRI: Time for a New Acronym?
Stepping onto the scale at the doctor’s office may not be most people’s idea of a good time, but it’s an accepted part of the routine checkup. We’ve long...
