If your love life has fizzled you might need to rethink your kitchen prowess to cook up more sizzle in the boudoir. And learn to bake a wickedly good pumpkin pie or cinnamon-pumpkin muffins. Around the world many foods we eat have been heralded as aphrodisiacs to enhance your libido. Thanks to Dr. Diana Hoppe, a recent guest on my radio show, Fearless Fabulous You!, her fabulous book “Healthy Sex Drive, Healthy You” offers a list of “get you in the mood” foods. Here’s a link to the show on iHeart.com and free iHeart App. But, first….why pumpkin pie? According to a study
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Cat Smiley runs a successful weight loss retreat in Whistler, Canada. (Whistler Fitness Vacations) where women undergo a healthy boot camp for 1-12 weeks. But for anyone who can’t make it to Canada, Cat has just released “The Planet Friendly Diet: Your 21 Day Guide to Sustainable Weight Loss and Optimal Health” (New Society Publishers). I like this book’s practical approach, easy recipes and no nonsense approach. Here are a few of Cat’s tips that I am taking to heart:
Read more →In the early 1990s, fashion industry executive Ann Odgen Gaffney found herself cooking and caring for a designer in the industry fighting AIDS, The experience taught her to be fearless which was especially helpful when she was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2001. Fortunately, Ann recovered following her surgery and her life went back to a new normal….well, sort of. A second diagnosis of unrelated breast cancer came later and was a more difficult journey with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Ann learned from this experience that cooking was solace and nutrition was essential to manage side effects from treatment and support
Read more →Deanna Won is a former U.S. Air Force Colonel and physicist who specialized in electro-optics and lasers for over 26 years. She worked in space launch, missile defense, biological defense and NATO operations. But no military training prepared her for a battle with ovarian cancer. “When I was 45 years old, I experienced excruciating pain in my abdomen and had trouble breathing, which landed me in the hospital, where even the morphine could not reduce any of my pain,” says Deanna. “When I found out that I had ovarian cancer, I made the immediate decision to completely change my nutrition and diet to an
Read more →A recent walk in the woods yielded a brilliant treasure. Attached to the trunk of a dead tree was a giant mushroom. It was splashed with colors of yellow and orange and fanned out in layers resembling firm giant petals. We delicately removed it from the tree trunk and carefully carried it home. Research on the internet and a consult with a mushroom foraging expert confirmed it was a Chicken of the Woods, considered a delicacy in the food world. After photographing our find for posterity and Instagram we sliced it into thin strips and sautéed them in olive oil
Read more →Imagine being diagnosed with a life threatening illness. “How can I gain control of my life and manage my health?” you ask. It’s happened to me and to many friends and colleagues. And it happened to my guest August 24th on Fearless Fabulous You! Shari Leidich was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2004. MS affects approximately 2.3 million people worldwide. MS is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. At this time the cause is still unknown, and there is no cure. Research is being done in many areas including genetics, immunology, hormonal and environmental risks. According to the National Multiple
Read more →Walking the aisles of the Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show this year I was on the prowl to find healthy and delicious foods made by people with an inspiring story and mission. I found it in Shauna Martin, Founder of Daily Greens™. Shauna is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed on July 28, 2004, at the age of 33, the date of her son’s birthday. Just three weeks later her younger sister, Tamara, was also diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 31. Two sisters are diagnosed at an early age with breast cancer with no
Read more →The Greek economy may be in turmoil, but the Greek diet is healthier than ever. International renowned Chef Maria Loi joins me July 13, 4pm EST on Fearless Fabulous You! to discuss her 12 Pillars to eating healthy using fundamental and simple recipes that are fresh and flavorful from her book The Greek Diet. The Greek Diet by Chef Maria Loi and veteran health journalist Sarah Toland offers a path to healthy eating that is not only sustainable but also completely satisfying and enjoyable. A few things I love about Maria’s approach: Yes, you can, enjoy good coffee and wine, both in moderation, and everything
Read more →Who remembers Carnation Instant Breakfast? You just needed to add milk or water to these nutritious, artificially flavored, sugar laden meals-in-a-packet. My mother drank them before she took off for work. I drank them before I took off for school. We both tolerated the taste in the spirit of fast, nutritious and calorie conscious consumption. It’s still in the marketplace along with an assorted other liquid meal options. Flash forward. Today, I dread the idea of liquid meals. They remind me of being ill or watching my sick father consume Ensure (also a nutrient dense but sugar laden drink) during
Read more →I have a confession to make: For the first 18 years living in New York City as a single woman I turned on my oven maybe a dozen times to cook a dish. It usually involved re-heating leftovers from a meal taken elsewhere the night before. Mostly I stored my over abundance of shoes in the unused oven and turned on the stove top to boil water or steam vegetables. That’s about it. I took my meals out; or I ordered in. Simply put: I loved to eat and hated to cook. Living in New York City and working in the food and
Read more →As a lifelong foodist and longtime food professional, I have always taken a keen interest in what I put in my body and share at the table with others. Lately that table has become a matter of dining diplomacy as more people are concerned less about what to eat and more about what not to eat. I am thrilled that communities and the media are focusing more on diet, health and sustainability. I read the Health Section of The New York Times with as much focus as the Food Section, seeking out morsels of news about the latest scientific research
Read more →According to the World Health Organization more than 450 million people worldwide suffer from stress. Are you one of them? Stress wreaks havoc on your mind and body. It’s just plain unhealthy and can lead to a myriad of problems including hormonal imbalance, cardiovascular disease, insomnia, diabetes, obesity, depression and other chronic illnesses. I believe years of stress contributed to my cancer diagnosis. And today, when I start feeling surges of stress and anxiety my body starts itching, my skin starts to blotch, and I lose my lack of concentration. My way of dealing with stress is: hydrate, gyrate, masticate, meditate
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