I often get asked about coffee. Is it good for you? Or is it not? The answer: everybody has a different caffeine threshold. I’m saying, if you’re sensitive to caffeine and you get heart palpitations or jittery when you drink coffee, this is NOT your food!

In case you don’t already know: protein is beyond a doubt one of our body’s essential components, and one we need to replenish on a DAILY basis. When it comes to protein, quantity, variety, and quality all matter. And eating the types and amount of protein that are JUST right for you and your needs is key to great health in SO many ways.

You know that I’m passionate about food and plants. But you may not know that I’m really passionate about mint! This little uber-aromatic plant that grows wild, that ANYBODY can grow, that you may not pay much attention to (except in your toothpaste) is possibly my ULTIMATE favorite.  

To celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary last month, Gregg and I headed off to Greece, to spend time mostly on the island of Crete. I was looking forward to the luxury of relaxed time together and of course, the Mediterranean diet! While you may know intellectually that the Mediterranean diet emphasizes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and olive oil, it’s another thing altogether to be IN a culture that actually lives it.

Oh, my gosh! Doing a top rated nationally syndicated television show proved to be… fun!

You never know when you go on live TV exactly what you’re going to get. You’ve got a (very tight!) script; but you don’t know the mood the hosts are going to be in… what the audience is going to be like… how much of your material is going to get in.

What is this strange green stuff?  Why, it’s kombu! In brief, kombu is a mineral-rich seaweed in the kelp family that adds an umami or savory flavor to stocks and broths. But there’s SO much more to tell. 

Remember the Spice Girls? My all-time favorite spice girls are the grande dames of spices, ginger and turmeric. Popular in Asia for millennia for both culinary and medicinal use, they are rhizomes (technically subterranean stems) and botanical relatives in the Zingiberaceae family. (You don’t have to pronounce the name.) 

I’m often called upon to comment — on longevity foods, brain-boosting foods, cancer-fighting foods — the topics of my books. But, fiber? Not my usual. And not the sexiest food topic! We hear the word “fiber” and think sawdust or dry cereals that taste like cardboard, right?

Because everybody deserves to have sweet in their lives.  I was reminded of this at a conference recently when a colleague, who is truly a grande dame of healthy nutrition if ever there was one, mentioned that when she travels she always packs some gluten free fig newtons. She finds them energizing, comforting and a welcome treat on the road, when she’s speaking to audiences, engaging with participants, in high energy mode. When she gets back to her room for some quiet time, it feels good to have a little something special with a cup of tea.

What are blood sugar regulators? The answer to this first question is pretty straightforward: fat and fiber. Some of the foods you’ll especially want to consider are avocados, almonds, walnuts, flaxseed, chia seeds, sesame seeds, legumes, edamame, cinnamon, peas, and quinoa, along with all of the dark leafy greens. (Dark leafy greens nearly always make an appearance on healthy food lists, don’t they?)

A reader recently asked: what does your plate look like? Great question, and one I can answer in a word — veg-centric.

I find inspiration in so many different things in my life. Right now, outside my window, my eyes drink in spring flowers blooming, lavender growing, and my beloved Meyer lemons. My garden is so inspiring to me! I find inspiration in other people’s stories, in faces, in COLOR, in gorgeous food photography, and in paintings by Watteau and Monet. I’m inspired by my farmer buddies and the glorious kaleidoscope of produce as the seasons change at the farm market.  

Quick! What herb comes to mind when I say appetite-stimulating, digestion-aiding, anti-inflammatory, cancer-fighting, heart-healthy, brain-healthy, AND detoxifying? Ok, you guessed because of the title. But did you know all that about dear old humble parsley?

Wondering what kind of fish to eat (and not to eat) and how to prepare?

From a health standpoint, if you are open to eating fish, by all means, do! And if selection and preparation are holding you back from cooking fish, then follow me into my kitchen and let’s dive in :)

“Inflammation” is one of those health words that is bandied about all the time… but do we really know what it means? We think of swelling and the color red… we know it’s not a good thing, and that we want less of it… but the rest is a bit mysterious.

When we cook for ourselves, our friends and our family, everything about our life slows down.It’s like living in a Frank Lloyd Wright home, where the kitchen is right in the middle, comfort and communications central. That’s where everyone wants to be! Aromas emanate, from morning coffee to mouth-watering soups, to veggies roasting, to cookies baking. A place to create, to savor, to taste, to reconnect with our food, our health, our family. Ourselves.

Yesterday 500 guests joined me in my kitchen (the most I’ve ever had!) for my first live, online Kitchen Chat, and it was wonderful.

The topic was Fighting Cancer -- with Food! and we kind of went over a bit, and one hour stretched to an hour and a half... and I think we all could easily have stayed all afternoon, there’s just so much to discuss. And so many questions!

Food has the capacity to bring joy.

Regardless of where anyone is on the continuum of cancer -- metastatic, going through treatment, doesn’t have cancer, has another disease state, or is “healthy,” quote, unquote -- food has the capacity to bring comfort and joy into our lives, sometimes in the middle of painful circumstances, in the smallest and most treasured ways. Food can have a powerful effect on our quality of life, right here and right now. It can be one bite that shifts your life. And we’re not talking about just surviving; we’re talking about thriving!

We humans can fly to the moon, but we still get felled by the common cold or flu virus!

Your immune system is responsible for protecting your body against the invasion of yuck!

It’s designed to detect and ward off disease-causing pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites… all of the things you don’t want! Sure, you can’t see it or taste it, or wrap your arms around it. It’s a bit mysterious! Like your very own invisibility cloak. But we do know that components of the immune system reside in your lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, lymphocytes (small white blood cells),  thymus, and leukocytes (high white blood cell count), all involved in eradicating unwanted invaders.

But… what’s food got to do with the immune system, anyway?