I bought too many lentils the other day for a dish I was making and I didn’t want to throw them away, so here’s what I did with them, purely as an experiment. It really is very simple. (I must say that it turned out really good, though. My son loved it. So did I.)

Eddie’s Lentil Eggplant Stew

¾ cup brown lentils
½ cup red lentils
1 eggplant
1 carrot
1 yellow onion
½ head garlic
8 ounce can
tomato sauce
salt
pepper, coarsely ground

Go over the lentils and take out anything that doesn’t look good, then rinse them thoroughly and put them in a rather large pot. Chop the carrot up into small pieces and put them into the pot. Peel the eggplant and cut it up into small pieces. Put these into the pot on top of the lentils and carrot. Add enough water for the lentils and carrot to cook and for the eggplant to at least steam, possibly boil. You don’t want to add too much water, but also the lentils need enough in order to cook. (Cooking for me is sometimes labor intensive because I keep a close eye on what I’m cooking, at least until I get the details of the recipe figured out.) I cook this until the lentils are soft, the eggplant is well cooked, and it all kind of blends together. (Speaking of blending, I take a potato masher and mash up any large pieces of eggplant that didn’t disintegrate.) When I was cooking this I added salt and sprinkled coarsely ground black pepper on top.

While this is cooking, chop up the onion and garlic and sauté them in extra virgin olive oil, in a separate pot. Olive oil is really good for you, so use a lot if you want to. I cook these until the onions are translucent, not burned – not even brown.

When the lentils and eggplant are done (probably at least 30 minutes) pour in the tomato sauce and add the onions and garlic. That’s about it. This really is a simple dish.

Serve with brown rice, organic soy sauce to taste, your favorite crackers or bread, and a cup of green tea. This dish is hard to beat. It has very few if any spices, yet it tastes really good. I don’t believe that vegan food has to taste bland or be unusual. I do believe that this simple dish is hardy and healthy.

This recipe made at least 6 large servings.


vegan, recipes, vegetarian, diet, food, health,

Researchers at Queensland University of Technology are working on a vaccine to prevent Chlamydia, which is “the most common infectious disease in the world and results in infertility in women and long-term chronic pelvic pain.” The research looks promising so far for the vaccine which could be delivered by patch.


sexually, transmitted, disease, STD, Chlamydia, vaccine, sex, women, health,

An advertisement I saw on TV last night said that inhaling secondhand smoke for thirty minutes could lead to a heart attack. I can’t find a copy of the commercial, but here is a link that says pretty much the same thing. Can you believe that? Well that is one reason I want to stay as far away as possible from any kind of smoke.


smoking, passive smoke, stroke, commercials, lung cancer, ads, TV, cancer, health, heart disease, heart attack

This study says one in three children will develop type 2 diabetes. That’s pretty grim isn’t it, particularly since this used to be considered an adult-onset disease? What’s wrong? Have we suddenly been hit with the diabetes virus that is causing a diabetes pandemic? Nope, I don’t think so. I think it has a lot to do with our lifestyle in this country. Anyway, the study I mention above goes on to say that exercise is crucial in fighting diabetes.


For more about diabetes: the CDC has lots of information. Here is something on physical activity and health. Here is something on exercise and diabetes. Here is something on groups affected by diabetes. Here are diabetes FAQs. Here is something on preventing diabetes. Here is an overview of diabetes in children and adolescents. The section on statistics is particularly revealing. Apparently the proportion of children diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has increased from less than 5 percent before 1994 to between 30 and 50 percent now? Good Lord! This is an epidemic that we need to stop. When are we going to put people first in this country?


diabetes, type 2 diabetes, epidemic, pandemic, lifestyle, obesity, children, diet, exercise, food, health, heart disease,

I knew we weren’t through talking about eating disorders. Recent discussions have tried to blame families for anorexia, bulimia, etc, while other discussions have said that’s all wrong. This article reports on research that suggests that fathers may somehow influence their daughters to become bulimic. So the discussion continues. Stay tuned for further developments because we’re still not through talking about eating disorders.


eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, mental illness, psychology, bulimia, family, fathers, children, food, health,

This article says that you don’t need to drink eight glasses of water per day. Read the article for further interesting explanation and discussion. As the author says, a lot of the water you need is in the food you eat. You can really upset your daily routine by adopting a new practice like drinking a lot of water. For example, I decided a few months ago that I needed to drink a lot of water. I found that I couldn’t venture far from a bathroom because I needed to go very often. When I stopped drinking all that water, a lot of my problems went away. Besides, I eat a lot of soups and vegetables, which contain a lot of water anyway. I’m glad this writer agrees: eight glasses of water is too much for a lot of people.


water, drink, liquids, diet, dehydration, health,

The Tao of Bird Flu

18. In today’s modern world, some aspects of a pandemic are increased, and some are diminished.


bird flu, H5N1, Taoism, philosophy, pandemic, avian influenza,

There seems to be a lot of interest in the new diet drug Excalia. Here is a recent article about Excalia and another new diet drug called Contrave. Excalia contains bupropion and zonisamide. Contrave contains bupropion and naltrexone. (And let us not forget Qnexa which contains topiramate and phentermine.) Here is an article about anti-obesity drugs generally. You know, if I had a serious weight problem I suppose I would consider taking something like Excalia. So far I’ve been lucky, though. Usually I’ve been able to lose weight by eating less and exercising more.


Excalia, weight loss, obesity, Contrave, Qnexa, diet, exercise, fat, food, health,

According to this article there are a lot of good reasons to eat sunflower seeds, and there may be, but I’m just not a big fan. I don’t claim there’s anything wrong with them. In fact I like them well enough, but I do think you have to watch what the seeds are cooked in or roast them yourself. We already get too much omega-6 fatty acids in our diet, and sunflower seeds contain more I suppose, especially if they are cooked in sunflower oil. Plus, some that I bought awhile ago contain like 18g of fat per serving, so you can’t really eat a lot of them. Rather, I prefer foods like nuts and pumpkin seeds. Pistachios contain a lot of monounsaturated fats. I cook the pumpkin seeds myself in the microwave with some organic soy sauce. I love them.


sunflower seeds, seeds, nuts, pumpkin seeds, omega-6, fatty acids, monounsaturated, cholesterol, pistachios, diet, snacks, fat, food, health, heart disease,

I guess I’ve known for some time that particulate matter in air pollution can contribute to heart disease. I remember being in New York City one day a few years ago and I didn’t want to get out of my car because it was hot and hazy outside, and I didn’t want to breathe that obviously polluted air. Now there is a new study apparently linking heart disease with small particle air pollution. Shouldn’t somebody do something about this? I mean it’s pretty hard to live the American Dream when you can’t breathe.


pollution, air pollution, inflammation, stroke, health, heart disease,

How much of what you believe about heart disease is true, and how much of it is false? This article explains the truth about some heart disease myths.


smoking, cholesterol, diet, exercise, health, heart disease, heart attack,

The Tao of Bird Flu

17. China, in the past and on the surface at least, has seemed hypocritical at times, talking about the need to take measures against bird flu, while refusing to share samples of the virus.


bird flu, H5N1, Taoism, philosophy, pandemic, avian influenza,

In New Zealand, apparently they are still using a pesticide, endosulfan, that has been linked with breast cancer, as well as neurological and immune system damage. It has even shown up in human breast milk. Can you imagine anything any worse than that: feeding your baby with breast milk that may contain poison? I’m sorry but it’s just too awful to think about it. Oh, and in case you thought endosulfan is solely a problem in New Zealand, I think it is still being used in the United States. (If I’m wrong, please tell me.) I try to wash all my fruits and vegetables. And I eat organic as much as possible.


endosulfan, pesticides, pollution, breast cancer, breastfeeding, cancer, organic, diet, vegetables, fruit, food, health, immunity,

Don’t believe in global warming? Not worried about its consequences? This is a pretty grim assessment for the year 2050. Of course I’ll be dead by then, but they’re making predictions about conditions that will impact our children and grandchildren. Can’t we be responsible adults, look ahead, and do something for them? Stop global contributing to global warming before it’s too late?


environment, disaster, pollution, global warming,

This article says, “Acupressure may be able to calm the aggressive behavior that often results from dementia.” It goes on to say, “the simple act of human contact . . . might explain the benefit.” Why am I reminded of the touches between a mother and her child? Of course human contact is important, for the very young and for the very old; for human beings whenever they are locked inside their bodies, frustrated and unable to communicate. I do wonder, however, if we will see more acupressure applied in this country to those with dementia.


dementia, acupressure, massage, Alzheimer's disease, health,

Here is an article about passive smoke, the workplace, and lung cancer risk. Can we please ban smoking in public places now?


smoking, work, passive smoke, lung cancer, cancer, health, heart disease,

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a really bad condition, but now there is a new diagnostic model that may make it easier to predict who may develop the disease and who may not. On a similar subject, why does this article say that people with rheumatoid arthritis should avoid food with high water content? I don’t get it. Also, this article says green tea might help with RA. And I hate to say it, but this article says alcohol had some benefits in some tests.


arthritis, diagnosis, autoimmune, rheumatoid arthritis, green tea, alcohol, food, health, inflammation,

The Tao of Bird Flu

16. The leaders of all the countries around the world need to take bird flu seriously, those of the Orient, of course, because that is where it is coming from; but also those of the West, because that is where it is headed.


bird flu, H5N1, Taoism, philosophy, pandemic, avian influenza,

Coronary artery bypass surgery on a beating heart may be safer than stopping the heart to operate. We’ve talked about this recently (January 25). I thought that was settled. If I ever need a bypass I’m going to look for a doctor who will perform it off the pump, as they call it.


bypass, surgery, safety, coronary, artery, health, heart disease,

In this study, Concord Grape Juice is said to have a beneficial effect on the heart, comparable to the effect that red wine is said to have. The Concord grape may stimulate the production of nitric oxide, which maintains health blood vessels, among other things. (Note: Arginine, which is contained in many foods, is also said to stimulate production of nitric oxide. And a bit of trivia, nitric oxide and Viagra are related.)


nitric oxide, red wine, blood pressure, arginine, Viagra, health, heart disease,

Here is an article about research done using fish oil to possibly help those with diabetes. The results seemed to be mixed at best, with fish oil modestly improving some things and not improving others.


fish oil, cholesterol, HDL, diabetes, LDL, fat, food, health, heart disease,

Is autism caused by problems with the intestines? Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who was in the forefront of the MMR vaccine controversy, apparently thinks so. Here is an article about diet and drugs versus psychiatry in the treatment of autism. Of course it seems to me that if Dr. Wakefield’s allegations were true he would have some really hard evidence to point to – perhaps one or two children who had been cured using his recommendations? Who knows?


autism, MMR, vaccine, Andrew Wakefield, children, diet, psychiatry, medicine, food, health,

The Tao of Bird Flu

15. How can we prepare to fight bird flu when its possible mutations are so unpredictable? Better antivirals would help.


bird flu, H5N1, Taoism, philosophy, pandemic, avian influenza,

I think flavonoids are really good for me. Here are several interesting pages:

flavonoids

flavonoids in health

sources of flavonoids

flavonols

isoflavones

catechins

flavanones

anthocyanins

These things are very healthy. I try to include a lot of them in my diet. They are found in many foods such as fruit, berries, vegetables, green tea, red wine, etc, as you will see when you visit the above pages.


health, food, flavonoids, isoflavones, catechins, flavanones, anthocyanins, antioxidants, fruit, vegetables, vegetarian, green tea, diet, berries, cholesterol,

Here is an article about how a mother’s diet may impact the health of her baby, even into adulthood. I don’t know if I believe all this. Read the article and see what you think.


prenatal, fetus, nutrition, diet, food, health,

Here is an article about grape seed extract as it may relate to the health of your skin. I don’t know, I think I’m a little skeptical about this. Besides, there are a lot of things attacking our skin from without, things like sun, wind, cold, pollution. I think I’d concentrate on protecting myself from those. But hey, I doubt taking grape seed extract would hurt. And who knows, it might have some positive health benefits?


grape seed extract, cosmetics, beauty, skin, health,

This is good news: a safer prenatal test for Down Syndrome.


DNA, prenatal, pregnancy, Down Syndrome, genetic tests, women, babies, childbirth, children, health,

Interesterified fat may be replacing trans fat in some cases. Is it really all that great a substitute? Would we be better off using interesterified fat? Thanks, but I’ll pass.


blood sugar, interesterified fat, cholesterol, insulin, diet, HDL, fat, food, health, trans fat,

Hmmm. Interesting thing about functional foods: they may not always be my healthiest choice. Note to self: don’t be deceived or unduly influenced by the addition of functional foods to your grocery items.


marketing, additives, vitamins, functional foods, food, health, fortified

I guess we’ve mentioned conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) before. In some cases I think it has been used as a weight loss/fat loss supplement. But now there are some questions regarding its safety, and here is another article with some of those same concerns. See, if I wanted to lose weight or fat I’d just do it the old fashioned way, by exercising and/or eating less. But hey, that’s just me, I guess.


CLA, obesity, diabetes, conjugated linoleic acid, weight loss, fatty liver, insulin resistance, supplements, safety, side effects, diet, fat, food, health,

Would one of our major multinational corporations engage in subliminal advertising? Of course not, right? That wouldn’t be fair, right? But who says they have to be fair? (If I weren’t such an optimist I could be really discouraged by this video.)


television, commercials, advertising, subliminal, video, fast food, food, health,

The Tao of Bird Flu

14. If there was only one strain of bird flu, that would be bad enough, but there are many strains. They all have the potential to mutate, and they all have the potential to kill.


bird flu, H5N1, Taoism, philosophy, pandemic, avian influenza,

I walk an hour per day. It has helped me lose weight, and I think it is just good for me otherwise. This article seems to agree. It extols the virtues of walking over aerobics, or gym workouts and the like. I’m all for a good bargain. Walking seems to me to be the best bargain around.


walking, aging, weight loss, depression, mood, osteoporosis, cholesterol, exercise, health, peripheral artery disease,

Oligo fructose, a natural fiber found in some foods, may someday help prevent obesity. There is more information here at Wikipedia. And of course you can always search Google for other articles. (There seems to be some disagreement about the spelling of this term. Google spells it all one word, Oligofructose, so that’s what I would go with.)


fiber, obesity, weight loss, oligo fructose, oligofructose, food, health,

According to this article, “The rapidly climbing obesity rates in the United States have created a higher risk of esophageal cancer linked to reflux disease.” Apparently there has been a 350 percent increase of adenocarcinoma in the past thirty years, which seems to be closely related to an increase in gastroesophageal reflux and Barrett's esophagus, which, as they suggest, may be related to increased obesity in this country. It seems to me that it would be a good idea for us maintain a healthy weight and to not overeat if we want to avoid conditions like these.


obesity, adenocarcinoma, acid reflux, esophageal cancer, weight loss, Barrett's esophagus, health, cancer,

This article attempts to explain why some people have a difficult time sticking to New Year’s Resolutions. The gist of the article, to my best understanding, is that we all have something like two minds. One mind is emotional, doesn’t deal well with uncomfortable challenges, and tends to give up rather easily. The other is something like the Executive mind which helps a person do a task anyway, even if it is uncomfortable for awhile. People with better Executive control are better at sticking to their resolutions, quitting smoking, etc. The article talks a lot about the Stroop Test, which you can try for yourself here.


resolutions, psychology, addiction, health,

I thought this was interesting: there is a new website called sharpbrains.com. It is said to be like joining a physical fitness gym where you engage in a series of exercises, but it’s all online, and it’s for your brain fitness. Interesting concept.


aging, memory, Alzheimer's disease, ADD, ADHD, brain, exercise, thought, thinking,

Binge drinking may lead to osteoporosis. High doses of vitamin D, or drugs like Boniva, may prevent some alcohol-related bone loss. Read the article for a fuller discussion.


alcohol, Boniva, osteoporosis, bone loss, vitamin D, binge drinking,

The Tao of Bird Flu

13. Pandemics come and pandemics go, but we will always have viruses and flu.


bird flu, H5N1, Taoism, philosophy, pandemic, avian influenza,

When I flew home at New Year’s, the woman sitting beside me breast-fed her baby during the whole flight. It didn’t bother me. I’m all for breast-feeding. My wife breast-fed my son for a long time, and I’m glad she did. I was very supportive (in more ways than one) and helped her all I could. Some people – indeed some husbands – are not so supportive, which is regrettable. And society generally, judging from the recent ongoing controversy over breast-feeding in public, is not supportive either. I don’t know why. As adults we have a choice about how we act or react to certain things. We can either act with equanimity, or we can lose our composure and make a fuss. Adults act with composure, and children often don’t. It makes me think that these people who making such a fuss about breast-feeding in public may be acting like children and not like adults.


mothers, women, breast, breastfeeding, children,

This article says, “Flavones and flavonols linked to lower kidney cancer risk.” This article tells you more about them and where you can get them. This page has nice graphics and tells you where you can get flavones (with links on the sidebar to other interesting items) and this page tells you where you can get flavonols. I’m a big fan of all this stuff, and I get a lot of them in my diet. I drink green tea. I eat broccoli, tomatoes, onions, apples, other fruits, etc.

Please notice: when they are drawing up lists of healthy foods, they don’t list cheeseburgers, hot dogs, French fries, potato chips, milk shakes, soft drinks, cookies, cake, or things like that. Usually the lists include fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and a lot of unprocessed food.


flavones, flavonoids, flavonols, green tea, fruit, vegetables, organic, cancer, kidney cancer, diet, fast food, food, health, heart disease,

If a woman has a lot of stress during her pregnancy, that doubles the risk of her baby developing ADHD, and increases the risk of other problems. Are you listening, guys? Be nice to that mom-to-be.


pregnancy, ADHD, stress, prenatal, cortisol, women, child development, children,

Dr. Dean Ornish, who wrote the book on reversing heart disease, has a lot of good advice for people. Today I ran across his list again of things you can do to improve your cholesterol levels without taking drugs, and I thought I’d like to share it with you. Here’s to your health.


Dean Ornish, omega-3, fiber, niacin, garlic, cholesterol, diet, exercise, fat, food, health, heart disease, weight loss

The Tao of Bird Flu

12. Is bird flu beyond men’s knowledge and power to adequately respond? Let us hope not.


bird flu, H5N1, Taoism, philosophy, pandemic, avian influenza,

Are more people getting Multiple Sclerosis or is there an improvement in diagnosis? Almost one person in one thousand may now have the disease. Other diseases are listed in this article, along with their prevalence.


MS, ALS, neurology, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, neurological conditions, autism,

We all know about cigarette smoking as it relates to cancer and heart disease, or we should, but you probably never thought it could contribute to kidney disease, right? Well it might. Check this out.


nicotine, cigarettes, smoking, kidney disease,

A new and simple blood test may be able to accurately diagnose heart failure by measuring the amount of BNP (B-type natriuretic peptide) in a patient’s blood stream. This is an interesting article. Scientists are really coming up with some good medical advances these days.


BNP, heart failure, heart disease, diagnosis, blood tests, natriuretic peptides,

If you smoke, or if you used to smoke, there may be a great risk of your developing erectile dysfunction. Also, if you are unable to achieve an erection, that could be a sign of vascular disease. Just another reason to quit smoking, right?


smoking, health, ED, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, cigarettes, vascular disease, nicotine,

There is a new study that suggests men who spend a lot of time driving may have an increased risk of skin cancer on the left side of their bodies. Do I now have to put sunscreen on my neck every time I get in the car? I have thought recently about having my car windows treated so they would block ultraviolet light. This was intended mainly to protect my eyes, but I can now see that is not the only reason why that might be a good idea. I do use the sun visor a lot, and when the sun is really hot on my left side, I do move the visor over to block what I can. (Actually while I was writing this I looked around online a bit for screens I could buy and put on the windows. A lot of people put up screens to protect babies in their car seats, so that may be one way to find something reasonably priced that I could install myself with a minimum of effort.) BTW, while we’re on this subject, a simple blood test that measures OGG1 activity in a person may be able to predict those who are at risk of developing head and neck cancer. Great. A blood test for head and neck cancer. It seems like there’s always something new that we have to lookout for. Fortunately the scientists are trying to find cures for all this.


health, cancer, OGG1, neck cancer, ultraviolet, skin cancer, head cancer, UVB,

Apparently scientists have figured out how to reverse some symptoms of mad cow disease in mice, which is good news; and now there is a new theory that prion diseases like this and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease might be caused by a virus, which is really scary – the virus part, that is. Aren’t viruses contagious? Anyway . . . it’s good to read that scientists are apparently making progress on this. It’s the kind of disease, of course, that everyone wants to avoid at all costs. Maybe we’ll be able to.


CJD, prion, virus, mad cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, research,

What is your opinion of genetic testing? Is genetic discrimination a potential problem? If you had a genetic predisposition for a certain disease, would you want to know? These are real issues for some people, as this article suggests. I personally don’t want my genes in a database somewhere, and in many ways genetic testing is not for me; but some people might not mind.


disease, genetic testing, genes, screening, cancer,

The Tao of Bird Flu

11. We cannot see bird flu, and we cannot hear it, but we can see the death it leaves behind, and we hear the grieving it causes. We see the fear in people’s faces when they think about bird flu.


bird flu, H5N1, Taoism, philosophy, pandemic, avian influenza,

Too much folate can be bad for some older people? I think the key is that when you take folate, you need to be sure you get enough vitamin B12. Otherwise you might have anemia and some cognitive impairment. Please read the article for a full understanding of what they’re getting at. Before I leave this, though, let me say a word or two about “intrinsic factor,” a concept that was mentioned in this article and which I had never heard of before. Intrinsic factor is a substance that helps people absorb vitamin B12 in the intestines. If it’s not present, then it won’t happen. There are other ways of getting B12 though. I’m a vegetarian, and I take a liquid supplement that has 1200 mcg of B12 which I presume is absorbable sublingually.

To further complicate this discussion, however, this article says that taking folate supplements may improve cognitive function as well as lower homocysteine levels. If you’re thinking about taking any supplements, please talk to your doctor. Also, please do your own research and inform yourself. The more information you have, the better decisions you will be able to make about your health. If anyone wants to help clarify any of this, please do.


folate, aging, anemia, vitamin B12, intrinsic factor, cognition, heart disease, memory, homocysteine, stroke, atherosclerosis, health

This article has some really good ideas about the importance of fiber, and how to get more of it in your diet. Just the fact that they are discussing all this is great. I would like to take a moment to extol the virtues of pistachio nuts. I eat at least a handful of them at night while watching TV, plus a bunch of roasted pumpkin seeds, among other healthy things, and I think they are very good for me in the fiber department.


fiber, aging, health, heart disease, food, diet, weight loss, vegetarian, meat, cancer, fat,

This article says that older people who eat whole grain foods may reduce their risk of developing metabolic syndrome, i.e. diabetes and heart disease. I think it is a matter not only of eating food that is good for you, like whole grains, but also of not eating food that is bad for you, such as some refined food. This is just another reason to eat whole grain.


food, aging, health, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, diet, whole grain,

Three quarters of the people (in Canada) who are taking statin drugs “don’t have evidence of occlusive vascular disease?” That’s interesting, although I suppose some people take them to lower their cholesterol, not necessarily to treat a heart condition? But statins can be dangerous, possibly leading to muscle breakdown, kidney damage, or peripheral neuropathy, and this study says these drugs do not reduce deaths in women, so the risks might outweigh the potential benefit in some cases. Furthermore, it seems to me that the article questions whether statins should be given to women at all. Read the article for a fuller discussion and you can draw your own conclusions. And talk to your doctor.


statins, women, cholesterol, heart disease, side effects, peripheral neuropathy, kidney damage, muscle pain, health

There really is a connection between food, health, and politics. This article touches on them all. For example, during World War II, when meat and dairy products were scarce, rates of heart disease declined in the country? I’m not surprised. I am a little dismayed, though, when our leaders don’t stand up to the corporations by putting the needs and health of the people who elected them first.


food, health, politics, heart disease, red meat, vegetarian, diet, milk, dairy,

Brown algae polyphenols may have reduced the number of skin tumors in mice by up to sixty percent, according to results of Ohio State University research published in International Journal of Cancer.


seaweed, cancer, brown algae, skin cancer,

The Tao of Bird Flu

10. It would be a calamity if bird flu triggered a pandemic before we had the weapons to fight it.


bird flu, H5N1, Taoism, philosophy, pandemic, avian influenza,