Health News

By Susan Burke March Personal care products and cosmetics have the potential to harbor bacteria. Chemicals meant to protect you break down over time and are rendered ineffective, or worse, potentially irritating or infectious. Maybe you have some old favorites sitting in your makeup bag, but how old is too old? It’s time for some...

By Susan Burke March As Dr. Andrew Weil, the medical doctor and integrative physician writes in the HuffingtonPost.com, “America is still probably the most sugar-philic and bitter phobic culture the world has ever known.” The Standard American Diet (SAD Diet) consists mostly of bland foods, red and processed meats, refined and processed white carbs, with a...

By Susan Burke March In my previous column about cooking myths (microwave ovens, food-grade aluminum pots and pans and containers are safe, and cooking with Teflon nonstick pans does not “give you cancer”), a reader commented that some of the chemicals used in producing Teflon, including perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are “highly persistent and degrade slowly,...

The 2018 flu season is still hitting North Americans hard. At least 22 children died from the virus between Feb. 4 and Feb. 10, bringing the total as of Feb. 26 to 85, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They report “during week 7 (Feb. 11-17) influenza activity remained elevated in the...

By Susan Burke March The Journal of Wild Mushrooming is a fascinating resource for all things mushrooms. They say there are 10,000 described species in North American and at least as many in South America, but that may represent only a third to a fifth of what’s really out there! In percentages, 50% are inedible,...

By Susan Burke March Continuing a tradition since 1986, February 2018 is American Heart Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) to leads all other causes of American deaths daily, at least 2,200 each day. But, for reasons not yet understood, women fare much worse than men do after suffering a...

By Susan Burke March According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the 2018 flu season is upon us, most virulently in North America and Australia where influenza A (H3N2) remains predominant and activity remains high. In the Caribbean and Central American countries respiratory illnesses and flu remain low. In tropical areas of South America the...

By Susan Burke March Do you love fast food? Maybe you think that just “once in a while” indulgence in animal-fatty, salty and processed foods such as a big beef burger on a white-bread bun with deep-fried fries is your deserved payment for eating healthfully most of the time?  When I was growing up in...

By Susan Burke March To hear the raw foodies tell it, you’re missing out on “pure” nutrition by cooking foods. They’ll tell you that raw is the way to go, and of course, like all fads, there’s a small amount of insight or truth in something otherwise false or nonsensical. Read my column about raw...