Essential sleep

If there is one universal constant marker for good health, it must be sleep. Everyone needs a good night sleep, and you know it's so when you don't get it. Especially being awakened by someone else's insomnia, jarred out of a deep sleep, and not being able to find your way back.
 A useful imagery I've found is to picture beautiful jelly fish, pulsing and spreading their gossamer tendrils, drifting slowly down into deeper, darker water. Fill your mind with the image, and shut off the chatter, and you can find your way back to the land of nod. Restful, nourishing sleep, helps repair everything.

Mid Life Mini Triathlon

Here's a recipe for a mini middle aged triathlon weekend. On Saturday take a one hour walk though the city, using streets you've never been on before. Marvel at the new streetscapes, the lovely houses, the new views. Ideally, during sunset, with a full moon rising. On Sunday take a 45 minute bike ride through the park, followed by a thirty minute swim. Add a ten minute hot tub. Helps if the weather is unseasonably warm, to appreciate the dry spell, before the rains (hopefully) begin.

Best Biscotti- Holiday Treat

These are the best biscotti, delicious!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
Wet Mix
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup evaporated cane juice (sugar) (Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup date sugar (optional)
2 eggs
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Dry mix
1-1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (Trader Joe's)
1/3 cup rolled oats
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 shelled pistachios (or any nuts)

Mix the olive oil and the sugar. Add the eggs one by one. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the wet ingredients. Let stand for 10 minutes, letting the oats soak up moisture.

Spray oil (olive) on a cookie sheet. Form two logs with the dough. Bake 28 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then slice into 3/4" slices and place slices one side down on the cookie sheet.
 Lower heat to 325 degrees.
Bake 10 minutes. Remove and turn cookies to the other side and bake 10 more minutes. Let cool and store airtight. Great for dipping into tea! Enjoy!

Moderation in all things

A drink a day linked to healthy aging...

" "strong, consistent evidence" that people who drink in moderation are less likely than nondrinkers or heavy drinkers to experience health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and dementia, says Qi Sun, M.D., the lead author of the study and a nutrition researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston."
Another strand of evidence for moderation! Drinking a little alcohol spread over the week, is consistent with less degenerative illnesses. Might it be the inflammation fighting effects of moderate alcohol consumption?  Or the stress- lessening effects of alcohol? Or is it a sign of moderation in other lifestyle choices?

Nuts and tofu found to lower cholesterol

There was an article in the news that said research had found that a diet with nuts and tofu had lowered cholesterol levels, even more than cutting back on saturated fats. It got me thinking that maybe what we eat is more important than what we avoid. Maybe those foods that have been shown to have a protective effect on heart heath, like olive oil and nuts, actually do us more good than eliminating saturated fats, which may not be that harmful. Cholesterol is an important building block in the body, it forms the basis of a lot of the hormones we need for proper functioning. We produce cholesterol naturally, but we also need to get some from our food.

Birth of a book

I've spent the last six weeks working on the second edition of my book, "Explaining Health." I've written two new chapters, one on Chinese Medicine and one on Ayurveda. I had those two chapters edited and incorporated changes. I read over the entire manuscript, looking for any overlooked typos. I considered my publishing options, and out of laziness thought I would go with Createspace again, the way I published last time. But it turned out to be too expensive. The cover price of my book would have to be over $20, approaching $25, and I felt that was just too much to ask people to spend, on what is a slim volume. Packed with useful information, but only 138 small pages. So I lost some sleep over it, and then I decided to look into Lightning Source. The price was less, and they have better distribution. Now my book can be $19.95, a price that was more comfortable to me. Lightning Source is way more complicated, with contracts that have to be printed and signed and returned by mail. I missed signing in one place so the whole thing had to be sent again. And then I uploaded my book in the wrong PDF format and had another sleepless night trying to figure out how to fix it. Turns out I had to save it, one page at a time and figure out what was wrong with each page, when it wouldn't save as PDF/X. Finally, I got the whole manuscript to save. Then I had to upload the cover again, and get my designer to redesign the cover to fit on the cover generator. That took two days and many cell phone conversations. Now we both know how to do it. Now I'm just waiting, fingers crossed that both files pass muster and I can start the printing process. Then the fun begins. I feel like I've been in labor for six weeks, and I've been pushing for the last two days, and my designer has been my midwife, helping me along. I can't wait to hold the little darling in my hands.

Interdepndence Day

We need to think about how much we need one another to thrive. We need a balance of work time and social time and solitude. Time to nurture our creativity. Time to just goof off and have fun. If you can take a walk with friends, then you are getting exercise and sociability together. If you can eat good food together, then you can support each others health in making good choices. Peer pressure can be used for good. Moderation can be the way to go. Drink more water, especially if you drink alcohol. We will all have more fun in the long run, if we don't abuse our bodies! The "pursuit of happiness" does not have to mean overindulgence. Sometimes less is more.