Monthly Archives: March 2015

Olive Oil Sampling

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Thanks to those of you who came to our olive oil tasting that snowy February evening! Did you know that real olive oil is simply the juice pressed from the fruit (the olives) of the olive tree? Pressing olives for their juice is the way olive oil has been made for thousands of years.

Why do we eat olive oil? Not only because it makes our food luscious, but because it has so many health properties (one US cardiologist recommends we enjoy at least 2 Tbsp per day).

In this country, we consume one quart per person per year, while citizens of Greece consume five gallons each. Citizens of Spain enjoy 3.4 gallons per person per year. We have a long way to go to catch up, don’t we!?! ...Read More

Help spread the word!

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Our television cooking show, Eat Well Be Happy, is releasing four new shows in March. We are having fun! And we’re happy to announce that Eat Well Be Happy is now airing in Cambridge Sundays at 5:00 p.m. and Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. We need a resident sponsor for Watertown, Newton and Wellesley. If you live in one of those towns and would be willing to be our sponsor there, would you let us know?

Napa Ginger Beet Slaw

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This is a snap to make, and a colorful, cleansing salad (it’s the beets and ginger). Speaking of beets, they are not only versatile, but nutrient-rich. A little goes a long way!  And about ginger, in ancient Rome, a pound of ginger equaled the price of a whole sheep. Ginger was so prized in China that entire dynasties rose and fell over this spicy root. Men went to war over ginger…

I have fallen in love with Napa cabbage because its texture is softer and more delicate (it’s easier to chew than regular cabbage). If you haven’t tried Napa cabbage, do, and let’s try growing it in our gardens this year as well! ...Read More

Should I Take It With Food?

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To every rule, there are a million-and-one exceptions…

Capsules vs. Tablets vs. Liquids vs. Powders: The really big difference here is tablets vs. everything else. Tablets tend to be hard, compressed pills that take longer to dissolve. Of course all tablets from reputable companies will have passed a USP Dissolution Assay, demonstrating that they can break down within 40 minutes in standard stomach conditions. But not all stomachs are “standard.” And you don’t always get those 40 minutes. And since most of our absorption occurs in the beginning-middle of our small intestines, a tablet that breaks down too far down the tract won’t get absorbed.

Hard tablets need some quality time in the stomach to break down.

If you take a tablet with food, the tablet is trapped there while the food is being mashed and churned. On an empty stomach, however, tablet can sometimes be in-and-out before that has a chance to happen. This is less of a concern with soft tablets, of course. ...Read More