Most of the questions I get from you, dear readers, are easy, such as Skip's inquiry (in the spirit of my corny joke column), "How do you know when blue cheese has gone bad?" Baa ha ha.

Other letters spur me on to do more research on a topic. A recent reader, for example, scolded me for taking peanuts on a recent flight to a family wedding. (We...Read more

In a recent column, I stated, "Even if we entirely avoided all carbohydrates, our bodies would use protein in an alternate recipe to make glucose (sugar) to fuel our cells."

A reader in Ontario, Canada, responded: "According to Dr. Jason Fung, author of "The Obesity Code," if one eats a diet of 65 percent healthy fat, 35 percent protein, and 5 ...Read more

On our peanut flight to a family wedding in Oregon, my six year-old granddaughter chattered, "Guess what my brother (age 4) can make in his mouth out of peanuts?"

What? I asked.

"Peanut butter."

Not a bad snack either way, I thought.

When we landed at our destination, she watched out the window as workers for this particular airline ...Read more

I often get asked if it's difficult to come up with a new topic about nutrition each week. Are you kidding me? My biggest challenge is to narrow down the daily input of nutrition research into just one subject. Call it summertime, but this week I wasn't up to the challenge. So here are more than one newsworthy findings that popped up in the ...Read more

My friend Connie is the only person I know who calls up to say, "Let me know if you want me to come over and pull weeds for you." Perhaps she sees something I don't? Weeds aside, this is the time of year when I really admire the green thumbs of my neighbors, especially when it comes to the vegetables growing so beautifully in their gardens. I'm ...Read more

We could avoid about 3 of every 10 common types of cancer if we would change certain diet and lifestyle habits, says the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research. A good place to start, they recommend, is to eat a nutritionally balanced diet and stay away from tobacco and excess alcohol.

What about sugar? Doesn'...Read more

Historians tell us that the red, white and blue colors of our nation's flag had no official meaning when Old Glory became our national symbol of independence in 1777. However, red, white and blue did take on meaning in 1782 when our founding fathers stipulated that the Great Seal of the United States would reflect their beliefs and values. Red, ...Read more

I'm anxiously waiting to enjoy an array of garden fresh vegetables offered by my green thumb friends and neighbors this time of year. (I pay them back in the fall, when I get to share an abundance of apples from my two prolific trees.)

Besides the fact that right-out-of-the-garden fruit and vegetables are astoundingly delicious, we also know ...Read more

You may have seen the ads, "You in the Honda. Put down the donut." That's just one innovative approach of Montage Health, a non-profit health entity that includes the hospital I've been affiliated with for many years. In its annual report, this health organization issued a lofty challenge: "Let's make Monterey the healthiest county in the state....Read more

My daughter suggested I write a column about hydration. Great idea, since a road trip through drought-stricken New Mexico and Arizona was on the horizon. No worries. We remembered to pack plenty of bottled water in the ice chest.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), we need water every day of our lives. When water stores are ...Read more

It's (almost) summer. And I'd rather spend these longer days doing something fun rather than fretting over complicated recipes. So what a nice surprise to find -- in a recent issue of Food and Nutrition magazine -- these "lazy delicious" go-to recipes from registered dietitian nutritionists (with ingredients I probably already have on hand):

...Read more

Thank you, readers, for your comments and questions. Here are a few that caught my attention:

Angie D. writes: "I was reading your article (on) sweeteners and have a question about stevia. I am wondering about the safety and use of this product. Most folks think it is great as it is a natural product but I wonder about how it metabolizes in the...Read more