Bobby Wonderful
Old age is not for sissies. Neither is old love, whether you’re in it or watching from the sidelines. ~Bob Morris
Bobby Wonderful may seem like a strange title for a book but to author Bob Morris, the two words make perfect sense because “Bobby” and “Wonderful” are the last words spoken by his parents before they passed away. The irony is that the author by his own admission was not a wonderful son (his brother, Jeff deserved that award). He was the irresponsible fun-loving child, the second of two boys whose job was to lighten the mood and entertain. Jeff, his older brother was the responsible one, the leader driven by duty and purpose who always seemed to make the right decision and be in the right place at the right time (there’s always one in every family). Read more 
Hesitation Wounds
Little girls are resilient creatures, hiding in graveyards, under a white coat, behind the bathroom mirror of a 747. Every so often we dare ourselves to peek out and sometimes we even move forward, into the daylight – where the assassin has the open shot.
In Hesitation Wounds by Amy Koppelman, the reader is introduced to Dr. Susanna Seliger, a 43-year old psychiatrist who specializes in treatment resistant depression – a career that requires minimal emotional involvement with patients who have exhausted traditional therapy methods. Her tools are primarily drugs and electrocompulsive shock therapy, the latter of which often causes memory loss – the irony of which is not lost on the reader as the story unfolds. Read more
Commonwealth
Ann Patchett’s most recent work of fiction, Commonwealth is the story of two families: the Keatings (Fix and Beverly and their two young daughters, Caroline and Franny) and the Cousins (Bert and Teresa and their four young children, Cal, Holly, Jeanette, and Albie) over a 50-year period that spans from the 1960’s to current times. Read more
The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook
The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook is not just a big book with delicious low-fat recipes that can be prepared in less than 15 minutes, but also an excellent and concise source of nutritional and medical information written by Dr. John A. McDougall, M.D. and his wife, Mary McDougall. Admittedly, I bought the book for the 300 recipes that seemed uncomplicated and flavorful but then became focused on reading the single page tips that address protein, carbohydrates, fats, genetic diseases, acute versus chronic illness, reading labels, and more. That this book was originally published in 1999 gave me pause because it made me realize I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Some books are timeless; this is one of them. Read more
How Not To Die
How Not To Die may seem to you a strange title for a book. After all, everyone is going to die eventually. It’s about how not to die prematurely. If there is one takeaway message, it’s that you have tremendous power over your health destiny. The vast majority of premature deaths can be prevented with simple changes in what you eat and how you live. In other words, a long and healthy life is largely a matter of choice.
The market is flooded with books on health and the latest fad diet, most of which have their 15 minutes of fame and then get replaced by the discovery of a new miracle diet. But, here’s the truth. There are four things that greatly affect our health: genetics, the environment, lifestyle choices, and medical care. We have no control over genetics and very little control over the environment but we have a lot of control over lifestyle choices and medical care. Read more
10 Better Halloween Treats
Halloween is that one day of the year when it’s all about the candy from the moment the kids wake up to that serene moment when you tuck their sugar laden bodies into bed. Although most people have to go with the flow and tolerate their kids bringing bags of sugary candy (is there any other kind?) home, there are ways to work around the system and provide trick or treaters (and your kids) with a delicious treat that isn’t loaded with garbage. Read more
When Breath Becomes Air
When there’s no place for the scalpel, words are the surgeon’s only tool.
Paul Kalanithi graduated from Stanford with a BA and an MA in English Literature and a BA in Biology. He also earned a MPhil in history and philosophy of science and medicine from Cambridge before attending and graduating from the Yale School of Medicine. He returned to Stanford to do an 8-year residency in neurosurgery and a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience. In his seventh year of residency in May, 2013, 36-year old Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer – an illness that rarely strikes young men (he notes that only 0.0012 percent of 36-year olds get lung cancer). Read more
Where does $1 to NutritionFacts.org go?
The reason we don’t see ads on TV for broccoli is the same reason groundbreaking research on the power of foods and eating patterns to affect our health and longevity gets lost and buried in the medical literature–there’s no profit motive. It may not make anyone money, but what if our lives would profit?
Those are the words often spoken by Dr. Michael Greger, M.D., a physician, author (How Not To Die), and internationally recognized speaker on nutrition, food safety, and public health issues. In 2003, the non-profit NutritionFactsOrg. Inc (Nutrition Facts) was established as a 501 (c) 3 to educate the public on preventing and reversing disease based on nutrition with seed money from the Jesse and Julie Rasch Foundation. Nutrition Facts is now supported by individual donors to keep the organization going. Read more
Farmacology
The most satisfying moment in any process of inquiry is not when one confirms an already held suspicion, but when one is surprised by a new reality.
Such is the lesson learned by Daphne Miller, MD, a practicing physician in California who set out to understand the connection between the farming system and our personal health in Farmacology, which was published in 2013. At the core of this book is the belief that “farming, at its best, can offer a bounty of valuable secrets for transforming our personal health and the practice of medicine.” Read more
In Defense of Food
Michael Pollan’s New York Times bestseller In Defense of Food belongs on the modern-day shortlist of most eye-opening nutrition books, along with Forks Over Knives, The Third Plate, and The Omnivore’s Dilemma (also by Michael Pollan). All four books contribute a vast amount of information to the conversation on health and diet, with three out of the four written by unapologetic carnivores. Read more
Paddock Post 