Bed Bug Alert: What to Know Before You Go
Okay, it’s gross and no fun to read about, but frequent travelers everywhere are buzzing about…bed bugs. Is this for real? Apparently it’s all too real; a pest we thought was a relic of depression-era tenements is now taking up residence in hotels across the globe. What surprised me the most, I must confess, is [...]
Seven Foods That Help You Lose Weight
Explanatory note: This is an article I originally wrote for Caring.com, which then got picked up by MSN Health. (Both versions are linked here for proper credit, since I was paid for my work.) Don’t get me wrong, this kind of exposure is great, and much appreciated. What isn’t so great is that bloggers across [...]
Women + Travel + Hotel Rooms = Sleep? Not Always!
Would you book a hotel room if you knew the bathroom was a walk away — outdoors? That subject came up recently when I recommended TreeBones, an incredible eco-resort in Big Sur, to a friend. I told her TreeBones was one of my favorite places I’ve ever stayed, but warned her that the elegantly furnished [...]
Germs on a Plane: 5 Myths and Truths About Healthy Flying
Is it true you get sick every time you fly, or does it just seem like it? It’s a common belief that planes are germ factories and with every passing minute you spend in the cabin, you’re more likely to get sick. So what’s myth and what’s fact?Test your knowledge about planes and germs by [...]
7 Reasons You Need Vitamin D to Stay Healthy in Winter
The days are getting short and dark now that it’s mid-November, and at the end of many a busy day I realize I haven’t managed to get out in the sun once all day. That’s not a good thing, because more and more evidence is pouring in that getting enough vitamin D — sometimes called [...]
Going Green in Napa At Long Last
The Napa Valley is known the world over for wine making and grape growing, but oddly, it’s never been a particularly environmentally enlightened region. For one thing, growing grapes requires a great deal of water and — unless they’re organic — quite a lot of pesticides, too. Not to mention that the sheer number of [...]
Hate Insomnia? 5 Foods That Sabotage Sleep
A few weeks ago I stumbled on some interesting research about foods that sabotage sleep and wrote it up in a short article for Caring.com, a website for Baby Boomers caring for aging family members. Last week the Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s health blogger picked up my story, and it’s been an interesting ride ever since. On [...]
How to Save $$Thousands in Health Care Costs with Medical Tourism
When I was in Costa Rica a few weeks ago, I continually found myself running into Americans who were in the country for a combination of R&R and medical tourism. I met a couple in the San Jose airport who planned to stay in the city for a few days to have dental work done [...]
Yikes — No Ice Cream in Mexico?!
More than 95 percent of the desserts sampled from restaurants in Mexico tested positive for coliform bacteria, according to research to be published in the April issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The researchers from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, selected a random sample of desserts from restaurants in [...]
