Living Naturally
If you’ve ever tended a big food garden in a region that gets frost—the kind of garden that you hope will feed your household all year long—you know the alternate reality that late summer brings.
It’s hard to think of anything else, much less do anything but monitor the crops, harvest, process, and store all of those fruits, vegetables, and herbs exploding with abundance.
In one…
Oats are good for more than just breakfast. Read on to learn about the health benefits of oatmeal and oats, as well as what else they can do!
Use Oats for Summer Relief
The humble oat (Avena sativa) has a long history of medicinal uses use that continues to this day.
Modern research suggests that oats or extracts of oats may reduces cholesterol, lower blood pressure,…
Fading blond? Mousy brown? Bring on the rhubarb! Here’s how to naturally lighten your hair using nothing but rhubarb and water.
You’ve heard of champagne blond, strawberry blond, and honey blond. Since it’s rhubarb season here in New England, let me introduce the Rhubarb Blond.
But first a bit of background. Rhubarb has a history of medicinal and cosmetic use that spans more…
My mother dosed her kids with generous amounts of dandelion greens as soon as she discovered their bright leaves in springtime. Yet this common plant is dismissed today as only a weed. If you’d like to explore eating dandelions, first learn how to harvest and clean this wild green.I was one of nine children growing up during the Depression on a Vermont dairy farm. Mom regaled us with…
You leak a little or a lot, or you go so often it’s begun affecting your quality of life. You wonder if you suffer from the “overactive bladder” you’ve been hearing about so much about these days.Just what is overactive bladder (nicknamed OAB), anyway?First, while it can be embarrassing, even alarming, overactive bladder is not a disease. It is a condition, marked by an unexpected…
The Japanese poetic form called haiku seems perfectly tailored as a discipline for someone who writes about “natural living.”In its classical form, a haiku requires 1. a natural or seasonal reference; 2. three lines of text—the first and third lines containing five syllables, the middle line containing seven; 3. two concrete, sensory images separated by a pivotal phrase or word that links…
You know the canned beans liquid that most people just dump down the drain? It turns out that the leftover “juice” is the perfect egg replacer called “aquafaba.”When I heard about aquafaba, I was filled with such disbelief that I had to get up and make some right away! Here’s how:IngredientsUse the liquid from a can of beans or the liquid left after you cook…
Health emergencies can arise in many forms—from a fall down the cellar stairs to a bicycle accident to something more life-threatening. Do you know who to call? Do you know where to go? Do you know how to get there?Often, an emergency strikes suddenly without warning. Sometimes, it’s when you have guests, or your routine is different.Pause, and add “health emergency preparation” to your…
Ever had discomfort or pain in your jaw muscles? Let’s talk about TMJ symptoms, causes, and treatment.One morning many years ago, I woke up with serious pain in my right jaw. I found chewing painful for several days. Did I have TMJ?What is TMJ Disorder?The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) connects the jaw to the temporal bone in the skull and surrounding tissues, which…
If you have a garden, I hope you grow the beautiful annual flower calendula.
Calendula officinalis produces beautiful orange or yellow flowers from seed in midsummer until frost, attracting honeybees, bumblebees, and other pollen and nectar-seeking insects, as well as hummingbirds.
Calendula self-sows readily in the garden if you allow a few flower heads to fall to the ground (or you…
There’s nothing homelier—or, homier—than a steaming bowl of ordinary green/brown lentil soup. But, hey, looks aren’t everything. As a staple food, lentils deliver incredible health benefits. For starters, lentils (along with their close relatives beans, chickpeas, and dry peas called pulses) have been called an “almost perfect food.” They are low in fat and sodium, low-glycemic, and…
Understand what “health risks” mean—are they “relative” risks or “absolute” risks. Claims can be misleading (and downright scary).You’ve seen the headlines: “Breakthrough therapy cuts risk of [name a disease] 60 percent!”, or “[Name your condition] patients have an 85 percent higher risk of [name a condition] than people who don’t.”The first case celebrates what appears to be a…