Blogs

Polyvinyl chloride, also known as PVC or vinyl, is arguably one of the most toxic types of plastic in our lives.

One reason why PVC is so toxic is that it is often mixed with softening chemicals called plasticizers, the most well known variety being phalates.

Exposure to PVC and the plasticizers that often come with it have been strongly associated with an increased risk of developing the following conditions: Read more

During the second half of my wife's first pregnancy, our mothers and aunts told us that we were definitely going to have a baby boy.

How did they know with such certainty?

Because Margaret gained the bulk of her pregnancy weight at the front of her abdomen.

According to widely accepted folklore, if weight gain during pregnancy occurs mainly at the front of the abdomen, one can expect a baby boy. If weight gain occurs more evenly throughout a woman's body and face, it's most likely a girl. Read more

According to Dr. James Vaupel of the Laboratory of Survival and Longevity in Rostock, Germany, a person's life span has very little to do with genetics.

Dr. Vaupel explains that while certain physical traits like height are determined in large part by one's genetics, "only 3 percent of how long you will live compared to the average person can be explained by how long your parents lived." Read more

If you enjoy spinach turnovers but are wary of eating flaky pastries on a regular basis, you may grow very fond of this recipe for truly healthy spinach turnovers. In order to keep it as simple as possible, it calls for frozen spinach, which actually has an excellent nutrient profile. Read more

A study published in a recent edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that taking heartburn drugs like Nexium, Prilosec, or Prevacid for one year or longer can significantly increase the risk of experiencing a hip fracture in people over 50 years of age.

According to IMS Health, a corporation that tracks drug sales all over the world, Nexium is one of the most popular drugs in the world, second only to the cholesterol drug Lipitor. Sales of Nexium totaled $4.6 billion in 2005. Read more

One of the best gifts that we received for Christmas was a small kit of emergency items that we now have tucked away in the trunk of our car in case we ever find ourselves stuck on the road this winter.

If you do not have such a kit in your car, I encourage you to use the following list to prepare one as soon as possible. Read more

Jealousy. Nowhere is this emotion more evident than in a toddler who suddenly finds a new baby in the house to gobble up mommy's and daddy's attention.

My mother-in-law once told me about walking into a room to see her then-5-year-old son about to smother his infant sister's (my wife) face with a pillow. In the same breath of laughter, she went on to tell of another time when she was nursing her youngest, when suddenly, her baby screamed in pain. My mother-in-law wheeled around to discover that her son had pinched his baby sister on the arm while he was behind his mother's back. Read more

Is there a soul among us who cannot help but appreciate the laid-back nature of the slow and steady turtle? Last week, I ran across a fascinating article on the world's most lovable reptile.

What follows are some amazing facts about turtles that I learned from the Times article:

1. Due in large part to its slow metabolism, a turtle can survive for centuries. In March of 2005, a giant tortoise named Adwaita died in a Calcutta zoo at 250 years of age.