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For centuries, the unusual looking violet and white passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) has been used as a calming botanical treatment. Passionflower is an ecomedicine option to reduce anxiety and stress. Its use dates back to the Aztecs in Central America who used parts of the vine to treat [...]
I’ve devoted several blogs to the Mediterranean Diet–its affect on cholesterol, on Alzheimer’s prevention, its red wine and palliation near the end of life, and its easy, rustic preparations. The mechanisms of the Mediterranean diet remain elusive: whether it is because of its [...]
In a prospective epidemiological study, men who consumed as few as three portions of flavonoid-rich foods (red and purple berries, citrus fruits, red wine) were 14% less likely to develop erectile dysfunction (ED) compared to men who ate little or none. Wine gets short shrift here, sadly, but [...]
My essay on prescribing wine in palliative care on Medscape has attracted lots of comments, and that’s good: we need to put this issue on the table and make it part of our discussion about well-being as a goal of medicine, and as part of care near the end [...]
Heart Healthy Diet Plan Most people with heart disease don’t know how to eat after a heart attack. A well-done study from UMass followed 555 patients one year after their angiogram after their heart attack. They were overweight (average BMI of 30, about 30 pounds over), averaged 61 years [...]
Good diet foods for aging healthfully is not just about wise and healthy aging: it’s about a healthy foods list and good diet foods. Because a heathy food plan can be simple, or it can be complex. I vote for simple and for healthy aging. One healthy aging study [...]
Good diet foods for high blood pressure include blueberries, flax meal, hibiscus or jamaica tea, and beet juice. But high blood pressure management starts with measuring it accurately: I recommend the Omron Series 7 for home. These foods all have very good peer-reviewed medical research that shows [...]
My Medscape essay on Prescribing Red Wine in Palliative Care, which I’ve reproduced for you below, has attracted good stories and comments, and it is something I have thought a lot about, while also trying to decide whether to get labs on my 18 month old barrels of pinot [...]
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Wine is bottled poetry (Stevenson), or the civilized drink (Hemingway), or magic. Making wine is, if you can believe it, even better. Wine is also good for you, in small, regular amounts: it almost certainly reduces risk for heart attack and stroke; reduces inflammation (likely the mechanism of [...]