I have to admit, I didn’t grow up eating curry. It just wasn’t a mainstay in the New England diet, and my parents still aren’t much into trying new foods. And while this follows the whole “you can’t teach old dogs new tricks” thinking, anyone who doesn’t at least try curry, or more importantly, turmeric, is possibly missing out on some pretty spectacular health benefits. Turmeric is a spice used in various dishes in many Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The reason that turmeric is so important is the derived chemical, curcumin. Curcumin has been implicated in numerous studies as…

In our last blog post I wrote about the amazing chain of events that occurred when one man, Rick Ruzzamenti, decided to donate one of his kidneys. His selfless donation led to 29 other kidney donations and linked together 60 donors and recipients in a long chain. But there is another hero in that story who personally inspired me. In the US, “donation reciprocity” is possible because many people in need of a transplant know someone who would like to donate to them, but can’t due to immunological incompatibility. In these cases, it’s possible for the recipient to receive a…

I recently read a story that amazed me so much I wanted to share it with you. It started when Rick Ruzzamenti, a New Yorker, decided to donate a kidney after hearing a story about organ donation at his local yoga studio. The result? One altruistic act started a chain of events that linked 60 people, including 30 kidney-transplant recipients. You see, we only need one kidney for our body to function, yet are born with two. So this second kidney can be donated to someone whose own kidneys are failing. A number of factors go into determining whether a…

You may remember just over a month ago, when we promised to donate half of the registration fees from our Holiday Package to charity:water. We sent in $37,500 to be exact. The Holiday Package charity is an annual project that the staff chooses. (I don’t vote, since I get to choose the other charities that we fund. You can see my charity choices here.) We had gone through an involved process here, trying to decide which organization should get the money, and had documented the process in one of our earlier blogs. But this week, we were again faced with…

I recently read about a new blog started by a man who wanted to do one act of kindness a day for the entire year in celebration of his daughter’s birth. So far, he has done things like buy lunch for firefighters, put change in vending machines, compliment strangers, and let people go ahead of him at stop signs and elevators. On Valentine’s Day, he gave out cards to people on the street. He will continue his acts of kindness for the rest of the year. As I read his daily activities, I found myself wondering two things: (1) what…

I was just reading about the abnormally severe winter that folks in Europe are currently enduring. Last year at this time, my house was surrounded by six-foot snow piles and topics of conversation were about how to shovel snow off the roof. At any rate, my exercise regiment had fallen by the way-side, with snow shoveling becoming my top aerobic activity. This year, however, we’ve been having a heat wave. I see joggers outside everyday. It’s this time of the year, the time when the weather seems to discourage physical activity, that I like to remind myself about the myriad…