The Nature of Things

I've written here before about my battles with restless leg syndrome and how I was persuaded to sleep with a bar of soap as a magical(?) cure for the problem. Much to my surprise, it actually worked. My twitchy legs stopped twitching at night and keeping me awake. I was able to sleep soundly. I still don't know why it worked. Psychological palliative? Placebo effect? Who knows? Who cares, really, as long as it worked. But then it stopped working. By this past summer, the problem had returned with a vengeance. My legs were no longer just restless at night - they ached. I spent my nights tossing and turning and my days frowning and snapping at people. Finally, I got so desperate that I actually discussed the problem with my doctor. "Well, duh," you might say, and you would be right. My doctor asked me several questions about my symptoms and then explained that there might be several causes. It could be a nerve problem which could be treated with a very low dosage of a ...

Every time you open a newspaper or check out a news website online it seems that you run across another report of some food that is supposed to be so powerful that it might even help you live forever. Often it is some exotic food that you might have to visit a specialty store to find. But there are some everyday foods that can give any of those exotics a run for their money. They may not help you live forever, but it is possible that they could prolong your life and they could definitely make your feel better while you are enjoying that life. Here are ten of them that you should be able to find in just about any grocery store and that you can easily work into your daily diet. 1. Berries - Fruits like raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries are high in fiber. There is evidence that they help to protect against some cancers. Plus, they are good for your sweet tooth. They are low in calories but taste sweet and can help satisfy that craving for a sweet. 2. Beans - They conta...

In this hot and humid corner of the world, the best time for walking for exercise this time of year is very early in the morning. Later in the day, even late in the afternoon, the heat makes the experience most unpleasant if not unbearable. And so, I've been trying to do my walking early in the morning, and seven o'clock this morning found my husband and me at a local park hitting the trails for the next hour. Even at that, I was drenched in sweat by the end of the hour and had to go home and change my clothes. But as I was walking, I was thinking about walking and its place in our lives. Mostly we do it for exercise. We don't do it to actually go from one place to another or as a normal part of our daily routine. We have to make the effort to walk, and often, like this morning, we have to first drive somewhere in order to do our walking. How different from the custom that exists in much of the world, even in this era of the automobile. In many if not most countries...