My dog pooped out on me. No, I don’t mean that my favorite pooch, Jett, tired too early on our daily walk. I mean she literally “pooped” on the sidewalk in front of the president of our neighborhood homeowner’s association! For the nine years of her short life, she has never urinated or defecated during our one-two mile daily walk. Generally, she has more sophistication and reserves her daily constitution (as my British grandmother Mumsie called it) until we arrive home from our routine exercise.  [Read more…]

I love Cheetos! Don’t tell anyone (I think I already did), but I really do LOVE Cheetos! They are not good for me at all. Crammed with fats, salt and processed starches, they are the ULTIMATE bad food. I never eat Cheetos around anyone, and especially never at work, because Cheetos turn my fingers orange and that is highly embarrassing and unhygienic. Generally, I only eat Cheetos when I “steal” a few from my kids. [Read more…]

Throughout my professional career as a physician, I have been taught to spare children exposure to allergenic foods such as peanuts, shrimp and eggs until they are older. In fact, long-standing recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics have had physicians discourage parents from introducing milk until age 1, eggs until age 2 and peanuts until a child is 3. Overprotecting children may be harmful, however, when it comes to food allergies. [Read more…]

32 donuts! That’s how many Uncle Si ate in a family donut-eating contest on a recent episode of Duck Dynasty. 32 donuts! He sat down at the counter and ate 32 donuts (sorry, I am still going through stages of disbelief). This is not the first time Uncle Si has been in the spotlight. In a prior episode, the family poked fun at him for his frequent trips to the restroom. While house hunting, he repeatedly had to leave his interview to find bladder relief in a nearby restroom. [Read more…]