Articles on Health

Help Prevent the Spread of Flu

While the H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) makes this year’s flu season particularly worrisome, there is good news. According to Hawaii Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo, the rate of non-fatal flu cases in Hawaii — either seasonal or H1N1 — is down from earlier this summer. But, she warns that widespread outbreaks in some Mainland states could easily spread to Hawai'i at any time.

To help prevent an outbreak, the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) recommends that everyone get the new H1N1 vaccine as it becomes available. Keep Reading →

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Every Christmas we're challenged to pick gifts for friends and loved ones. We wrack our brains for the right items, with the right brand names. Sometimes we consider our finances and decide where to sacrifice and where to splurge. “What can I give that really expresses my love and care?” Keep Reading →

Thanksgiving in Hawaii

Long before the Pilgrims, native Hawaiians celebrated "Makahiki," the longest thanksgiving in the world, which lasted four months—approximately November through February. During this time, both work and war were forbidden.1, 2 As the most important holiday of the year, Makahiki is the traditional Hawaiian celebration of the harvest and time of personal rest and spiritual and cultural renewal.3 It was a humbling experience. Keep Reading →

A Wholesome, Plant-Based Diet May Cut Risks and Complications of Diabetes

If the cost of treating a chronic health condition is weighing you down, you’re not alone. Last month, the World Economic Forum estimated that by the year 2030, the global cost of treating chronic health conditions will total $47 trillion dollars.1 According to the National Institute of Health, diabetes alone affects almost 26 million people in the United States and national treatment costs for diabetes total $174 billion dollars per year. Furthermore, individuals diagnosed with diabetes have an average of twice as many medical expenses as non-diabetics.2 Keep Reading →

Obesity in America

Obesity in America

If health is wealth, America is going bankrupt. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of adults and one sixth of children in America are obese.1 In the past twenty years, obesity rates doubled for adults and tripled for children. If these trends continue, by the time today’s children reach adulthood, obesity will be the norm and healthy weight the exception.

Native Hawaiians disproportionately affected by obesity Keep Reading →

Reduce Heart Aches Through Plant-Based Diet

This February, in honor of American Heart month, numerous health organizations around the country are doing their part to raise awareness about the danger of and prevalence of heart disease. As you may have heard, heart disease is the leading cause of death for women and men, and evidence of heart disease shows up in children as young as nine.1 Thankfully, there is something you can do to help reduce your risk of developing heart disease. Keep Reading →

Want to Lose Weight? Tune Out Your Inner Cathy

Ack! Any woman who's ever tried to lose weight can identify with those three little letters. Standing on a scale, reaching for a donut or trying on a bathing suit all bring that familiar refrain to mind. Even though I was never a big fan of the comic strip Cathy, it still made a big impression on me. In fact, thinking back, my impression of what a diet was supposed to be mainly came from Cathy's continual struggles to maintain one. A diet, according to the Cathy universe, is when you stop eating everything fun. Of course, you can't keep this up for long. Keep Reading →

A Time to Give Thanks: The Vegetarian Way

Isn’t it wonderful that Mother Nature has given us all the plants we need to meet our nutritional requirements without having to slaughter animals for food ...and that in doing so, we improve our health and contribute to a cleaner and safer environment! This is one of the most important—and least understood--reasons for which we have to give thanks. It's one of the reasons why a few friends of mine will join together again this year to hold a vegetarian Thanksgiving feast. It’s their way of giving thanks. Keep Reading →

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

While I am relieved that the oil spill has been plugged and that recovery is underway, I remain haunted by the environmental disaster. As photos of oil coated birds and turtles blanketed the news, and I heard friends from Louisiana and Florida sharing their frustration over the devastation to the ecosystem that sustains their culture and way of life, I was struck by a feeling of utter powerlessness. The thought of all that oil gushing into the sea, every minute of every hour of every day, for over eighty days, has been a reminder to me of the limits of my control. Keep Reading →