Carol Ann Rinzler

While water in plastic bottles is more convenient, New York City tap water is most likely purer, recent studies suggest. ( Photos: B Bart Flickr (right) Kritiaan (left)/Wikimedia Commons)

Tap Is Tops When It Comes to NYC Drinking Water

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued some good news for thirsty New Yorkers. Our tap water, the EPA said in a June...

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12 Jun 2025 | 05:14

A statue of Hippocrates, in the Faculdade de Medicina da Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Before he died in 377 BCE, Hippocrates said food should be your medicine. Now a new study is trying to document that. ( Photo: Paul R. Burley/Wikimedia Commons)

Food as Medicine: New Study Aims to Find Links That Can Aid Recovery from Heart Failure

More than 2,000 years ago, Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, declared, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine...

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09 Jun 2025 | 01:31

A plate of haggis, neeps, and tatties all served on top of each other. It may sound unsavory, but the mixture of a sheep’s lung stuffed with chopped organ meat, oatmeal, and fats is a treasured delicacy in its native Scotland. A version may soon be available here. ( Photo: Metukkalis/Wikimedia Commons )

Offal Truth: Haggis May Soon Be Coming to the United States

Haggis has long been considered a savory delicacy on one side of the Atlantic, in Scotland, but its been banned in the United...

Food & Drink

29 May 2025 | 04:57

After 16 years in development, Del Monte last year introduced a new pineapple called Ruby Glow, which is red on the outside, with the same sweet fruit inside. Only 5,000 were available last year, and the cost was a sky-high $400. ( Photo: Fresh Del Monte)

Pineapple: the Healthy Fruit that Is Still Being Reinvented

The pineapple is a sunny summer treat, and, surprisingly for a fruit that has been around so long, there are big changes...

Food & Drink

17 May 2025 | 03:01

Coffee in the morning can give you more than a jolt. A new study finds that morning coffee drinkers have a longer life expectancy than non coffee drinkers and derive added protection for everything from cardiovascular disease to kidney injuries. ( Photo: Beercha/Wikimedia Commons)

Morning Magic: That First Cup of Joe Packs Surprising Health Benefits, New Report Finds

Your morning coffee isn’t just an upper. Recent research says it helps protect your heart from cardiovascular disease, decreases...

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09 May 2025 | 12:26

The humble date has been a cultivated fruit for 4,000 years and is still considered a delicacy in many lands. The Biblical reference to the “land of milk and honey” is believed by scholars to refer to the honey from the date fruit, not a honey bee. ( Photo: Carole Raddato/Wikimedia Commons)

Dating Dates: A 4,000-Year-Old Fruit, with Biblical Roots

It has humble roots, but a grand name: “the tree of life,” and its history stretches back thousands of years.

The date may...

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02 May 2025 | 04:55

If not interested in the new GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, support groups abound for anyone trying to shed a few pounds before the start of beach season. ( Photo: Alex Rio/Wikimedia Commons)

Where to Turn If You’re Trying to Shed Some Pounds Before Beach Season Arrives

From time to time, everyone needs a friend. When you are trying to lose weight, the friend you need is one who can help you...

Food & Drink

26 Apr 2025 | 03:31

Young Norman Mailer was not allowed by the publisher of his classic war novel <i>The Naked and the Dead</i> to use the F-word in the book. He substituted the word “<i>fug”</i> instead.

Young Norman Mailer was not allowed by the publisher of his classic war novel The Naked and the Dead to use the F-word in the book. He substituted the word “fug” instead. ( Photo: Bernard Gotfryd/Wikimedia Commons)

Explosive Language Can Help Keep You From Exploding, Experts Say

Modern science says that peppering your speech with salty words is good for your body as well as your brain.

For starters,...

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21 Apr 2025 | 12:34

Whether a long, slow run or a fast sprint, it is important to stretch before and after you exercise, experts say. ( Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Fast Run, Slow Run, Five Day, Two Day: It All Depends on Your Goals

The New York Road Runners Club has just waded through 200,000 applicants to choose the lucky tens of thousands of entrants...

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04 Apr 2025 | 12:19

Charles Osborne started hiccupping after an accident on a farm in Nebraska when he was 29 years old and he did not stop for 68 years. His hiccups finally stopped in 1990 when he was 96 years old, and a year later he died of natural causes. ( Photo: X Seriously Strange)

One Man Hiccuped for 68 Yrs; Doctors Cannot Explain Why He, or Anyone Else, Hiccups

Hiccups are a medical mystery, a clear condition with confusing causes. And nobody can definitely say why some of the suggested...

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28 Mar 2025 | 02:32

The poster for a 1933 film was painted by artist <a rel=nofollow href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Vargas>Alberto Vargas</a>, who later became known for his images of the “Vargas Girls” in Esquire and later Playboy. It shows that thinness has long been an ideal pushed by Hollywood and the fashion world.

The poster for a 1933 film was painted by artist Alberto Vargas, who later became known for his images of the “Vargas Girls” in Esquire and later Playboy. It shows that thinness has long been an ideal pushed by Hollywood and the fashion world. ( Photo: Majestic Pictures)

The Overlooked Weight Problem: Americans Who Are Too Skinny

Much attention has been focused on the growing problem of being overweight in the US, but at the opposite end of the scale,...

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22 Mar 2025 | 11:39

What do you know? It’s the vinegar, not the pickles that count. ( Photo: Alexas_Fotos/Pixabay20)

Pick a Pack of Pickles for a Picker Upper, But It’s the Vinegar That Counts

If eating pickles peps you up, a small but intriguing study at Arizona State University suggested that what’s doing the job...

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01 Mar 2025 | 01:10

Get them while you can: Scientists worry that a fungus that wiped out an earlier line of bananas in the 1950s is once again threatening the survival of existing lines. But they think they have a cure this time. ( Photo: Dainis Graveris/Wikimedia Commons)

Banana in Case It Goes Extinct

The original banana, known as Gros Michel, AKA Big Mike, went extinct in the 1950s. And now scientists warn that some of...

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20 Feb 2025 | 05:09

The average American consumes over six pounds of potato chips in the course of a year. It’s a snack that is also a food, but one with some obvious caveats. ( Photo: Evan-Amos/Wikimedia Commons)

Despite an FDA Recall of Lay’s, the Potato Chip Is a Real Food With Some Benefits

Despite a recent FDA recall on Lay’s Classic Potato Chips for “undeclared milk” discovered in some packages that could pose...

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31 Jan 2025 | 10:13

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends consumers follow the above four steps to help prevent foodborne illnesses. ( Photo: CDC)

Food-borne Pathogens Are on the Rise in US: Wash All Produce

Giving fresh fruits and veggies a pre-dinner bath is not just a beauty treatment to give produce a fresh, clean look: It’s...

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24 Jan 2025 | 11:52