HEARTh & HOME

  By Betsy Bruns I have a confession to make. I’ve been overdosing on vitamin D all winter. How does one get extreme doses of the sunshine hormone? One way is spending lots of time outside in the light. Five to fifteen minutes of midday sun exposure can be enough …

  By Betsy Bruns When it comes to exercise, leaning out, and building muscle, the proverbial nutrition plan in modern history has been akin to Rocky Balboa’s. For those of you too young to remember in the 1976 movie, Rocky, Sylvester Stallone plays a lovable loan shark debt collector with …

  By Betsy Bruns Welcome to February, the month where we celebrate the heart—in health and in love—with both Valentine’s Day and National Heart Health Month! In Feb. 2016, I spent the days by my sister’s side as she recovered from open heart bypass surgery. It was her 52nd birthday. In the …

  By Betsy Bruns Beans, beans, they’re good for the heart…the more you eat…the more you lose. Traditionally, this time of year, many people embark on a weight loss plan in an attempt to release excess pounds. You may know where I’m going with this, as I’ve written previously about …

  By Betsy Bruns A holiday tradition in our family has been to create narrative poems that weave in the events of the year. The following poem from me to you is an ode to creating new holiday traditions on the heels of a transformative year. One of the ways …

  By Betsy Bruns In the United States, November 2020 is a dynamic month with much of our attention on health, politics, and of course, Thanksgiving. It’s also World Vegan Month. Each November plant-based eaters from across the globe celebrate a cruelty-free lifestyle. My life transformed when I went vegan. …

By Betsy Bruns As a classic, October-born Libra, I love the fall by design. After all the summer fun and UV rays, cooler temperatures, brilliant colors, falling leaves and warming fires are welcome—as are pumpkins, root vegetables and sweet treats. Orange you ready for fall? It was not until I …

  By Betsy Bruns Labor Day has been a bittersweet holiday for most of my life. Sweet because we were usually having a barbeque, attending one, or off on a road trip. Bitter because it signaled the end of summer fun. What is Labor Day and why do we celebrate …

By Betsy Bruns I’ve never had much of a green thumb—more like a brown one. Although it’s my mission to inspire others to eat more plants, I’m much more comfortable in the kitchen than in the garden. This year, a friend planted a small garden for my husband and me. …

  By Betsy Bruns We are now full swing into grill season in the United States. What a long, strange Spring it’s been. Most of us know that meaty, fatty barbeque is not healthy. In recent months, meat has been harder to come by, and with the closures of meat processing …