More About My Podcasting Experience with iWeb, Garage Band and dotMac

In a previous post, I talked about my good experiences with creating a podcast in Garage Band and using iWeb to upload it to dotMac.

I do have a couple of things to report (now that it's done) that didn't work out as well. These are small things, but I wanted you to know the gorey details just the same.

The podcast ended up being a very manageable size of 46MB for a 47 minutes podcast. I am very happy with the size reduction. The sound is good quality, especially the music. No complaints there.

The problems came when uploading the file to iTunes. The process seemed to go fine, but when control flipped over to iTunes, the podcast seemed to have the wrong thumbnail photo (I didn't even recognize it - some dark trees or something) and it also had the wrong title.

I found out that iTunes grabbed the sub-heading as the title of the podcast from iWeb, rather than the title at the top of the page in iWeb. That was a pain. So now the title of my podcast in iTunes is "Holistic News & Politics" instead of what it should be "Holistic Health Nation." Plus, it didn't translate the stupid ampersand (&) properly either. Double pain in the butt.

These two things will make my podcast look bad in iTunes, plus they might make it hard for people to find it.

Luckily, a search of "Holistic Health Nation" in iTunes will still produce my podcast, along with two others, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find. Plus, if people will search for "Kulak" (my last name) they'll also find my podcast, along with two songs in iTunes that look like some sort of Muslim religious songs (!?!).

Further, Apple provides a help page for podcasters on how to make changes to your podcast, but this stuff is incredibly techie stuff. The whole process, with Garage Band, iWeb and dotMac, is very user friendly, but GOD HELP YOU if you need to make changes once your podcast is in iTunes. The process from there on is very archaic. I'm a techie and I'm still hesitant to do all this crap they're suggesting.

Anyway, I'm very happy with the overall process. I'll continue using all these tools, and hopefully Apple will issue a bug fix on iWeb so iTunes takes the right stuff for the cover art (thumbnail image) and the podcast title.

Enrollment in Health Savings Accounts Triples

The L.A. Times reports that enrollments in Health Savings Accounts tripled in last 10 months.

This is a very significant uptick in usage of this important tool for our healthcare. We're finally beginning to take advantage of the triple tax savings in HSAs, and taking charge of our own healthcare in the process. As I've written in my book, Health Insurance Off the Grid, HSAs are an important piece to the health insurance puzzle for the self-employed, unemployed and underinsured.

I'm going to write an article very soon on exactly how HSAs will point many more Americans in the direction of holistic healthcare. This may seem like a non-sequiter, because HSAs do not cover most holistic practices, but I'll show in my article how the two are closely linked.

More to come!

Holistic Health Nation Podcast Is Live!

We did it! The new podcast "Holistic Health Nation" went live tonight with our first podcast episode.

The URL for the podcast is www.holistichealthnation.com. The podcast feed is:

http://rss.mac.com/darylkulak/iWeb/Holistic%20Health%20Nation/Podcast/rss.xml

If you have subscribed to podcasts before, you know what to do.

If you haven't, here are some steps for you.

First, you need a "podcast catcher." This is a piece of software (usually free), that you can install on your computer to automatically receive new episodes of podcasts.

The best software for this is Apple iTunes. Yes, this is the same software that allows you to move songs to your iPod. iTunes works on Apple Macintosh and the newer versions of Windows. It is a great podcast catcher. Once you have iTunes installed, just click on the Podcasts link and choose the ones you like. Holistic Health Nation will be there under the Health category. Type in "Holistic Health Nation" into the search window.

If you don't use Macintosh (OS x) or a newer version of Windows (NT, XP, etc.), then you might need to use a different podcast catcher. Try Indie Podder. It is a free download too.

You can also listen to the podcast right on the Website. But if you like it, you'll need to subscribe through a podcast catcher like iTunes or Indie Podder.

Please have a listen! I'm so interested to hear what you like and don't like about the new podcast. Another one comin' next week!

Next Time You Think the World is a Bad Place...(Remember Open Source)

Next time you are upset with the world, with all the corruption in government, the selfish people, the downhill slide of our morality...

I want you to think of open source software. Open source software (OSS) is software that's been created by communities of programmers who are not being paid, and who do not charge for their product. It includes large groups of people who've never met each other, collaborating over the Internet, e-mailing each other, trying to fix problems, responding to users with help. All in their "hobby time." It's not their job. They don't get paid.

Imagine if your hobby was something that contributed to the long-term good of humanity. Maybe it is. It probably is.

For open source programmers, they are contributing to the good of all of us. I use all kinds of open source products. I'm starting a business, and I often cannot afford the software I need to use. So I use open source.

But think of the other people using it. Some kid in a poor family gets a run-down old PC from somebody. She's a genius. She goes to the library to get connected to the Internet. She downloads a bunch of open source software and begins to use it to create something great. A new piece of software. A novel. Something new.

And then she distributes it on the Internet. The idea gets out. And we've benefitted from this kid who, ten years ago, could not have made her contribution. Now she can.

Here are some of the open source software packages I've used:

OpenOffice - an office suite (word processing, spreadsheet, graphics, presentations)
Gimp - a photo manipulation program like Photoshop
Inkscape - a vector graphics program
Firefox - an Internet browser
Thunderbird - an e-mail client to replace Outlook
GnuCash - an accounting package like Quickbooks
dotProject - a project management system
phpWebsite - a content management for my Website
vTiger - a customer database system
Sunbird - a task management and calendaring system (PIM - like Outlook but no e-mail - soon to be integrated into Thunderbird)

I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of them right now. And much of this stuff is better than the paid software it's replacing (Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Internet Explorer, etc.)

Support the world of open source. Download the software, use it, help to document it, helping coding (if you can), help make it happen.

Podcast is Coming January 25, 2006

I've recorded the interview with Patty Shipley, reserved the domain name www.holistichealthnation.com and I've recorded the introduction, the songs and the other comments. I've mixed it together in Apple Garage Band. The file was extremely large (400MB !!) but there is a way to compress it into an AAC file (75MB). That's still pretty large, but it's the usual for a podcast that lasts 45 minutes.

My job now is to set up the domain with a nice podcast page (made with iWeb, I hope), and to create an MP3 file from the AAC thing I have now.

Wish me luck! We go live on January 25, 2006. Please subscribe when it comes up. I'd love for you to listen in.

The Yes Men

There is a group of young men who are impersonating officials of the World Trade Organization and often getting away with it.

They operate a Website that looks suspiciously like the World Trade Organization's Website. Naive conference organizers around the world accidentally send e-mails to these tricksters, who then respond by coming to the conferences and speaking in front of large groups and spouting the funniest, spoofiest speeches.

A movie was made of their exploits called "The Yes Men." It's currently running on Showtime. It takes a Michael Moore-ish look behind the scenes of the Yes Men's operations.

The Yes Men try to create their speeches in a way that reveals the truth about what the WTO really stands for. They say the things that the WTO people want to say, but have to hide.

It's incredible fun. I think you'll love this movie. I don't necessarily agree with their pure liberal ideals, however I just love the artful, creative way they've found to say it. It's people like this who help us forge ahead in the world of ideas and policy, NOT the glassy-eyed bureaucrats.

Podcasting with Apple Garage Band

Well, I had said I would record my trials and tribulations using Apple's new podcasting feature within Garage Band.

I didn't have any!

There weren't any really big problems trying to do my podcast for the first time. You bring up Garage Band, specify that you're creating a podcast, you record your voice in a "Male Voice" or "Female Voice" track, you drag-and-drop the music in from iTunes (a little window on the side) and you can move everything around however it should fit.

It's really easy and it really works. I've created a Web page to host the podcast, that was equally quick and effortless.

I haven't uploaded the podcast yet, but I don't think that will be a big problem either. And registering it with iTunes is just a press of the button.

So far so good, faithful readers! I'll let you know if it gets more difficult.

Here's what I have left to do:

- record my interview with naturopath Patty Shipley tomorrow
- put all the pieces together in Garage Band
- upload it to dotMac and publish it to iTunes
- let all my e-mail recipients know about the podcast

That's it! Maybe there will be more problems to come, but I don't think so.

Here are my thoughts a few days later. I'm still happy with the process, overall.

How to Print Your Own Greeting Cards and Envelopes on Apple's iPhoto and OpenOffice

Here is how I figured out how to print your own greeting cards on Apple's new iPhoto (part of iLife '06 - just released). This won't work with earlier versions of iPhoto, only version 6.

I got my cards from Desktop Publishing Supplies on the Internet. They were one of the few who offered print-to-the-edge greeting cards on 8.5 X 11 sheets. Basically, the way you get print-to-the-edge cards is that there is a perforation on each of the four sides of the piece of paper.

Make sure you also buy the envelopes. These cards are a weird size and you have to get the special envelopes.

To get started, start up iPhoto 6 on your Mac. Choose the photo you want as your front cover, then click on the "Cards" icon on the bottom of the screen. Choose a photo you've taken or get one here royalty free.

Choose your themes. These themes kind of all look the same, but, trust me, once you add a special photo into the middle of it, you can reuse these themes over and over without people realizing that it's the same thing.

You'll see the layout of your card, and the photo will get plunked onto the front cover. Change the words to what you want and your card is ready to print.

Apple wants you to click the "Buy Card" button at the bottom, but I don't see doing that. It costs $1.99 to buy the card, then it has to get shipped to you by Apple, so there's extra time and money involved. I'd rather print it myself.

Okay, so you can choose Print from the File menu. But, now the fun starts.

The card will not automatically print to the layout of the cards you bought from Desktop Publishing Supplies. It will be way off alignment.

But, I can save you that work! Set it up like this:

Page Size: 8.5" W X 11" H

Margins:
Top: 0.75"
Left: 0.63"
Right: 0.75"
Bottom: 0.75"

Then go to the Page Setup and change the Scale factor to 125%.

This will fit the card exactly into the boundaries of your perforated paper. It might leave a tiny border around the edges, but it's liveable (wasn't that the whole reason I bought print-to-the-edge??? Argh!).

Now you can print the card.

In the Print dialog (after you click Print and it assembles the card), you need to set the Paper Size AGAIN. This is a pain, but it's the only way to do it as far as I know. When you get the Print dialog box, choose Advanced, then Paper Handling from the drop-down list, then I click Scale to Fit Paper Size, then I choose my special paper size that I set up previously (I call it Print to the Edge Greeting Card). Then you can friggin' print.

My printer (HP DeskJet 952C) prints the first page out into the paper tray, then I pull it out and place it as is (printed side up) right back in the input tray and do the second side.



Next we tackle the envelope.

I use OpenOffice Writer for this job.

I open a blank text document. I go to Format...Styles and Formatting and choose Page Style (of the icons across the top of the box).

I double-click Envelope, which is, of course, a regular legal-size envelope (which we don't want).

Then I change the size in the Styles dialog to 7.25" W and 5.25" H.

Then I go to Format and Page. I choose Background and I click Browse to get a photo into the Background of the envelope. This is a background for the front of your envelope, where the person's address will go.

Choose a photo and click OK.

Now you have a nice photo in the background.

Now go to the Drawing toolbar (go to View - Toolbars - Drawing - if it's not already visible) and put a colored box in the middle of the envelope where you are going to put the person's address. Double-click in the middle of the box and you can put text in the box. Center the text.

You can put another box in the top left for your return address if you want, or just use a label later on.

Now, choose Print within OpenOffice and then choose a different paper size - 5x8 index card. This is the closest I could find to the 5.25 x 7.25 envelope, and I couldn't find a way to create a custom paper size that the printer dialog box would recognize (this is different than the custom Page Style from before).

Make sure the envelope is pushed all the way inside and to the right. Put the flap up and the open side to the right.

Double check that the printer setting is still 5x8 index card and that the color is on (not "from driver").

Now the envelope should print pretty nicely. Attach your return address label and a stamp, and you're set!

I just went through this whole hassle today, so I thought I'd document it for all of you, plus also for myself so I have a place where I can remember all these steps.

I think Apple should give us choices of custom print-it-yourself greeting card paper in iPhoto.

I also think OpenOffice should give us the ability to customize the paper sizes that the printer dialog will recognize, or even better, match those to the Page Styles within OpenOffice Writer.

Was this helpful? It was cathartic for me, anyway.

Rolling Stone Magazine "Worst Year Ever for Music Industry"

Rolling Stone magazine gives a dead-on synopsis of the music industry in 2005. It stunk!

Album sales went from 667 million in 2004 to 618 million in 2005, a shocking 7.2 percent drop.

Even more dramatic, the top five CDs of 2005 generated half the sales of the top five CDs in 2004.

The big losers for the year were all the major labels, except Universal. Sony had the biggest market share drop, after its payola scandal and the on-going lawsuits against it because of its error-filled copy protection scheme on many of its CDs released in 2005.

The big winners were Apple, with its iTunes online music store, the indie labels, especially Victory Records, who's artist, Hawthorne Heights, sold over 550,000 copies without any radio play. Digital downloads were a winner (especially through iTunes), in fact, they outsold CDs during the last week of 2005 for the first time ever.

Mariah Carey was also a big winner in 2005, coming back from near extinction with the top selling CD in 2005. Kind of a bittersweet victory to be the best in a bad year.

The quotes in the article are priceless.

"It was arguably the worst year in the music business' history," said Steve Bartels, President of Island Records.

Gwen Stefani's manager, Jim Guerinot, had the best quote, "The major labels want to say the glass is half full...I think everybody's getting the message: You better get a fucking smaller glass!"


The article doesn't mention who I think is the biggest winner of 2005 - the podcasting community. Podcasters, together with the artists in the Podsafe Music Network, made incredible strides in 2005. Artists who were unknown outside of their local bar scene are now international celebrities, like Brother Love and Chance. Podcasting and the Podsafe Music Network are going to change the music industry (and advertising!) into something we won't even recognize. And they'll do it within the next 2 years (you can quote me).

Edgar Cayce's Cure for Pre-Skin Cancer Blotches

As you may know, I've been devouring old paperbacks on Edgar Cayce lately as my fun time reading.

In the book I just finished, "Edgar Cayce - Sleeping Prophet," he talks about a cure for pre-skin cancer spots that worked wonders for the author (Jess Stearns).

The idea is to rub castor oil on the spots once or twice a day. (Many of Cayce's remedies involve castor oil.) He also suggests camphorated oil, but that is now illegal in the U.S., due to accidental poisonings from people ingesting even small amounts of this strong stuff.

My wife is going to try this on her spots. The technical name is actinic keratosis. I'll let you know how it works.

George from Desperate Housewives

Here's the dream I had last night.

First of all, I went to sleep asking that I get a message about "what I need to do with my life."

Then I get this dream.

George, the homicidal pharmacist from Desperate Housewives, played brilliantly by Roger Bart, was the main character in my dream.

In it, I was basically some sort of wedding planner, trying to figure out what shoes the bride and groom should wear, getting the flowers arranged, the church, etc.

I don't know who the bride was, but something makes me think it was someone similar to my wife, Tamara.

Anyway, so George is meant to marry this pleasant, beautiful woman, and I'm arranging the whole thing.

What's the meaning here? It seems pretty obvious to me! George, as a pharmacist, represents the Western medical system to me.

Here is my view of the Western medical system:

• It's homicidal. It can't stop killing people, just like George.


• It's on a downward slide.


• Underneath all the violence and psychopathic behavior, it just wants to be loved, and it deserves to be loved for "who" it is.


• It will strike down anyone in its way.


• It has a good heart.

And the beautiful, pleasant woman in my dream, who reminds me of my wife (although I don't think it was her), represents the holistic healthcare system:

• Successful, but still kind of underground.


• Beautiful, attractive, nice to be with.


• Has a poor self-image.


• Thinks everyone else is smarter and more successful.


• Wants to be loved too.

So it's my job to bring these two love-birds together. What a friggin' match! Yet, I have to do it.

I know I'm going to be misquoted on this many times, so please let me qualify this on the spot. I DO NOT think that doctors are homicidal. I don't think hospital administrators, nurses or anyone else in Western medicine is homicidal.

I think the Western medical SYSTEM itself is homicidal. It's a fact that this SYSTEM is homicidal. It kills people, 225,000 a year (2004), to be exact.

But I like doctors. I've liked the doctors I've met and those who are my friends, and those I know professionally, including the doctors who are my Board of Advisors. What I'm saying, however clumsily, is that this Western medical system must be changed. Killing so many people unnecessarily has to change.

I just heard of a friend's mother who went into a hospital after suffering a heart attack. She recovered from the attack, but then contracted a staph infection in the hospital, and the hospital sent her home saying "Well, there's nothing we can do" and let her die at home --- from the staph infection that they gave her!!

This woman was in poverty, so it's possible the hospital administrators decided that she wouldn't be able to pay for them to treat the infection, but isn't it terrible that they're the ones who gave it to her??

Anyway, the system must change. And, perhaps, the way it will change is for George to find the love of a good woman. I hope so.

Today Was a Day Worth Blogging

What a day! I was so happy today with everything that went on. I just have to tell somebody!

1. I went to my regular Toastmasters meeting. The two speakers were so fabulous! My friend, Hong, did a speech on "What Makes Us Smart" where he challenged the meanings of "street smart" and "book smart." It was a great speech. Then Larry, another Toastmaster, spoke about how he had just found out that his dad was not his biological dad, and how he was headed out on a plane tomorrow to meet his biological dad. Talk about an emotional speech!

2. I realized that Hong, my co-author on a new book, and I could have virtual meetings using a Web word processor called Writely.com, and Skype. We can both be editing our manuscript online at the same time, with the changes merging automatically, and we can be talking through Skype at the same time. Both products are free.

3. Apple announced a new system to make podcasting super-easy. Just in friggin' time for my podcast! I love those guys. Since it seems like I'm the first person I know to use it, I'm going to blog my experiences with it. It is a combination of Apple Garage Band and iWeb (a new product within the iLife product set). I went to the Apple store T-O-D-A-Y to get the new iLife package and install it on my system and my wife's (see point #4).

4. Apple also announced that they have upgraded iPhoto and .Mac to handle photos and photo albums on the Web much better, which helps my wife's business tremendously. I just bought a Mac mini for her business last month, so this is (again!) perfect timing.

5. I've been selling a book or e-Book at a rate of about 1 book every 3 days, which is a new record for me. I don't know what has supercharged my sales, but I ain't a complainin'!

6. I made a pot of chili using this recipe last weekend that is probably the best dish I've ever made. It is sooo tasty! (I might have made a few tweaks to the recipe, but I can't remember exactly what.)


7. My friend called me to tell me he is living his dream, only ten years after he articulated it to me originally. His dream was to start up a computer center in Southeastern Ohio, in a county that is economically depressed. This is where he grew up, and he's always wanted to come back after he gained enough industry experience and start a big center that would employ lots of local people at good wages for basically unskilled work. And he's friggin' doing it. He's living the dream.

8. I listened in on a conference call with the Ezine Queen, Alexandria Brown, which was very helpful. Her Internet marketing system is really great.

9. My first podcast guest, Patty Shipley, has agreed to be interviewed next week for the podcast I'm releasing on January 25. Patty is a naturopath who is currently being investigated by the Dietetics Board of Ohio. The fact that she is willing to talk about this experience is a testament to Patty's courage. Please join us on January 25. I'll publish details on how later in this blog.



This all happened today! What an unbelievable day. I'm pooped! My wife and I had an excellent walk around the neighborhood. In fact, my heart rate was going so fast before we even started that it actually slowed down as I exercised with her. We usually take one trip around our "long block" (about 22 minutes) but this time I coerced her into twice around the block and even another half-way trip, so we were probably out there for an hour. I needed that time to wind down. I feel like I've been drinking tea all day, but I haven't had a drop! What a rush!

The Future of Home-Centered Healthcare

Dr. Mike Magee has a very interesting podcast called "Health Politics." In it, he expounds on his personal ideas about where Western medicine is heading, and how we should try to shape its future.

Dr. Magee is firmly planted in the Western medical model, however, he does have some interesting ideas that perfectly dovetail with alternative medicine (although I don't know if he knows that!).

Please give a listen to his podcasts. Subscribe to them in iTunes (a free download from Apple) or listen to them on Dr. Magee's Website.

Of most interest, I think are the following episodes:

• Will Academic Medical Centers Survive?"


• Who Will Own Tomorrow's CME?"


• The Emergence of Home-Centered Health - Parts 1 and 2

Here are some of the things Dr. Magee says:

Medicine has evolved from paternalism to partnership.

• The Internet gives medical consumers unimpeded information flow.


• We are moving toward a home-center healthcare model.


• The home is where patient education, behavioral modification, early diagnosis, therapeutic adherence, nutrition, fitness, wellness and prevention all reside.


• We need to focus on educating home care-givers, and supporting them with information and services.


• Academic medical centers, as they exist today, do not fit into this model (yet). They are awkwardly trying to adapt.


• The problems with academic medical centers are related to their size: incomplete reimbursement for the cost of residency education, competition from community hospitals, multi-step decision processes, an overtired workforce, and excessive complexity.


• These institutions must become leaders in giving information to patients.
  

Dr. Magee's assessments of the current state of medicine are often quite insightful. I really like this podcast. Please beware of two things before you subscribe to his podcasts.

Dr. Magee reads all his remarks word-by-word, for this reason his delivery can be quite dull. Do not expect even a moment of humor from Dr. Magee - uh uh.

Also, the guy who does the intro and outro is super-duper annoying. It is a taped thing that is the same everytime, and the guy just has the worst possible voice. This announcer-guy tries to make his words sound "fun" or "gay" or something, but he ends up just sounding weird.

Having said that, go have a listen. The information will stand out enough that you'll be able to live through the poor delivery and sound quality.

Hopefully my podcast ends up being a little better! (Gulp!)

Adam Curry Mentions My E-mail

Well, I guess I've hit the big time!

Adam Curry, the "Podfather" of podcasting talked about an e-mail that I sent to him a couple of days ago.

I had read in the book "Clean Power Revolution" by Troy Helming, that biodiesel was actually the first fuel used in the diesel engine by Rudolph Diesel. He hadn't conceived that we would use petroleum products in it, his vision was that we'd use renewable fuels, like vegetable oils.

In fact, Mr. Diesel actually used peanut oil for the first few years in demonstrations of his new engine, including his demo at the World's Fair in 1900.

Petroleum was actually an after-thought.

Anyways, I e-mailed this thought to Adam Curry and he read my e-mail on the air on his program "Daily Source Code" Episode Number 311.

It was a thrill for me. My wife is already tired of hearing about it, so now you get to hear it!

Podcast Coming January 25 - Holistic Health Nation

Well, I'm finally jumping into the podcasting pond.

I'm going to air my first podcast on Wednesday, January 25. I'm calling it "Holistic Health Nation."

It will follow along with the topics you've seen on this blog, although I'll be sticking more to healthcare in the podcast, and not straying into renewable energy (and such) quite as much as I do here.

The first podcast will include an interview with a naturopath, some talk about the Health Freedom movement in Ohio, and a "Citizen Health Tip."

Plus, there will be music! I'll be tapping in to the Podsafe Music Network, which is a great resource of excellent music that is available to podcasts. Basically, the podcasters help promote the artists, and the artists provide their music to the podcasters without charging for each spin.

The music will be a range of stuff, from new age to alternative rock.

I hope you enjoy it! Listen in on January 25.

The Everyday Drink

My wife and I've invented a nice drink for ourselves to chug down throughout the day to stay hydrated. We've always had filtered water to drink, but this drink adds a nice flavor and doesn't have any downsides (as far as I can tell).

Here it is:

A pint of filtered water
1/2 teaspoon of stevia blend
a splash of chlorophyll
4-5 drops of vanilla


It makes a really nice drink. Stevia is a sweetener that does not mess with your blood sugar and actually works to stabilize your glucose tolerance (click for a study on that).

The taste is a slightly sweet, minty flavor. If you use too much stevia, it will taste bitter. But the normal taste of stevia is very agreeable. It is not an acquired taste, just a nice sweetness.

Stevia has an interesting story over the past twenty years. This book tells the story of how the FDA actually tried to ban it, acting on commands from the sugar industry. Imagine the impact of a natural (not chemical), calorie-free sweetener coming along that was cheap to produce (it grows natively in the U.S.). It would kill the sugar industry instantly. They are right to be afraid.

As it stands now, stevia can be sold as a "dietary supplement" but they can't say it's a sweetener on the label!! How funny is that?? Also, stevia cannot be an ingredient in any product, it has to be sold separately and the customers can then put it into their own recipes.

Here is a nice stevia cookbook.

Anyway, we're now thinking of adding boiled ginger to our drink. I'll let you know how that works out. It seems like it would be a great, non-carbonated ginger ale, which was always one of my favorites when I used to drink soda.

The price of stevia at this time (2006) is still quite high. The jar I usually buy costs $20, but the good thing is that it takes more than 2 months to use the whole thing, because you use such small quantities at a time. Still, it's too high. As stevia is grown more and more in the U.S. and Brazil and other countries, the price will come down 80-90%, I'm sure. My naturopath says you can grow it at home. I'm going to try next spring.

Try the drink! Even just stevia in water is nice too.

For breakfast, we often eat tofu scrambler. It's a high-protein, vegetarian meal that is quite tasty, especially if you add garlic and a little ginger to this recipe.

Actually, with garlic, ginger and turmeric, this recipe has all three top cancer-preventing herbs as recommended by Dr. Andrew Weil in his new book "Healthy Aging."