Enzymes: The Next Diet Craze?

I wrote an article about enzymes for the New York Times. Enzymes have been used for a while in skincare as a natural substitute for chemical exfoliants (like glycolic and salicylic acid) but they are gaining popularity in Europe and the U.S. as supplements.

Here's an excerpt from the story:

The human body contains two kinds of enzymes: metabolic, which are found in every cell of the body and cause various chemical reactions, and digestive, which are released in the stomach and intestines and help break food down into usable nutrients. A third kind, known as food enzymes, are found in uncooked nuts, vegetables and fruit. Raw-food advocates argue that, when eaten, food enzymes can help “predigest” nutrients, a process they claim allows the body to use less of its own digestive enzymes and direct more energy to other functions, like organ repair and detoxification.

Even so, raw-food diets and juice fasts, which have been championed by the actress Gwyneth Paltrow and the designer Donna Karan, have grown in popularity. But some find the rigid regimens, which can involve extensive shopping, preparation and luridly colored liquids, difficult to follow.

Here's an interesting bit of information I learned but wasn't ultimately included in the article: One of the ways genetic modification has changed our food is by removing enzymes from our vegetables and fruits. The effect (and purpose) of this is to extend their shelf life. (Have you ever wondered why that salad in your fridge lasts as long as it does?) But by removing the enzymes, it becomes more difficult for our bodies to digest and extract the nutrients in these fruits and vegetables. So yet another reason to buy organic!

You can read the whole article Here.

On Fertility, Loss and Trying Again

This summer I wrote a piece for the New York Times about how women, because they look sexy and young well until their forties, believe (erroneously) that they have also managed to prolong their window of fertility. (I.e. I look as good as I did when I was thirty, therefore I must be as fertile as I was then.)

I wanted to write this piece to expose this fallacy and the one that pregnant Hollywood actresses in their forties and fifties are peddling. I'm all for privacy, but if you are in the public spotlight and then lie about using a donor egg or IVF or some other means of help, you are promoting the idea that women well into their forties can get pregnant without any intervention. IVF is expensive and it often fails. Women everywhere need to know this. Look, I'm a woman, and I think the whole thing sucks. It's not fair men can keep on having babies into their sixties. It's not our fault if we don't find Mr. Right in our twenties. Why should we suffer because we did what our parents and teachers and bosses and friends expected--and what we wanted, damn it!--and made a lovely career for ourselves before settling down and having a baby. It sucks. Yes. But it is a reality. And facing it earlier rather than later is the only answer.

Here's an excerpt from my article:

Advances in beauty products and dermatology, not to mention manic devotion to yoga, Pilates and other exercise obsessions, are making it possible for large numbers of women to look admirably younger than their years. But doctors fear that they are creating a widening disconnect between what women see in the mirror and what’s happening to their reproductive organs.

The unreality is reinforced by Hollywood, much to the growing dismay of many obstetricians and gynecologists. Not only are stars in their 40s now celebrated as bona fide sex symbols (Julia Roberts, Halle Berry, Salma Hayek, the list goes on), but judging from media coverage, they seem to be reproducing like rabbits.

It's a controversial topic and one I feel somewhat uncomfortable talking about given that I started having kids at 26, long before any of my peers, and have been blessed with three children. The last thing I want is for women to think I'm preaching to them.

But here's the thing, and one of the reasons I feel so passionately about this issue: I had a miscarriage. Right between my second and third babies, after a horrible sequence of events rocked my personal and professional worlds. Getting pregnant--welcoming a new child--was something good and positive to think about, to take my mind off the terrible things that had happened. But then, the morning of my 10 week ultrasound, I started bleeding. There was a heartbeat, that was the good news. I went home, got in bed, and moved as little as I could. But the bleeding continued. I finally miscarried more than a week later (in a toilet, at home, after a morning of horrible cramps).

My world went black. I managed alright during the day, putting on a brave face for school runs, social engagements, a pre-planned trip to Florida. But at night, as my husband and children slept in their beds, I'd sob into the fluffy white mat on my bathroom floor, wondering how I'd ever feel whole again. In hindsight, it took me a year to get over losing that baby. A whole year to feel ready to attempt to grow another life inside of me.

It took three months to get pregnant with Felix. I had morning sickness (a good sign) and no complications (other than the emergence of a painful varicose vein in my groin). And yet the whole time I carried him inside me I was worried. No, I was racked with anxiety, which anyone who knows me, knows that that is not my normal state of being. I didn't exercise. I didn't allow myself to fall in love with him. In fact, I felt rather ambivalent about his arrival. But then he finally arrived. And so did all the right emotions. Like a flood.

You can read the whole article HERE.

DON'T Bring Home the Birkin

Last summer I started seeing an Hermes crossbody bag ALL OVER the streets. It's called the Evelyne and costs in the neighborhood of three thousand dollars. It's utilitarian, chic and comes in a variety of colors and sizes to suit your body size and style. I'd love one, but they're not exactly in my budget right now, so I did the next best thing (no, not buy a fake on Canal Street): I wrote a story about them for the New York Times.

If the Birkin was an emblem of the excesses of the hedge-fund-fueled madness of the pre-recessionary years, what does the Evelyne say about our society now?

Here's an excerpt from the story:

MOVE over, Birkin. The Hermès Évelyne, which features a canvas strap and perforated “H” logo and costs $2,575 (and up, but still a bargain compared with the Birkin’s five figures) is surging in popularity.

Michael Tonello, who wrote the memoir “Bringing Home the Birkin” about his years buying and reselling Hermès bags, says he thinks that the bag’s “under the radar” silhouette may account in part for its appeal. “You have Jay-Z and Beyoncé rapping about it,” he said of the Birkin.

You can read the full story HERE

2012 Wedding Dress Trends

I wrote a piece for the New York Times forecasting major wedding dress trends for 2012. On the menu: a white jumpsuit and other menswear influences, pastel gowns and a few black ones (thanks to Vera Wang), lots of lace, leg slits (a la Angelina Jolie @ the Oscars) and headpieces (instead of veils). It's fun to think what I might do differently if Max and I were heading down the aisle again. I'd probably want to have a bit more fun with my attire. For example, I'd splash out on a great new pair of shoes, and maybe a cool head wrap from Jennifer Behr.

SHOPPING for a gown, one of the first to-do’s on any bride’s checklist, is about as unfettered and do-as-you-please as it has ever been. Unwritten rules that have long hemmed in the traditional bride (like wearing white, unless it’s a second wedding) have been jettisoned in favor of statement-making fashion-forward choices that better express a bride’s true personality and tastes, industry experts say.

Click HERE for the story.