11-13-14-pork-tenderloin

Feed a cold, starve a fever… It’s an apothegm we’ve all heard before, but it’s scientifically untrue. It seems we should actually be feeding both colds and fevers – the body fights infection better when it has nourishing fuel.

So where did the false adage come from?!? Same place as “if you go outside without a coat you’ll catch a cold,” and “if you go outside with wet hair you’ll catch  cold.” Seems once upon a time, the common belief was if your body core got cold, you would catch a cold. Eating would raise your inner core temperature and help fight the cold. Same thought process with starving a fever. If you ate, you’d be raising that core temperature even more – which would increase your fever.

It made sense in a world where viruses and bacteria were relatively unknown. It’s pretty much the world we’re heading back into. I mean, you did see who is about to become the next Chairman of the Science and Space Subcommittee, didn’t you?!? It’s going to be an interesting couple of years…

So with my acute bronchitis reasonably under control, it was time to feed that cold, tonight. Pork tenderloin with cranberry jalapeño sauce, rice-a-roni, and spinach.

The tenderloin was grilled with just a bit of salt and pepper. It was topped with store-bought cranberry jalapeño sauce. The sauce had a nice flavor. Could have been a bit hotter, but, otherwise, not bad, at all. The rice was a variation on a faux rice-a-roni. 1/4 cup orzo, 3/4 cup rice, 2 cups turkey broth, a pinch of French herbs, and some butter. I put the rice and orzo in a small pot with the butter and toasted the orzo just a bit. Added the broth and herbs, covered, reduced heat, and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Spinach: frozen – make hot.

Oh – speaking of acute bronchitis… Instead of dealing with the office staff at my primary care physician – the people who only answer phones when it’s convenient for them – I ended up going to Doctor’s Best Immediate Medical Care in Berwyn. I had actually never been in an emergency care-type place before – and I was impressed.

The place was impeccably clean, the staff friendly, courteous, and professional, and they really went out of their way to make me feel like a valued customer. It was a great experience from start-to-finish. And today, the Dr who saw me called to see how I was doing! Methinks more medical office staff should take note. I reallyreallyreally like my PC Physician, but I also reallyreallyreally liked not having to deal with the office attitude.

It would be my hope to never have to see any Dr again, but if the need does arise, I now have options…