You've been a hero(ine) of mine for quite some time. I hope YOU can answer this question (it seems no one else can).

I've been reaping the benefits of green tea for about a year now, and I feel great! Just recently I began opening the tea bags after brewing, and putting the tea leaves in with the actual brew and drinking the leaves as well. Does this add more health benefits to green tea? I would think so! So far, no one has been able to answer this question directly. Please let me know if you know!

Stay Awesome Alice! May your boards hum forever!

Does cooking in a cast iron skillet supply any iron to your system? My husband and I have a disagreement.

My friend recently got a blood test back from her doctor and she was told she was deficient in Vitamin B12. She is a vegetarian. What can she do to supplement this vitamin if she does not eat meat?

I know if I cook vegetables too long, they would lose nutrients. How about pasta and beans? Do they lose their carbohydrates and proteins and other nutrients in them if I cook too long? I always cook pasta and beans for over an hour because I like nice and soft and plumed pastas and beans. Am I eating zero nutritious pasta and beans?

Do "fat burners" really work? If so, why? If not, why not?

I was recently turned away from a blood donation site for slightly low hemoglobin. I'm a menstruating woman and a vegetarian, so it wasn't a big shock. I'm trying to add more iron to my diet in the form of beans and cruciferous veggies and eggs (cooked on cast iron!), but I've run into some confusion. The pamphlet I got from the blood bank suggests raisin bran as a very good source of iron. Several health articles and studies I've found online also point to raisin bran, but others say that wheat bran inhibits iron absorption and should be avoided when trying to raise iron levels. Sometimes the conflicting information comes from the same source! Can you shed any light on this, Alice? Would a bowl of raisin bran a day help or hurt my iron intake?

Is it bad for you to drink hard water? Can the calcium in hard water be absorbed by your body and would this be good for you, like the calcium in milk?

What is the difference between Ionic and colloidal in vitamins & minerals?