Flourish in Health with Dr. Marie

02/13/2026

Hello friends! In need of a little motivation to cook up some tasty heart-healthy meals? Join me next Thursday at Harford Community College for the Foods for a Healthy Heart class! Register at https://tinyurl.com/HealthyHeartSpring26

02/12/2026

Y’all who know me, know how much I love beans! 🫘 Adding beans to your diet has been shown to improve health and increase lifespan. Tonight I made a cream wild rice and chickpea soup with kale for dinner. How do you eat your beans?

01/29/2026

Need some inspiration and/or motivation to cook up some healthy meals now that the holidays are over? Join me at Harford Community College in February! We will demo and sample delicious recipes in each class. Register at harford.edu

*Healthy Vegan Basics: 4 week class, Saturdays 2/7-2/28, 1-3 pm
You don't need to be vegan or vegetarian to join us! Learn time- and cost-saving tips and techniques for getting more plants on your plate. https://tinyurl.com/HealthyBasicsSpring26

*Foods for a Health Heart: Thursday 2/19/26, 6-8 pm
Learn how eating more plants can reduce the risk of the leading cause of death in the US. https://tinyurl.com/HealthyHeartSpring26

01/09/2026

Happy 2026! Let’s get this new year off to a great start with the 4-week Healthy Vegan Basics cooking and nutrition class, in-person on Saturdays in February at Harford Community College! You do NOT need to be vegan or vegetarian to take this class, simply interested in how food influences our health. We will discuss time- and cost-saving tips and techniques for getting more plants on your plate, and sample delicious recipes in each class.
*Bonus: everyone who takes the class will receive a free cookbook!
*Register on the HCC website at https://tinyurl.com/HealthyBasicsSpring26

08/15/2025

A great second day at the International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine, including the esteemed Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Christopher Gardner! More evidence that diet and lifestyle influence diseases like prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s, and an assessment on “healthy” vs “unhealthy” processed food and the challenges around ultraprocessed foods.

08/14/2025

A great first day for this year’s International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine! Speakers included Kim Williams, Gemma Newman, and Kristi Funk, and a cooking demo from fellow Food For Life instructors Jill and Joel Erickson. I also appreciated the talks on menopause. And as always, delicious plant-based food!

07/26/2025

Alongside beans, leafy greens are one of the best foods to nourish your body! What greens do you like to eat?

Greens may help athletes improve their performance and benefit people with high blood pressure and peripheral artery disease. Greens are win-win—rich in nitrates and a good source of potassium. The nitrates from green leafy vegetables are converted to nitric oxide in our body, and potassium increases nitric oxide release.

Nitric oxide from vegetable nitrates, from greens, for instance, not only improves oxygen efficiency, but also oxygen delivery by vasodilation of blood vessels—that is, by opening up our arteries so there’s more blood flow. We can improve our artery function within minutes of consuming greens.

Of all the food groups analyzed by a team of Harvard University researchers, greens were found to be associated with the strongest protection against major chronic diseases. Each additional daily serving may reduce our risk of both heart attacks and strokes up to about 20 percent.

Greens can be added to nearly any meal—in soups, salads, sandwiches, smoothies, and on. If eating more greens, such as kale or collards, is intimidating to you, just chop them up and cook them down.

Watch the videos "Oxygenating Blood with Nitrate-Rich Vegetables" at https://bit.ly/3joxk0V and “Lowering Our Sodium-to-Potassium Ratio to Reduce Stroke Risk” at https://bit.ly/2sR8mfP to learn more.

PMIDs: 19254743, 15523086, 11412050, 10517425, 24780514, 19202069, 21454745, 22709704

07/13/2025

I’m frequently looking at recipes online since I love to cook and hold cooking classes, and the comments usually do not disappoint 😂