Ingredients:

1 pound whole okra
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Put all ingredients except okra in large zip lock bag and shake to mix ingredients.
3. Add okra and shake again to coat.
4. Pour okra on baking sheet and bake for about 7 minutes.  Turn okra and bake for another 5 minutes or until pods are soften.

Are We Making Drugs To Treat Disease or Emotions?

When I worked for the drug giant as a young, naive chemist, Prozac (fluoxetine) was being marketed to “correct a chemical imbalance.” Sales raked in enough profit to solve world hunger for decades to come. Newsweek hailed it as, “A Breakthrough Drug for Depression.”

Medicinal chemistry was my first passion. Flying my second. Both provide immense benefit, but have very little room for error. That’s why I triple check everything when it comes to swallowing a pill or shoving in the throttle to lift my family from the comfortable bonds of gravity. You should do the same.

In fact, former vice-president Lauren Stevens of GlaxoSmithKline was indicted for making the illegal, unapproved statements about her drug, but was soon acquitted by a federal judge who said, “the defendant in this case should never have been prosecuted and she should be permitted to resume her career.” Meanwhile, people suffered miserably.

Some things won’t change in 2012. I’ll still be a bald, tattoo sporting chemist who sings rap music way too loud while driving. My kids will still know more about the benefits of individualism over collectivism than most adults. And many people will still believe that they need to lower their cholesterol with Lipitor (or any other cholesterol-lowering alternative) to save them from heart attack and stroke.

The myth is so prevalent that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association issued new guidelines set out to put children as young as 8 years old on cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins). Yet, there isn’t a single study to support the claim and considering the many side-effects of statins, childhood mortality figures would go through the roof!