One further note regarding health and wellness during this period of time when there may be a more-than-usual reliance on ready-to-eat foods and a less-than-usual intake of vegetables: During a conversation (today) with a cardiologist in Kumamoto, I learned that there has been a fairly large uptick in the number of patients coming to him with very low Vitamin K levels. He attributed this phenomenon to the recently disrupted diets and lifestyle patterns. Normally, low Vitamin K isn’t too problematic. However, for patients taking blood thinners, this can result in dangerously high PT-INR rates (increased risk of bleeding). So, in the spirit of Mother’s Day, eat your vegetables, especially if you have low Vitamin K levels. -Jackie