Once upon a time, aspirin was "the wonder drug" and everyone used it, frequently. Hence the old line about a doctor's direction being to take two aspirin, and call him in the morning. Then aspirin fell by the wayside, as forgotten as it's ancient forerunner, powdered willow bark and leaves, as prescribed for pain, headaches, and fevers by no less a person than Hippocrates himself. (Why yes, my head IS rather full of frequently useless information, and no, I will not play trivial pursuit with anyone.)

In the late 1820s scientists from Italy, France, and Germany sorted out what the useful compound in the willow was, named it salicin, finally separated that into a sugar, and an aromatic called salicylic acid, and raced to make something marketable out of it. Along the way they also found out it was bitter, and capable of being harsh on the stomach, so buffering agents were needed.

But back to today. Many of us have returned to Hippocrates treatment, in it's purified, buffered, easy to take, pill form. Research proves it helps reduce the load on our hearts.

What else are we missing? Let's ask Dr. Hippocrates, shall we? He's available, doesn't much keep office hours any more ...

What's that Doctor? "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." (Ok, so he's a bit of a hippy weirdo. ) It could be though, that lowering the standards to which we hold our food, hasn't just reduced the nutrition, but also the healing, restorative value of our meals?

Want an example? Probably, if you've stuck with me this long (and you're smart, you know it's likely to be something good. I might be crazy, but I'm not stupid.)

How about home cooked broth or stock? Meats braised slowly over the whole day, and served up with the rich juices? Pass the bread to soak that up with.

What could those juices possibly have? Well, for one thing, probably a lot less salt than than a bullion cube, and vitamins that haven't been destroyed by high temperature processing and long times sitting on shelves. And yes, this from someone who cans. Fresh IS better, preserving was invented because we still need to eat when game and forage foods are scarce, and everyone wanted to stay close to the fire on cold days anyway.

But broth, really?

Yes, really. Recent research proves that the connective tissues between muscles, and joining muscles to other parts, release certain compounds when sufficiently cooked that we can digest them. Compounds that our bodies use very well to maintain joints, skin, and other things you want to keep using. If you've ever cooked a chuck roast until the tough stuff reduced to a sticky goo, you did good.

Someone even (finally) figured out that pinto beans are very nearly a "super food." They have micro nutrients like trace minerals and vitamins that help us regulate a great many things. That they're great for refries too is just a bonus.

What this gets back to, is that for centuries, just about every meal was offered with something of a "soup course" - or if you were the lowly peasant that cooked your own food, it might just be a cup of broth. No bone was wasted, no leftover legume was too unimportant. Now we know why, that's all. And the more I drink my home simmered broth or soup, the less I need the golden-milk with it's load of turmeric to settle the joint pain, but it is handy to know that one also.

Just in case I'm not very hungry.

Oh, and thank you Doctor Hippcrates, your advice has been helping a lot of people.