Katie's Take

I'm not necessarily a fan of sweeping generalizations about entire generations made by cultural anthropologists who are looking for a catch phrase to capture a zeitgeist (whoa, where did THAT come from?), but here's the rap on Millennials:  People say they're overcoddled, overprotected and ill-equipped to handle the setbacks and disappointments of the real world.

If that's true, it's largely because they have been overparented.  And before I go any further, let me say, "Guilty as charged."  I am a parent, too, and I have from time to time been a "helicopter mom" hovering a bit too close and making sure my daughters aren't too far out of reach.

I was really struck by an article I read in The Atlantic called "How to Land Your Kid in Therapy," so much so that I cited it in my commencement address this year at the University of Virginia.  The piece quoted a number of experts who offered some very frank…and frankly jaw-dropping…wake up calls about the consequences of fixing

Katie's Take

When a colleague of mine suggested we try a juice cleanse together recently, I was reminded of a funny article from The New York Times a year or so ago in which the writer described the three phases of a liquid fast: 1) I am hungry, 2) Hey, this isn't so bad, and 3) Kill me now.

The idea of several days with no solid food doesn't sound like something one would voluntarily elect to try.  Still, juice cleanses are becoming increasingly popular and there are now several competing brands all trying to be your main squeeze, pun intended.

Most of the systems tout weight loss, cleansing of toxins and healthier skin by trading in solid foods for fruit and vegetable based juices for a span of three to ten days.  I spent some time with Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Spokesperson Marjorie Nolan to find out if there's any solid evidence that juice cleanses work.

While Nolan believes that a cleanse may be a good weight loss motivator, she says they should be approached with