Eat less, exercise more. Is it really that easy? You may not be surprised to hear that losing excess weight and keeping it off goes way beyond such one-dimensional recommendations. In fact, the concept of calories in and calories out may be the biggest misunderstanding people have about weight. It turns out that weight gain and shedding extra pounds are not as black and white as many seem to think. Let’s look beyond fad diets at a functional approach to weight loss. We’ll explore some lesser...Read more
A glass of wine with dinner. A beer after a hard day of work. It’s not hard to integrate an occasional drink with a healthy lifestyle. Or is it? In recent years, we’ve read that red wine is rich with antioxidants, and that an occasional beer can raise “good” cholesterol. But results from a new study suggest that even moderate alcohol consumption - the kind we tell ourselves is healthy - may actually be detrimental to our health. In other words, the much-heralded health benefits of drinkin...Read more
Staying Healthy Over the Holidays, Is It Possible? Are you enjoying the final stretch of 2018? It’s a fantastic and fun time of the year. Unfortunately, it’s also a difficult period for maintaining healthy habits. Check out our list of the top 10 ways to stay healthy and happy over the holiday season. Reframe your holiday expectations. Consider this: If you think of the holidays as an exhausting test of your endurance, and holiday treats as evil temptations to be resisted with all ...Read more
You’re careful about your health. You do your best to eat well, and you pay attention to the ways that your diet affects your energy levels. But something seems off. You’re experiencing annoying symptoms that you can’t explain. You’re often gassy and bloated, your skin may not be clear and glowing anymore, you may be ready for a nap after a meal and you wish you could remember where you put your keys. Why does your memory feel so foggy? These issues are frustrating (and often embarrassing...Read more
Some of you may have watched the CBC Marketplace segment on food sensitivities. The whole episode speaks to the high expense and supposed inaccuracy of the test going so far as to say it may cause death. We know that the media is made to sensationalize and exaggerate things greatly to increase viewership, so here is my take on it. There must be a distinguishment made between an IgE allergy and an IgG food sensitivity. An IgE allergy is what we classically see as a nut, seafood or bee sting a...Read more
Aspartame was discovered by accident in 1965, when James Schlatter, a chemist of G.D. Searle Company was testing an anti-ulcer drug. Aspartame was approved for dry goods in 1981 and for carbonated beverages in 1983. Aspartame is the most common artificial sweetener that goes by the names NutraSweet and Equal. Its claim to fame is that it provides a sweet taste without calories. You find aspartame in diet soda, sugar free gum, low-fat yogurt, sugar less candy etc. If something says “low-fat” ...Read more
Many people are turning to vegan diets, and not always for the same reasons: some are ethical, some are environmental, and others are for health. Whatever the motive is, it can be a good step towards living a healthier life, but you might need a little help along the way. There are three areas that vegans need to focus on to ensure they get the most out of their diets: finding sources of vitamin B12, D, and fatty acids; getting enough protein; and finding alternatives to the foods you might m...Read more
We’re all familiar with that schoolyard rhyme: “beans, beans, they’re good for your heart….” As adults we roll our eyes, but have you ever wondered where the rest of that rhyme came from, or why foods like legumes are so tough to digest? Turns out that most of our foods contain certain compounds that, by nature, are difficult on our digestive systems - because they’re not really meant for our digestive systems at all! Now, that doesn’t mean we can’t tolerate them but more and more research i...Read more
Have you heard about the What The Health Documentary? More like What the F***. Let me save you 2 hours of your life. First off, they claim that meat is as bad as cigarettes. What matters is the quality of the meat. You ideally want organic, grass-fed meat and you don’t want to over do it! If you’re having conventional meat every day such as steak and sausages every day, then yes, that is a problem. Especially if you are eating in fast food restaurants. Not only will they use the cheapest mea...Read more
Recently in the news, coconut oil has been vilified. The American Heart Association claims that because coconut oil is saturated, it increases LDL or “bad” cholesterol and therefore is bad for your heart health. They recommend consuming canola or vegetable oil. This makes me cringe. Let me explain how they came to this conclusion and why I think we should be careful with what we take at face value. Not all Saturated Fats are Created Equal There are short, medium and long chain triglycerides...Read more