By now, most people are aware that not all calories are created equal. A calorie from a baked potato will have a different effect on the body than one from a whole egg.
But what about sugar?
Are all sugars created equal? Is the sugar we get from an apple the same as the sugar added to apple juice?
So, be sure to read this week’s blog as we break it down for you and compare natural sugars and sugar additives. But first, I have an important question for you…
Read More
Are you or someone you love recovering from an addiction?
This can be a very challenging and frustrating time, not to mention a time during which many people feel alone and confused.
What can make matters worse is not knowing what to do to help yourself, specifically when it comes to what to eat.
Indeed, there are several different aspects to recovery from addiction. It’s important to consider effective treatment from various angles, including both how the body and mind can be supported.
One of the factors to consider as part of a successful recovery is a healthy diet.
Diet can play a vital role when someone is in addiction recovery, helping to improve health in multiple ways. It can form one part of a healthier lifestyle and support people in their recovery. There are multiple reasons to pay attention to diet during recovery and different ways to navigate dietary changes to ensure good health.
Bottom line: Diet shouldn’t be ignored as part of a healthy recovery. Creating a balanced and healthy diet needs to be a part of planning an effective recovery that can lead to a healthier life.
Keep reading to discover some tips that may help along your journey.
Read More
Have you ever wondered why donuts or cookies miraculously make us feel better? Why the words “winter” and “blues” go hand in hand? Or why we feel so much better after a good work-out?
If the winter months get you down or leave you feeling fatigued and lacking motivation, you’re not alone! As a nutritionist, I hear the following comments all the time: “I feel so down all winter,” “No matter what I do, I can’t get out of this funk,” or “I just can’t handle going to work and coming home in the dark every day.”
If these sound like words you are known to utter, I’ve got great news for you - you can do something about it!
Start taking action with the simple daily habits discussed in this week’s blog to wash away the winter blues and optimize your mental wellness this winter.
Read More
Do you crave sugary treats or have a sweet tooth?
Did you know that behind every ravenous sweet tooth is a scientific and psychological reason as to why your body may be craving sugar?
Moreover, the reasons behind your cravings help determine how you can combat it.
If you find yourself craving sugar throughout the day, you're not alone. There are biological reasons why we, as humans, want sugar. Yes, it tastes good, but there's more to this story.
Read this week’s blog post to explore more of the 'why' you have a sweet tooth and how to remedy it.
Read More
Welcome to my new series highlighting nutritional guidelines for specific conditions.
We all know that certain foods are better for us than others, but when dealing with a learning disability, neurological disorder, mental health issue, or other condition, consuming the right foods while avoiding certain others can have a huge impact on outcome.
This week, we start with autism and what to feed the autistic brain. Read on to discover some do’s and don’ts when feeding autism and why certain foods can have a huge impact on daily life.
Read More
Thanks to media coverage and increased education, people are becoming more aware of the harmful effects of sugar. As a result, sugar consumption is starting to decline.
As a nutritionist, this is great news!
I love to hear clients committed to kicking sugar to curb or breaking their addiction to white refined sugar once and for all.
However, when we restrict our sugar intake, what tends to happen is that we start to replace white sugar with sugar substitutes. Though not all sugar substitutes are the same and should not be treated equally, most of them have some startling effects you should know about.
Read on to discover what aspartame is, how it affects your brain health, and what healthier, more natural sweeteners are out there.
Read More
For those of you who prefer a can of soda in the morning to rev up your engine, or for those of you who down a soda to get yourself through the mid-afternoon slump, this blog post is for you!
Read on to discover if soda is bad for your brain and if diet soda is any better.
Read More
Following are 9 practical things you can start investing in today to protect your most valuable organ. Your brain is a highly complex machine that is responsible for every single thing you do, think, feel and say.
With more neurons than stars contained in our galaxy, your brain is considered the executive control centre of your body. As such, it supervises every thought, feeling, memory, mood, and action that you undertake.
Your brain is what makes you… you!
Yet most people often don’t think twice about this vital organ.
Read More
Would you like to guess what may be the worst food for your brain?
Though many foods can be harmful to brain health, one food, in particular, stands out as being the worst - by far.
Let me give you a hint: This food can cause tooth decay, lead to diabetes, weaken bones, age skin, and damage organs. Less known but just as significant, is the fact that it can also cause anxiety, depression, brain fog, neruofatigue, and mood swings.
Ready to take a guess?
That’s right, you guessed it - Sugar!
Read More
This timely article confirms how detrimental sugar can be to our health, and includes the fact sugar has been directly linked to feeding aggressive cancer cells.
To further follow-up on yesterday's article "Confessions of a Sugar Addict (Part 1)", it's great to see things are moving in the right direction - US products will now be required to list added sugars to the ingredients on their products (hopefully Canada will soon follow suit). Technology will help us stay informed, as well. The app mentioned in this article can help you detect how much sugar is in the food you eat. Though this app seems a bit cumbersome and may not be the most user-friendly, as my technologist husband says, you can't stop technology!
Read More
I know it’s hard to believe that something you’ve eaten your whole life could be deadly, but sugar is just that.
Excess sugar consumption is a major factor behind skyrocketing rates of obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and type 2 diabetes. You may be thinking “I don’t sit there eating handfuls of sugar” - but if you eat packaged, processed, or fast food, that is essentially what you are doing. Almost all packaged, processed foods and meats contain sugar. In fact, you may have noticed that sugar is everywhere!
Read More
