What's Sprouting?

My very pregnant sister was gracious enough to request a blog entry on the link between sprouts, like alfalfa and mung bean, and food borne illnesses for pregnant women. Well, my timing is terrible! Not only has she given birth to my beautiful niece, but Violet is now 2 months old. Despite the fact that I’m a little slow at responding this is still an important message for pregnant women and anyone else who might be immunocompromised.

Read More
Eat Like Popeye before Donating Blood

June 14th is World Blood Donor Day, which means it’s the perfect time to donate blood. However, if you’re anything like me, your luck with being a successful donor might be low. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called the clinic to book my appointment then arrived on time only to be turned away because my hemoglobin was too low? Well, it turns out I’m not alone.

Read More
Turning 101 Years Old

When I was 10 years old, my grade 5 schoolteacher told me that the secret to a healthy, long life is oatmeal and what was her evidence? Well, her mom, who was 101 and still healthy and strong ate oatmeal every morning! Almost 20 years later and I still remember this story but now that I’m studying nutrition it’s time to explore this phenomenon – is oatmeal really the secret to becoming a centenarian? Oatmeal is a great way to start your day. Homemade quick rolled oats with melted brown sugar and a tad of cream just makes the most delicious bowel of oatmeal; however, you might find yourself hungry again in no time! How can this be? Doesn’t oatmeal have a ton of fibre?

Read More
Bonking

One of my favourite authors wrote a whole book on bonking; however, she was referring to a different type of bonking then what I’ll be talking about today. Sorry to disappoint! Bonking in the sporting world is when an athlete ‘hits the wall’ or becomes exhausted and exhaustion can happen in endurance events lasting over 2 hours when the body has depleted all its carbohydrate reserves. Here’s how to prevent bonking:

Read More
Would you like Yam or Sweet Potato Fries with that?

Answer: sweet potato fries only because yam fries don’t exist! I know I know you had some last night with your burger but the restaurant tricked you since ‘yams’ are seldom seen in mainstream North American markets. That sugary, moist, orange tuber found in grocery stores is actually a sweet potato. So why the confusion? In the 1930’s a marketing campaign in the States started labeling sweet potatoes as yams – was this by accident or on purpose? I guess only those mad men will know!

Read More
Muscle Food

So, you’ve read Vegetarianism 101 and are trying to eat meat only from farms who put their animals first – awesome! But this new way of living is lot of work (tell me about it). Eating out is a pain in the butt, and time, which no one seems to have, is going into planning meals weeks in advance. So, what’s my secret solution? Well, I’m not eating meat. Now you might be wondering…how am I getting enough protein? Well, here’s everything you need to know about protein. Also, just wanted to say thank you to a couple of readers who’ve asked me this question and gave me the idea to write about it today – thanks!

Read More
Rotten Egg #9 - The Halloween Syndrome

It was a dark and stormy weekend and it wasn’t just any weekend it was the weekend following Halloween mwaahaahaa. I wonder how many little vampires and goblins still have some Halloween candy left? And the ones that don’t I wonder how mom and dad are doing? Sugar is widely believed to cause hyperactivity in children and to exacerbate aggressive behavior in hyperactive children. Is this belief true or is this just another rotten egg?

Read More