Posts Tagged ‘Nutrition’

I'm away on holiday this week, but thought I'd leave you with a link to a super fabulous nutrition article that will leave you with lots of reading. Whether you're interested in weight loss or just want to boost your health, it's got tons of expert nutrition advice for you. Find out the top nutrition trends we can't stop talking about plus how to eat for energy, plan the perfect detox, choose healthy foods, reverse the clock with anti-aging advice and awesome weight loss tips.

Check out the article Discover nutrition trends tailored to your needs here!

February is heart health month.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation says that nine out of 10 Canadians are putting themselves at risk for heart-related illnesses by being overweight and physically inactive. The estimate that each year a total of 250,000 potential years of life are lost in Canada due to heart-related illnesses.

Did you know there are certain food you can eat to boost your heart health, reducing the risk of hearth disease and other heart-related illnesses down the road?

Take care of your heart.

5 foods that will boost your heart health
1. Fish
Eat fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which may help lower blood pressure. Salmon, herring and mackerel are all great options. Heath Canada recommends eating fish twice a week. Why don't you start tonight with this delicious Herring and Apple Winter Salad?

2. Nuts
Studies have shown that nuts like almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios and walnuts may help reduce the risk of heart disease. Sprinkle nuts on your cereal or add them to your salad.

3. Berries
Berries are high in anti-oxidants and heart-health flav0noids - helping to prevent inflammation and keeping blood vessels strong. Start your day off with a refreshing berry smoothie. Yum!

4. Dark chocolate
I'm serious here! Dark chocolate is a heart-healthy food. It contains falvonoids, which may help lower your risk of heart disease. So go snack on a few squares of dark chocolate right this second.

5. Reduce sodium intake
High levels of sodium can cause hypertension (high blood pressure), so reduce your intake. You can do so by avoiding packaged foods, making healthy choices when eating out and by limiting your use of canned foods.

What do you do to keep your heart healthy?

Don't forget to enter to win a flu ready prize pack.

Wow! So many of you entered into the Mott's healthy holiday giveaway. It's a shame I could only pick one winner because you all had such wonderful advice about staying healthy over the holidays.

Congratulations to Shirley P. You've won a Mott's Garden Cocktail Healthy Holiday Survival Kit, including a bunch of different kinds of Garden Cocktail, a $50 Loblaws gift certificate, fitness supplies, and what looks to be a very handsome basket.

Shirley P's says:

"I stay healthy by the old adage 'moderation in all things'."

Great advice (which I too often forget).

Thanks to all who entered!

I'm always hungry. In fact, when I was a kid, my mom used to tease that I have a hallow leg. Though I was whip thin, I could eat like a horse. The same goes for me today (though I'm not as lucky to be thin and idle - I work hard to be fit), my stomach seems like it's always growling. This poses as a problem before I go for a run. I'll get home from work, scarf down whatever food I can get my hands, then head out for a run and inevitably get a cramp. After all these years of running, I'm still not sure what the perfect pre-run snack is. I sure know why proper pre-run nutrition is important: it will provide me with energy to meet my fitness goals.

I bet this lady knows what the perfect pre-run snack is. That's why she makes running look so easy!

Do you know of a good pre-run or pre-fitness snack? I'm open and willing to test any tip and tricks you may have - and share the results. So please, post a comment telling me about your favourite pre-run snack!

Loading up on "the sunshine drug."

Vitamin D has been all over the news recently. So what's all the fuss about?

An August 25 Montreal Gazette story, 'Vitamin D deficiency linked to cancer, autoimmune disease genes,' reports:

"Scientists have found that vitamin D influences more than 200 genes, including ones related to cancer and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis -- a discovery that shows how serious vitamin D deficiency can be.

Worldwide, an estimated one billion people are deficient in vitamin D, and a team of scientists from Britain and Canada said health authorities should consider recommending supplements for those at most risk."

Back in March, CBC News reported on Canadian deficiencies in the story 'Vitamin D deficiency in 1.1 million Canadians':

"Most Canadians have enough vitamin D in their blood for bone health, but only one third are above the level increasingly believed necessary for overall health and disease prevention, Statistics Canada says.
More than 1.1 million Canadians or about four per cent of the population are vitamin D deficient, or low enough to cause nutritional rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults.

If you're worried about your vitamin D levels, the Canadian Vitamin D Society urges you to be tested. Their website homepage states:

"Have your physician administer a calcidiol test (also know as a 25-hyrdoxyvitamin D test). More important than your daily intake of vitamin D are your actual vitamin D blood levels. Optimal vitamin D blood levels are 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L)‚ according to The Vitamin D Council."

Do you take a vitamin D supplement? Are you concerned about your vitamin D level? Would you consider undergoing the calcidiol test? Post a comment and let us know.

The bad news: If you've been soldiering on with your healthy living habits since New Year's and you haven't hit a weight loss plateau yet, it's probably on the way.

Your plateau will come partly courtesy of brain chemicals called dynorphins, which help your body conserve fat. After all: your body is designed to conserve fat, not lose it, so chances are that at some point in your weight loss journey, your brain will panic and raise your dynophine levels to protect against further weight loss.

The good news: You can outsmart your dynorphins by eating more. "Eating more food has been shown to help bring dynorphin levels down to normal and can help get you back on track," weight-loss scientist Dr Amanda Sainsbury-Salis of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney told the Brisbane Times this week.

"But it's important to eat nutritious food and eat enough to feel satisfied."

So why not get cooking with a prize pack from Scanpan? We have a 28 cm (11") Scanpan frypan to give away, along with some kitchen accessories.

The Scanpan Classic line of cookware is made of high-quality ceramic titanium that’s designed to keep its shape and eliminate hot spots when cooking. It's dishwasher-safe and ovenproof to 260 degrees Celsius. Plus, its non-stick coating can’t be damaged by metal, so you don't have to worry about which utensil to use.

For a chance to WIN, just Subscribe to This Blog and leave a reply telling us if you’ve hit a plateau yet and how you’ve handled it or how you plan to handle it when one comes your way.

You have until Thursday, March 19 to let us know. I’ll announce the winner here on Friday, March 20.