When it comes to treats, I love candy - frozen Cherry Blasters or Fuzzy Peaches, popcorn flavoured jelly beans or sweet fish Smart Sweets. As you can imagine, the food in my kitchen is usually nutritious and low in sugar. But when I have a sugar craving, especially this time of year, I can usually pinpoint it to a visual trigger (seeing Halloween candy on sale in the grocery store) or an energy crash from not eating enough protein during the day. So, here are some of my favourite tips and tricks for kicking a sugar craving and what we can swap in as an alternative.      Su ..read more

Healthy eating is one of the key factors for healthy aging. Treating our bodies well and nourishing it according to our age and health status have always been the secret sauce to making our later years spent in better health. In other words, what we do today will help to make our future a healthy one! Now what if I told you that there is a distinct gut microbiome signature that is associated with healthy aging and survival in the latest decades of life? Would you start prioritizing your gut health?  A large set of longitudinal data published in the journal Nature Metabolism has identifie ..read more

Welcome to fall. Spooky season, pumpkin spice latte season, back-to-it season…But what about preserving the local harvest season? And one way to preserve the local harvest is through fermenting foods. Fermented foods are found in most cultures around the world. People first started fermenting foods as a method of preservation before refrigeration. Here’s a little list of some foods which are (or used to be) fermented: cheese, chocolate, kefir, kimchi, kombucha, miso, pickles, salami, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, tempeh, wine/ beer/ cider, vinegar and yogurt. If you’re a fermented food newbie ..read more

What do beets, cauliflower and passion fruit all have in common? Well, they are jam-packed with flavonoids! Before we dive deeper into new research linking flavonoids and the gut microbiota, let’s unpack what exactly flavonoids are.  Flavonoids are a type of phytochemical. And what exactly are phytochemicals? Phytochemicals, are thought to be largely responsible for the protective health benefits of plant-based foods and beverages, like tea. These phytochemicals are responsible for the colour, flavour, and odor of plant foods, such as blueberries’ dark hue, broccoli’s bitter taste, and g ..read more

May is Celiac Awareness month, and helping clients with Celiac Disease is an important focus in my practice – so I wanted to share with you some of my past blog posts on Celiac Disease, so you have them in one spot! This month, take some time to educate those in your life about the disease, donate to the cause, or just enjoy some delicious, gluten-free food. You’ll find plenty of resources at Celiac Canada. Start Here: The Muscle of Flour AKA Gluten 3 Things You Don’t Know About Being Gluten Free Gluten Free Nitty Gritty: Is Candy Gluten Free? The Power of Hemp Seeds & Are They Safe For ..read more

What do people diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes or obesity have in common? An altered microbiota! A University of British Columbia (UBC) research team recently revealed the surprising link between microbes and diseases once thought to be "non-communicable." Over the last 10-15 years, research has demonstrated that people with a wide range of conditions, from obesity and inflammatory bowel disease to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease have altered microbiota. Of course, there are probably genetic components to some of these diseases, but for those you can't explain based on genet ..read more

We live in a hyper-processed world. Instead of eating simple, one-ingredient foods that we cook ourselves, our diet is usually poured out of boxes and bags! Unfortunately, when we eat hyper-processed foods, we consume more fat, salt and sugar. And this type of dietary pattern is linked to higher rates of inflammatory bowel diseases, colon cancer, and irritable bowel syndrome as it impacts our gut microbiome. Now I’m sure you already know this and how detrimental hyper-processed foods are, but did you know that there are differences in how a diet in ultra-processed foods can impact the gut mic ..read more

Celiac disease is an auto-immune disease that is triggered by the ingestion of gluten. As much as 1% of the population has celiac disease and roughly 30-40% of the population carry the genetics that predispose them to it. While you can’t have celiac disease without the genetic predisposition, your genes don’t automatically mean you will end up with celiac disease either. Only an estimated 3% of those with ‘celiac genes’ will end up with celiac disease. This suggests that other factors, such as the intestinal microbiota, may also contribute to the development of celiac disease, which was exact ..read more

Happy December! Check out these 10 healthy hacks for surviving the holidays. This webinar was live on December 5th, 2022 hosted by LifestyleRx.    Other holiday blog posts: Starting a Cleanse? Read This! 3 New Year’s Resolutions to Keep Plant-based over the Holidays Turkey Transparency 3 Mocktails to try this Holiday Season Winter Wellness Have Yourself a Green Christmas Feeling Stuffed Life a Turkey Healthier Holidays Tips to Help Avoid Getting Hangry So Far Not a Happy New Year Hangry It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year ..read more

According to the National Institutes of Health, 60-70 million Americans suffer from some kind of digestive disease. Here in Canada, the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation shares that over 20 million Canadians suffer from some kind of digestive dysfunction. That’s a lot of upset tummies! So, the million dollar question is…What’s going on with our digestive systems?  As you probably already know, some common gut busters include: eating too quickly, carbonated beverages, sugary foods, highly processed foods, and stress. But what about all those online interactions? A team of researchers f ..read more