Beautiful Bloggers

This is a bit of a different post for me but wanted to say that I've been having so much fun connecting with so many different people with similar interests in food, nutrition and health. I've learned so much and enjoy reading all your blogs and tweets!
A few days ago, I received the Beautiful Blogger Award from Kristen, from the beautiful blog Swanky Nutrition. Thanks Kristen!
So... I'm supposed to share 7 things about me, and pass this award on to 7 beautiful bloggers. So... here we go!


1. I'm from Montreal- I completed my degree in dietetics there. We're lucky, we have an integrated internship program. Many of you dietitians had to apply to get an internship and, from what I've heard, it's very competitive, and you usually have to re-locate. For us, it was simply part of our 3.5 year program.... I'm not sure why more schools don't have this...

2. After graduating, I worked in Ottawa (the capital of Canada) for 7 years- most of this time on a study called the Thin Gene Study. We were interested in why people can eat whatever they want and still stay thin. If we could identify the "thin gene", maybe it could give us more information on the genetics of obesity. I recruited over 1000 thin people- it was fun! The data is still being analyzed...

3. I just recently moved to Toronto to go back to school- a master's in Nutrition Communication. It's been pretty challenging to go back to school after about 8 years! It's kind of like riding a bike though, you just get back into it. Maybe like riding a bike uphill... school's tough!

4. My dad and two of his brothers are runners- good runners. I'm not a good runner, but picked it up when I was in University, and have run a few half-marathons and two marathons. I love running and get out most days, even in -20 degree (Celcius) weather!

5. My dad is French Canadian and my mom is East Indian (was born in E. Africa). She moved to Montreal (after completing her nursing school in England) and had to take French classes.... he was her teacher!

6. I have a twin sister, Vanessa. We're not identical, but people can easily tell we're twins. We do have the exact same voice though. Once, I left myself a message on my answering machine to remind myself of something... when I got home later that day and listened to my messages, I thought my sister had called me! Oops!
(Here's a very old picture of me (right), Vanessa (left), and our cute younger sister, Ingrid, in the middle)

7. Because my mom was learning French when we were born, both my parents spoke to us only in French. We didn't know a word of English until the age of 4. There are some tapes of us speaking English then, and we have a very thick French accent- it's cute! Now, my sisters, my mom, and I speak English to each other, but we all speak French to my dad.

The 7 Beautiful Blogs I nominate (It was tough only picking 7 but I searched your blogs and tried to nominate blogs I didn't think had been nominated!)

My beautiful sister, Ingrid- I's Love
Kati- Around the Plate
Christine- Fresh Local and Best
Alanna- The Vegan Dietitian
Rebecca- Chow and Chatter
Sheryl- E2 Eating and Exercise for Optimal Fitness
Jaime- Embracing Balance

Speaking of Jaime- she's giving away a pair of Olympic mittens!! Visit her blog for more info.
The mittens sold out in most places before the holidays... and I wasn't able to find a pair. I'm very excited about this contest... thanks Jaime! :)

Hope you're having a great Sunday!

Does your pee stink after eating asparagus?

This is a re-post... I thought I'd occasionally re-post some older entries because... it's Friday and I'm lazy!!
Hope you're having a great Friday!

After eating asparagus, some people's urine has a very distinct, stinky smell.

Asparagus contains a compound called mercaptan.
The smelly pee is a result of this compound being broken down in your digestive system.
However, not everyone has the gene for the enzyme that breaks down mercaptan. If your body doesn't break it down, your pee won't be stinky after eating asaragus.

One British study, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, found that 46% of British people tested had stinky pee after eating asparagus while 100% of French people did .
Another study of a random sample of 115 people showed that 40% had stinky pee.

Interestingly, another study found that we can't all smell stinky pee- regardless of whether we're stinkers or non-stinkers!

So... some people don't break down mercaptan (are non-stinkers) but can smell it in other people's urine (I fall in this category), while other non-stinkers can't smell anything. Some break down the compound and therefore are stinkers, and can smell it, but other stinkers are unable to detect the smell in in their urine or in urine that others had identified as "outright putrid".

The authors suggested that the ability to smell stinky urine is also genetically determined.

Don't be embarrassed if your urine smells after eating asparagus, you're definitely not alone and it's not a reason why you should avoid asparagus. Asparagus is great source of folic acid, B vitamins, fibre, and one of the richest sources of rutin, a compound that strengthens capillary walls.

So... are you a stinker?

Tip: Asparagus won't last very long. To increase its storage time and keep it crisp, treat it like a bouquet of flowers: Trim the bottom of the stalks, place in a tall glass with a little water at the bottom, cover loosely with a plastic bag, keep in fridge.

Broccoli: The Miracle Food

I saw this commercial a few weeks ago and have been trying to find it to post for you- and I finally did! I can't embed it, but you must watch:

Click Here.

There's a series of these commercial in which Broccoli guy is oddly present in different "miraculous" situations, then chastises the people for using the word "miraculous", since nothing is more miraculous than "12 essential vitamins and minerals, all lovingly packed into these tiny little green trees".

I don't know who sponsors these ads- the website (Canadian), The Miracle Food, simply provides information about broccoli: a history of broccoli, nutritional information, recipes, and a list of health benefits.

I think these ads are great...

The food industry plays an important role in what we eat: "We're besieged, encouraged, to eat junk food", states Michael Jacobson, co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
Not only is processed junk food cheaper per calorie (thanks to government subsidizing corn and soybeans instead of fruits and vegetables), but it is heavily marketed, which leads people to buy it.

I just heard a stat that the average American child sees 10,000 food ads a year- the vast majority for these for high calorie, processed foods.

In her book What to Eat, professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, Dr. Marion Nestle explains that $36 Billion a year are spent on food and beverage marketing...
And how many fruits and vegetable commercials have you seen? Almost none.

Nestle partly attributes the fact that we're not eating enough fruits and vegetables to this lack of marketing. Did you know that one-third of all veggies consumed (in the States) come from just 3 sources: french fries, potato chips, and iceberg lettuce? Sad, eh?

And why is it we don't see fruit and vegetable ads?

Nestle explains that the fruit and vegetable industry is not a high profit one. You can't add value to fresh produce, the produce is perishable so it's more expensive to handle and store, companies are mainly small and independent.
So, there's not much money left for marketing.

So, I think it's great to see these commercials on TV, and I think that if there were more of them, we might start to see a difference in what we ate, and in our waist size.

What do you think?

I came across this great blog in which the author, and some of her readers, have differing opinions... check it out if you get a chance.

Dinner with Roger Ebert

What would you miss most, or remember most, if you couldn't eat or drink?

Film critic Roger Ebert was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002. He later underwent surgery and treatment for cancer in his salivary glands, and near his right jaw.
These surgeries resulted his inability to speak, eat or drink- he has a feeding tube.

In his very touching blog entry, Nil By Mouth, Roger Ebert tells his story of losing the ability to eat, drink, and speak... something that most of us just couldn't imagine.

Storytelling

I've been reading, in class, about the use of storytelling (aka the narrative) as a way for caregivers to better understand their clients, and as a way for individuals to understand, control, make sense of what's happening to them; as a way to cope, to heal. Another purpose of storytelling is to make the personal public- to connect with others, to share, to get others thinking and talking ("personal narratives energize public narratives"). Kind of describes a blog, right?

As you read Roger Ebert's story (or my summary, below), think about the role of storytelling:

If you have a journal or a blog (and blog about your life)... why? What does it bring to you?

If you don't write down your story- keep a journal, for example- do you think doing so would help you... cope with, understand, have control over.... certain situations in your life?

If you were to see a new health care provider- a doctor, dietitian, therapist etc.- would you feel more comfortable and honest telling them why you're there, or presenting them with a story? Which would represent you best?

Roger Ebert's Story (as summarized by me):

Ebert writes that he was never told that he might lose the ability to eat, drink or speak during his first surgery, and while subsequent surgeries were supposed to 'fix the problem', they failed... and, he recalls, "it gradually became clear that it wouldn't ever be right again. There wasn't some soul-dropping moment for that realization. It just...developed. I never felt hungry, I never felt thirsty, I wasn't angry because the doctors had done their best. But I went through a period of obsession about food and drink".

In his hospital room, he recounted his fantasies of drinking Root Beer to his brother-in-law and his wife, telling them that, for the first time in 60 years, he remembered, with complete clarity, driving with his father to the A&W Root Beer stand.

His brother-in-law, a religious man, interpreted Ebert's "story" in terms of his own faith, saying:

"Could be, when the Lord took away your drinking, he gave you back your memory".

Ebert states that: "those were the words I needed to hear. And from that time I began to replace what I had lost with what I remembered".

But while he could remember clearly the meal he regularly ordered at Steak n' Shake or the tastes and texture of the amazing "cheap" candy he used to buy, what he missed most about not eating was not the food, but the loss of dining. He ends his story:

"It may be personal, but for me, unless I'm alone, it doesn't involve dinner if it doesn't involve talking. The food and drink I can do without easily. The jokes, gossip, laughs, arguments and shared memories I miss. Sentences beginning with the words, "Remember that time?" I ran in crowds where anyone was likely to break out in a poetry recitation at any time. Me too. But not me anymore. So yes, it's sad. Maybe that's why I enjoy this blog. You don't realize it, but we're at dinner right now".

It's my Blogiversary: Celebrating with cottonseed oil and some refelction!

My blog turns 2 today... I can't believe it... they grow up so fast!
I looked it up, and the traditional 2-year anniversary gift is cotton. So....

Did you know that Cottonseed oil accounts for only 5-6% of the American fat and oil market?
It's very low in the omega 3 fatty acid, making it a very stable frying oil at high temperatures. For this reason, and because it has a bland flavour, it's used often as a frying oil by the food industry.
Who knew?

In the last two years, what I've learned is that, both in the field of nutrition, and in my own life, there will always be surprises. There's a line from the movie the Truman Show when, in response to why Truman hadn't figured out he was an actor on a set, his "creator" responds:
"Because we always accept the reality of our surroundings, without question".

Well, this blog has allowed me to question... and what I learned has surprised me:

Caffeinated beverages, including coffee, can be used to meet your fluid requirements. It's not a major diuretic as we once thought.

Whole wheat is NOT a whole grain (in Canada).

A low carb, high fat diet may be what we should be recommending: it can control blood sugar and improve cholesterol level.

A grapefruit a day isn't as healthy as it sounds.

That cool, hip coffee shop in your neighbourhood may actually be a Starbucks, in disguise!

Exercise may not be the answer to weight loss.

Just because my dad is a runner, thin, and a vegetarian, doesn't mean he won't have a heart attack.

So... I continue to question and not just accept, I continue to try to keep an open-mind, and continue to share what I learn...

Thanks for learning with me, and teaching me, over these last 2 years!

Sodium Hype- Is it justified?

As predicted, sodium has become a major public health issue. In fact, the New York City Health Department just announced their initiative for restaurants and food manufacturers to voluntary reduce sodium in their food by 25% in the next 5 years.

But is the hype justified?

A recap of what we know

The research is clear. Salt increases blood pressure.

BUT

Only about 10-25% of North Americans are salt-sensitive (Another source states that its closer to 50%), meaning that salt will only increase the blood pressure of 10-25% of the population.

The research is also clear: High blood pressure is an important risk factor for heart attacks and strokes.

But wait. Does that mean that salt causes heart attacks and strokes?

That’s the message that’s being thrown out there:

In Ottawa, the Canadian Stroke Network and Blood Pressure Canada teamed up to put ads on buses with the message: Sodium kills 30 Canadians a day.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a prominent nutrition advocacy group, have been very vocal in associating sodium intake with heart attacks and strokes, stating that a reduction in sodium can save 150,000 lives a year.

Just this week, a study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine stating that reducing salt intake by 1200 mg a day (that’s quite a bit) could prevent up to 66,000 strokes, 120,000 new cases of heart disease, and 92,000 deaths a year.

Sounds good but the thing is, all of these numbers are actually just predictions based on the role of sodium on blood pressure.

Why didn’t they look at the direct role of sodium on heart attacks, stroke or death? Because that data isn't really available.

Review of the research on sodium and heart disease or death

Some fellow students and I decided to do a thorough review of the scientific literature to see if sound research had looked at the role of sodium on death, heart disease or strokes.

What we found was pretty surprising: there are very few studies looking at this direct association; only 4 in the last 10 years, in fact!

And what these 4 studies found wasn’t as clear cut as has been reported:

One study found that the higher the sodium intake, the higher the incidence of heart disease, however, the study had many limitations.

Another study also found that the higher the sodium intake, the higher the incidence of heart disease... but only in overweight people.

Interestingly, two (1,2) studies found that the higher the sodium intake, the lower the incidence of heart disease and death! (so, the lower the sodium intake, the higher the incidence of heart disease and death!)

Clearly, more research needs to be done before directly associating sodium with heart disease.

Update: Turns out that, according to the CSPI, Michael H. Alderman, an author of the aforementioned articles (1,2), is a consultant for the Salt Institute. Click here to read a great piece on the controversy over sodium-and-health papers.

What else do we know?

We know that we’re eating too much salt.

If you’re healthy, you need only 1200-1500mg sodium/day.

The upper tolerable level (the maximum you should eat) is 2300mg/day.

The average North American consumes a whopping 3000-4000mg/day.

80% of this sodium is not coming from the salt-shaker, but is in processed foods.

What does this all mean?

We are, as a population, eating too much salt.

Will a population-wide sodium reduction initiative result in lowering blood pressure? Yes, in some people.

Will a population-wide sodium reduction initiative result in less heart attacks, strokes and death? We really can’t say.

Obviously, it won't harm our health...

But would spending the energy and resources to, instead, focus on initiatives to reduce obesity rates or to make healthy foods more affordable than fast/junk food have a greater, more important, impact on our health?

What do you think?

Sodium-lowering tips

Click Here for some ways you can take matters in your own hands and reduce the sodium in your diet.