Movie Review: Flow

Following up on my post "8 reasons to not drink bottled water" comes this review of a film called "Flow". Yes, World Water Day has passed, but it's never too late...

A lot of people don't realize what a valuable and limited resource clean, fresh water is, especially those of us in Canada who are surrounded by the stuff. In many areas of the world, access to clean water has become a crisis. Water is being dubbed "Blue gold" and has been labeled as the most important political, environmental and human rights issue of the 21st century. Flow is an important film that brings awareness about this extremely important issue. The film won Best Documentary at both the International film festival and the United Nations Association film festival.

Take a look at the trailer:

Some staggering facts about the state of water around the world:

• Of the 6 billion people on earth, 1.1 billion do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. (www.charitywater.org)
• While the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day, those in developing countries cannot find five. (www.charitywater.org)
• The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. (www.water.org)
• Californiaʼs water supply is running out – it has about 20 years of water left in the state. Maude Barlow, author of Blue Covenant and co-author of Blue Gold, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, FLOW.
• In Bolivia nearly one out of every ten children will die before the age of five. Most of those deaths are related to illnesses that come from a lack of clean drinking water. Jim Schultz, founder of the Democracy Center in Bolivia, FLOW.

The film covers everything from the world water supply shortage to privatization of water and bottled water, however, the main theme of the film surrounds ownership of water. Does anyone really own water?

Like any documentary, the story is wrought with gloomy music, scientists, activists and stories of the common wo/man losing out at the hands of corrupt multinational corporations. Like any good documentary, they also highlight the opportunity for change and provide their viewers with a place to take action and get involved.

Article 31 - The makers of Flow have started a petition to add a 31st article to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing access to clean water as a fundamental human right. Food is already listed under Article 25 but, amazingly, clean water is not. You can sign the petition here.

Check out the film here.

I also recommend you check out Kelly's post on water here.

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Lactose intolerance in infants

This is a post I wrote for My Family Nutrition:

Lactose intolerance is extremely common among adults in our culture. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), about 70% of the world’s population has a lactase deficiency. Lactose intolerance in more common among some ethnic groups. According to the AAP, about 20% of hispanic, asian and black children younger than the age of 5 show some evidence of lactose intolerance, whereas caucasian children typically do not develop symptoms until after 4 - 5 years of age.

What is lactose intolerance?

Lactose is a naturally-occurring sugar in all mammalian milk. Lactose intolerance is a deficiency in the enzyme (lactase) that breaks down lactose in the gut. Common symptoms are: abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, flatulence, and bloating after eating lactose-containing foods.

*It’s important to note that lactose intolerance differs from a cow’s milk allergy, which is more severe and involves a reaction of the immune system. Lactose intolerance does not cause vomiting or eczema, and these symptoms may indicate a more serious condition.

When feeding infants it’s common for them to be fussy, spit up, and have occasional wet poops. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if these are normal activities, or if baby is having a reaction to something they ate. Since milk is the primary component of a baby’s diet, it’s easy to assume lactose intolerance may be the cause.

In actuality, mother nature is quite resourceful, and as lactose is the primary sugar in breast milk and often the sole source of nutrition for the first 6 months, she is pretty good at making sure infants are able to digest that sugar properly. For this reason it is extremely rare for infants to be lactose intolerant, and is uncommon before the ages of 2-3 in all populations for healthy, term infants. However, it is sometimes seen more often in pre-term infants.

Best food? Mom's milk

Although it’s very rare for infants to have an intolerance to lactose, it’s not impossible. Nevertheless, because lactose intolerance will not harm your baby (as long as s/he is growing normally) and the benefits of breast milk are unmatched by formula, the AAP recommends that breastfed infants with a lactose intolerance should be continued on human milk.

Breast milk always contains lactose and is not influenced by mom’s diet, so there’s no need for mom to stop drinking milk while breastfeeding. For formula-fed infants, lactose-free formulas are available but have not been shown to have any clinical advantages (growth, development, etc.). Lactose-free formulas may reduce some symptoms for your baby, but this is not always the case.

Should kids avoid dairy?

For older children, complete avoidance of lactose-containing foods will resolve symptoms, however, avoidance of all dairy foods is not entirely necessary and has been linked with suboptimal bone development in children. There are different severities of lactose intolerance, depending on the amount of enzyme you produce.

Some people are able to eat yogurts and aged cheese because the lactose content isn’t quite as high in these dairy foods. As calcium is very important for bones and teeth for growing children, if dairy is completely eliminated it is important to provide a calcium supplement and/or ensure adequate calcium intake from non-dairy sources.

Talk to your doctor or dietitian if this is the case. Other options include using an oral lactase supplement, or lactose-free milk. Soy, rice and other non-mammalian milks are available as lactose-free substitutes, but their nutritional quality is not quite equal to that of cow’s milk.

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Oldie but Goodie: Pesticide Testing

For years there has been speculated as to whether the pesticides in our food supply has an effect on our health. Pesticides have been blamed for everything from children going through puberty earlier, to cancer and a miriad of other diseases. To date, it has been just that, speculation, with no real evidence to back up any of those claims. The Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. has developed the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, which will now be testing pesticide chemicals for potential effects on the endocrine system.

"The EDSP is the most comprehensive mandated testing program for hormone effects in the U.S. The program is the result of a multi-year effort that includes validation of the science through a transparent scientific review process".

The endocrine system is responsible for hormone production in our bodies, which affects growth, metabolism and reproduction. “After years of delay, EPA is aggressively moving forward by ordering the testing of a number of pesticide chemicals for hormone effects,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances. “These new data will be carefully evaluated to help identify potential hormone disruptor chemicals.”

According to the EPA, on Oct. 21, "the battery of scientific assays and test guidelines for conducting the assays, as well as a schedule for issuing test orders to manufacturers for 67 chemicals during the next four months" were made available. Testing has begun for the first group of chemicals and will expand to cover all pesticides. The data from the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program will then determine whether further testing needs to be done, or if potential "endocrine disrupting chemicals" need to be addressed.

For more information about the screening program: http://www.epa.gov/endo

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Friday Wrap Up: Saturated fat debate, benefits of yoga and More!

Today is a GREAT day - because I am officially finished internship and have emerged a Dietitian!!! Have a great Friday everyone!

My favourite posts this week:

Marion Nestle clarifies the saturated fat vs. heart disease confusion

Yoni Freedhoff and Marion Nestle discuss the U.S.'s move to list Calorie contents of restaurant chain foods

Dr. Weil explains why yoga may help prevent disease

Darya Pinto (Summer Tomato) displays the sugar content of common foods

An interesting dissection of the relationship between the number of Registered Dietitians in a city and the obesity rate, from Canadian Agri Food

Calorie Lab presents a study that confirmed the was no advantage for fat loss of having 6 small meals per day over 3 larger ones.

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Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Jamie's Oliver and his super ambitious goals to reinvent school lunches. Jamie had tremendous success in the U.K. with his school lunch program and has come to the U.S. to overhaul America's school lunch program. Jamie picked Huntington, West Virginia for his U.S.-based Food Revolution, which was recently pegged as being the fattest city in America with sky high incidences of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Jamie says: "I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat. It's time for a national revolution. America needs to stand up for better food!"

Many people in Huntington are excited to have a famous chef in town to make healthy changes, but some are not so excited about what Jamie's trying to accomplish. The sad part is that some of the residents of the town are beyond denial and bordering on ignorance.

Really?! It boggles my mind how deep in denial some people can be and how they wouldn't want to make a serious change after hearing such staggering statistics.

The great thing about the show is not just what it's going to do for one town in the U.S., but how it will increase awareness and get people all over North America looking at what's on their own plate. B came home the other day and reported that people at his work were buzzing about it, and I'm happy to hear it's already got people talking. I will be watching closely and weighing in (pardon the pun).

For those of you in the U.S. you can have your say and sign the petition.

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Oldie but Goodie: Save energy with Meatless Monday

For those of you who could never be a full-time vegetarian, going vegetarian for even one or two meals per week can have a positive impact on your health, grocery bill and the environment.

By decreasing the amount of meat in your diet, you can reduce your cholesterol and saturated fat intake and take a slice out of your grocery bill. As an added bonus, you’ll be “eating green”.

Did you know more than a third of all fossil fuels in the U.S. goes towards animal agriculture? In addition it takes far more energy and limited resources (water and crops) to produce livestock than plant proteins. According to ecologists at Cornell University, “Animal protein production requires more than eight times as much fossil-fuel energy than production of plant protein” and “consumes resources far out of proportion to the yield.” Livestock production accounts for one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions.

Broiler chickens are said to be the most efficient use of fossil energy, and beef, the least. Chicken production consumes energy in a 4:1 ratio (to protein output), while beef is 54:1. Lamb is 50:1 Turkey 13:1, Pork 17:1 and 26:1 for eggs.

With water becoming more and more a limited resource, it’s important to note that grain-fed beef production takes a whopping 43,000 liters of water for every ONE kilogram of food produced. Chickens, again, is substantially less at 3,500 liters, and legumes and grains require the least water, with soybeans: 2,000 liters per kg; rice, 1,912L; wheat, 900L; and potatoes only 500 liters.

More meaty facts:

More than half the U.S. grain and nearly 40 percent of world grain is being fed to livestock rather than being consumed directly by humans.

The billions of livestock animals in the United States consume five times as much grain as is consumed directly by the entire American population.

For every kilogram of high-quality animal protein produced, livestock are fed nearly 6 kg of plant protein.

On average, animal protein production in the U.S. requires 28 kilocalories (kcal) for every kcal of protein produced for human consumption.

Some ideas for delicious meatless meals:

Vegetarian Chili

Chickpea Curry or Channa Masala (link)

Lentil soup

Tofu Stir-fry

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Oldie but Goodie: Channa Masala Recipe

This "spiced chickpea" recipe is a great healthy and vegetarian meal. I love it because it's quite forgiving, and by that I mean that I am always adding or leaving out spices and it always tastes great. It's just as good or better a day or two later. This recipe is originally adapted from RecipeZaar.

40 min 20 min prep
SERVES 6 -8

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 medium onions (peeled and minced)

1 clove garlic (peeled and minced)

1 tablespoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 cup water (I often use light coconut milk instead for extra flavour)

4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 lemon (juiced)

1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced

**I often add about a Tbsp of curry powder for more flavour.

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet.

2. Add onions and garlic and sauté over a medium heat until browned (3-5 minutes).

3. Turn heat to medium-low. Add the coriander, cumin, cayenne and turmeric. Stir for a few

seconds.

4. Add the tomatoes and cook until lightly browned.

5. Add chickpeas and a cup of water (or coconut milk) and stir.

6. Add paprika, garam masala, chili and lemon juice.

7. Stir and cook uncovered for 30 seconds.

I serve it on brown rice, with a dollop of vanilla yogurt.

Enjoy!!

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Oldie but Goodie: Carbohydrate Addiction

Carbohydrate addiction: fact or fiction? According to new evidence, more and more researchers are saying “fact”! Carbohydrates are emerging as a serious addiction, both mentally and physiologically, and as a major contributor to the obesity epidemic.

But not all carbohydrates are created equal. It’s the high GI (Glycemic Index) carbs that are contributing to our bigger waistlines.

The problem lies in the quick boost of energy from a spike in blood sugars, then a low as insulin is released, followed by a feeling of hunger again. High GI foods are more addictive since the effects are felt quicker and wear off quicker than a low GI food. Making matters worse, the insulin release signals more fat storage, leading to weight gain.

Although the Glycemic Index has been used for years to measure the effect of a food on blood sugar, it is now being looked at as a possible predictor of how addictive a food is too. "GI may be the element of food that, like nicotine in cigarettes, predicts its addictive potential".

Where are all these high GI, addictive foods coming from? Processed foods! White bagels, white breads, white rice, etc. Food producers are removing nutrients, fiber and taking the fat out of foods, which increases the proportion of carbohydrates in the food. Fat also plays a role in foods, it alters the texture, taste, and makes you feel fuller longer. Replacing the fat with more carbs may cue you to eat more of that food. No one’s advocating switching to a high-fat diet, but I think the message (to me, anyways) is to eat foods how nature intended… with the grain and natural fat intact!

It’s not just the carbohydrates, but the relationship to the food. Highly palatable (ie: really tasty) food stimulates the same part of the brain as drugs, making people with addictive-type personalities more susceptible to overeating behaviour.

But, there is hope… food addiction researchers are meeting in Houston this week “to create public awareness and develop guidelines to identify foods that cause obsessive, uncontrollable cravings.” This opens up the argument “are all Calories created equal?” and breaks new and exciting ground for nutrition research!

Researchers say the solution could lie in changing the way breads and cereals are processed.

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Oldie but a Goodie: Endangered Bananas

Who ever thought bananas could go extinct? It sounds crazy, but it's true. Some scientists are predicting that we may be without bananas, completely, in 10 years time. Why? Two deadly fungal diseases are whiping out our crops.

Besides the sad loss of banana bread, this is a major concern for food security all over the world, especially in some parts of Asia and Africa where bananas are a staple food.

Why is this happening? Unlike most species of plants and animals, the common banana that we eat today is sterile and can not reproduce on its own. Bananas are grown by the cuttings of banana plants. The problem is that reproduction is the way that most species change and adapt their genes to resist against disease, so that the species can continue. The bananas don't have this capability, and so are being ravaged by these diseases.

So what can we do? It is likely that genetic modification will rise up to the challenge and prevent this from ever happening. For those who oppose GM and want an organic alternative, scientists are looking for a natural mutant variety which has fungal resistance, but if found, it will look and taste different than our current variety.

For more info go here.

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McFood

This is both disgusting and fascinating... I had to share.

Babybites conducted a little experiment with a McDonald's Happy Meal. The happy meal is one year old today and looks exactly like it did 365 days ago.

Says the author: "My Happy Meal is one year old today and it looks pretty good. It NEVER smelled bad. The food did NOT decompose. It did NOT get moldy, at all."

She says: "I think ants, mice and flies are smarter than people, because they weren’t fooled. They never touched the Happy Meal. Children shouldn’t either."

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Friday Wrap Up

My favourite items on the web this week:

Sad and wrong on so many levels: Woman aims for obesity record.

Dr. Sharma's post on slow eating and prevention of childhood obesity

Fat loading for endurance athletes, by eatingRD.com

Simple but important reminder of What really makes you fat, by one of my fav's, Dr. Weil

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Oldie but a goodie: Panzanella Salad

With 5 days left of internship (but who's counting???) and some other things up my sleeve (stay tuned for that) things are getting quite busy, so I've decided to repost a few of my favourite posts since Nutrition: Facts or Fiction started up. Enjoy!

Panzanella Salad

This is one of my favourites! It's loaded with veggies, and loaded with taste! It's pictured above with halibut and roasted potatoes.

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Olive oil

1 small loaf of french bread, cut into 1" cubes, OR 6 cups of store-bought seasoned bread cubes

1 tsp salt (I usually leave this out)

2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into cubes

1 cucumber, unpeeled, sliced

2 celery sticks, chopped

1 red bell pepper, cut into cubes

1 yellow pepper, cut into cubes

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

20 large basil leaves, chopped

3 Tbsp capers, drained

Dressing:

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

3 Tbsp champagne vinegar (I use red wine vinegar)

1/2 cup Olive oil

1/4 tsp ground pepper

Heat oil in large pan.

Add bread and salt; cook over low-med heat, tossing frequently for 10 minutes or until browned.

Toss all veggies and remaining ingredients in a bowl, add bread cubes, drizzle with dressing, toss and ENJOY!!

This recipe is great because of the variety of veggies... more colours = more nutrients! Plus, the olive oil is high in monounsaturated fat ("good" fat). Virgin and extra virgin olive oil are less processed and may have higher amounts of polyphenols, those helpful antioxidants that may help prevent against cancer and heart disease. They are also more flavourful, which is great for this salad.

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Family Nutrition Blog

Hey guys - I just wanted to let you all know that I have started writing for another blog www.myfamilynutrition.com. The site focuses on all aspects of family nutrition and I will be writing about childhood nutrition mainly. There are two other writers as well. So have a wander over and check it out!

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Healthy and Delicious Bruschetta!

Are healthy and low-calorie synonymous? Definitely not! Here's one recipe I made that proves that point...

Why it's healthy? I'll let the ingredients speak for themselves:

3 large tomatoes

1 yellow bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp cilantro (less if you're not a huge cilantro fan)

1 small red onion

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 loaf french bread, sliced

1/4 cup shredded cheese (I used extra old cheddar cuz it's all I had, but you can be more creative)

Dice all veggies and put together in a large bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar and cilantro.

In a pan, heat a bit more oil and saute garlic for 3-4 min. Add garlic to veggie mixture. Preheat oven on to broil at this point.

Add sliced bread to pan, brown on each side. Remove bread from pan and set on baking sheet. Add bruschetta to bread, sprinkle with cheese and broil for 3-5 min.

The result... delicious, homemade bruschetta! Enjoy!

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Veggie Soup and healthy Bulldogs

Veggie soups are one of my favourite things to make in the slow cooker... this week I was inspired to add different vegetables. It started with mixed beans and diced tomatoes...

Broth (I usually use veggie broth but B bought chicken this time), garlic, zucchini, celery, carrots, onion, red pepper (I learned NOT to use green pepper through trial and error - gives the soup kind of a gross taste), broccoli and potato.

Throw it all in. I added whatever spices were around... some oregano, red pepper flakes, black pepper.

Add broth and cook for a few hours. It needed more time because I didn't pre-cook the veggies at all and the carrots and potatoes took forever to cook.

I also discovered that Ashley, our Bulldog, loves carrots! LOVES them. Guess we can stop buying Milk bones for treats... carrots seem to do the trick.

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Friday Wrap Up

A look at the controversial Heart Check program and their approval of “candy”, from Weighty Matters

Katie Couric covers the phenomenon of snacking

Marion Nestle’s post on the role of Corporations in the fight against obesity and The rise in use of Genetically modified seeds (and why you should care).

A clever use of escalators increase physical activity and Google adds cycling routes to its maps from Obesity Panacea

Why you can’t eat anything without supporting the industrial food system (ok, a slight exaggeration, but an interesting post) by Kelly @ A Local Foodie's Fight

Happy Friday All!!

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8 Reasons not to drink bottled water

Over the past few years, it has become almost trendy to drink bottled water. Somewhere along the way people got the idea that bottled water can help you be healthier, more fashionable, and even environmentally friendly. The commercials with fresh water flowing down waterfalls gives us the image that bottled water is more pure and special than tap water. We feel as if we're drinking straight from "the source". Bottled water is also convenient, available everywhere, and portable. The truth is that bottled water is costly, wasteful and damaging to the environment. Here are my top 8 reasons to "just say no" to bottled water:

1. Waste - According to the Sierra Club, "every year about 1.5 million tons of plastic go into manufacturing water bottles for the global market, using processes that release toxics such as nickel, ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide and benzene. In the U.S. alone 1.5 million barrels of oil are consumed in making the bottles". On top of all this, most of the 30 billion bottles sold each year are not recycled and end up in landfills.
2. Ecosystem damage - The water must come from somewhere. Companies pump large amounts of water from specific areas that can have a significant environmental impact, damaging ecosystems by sucking water from underground aquifers that are the source of water for nearby streams, wells, and farms. Lakes and wet lands are also damaged. Bottled water is also very energy intensive. In fact, it takes 3 litres of water to produce 1 litre of bottled water. Even more energy is used to transport the water to bottling plants, for transport to stores and homes, and to landfills or recycling centres.
3. Harm to wildlife - most plastic bottles are not recycled and can end up in the ocean, and can harm wildlife.
4. Costly - Sure, $2 here and there may not seem like a lot, but let's put it in perspective. Bottled water costs approximately 400-500 times what tap water does. The cost of tap water (U.S. data): $0.0015 per gallon, filtered water: $0.13 per gallon, bottled water: $1.27 per gallon! Nestle, Coke and Pepsi are making billions off the water in your own backyard.
5. Privatization - companies are literally selling your water back to you. At $1.27 per gallon or more! Nestle has taken over small, independent companies and is aggressively looking to expand their share of the the U.S. bottled water market. Coke (Dasani) and Pepsi (Aquafina) use cheap municipal water in the United States. Coke set up a bottled water facility in India, which contaminated the water supply and depleted resources for the local people.
6. Human rights - There have been numerous stories about Nestle, Pepsi and Coke violating human rights for their bottling practices and, often times, the government is the enabler. "In Michigan, Nestle received $9.6 million in tax breaks to site their Ice Mountain bottled water plant in Mecosta County. Yet in Detroit more than 20,000 families have had their water shut off because of inability to pay their water bills when the state refused to provide a subsidy." Sierra Club.
7. It doesn't come from a glacier - In fact Coca Cola’s Dasani and Pepsi’s Aquafina are tap water coming from places like Queens, NY and Jacksonville, FL with some additional treatment.
8. No health benefits - The perception seems to be that bottled water is safer than tap water. In the U.S., "the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has strict water quality standards for tap water, but the EPA does not oversee bottled water." Inspections are required by the FDA for water sold across state lines, but due to an lack of manpower to do widespread monitoring, the industry does the inspecting itself. That's like marking your own test in school. For the record, FDA regulations do not prevent bottling companies from drawing water next to industrial sites, underground storage tanks, or dumps. To date there have been numerous reports of harmful chemicals or bacteria found in bottled water.

What you can do:

If you really don't like tap water in your area, home filters are a good option. Secondly, purchase and use a stainless steel water bottle that will be good for refilling for years to come. Use pitchers of water at your Club and community events.

For more information, visit the Sierra Club

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Community Kitchens

As one of the last (YAY!) projects in my internship, I was part of a community kitchen group which taught people in the community how to start and run their own kitchens.

A Community kitchen (also known as a "collective kitchen") is a group of people that get together a few times a month to plan and cook meals together. Groups can be composed of people with similar issues or needs (teen moms, seniors, single fathers, etc) or can be a mix-mash of people. Groups often gather with the intent to make low cost meals, but some groups can spend quite a bit more on meals and make more difficult recipes or are more adventurous.

Although there is usually a facilitator, or someone that runs the kitchen, a collective kitchen (CK) is not a cooking class in that there is no "teacher" and students. Everyone learns from each other.

The point of a CK may be to learn how to cook, or it may be for the social aspect, or to make low cost meals.

Being part of a CK is really quite neat. People often try things they wouldn't have tried on their own, improve their cooking skills and make friends. And at the end, everyone goes home with a ton of great food! For those who love food and/or cooking, I highly recommend you check out kitchens or cooking groups in your area.

In Vancouver - check out Fresh Choice Kitchens

In Calgary - check out the Community Kitchen Program of Calgary

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What is a "Healthy" food? A look at Nutritionism.

I've recently done some reading on the concept of "Nutritionism". Nutritionism is the idea that the sum of all the nutrients in foods (fat, protein, calcium, etc) make up the nutritional value of that food. Although most nutrition professionals are well aware that there are many influences that affect the nutritional content of a food, no doubt, this is how many nutritionists and physicians base their recommendations.

All this got me to thinking, what is a "healthy" food?

As someone who firmly believes that the health of the planet is directly connected to the health of the people living on it, I believe that a healthy food one that is also healthy for the planet, or at least does minimal damage in being produced, harvested and transported (ie: local, organic foods). On the flip side, there are many health agencies who will not recommend anything until there is years and years of scientific evidence to back it up. Of course, this is definitely good in many ways. But I have found that this often leads to two things:

1) By the time sufficient evidence comes out to convince them to make a recommendation, they can be way behind the times.

2) They often adopt the "innocent until proven guilty" frame of mind, meaning, they will say such things as "pesticide residues found on food have not been proven to be harmful, so don't worry about it" rather than saying "So far, evidence hasn't shown them to be harmful" and letting people make their own decisions regarding whether or not that's a risk they want to take.

Unfortunately, I think it's impossible to be a true expert in such a dynamic field, and anyone who thinks they are is fooling themselves. By "true" expert I mean someone who is all knowing and has all the answers. New research is coming out daily, and there are always so many things to consider, it's impossible to be an expert in every situation. Furthermore, expertise is all relative. The person who knows the most of the best information available today is who we, as a society, consider the expert.

In researching for this post, I came across this statement regarding Michael Pollan's take on nutritionism (from Wikipedia):

"They key to Pollan's understanding of nutritionism is "the widely shared but unexamined assumption ... that the key to understanding food is indeed the nutrient." Since nutrients are invisible, it is now necessary to rely on nutrition experts to make food choices. Because science has an incomplete understanding of how food affects the human body, Pollan argues, relying solely on information regarding individual nutrients has led people and policy makers to repeatedly make poor decision relating to nutrition. Pollan blames nutritionism for many of the health problems relating to diet in the Western World today. He compares Nutritionism to a religion, relying on "priests" (nutritional scientists and journalists) to interpret the latest orthodoxy for the masses. Like a many religions, nutritionism has divided the world into good and evil components, although what is good or evil can change dramatically with time."

But the fact is that people don't want to be told "We don't know" - they want answers. And in spite of the many flaws in the scientific method, it's the best we have and has led to some really great advances in medical and nutritional history, and so, should not be discarded completely. So why go to a dietitian after all this? Again, the point is that expertise is relative. Just like any profession you see (a physician, stock broker, etc), a knowledgeable dietitian will be able to present you with the best and latest in the evidence available, and help you make sense of it enough to make a decision that you're comfortable with.

One question I get often that makes me cringe is "Is (enter food here) bad for me?". When thinking in pure nutritionism terms, there are SO many components that go in to a food, there is no black and white answer. In some ways nutrition is more of an art than a science. It's extremely difficult to say whether some foods are "good for you" or not (except for highly processed food-like products - that's a no-brainer) without considering the diet as a whole. Is that butter you put on your toast bad? Again, it's all relative. It depends if it's the only butter you use that day or is you go through a block every few days. It depends if you weigh 130lbs or 330lbs. It depends if it's salted and you have high blood pressure. It depends if you have a cholesterol problem... and on, and on and on. A dietitian is really the best thing to help you look at all the considerations that will decide whether your diet is healthy or not.

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Homemade Granola Bars

Ok, so I made this recipe with the intent to make a healthier, homemade granola bar, but in fact they turned out to be slightly healthier date squares. Delicious, none the less. I cut them into extremely tiny portions, and hey, everything in moderation! They would also be a great pre or post workout snack.

It started with an Oatmeal, fig and walnut recipe from Epicurious.com. The store didn't have figs, so I substituted with dates (thus, the "date square" taste).

Ingredients:

Filling:

2 cups chopped stemmed dried figs (10 to 11 ounces)

1 cup water

6 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped

Crust:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I substituted 1 cup white flour and 3/4 c whole wheat flour)

1 1/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar (I used a bit less than this - they were still very sweet!)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled vegan "butter" (such as Earth Balance) or margarine, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used regular butter)

1 cup powdered sugar (I left this out)

For filling:

Combine first 4 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.

Uncover and simmer until figs are very soft and filling is thick, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Mix in lemon juice and vanilla, then walnuts. Cool completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.

For crust:

Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spray 13x9x2- inch metal baking pan with nonstick spray. Combine oats and next 5 ingredients in large bowl and whisk to blend.

Add cubed "butter." Using fingertips, blend until mixture forms small moist clumps.

Firmly press half of crust mixture (about 3 cups) over bottom of prepared pan.

Spread filling evenly over crust. Sprinkle remaining crust mixture over filling; press to adhere.

Bake bars until deep brown and firm to touch, about 35 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Cut crosswise into 6 strips. Make 8 lengthwise cuts, forming 2x1-inch bars. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover pan with foil; store at room temperature.

Place powdered sugar in medium bowl. Using narrow spatula, remove as many bars as desired from pan. Roll half of bars in powdered sugar to coat. Arrange coated bars and plain bars alternately on platter. (Again, I left this out)

This recipe was an absolute hit with my fiance, and I agree, they were tasty. What I like about this recipe is you can fool around with the ingredients. I would definitely cut down on the sugar next time... I think you could use about half the amount and not miss it. I am also going to experiment with mixing up the dried fruits and nuts... almonds, figs, cranberries, raisins, maybe even some blueberries.

If anyone has any great ideas for how to cut out some of the butter and still make the crust stick, I'd love to hear it!

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Friday Wrap up

My favourite stories this week from around the web:

Will Genetically-modified Alfalfa be the end of organic milk?

The world of subsidization and Why a salad costs more than a Big Mac.

From Fooducate: 9 Easy Behavioural Modifications for Healthier Living, an absolutely disgusting look at a very common "food-like" substance, and 3 Reasons to Rethink diet coke.

Interesting post and discussion on why weight loss isn't just "Calories in vs. Calories out" from Sweat Science.

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Would you go to an overweight doctor, dietitian or personal trainer?

Dr. Sharma wrote a post this week about a physician who was trying to help a patient who was near exactly his own height and weight, with weight loss. The physician grappled with his ability and authority to offer advice to someone, when he himself was struggling with his weight. This is a controversial topic, and something that nutritionists, dietitians, and personal trainers all struggle with as well.

Of course, even though someone may not look the part, doesn’t mean they don’t know what they’re talking about. It just means that for any number of reasons, they’re not taking their own advice. Take sport coaches for example. After their competing days are through, and age, injury and a slowing metabolism have reared their ugly heads, they often don’t look like they did at the peak of fitness. But, they might also be the most experienced and knowledgeable coach in that sport. Or, the physician I mentioned above, who blames his weight gain on his hectic academic schedule, followed by running a busy practice.

On the flip side, I have known many personal trainers who certainly looked the part, but had little to no real education, and used drugs and drastic diets to get a sculpted body. The ironic thing is they usually had clients signing up left and right. People were willing to risk their safety and health because their trainer looked good.

The fact is that there is a certain “X” factor that comes along with looking the part. Visuals hold a lot of weight (pardon the pun) with people, and when you can’t see how smart people are just by looking at them, that rock hard six-pack can certainly do a lot to sway a decision when picking a personal trainer.

Some say they are intimidated to go to a super fit fitness trainer or stick thin dietitian, and want someone who can understand what they’re going through. Other say they want someone who looks the part and even inspires them.

In the end, I don’t think there’s a black and white answer one way or the other. People have different preferences and different needs. One thing I do strongly believe is that health care provider should look “healthy”, but the word “healthy” means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

My advice: do your research. When looking for a dietitian or personal trainer, find out what their experience is with the issue you’re wanting to tackle. Not all dietitians specialize in weight loss, and not all trainers or nutritionists have a formal education. A lot of dietitians and trainers also have very different philosophies on health, fitness and weight loss. Finding someone who has a philosophy that works for you is also important.

What do you think?

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It's Here! Nutrition Month!

For those of you who haven't heard, March is Nutrition Month in Canada and the U.S. and the theme (I love!) - "Celebrate Food - From Farm to Table".

Seeing as I am scrambling to finish a presentation for Wednesday, I only have time to send you in the direction of some great Nutrition Month links:

Nutrition Month Canada 2010 Website for recipes and info.

Dietitians of Canada's Nutrition Month website for resources, events, info and more.

American Dietetic Association Nutrition Month website.

Fooducate post on the shortcomings of Nutrition Month and the American Dietetic Association

More nutrition month goodness to come in the weeks to come - I promise!

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