Omega-3 fatty acids: Good or Bad

Can omega-3s harm you?
It's time to delve into another media frenzy that has taken a perfectly good clinical study and caused utter confusion amongst society. So, here's what you love me for. Keep reading for the 'real deal', the 'inside scoop', the 'truth uncovered'...

Late last month, a study was published that investigated whether there was potential risk to taking high dosages of fish oil - dosages far greater than what one would consume eating the American Heart Association's recommended 2 servings of fatty fish a week, or a daily fish oil supplement. In fact, the researchers even point that they still recommend people continue to consumer fatty fish regularly and take supplements.

Why do this study?
These studies are important - once researchers discover a nutrient can offer the body healthy benefits (such as fish oil's proven ability to help boost cardiovascular, immune, mental, joint and digestive health), it's scientifically responsible to investigate if an upper limit exists. And, the study found that there may be a point where too much fish oil may have negative effects on the immune and cardiovascular system. But, its important to put these findings in perspective - this research is not about whether fish oil is dangerous, it helps scientists better determine how much fish oil is most beneficial to our health.

What's a Safe Dosage?
To date, research studies have used anywhere between 500mg and 9g of omega-3 fatty acids*. But, what is the "best" dosage for you? Well, that depends on your health condition, diet, age and weight. Health Canada says a safe dosage for adults is 100-5000mg of EPA + DHA (those are two types of omega-3 fatty acids) daily. Curious about your kids? Health Canada suggests kids under 8 years of age get 50-1500mg of EPA+DHA daily. Read more on Health Canada's Monograph for fish oil here - http://webprod.hc-sc.gc.ca/nhpid-bdipsn/monoReq.do?id=88&lang=eng

*Note: The amount of omega-3 fatty acids is not the same as the amount of fish oil. Fish oil contains some omega-3 fatty acids - read your supplement label carefully.

Interested in reading what the media has to say? Here is a bit more of a well rounded story on this latest study:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131028135035.htm

My Confession? Our family not only takes a fish oil supplement each morning in our shake, we seek out environmentally conscious fatty fish choices in our diets to support the little kids' brain development, and the aging joint of us big kids'.

Dark Winter Days: How to beat SAD and other darkness-linked health issues

It's dark going to work, and dark when you come home. In the fall and winter, we experience fewer hours of daylight. This darkness has amazing effects on living things around us - just look at the yellow, orange and red leaves (or in your neck of the woods they may already be brown and on the ground). The dark days of winter have just as profound effects on our bodies as the leaves - such as changes to mood and sleep-wake cycles as well as cessation of vitamin D production.

Do You Feel Like Hibernating?

Mr. Sun helps to tell our body when it is time to be awake and active. When exposed to sunlight, sensors in our eyes send messages along a nerve pathway to the hypothalamus in the brain. From there, factors involved in determining if we feel awake or sleepy are controlled, as well as the body’s temperature and hormones. One of the major hormones that regulate our sleep-awake cycle is melatonin, produced by the pineal gland.  Melatonin is only produced during dark hours giving you a sleepy sensation, thus with fewer sunlight hours, and an increased use of artificial lighting during the fall our body can lose the natural day-night rhythm causing people to have trouble sleeping, or experience daytime drowsiness. 

Skip the Sunscreen 

At latitudes above 35°, there is minimal, if any, pre-vitamin D3 production in the skin as it doesn't experience much sunlight. Vitamin D is an important fat-soluble vitamin in the human body involved in bone health including calcium absorption in the gut, maintenance of blood phosphate levels, bone growth and remodeling by osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Researchers are also discovering links with vitamin D deficiency and diseases including some forms of cancer, autoimmune diseases, heart disease, rickets and osteoporosis. Get your D in! Vitamin D supplements are a great idea. Food wise - fortified milk and salmon are the best sources (of note, studies have found that wild salmon has 75-90% more vitamin D than farmed salmon.) 

It's a SAD Time of Year

Are you experiencing fatigue, oversleeping, overeating, weight gain, cravings, moodiness or depression? SAD is a type of depression that has a seasonal cycle, provoked by the decreased number of sunlight hours in a day. According to the Mood Disorder Society of Canada, 2-4% of Canadians suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).  How does this all work? Well, serotonin is converted into melatonin in the body – serotonin and melatonin are chemicals in your body that cause happiness and sleep. Research shows promising results for the use of light therapy, melatonin, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids. Other SAD coping strategies include meditation and a healthy diet focusing on nutrient-rich foods such as green vegetables, cherries, mushrooms, nuts and seeds. 

Starting Solids

A mom asked me today for ideas about ways to get her baby to eat solids. There are many ways to get your kids started on solids.

4-6 months
It's helpful if you start putting your baby in the highchair during your meals, so they get accustomed to the mealtime routine. Give them a spoon and bowl to play with.

About 6 months
Once they are ready (use instinct, your doctor's advice and your baby's behaviour to decide when he/she is "ready), start with small, soft pieces of food on their high chair tray, or help put a spoon with food to their lips. If the spoon-feeding is a fight, maybe you've got a strong headed little one and they want to feed themselves.

ITS GOING TO BE MESSY, DEAL WITH IT! Get over the fear of it being a mess as that's going to be a problem for at least another year - put down a towel on the floor, feed them in their diaper only, and have clothes handy for clean up. Food should be fun, and that starts early.

6 Months and Beyond
The guidelines on what and when to feed your baby foods has changed recently, relaxing some of the previous "rules" of when to introduce foods. Talk with your doctor or check out reputable resources like Health Canada's website on infant nutrition (url below).
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/consult/infant-nourrisson6-24/recommendations/index-eng.php

Getting Kids to Eat Well in the Summer

Between the hot dogs at bar-b-ques and, the mid-summer day treats like ice cream and popsicles, your little ones (like mine) may not be eating healthy this summer. As parents, we have potential courses of action: do nothing, wait until September and let back to school momentum fix it all, or try a few quick food tricks to curb their poor summertime diets. As a mom, sure, doing nothing would be easiest but teaching kids how to make good food choices is a priceless lifelong lesson. So, let me make it easy for you - here are some tricks to getting your kid to eat better this summer:

Smoothies
Try introducing smoothies made with bananas and their favourite frozen fruit. This cool, fun, slurp-through-a-stray snack will keep your kids happy. And, you can hide all sorts of goodness in a smoothie including green powders, berry powders, fish oil and probiotics. You can even try adding in protein if you've got a picky(sticks-out-her-tongue at meat)-eater at home.

Skewer It
Fruit is always a great summer go-to snack. If your kids just aren't having it, try making bright, colourful fruit skewers. They are a hit at birthday parties, and may just get a few more servings of fruit into your kid's diet.

Dip, dip and more dip
Picky eaters can commonly be persuaded to eat a less desired food when dip is offered. In our house, we find showing our little ones which foods to dip (playing it up with lots of enthusiastic sounds and words) can help a lot. Try to keep the dips healthy; hummus, yogurt or guacamole are healthier dip choices, than ketchup and store-bought salad dressing.

Ensuring your kids are offered healthy food options throughout the day will help them learn what foods are good choices to best fuel their bodies. Try to keep snacks healthy (cheese, yogurt, fruit, vegetables) as much as possible so, you can breath easier at the end of the day, when dinner becomes yet another hot dog and ice cream cone.

Going Gluten-Free - Fad Diet or a Food Revolution?

It's hard to miss the gluten-free talk these days. It's everywhere - the topic of daytime talk shows, magazine articles, blogs and best-selling books. Gluten is becoming a "bad word". But, is it warranted? Is gluten truly a bad food?

For some, gluten causes the immune system in their body to attack - this is Celiac disease. Thanks to an increased awareness and understanding, more people are able to clearly identify whether or not they have Celiac disease. For those with Celiac disease, including a very good friend of mine, gluten really is a bad word - and it has to be avoided at all cost.

Some people find gluten doesn't agree with them - causing bloating, gas and other undesirable symptoms. For those folks, gluten is best in small dosages or not at all.

As for the rest of us, gluten isn't a huge problem. The real problem lies in the foods we commonly find gluten in. Where is gluten? Its in bread, pasta, crackers, cookies and most packaged foods (salad dressings, condiments, canned goods, boxed foods). These aren't "healthy" foods. As such, it may not be so much about "gluten" being a bad word, but the foods we find them in. This new anti-gluten diet is sort of an Atkin's diet re-packaged and re-marketed by companies hoping to get more money from the public who are desperate for weight-management help.

As with all "diets" that become popular in the media, its best to take them with a grain of salt. Stop and think trendy diets through before jumping on their band-wagon. Because, despite what some folks want us to believe, that whole-food diet your mom served is still a great, healthy diet! Yes, I can hear her now, "Allison, you can't get down from the table until you eat your vegetables, and have two more bites of meat."

A healthy diet is full of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain breads, beans/nuts/seeds and low-fat protein (fish, eggs, chicken). As for the anti-gluten diet trend...if avoiding gluten can help you cut out some unhealthy foods like donuts and packaged foods than great! But, as with any diet it is important to include variation and moderation...and, keep it real.

Black Raspberries as a Sunscreen?

Recent research from the University of Wisconsin, has found that compounds found in black raspberries may be capable of preventing cancer in the skin when it's exposed to sunlight.

What does that mean? Well, since everyday we expose our skin to ultraviolet radiation (sunlight) it's great to have your skin as protected as possible. Sure, broad rimmed hats and sunscreen are helpful, but you can arm your skin with nutrients that will target and neutralize any harmful compounds (including free radicals) that may form in your skin when it is exposed to sunlight. Nutrients found in black raspberries though do even more. They can reduce the creation of NP-kappa, a compound that is known to be a part of cancer, that can form in the skin.

What about strawberries or blueberries? Sure, these berries are packed with lots of healthy nutrients but, they simply don't have the same effects as black raspberries in laboratory tests.

What do you do to protect your skin this summer? Ever thought about lathering your skin with orange juice? Okay, sure that's not a great idea but your skin looses vitamin C as it is exposed to sunlight - and vitamin C is a major component of collagen - the scaffolding of your skin (no scaffolding = wrinkles).

My Confession? I can be terrible about remembering to bring a hat with me when I'm taking my daughter to the park or heading out for a run. But, packing my plate with colourful foods packed with lots of skin-supporting nutrients I can feel a little better.

What's your best tip for beautiful summer skin?

Healthy BBQ Ideas

Yahoo! The heat is here and it's time to stoke up the bar-b-ques and pour ice into our drinks. It's summertime - and, here are some great items to add to your next BBQ menu.

Delicious Discs
Dice the following foods into discs. Brush them on both sides with a bit of olive oil and BBQ until desired softness. It brings out a smoky, sweet flavour in these healthy food items...a nice change to the everyday boring burger affair.
- Pineapple, carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, eggplant, parsnips...(any more ideas...let us know.)

More Delicious BBQ Items to Try
Drizzle a little olive oil on these tasty foods and give your mouth a new summer favourite!
Cherry tomatoes on the vine, peaches (cut in half), hot peppers, mushrooms, corn in the husk.

And, don't forget broccoli. Chop it up with some cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, butter, salt and pepper and wrap into a flat package with aluminum foil...heat until desired tenderness.

My Confession - sure, I am well aware of the health concerns with eating BBQ'd blackened foods - and you should be too. Studies show that cancerous compounds can be found on blackened or charred BBQ foods. Even the best BBQ master can burn the odd piece so keep your eyes open...and, maybe cut those off.

And, be savvy. Eating BBQ foods everyday is not a great idea. If you are at risk (particularly breastfeeding women as these compounds are transferred into breast milk) it might be best to avoid BBQ feasts.

Say "YES" To Food

Most of our daily food choices are about saying "no". No, I can't eat gluten. No, I shouldn't eat ice cream and cake. No, that's not a healthy choice, I shouldn't eat that, or this. Why has making food choices turned so negative? Society is full of media reports about which foods you should NOT eat, and marketing companies convincing us that certain foods are BAD choices. What happened to being excited about what you eat? Food should be fun. We should be spending our days saying, "YES! I'll eat that!"

Shout out "YES" to an afternoon snack of yogurt. Lick your lips when looking at fresh fruit at the market this summer. Smile when you sit down at the table and feast your eyes on the delicious colourful dinner plate in front of you. Feel good about your food. And, enjoy every bite.

So, take a pack with me. No longer will we suffer in the pantry of NO. No longer will our food decisions be haunted with negativity and darkness. Instead, we will smile when we see a food we are going to eat. We will rejoice in excitement about saying YES to a food. Make a pack that your diet will become fun, positive and exciting. Change around your mentality about food. Say "yes" to food.

My Confession of the Day? To keep my food experiences positive, I fill my fridge with all YES foods, so there is never the opportunity to say NO. And, sure - I may have baked some cookies on the weekend but I see them as a YES food. Instead of telling myself all day, NO - don't eat those...I say, YES, I can enjoy one cookie after dinner with my herbal tea - why not, right? Food is supposed to be fun. We eat every day - why not enjoy the experience.