March is liver disease awareness month and I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the leading cause of liver disease in Canada. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common type of liver disease in Canada with the common cause being obesity. According to the experts, 75% of … [Read more...]
Show your heart some love with Calcium
When we think about heart health and diet the first nutrient that usually comes to mind is fat. Calcium is something we think about for bone health but heart health? Do we need to monitor our intake? How much should we take? Should we just take supplements? These are questions I have been … [Read more...]
Sodium and the risk of high blood pressure.
I’ve been nicknamed the salt queen, as I’ve changed the eating habits of many clients as well as other health care professionals. It shocks them when I bring in a bunch of processed foods to show where we are actually getting our salt from (as opposed to the salt shaker.) I then educate these … [Read more...]
Caffeine and the risk of heart disease
Talking to my clients about their familial genetic risk factors for developing diseases has been a standard in my practice. What I never expected to see during my career as a Dietitian, was the ability to assess my clients’ risk of developing chronic diseases based on their own genetic … [Read more...]
Five ways to reduce stroke risk
Strokes account for 6% of deaths in Canada each year(1). Since June is stroke awareness month, I want to focus on a ways we can reduce our risk of having a stroke. 1. The old adage— Eat more fruits and vegetables— is more important than ever. A meta-analysis of nine studies, with a … [Read more...]
Heart Health
When discussing the dietary causes of heart disease, there is a common misconception that too much fat increases our risk. Interestingly, when we take a look at the Mediterranean diet (shown to be the most successful diet for lowering risk of cardiovascular events) it is not low in fat. It is … [Read more...]
