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Food Talk: Making the gut-mind connection
We can't deny the existence of the gut-mind connection. Ask anyone who suffers with irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease about the damning impact anxiety and stress has on their digestive tract conditions.
Food Talk: Turn bounty of garden veggies into roasted tostadas
Here are a couple of recipes, adapted from the cookbook Every Day Food: Great Food Fast (Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Inc., 2007), that use the seasonal glut of zucchini, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and any other veggie you have on hand that would taste good roasted. For those of us who have a grill or barbecue on hand, by all means go ahead and put it to work. I've included a grilling option.
Nothing tastes more like summer than fresh raspberries
While juicy tomatoes, crisp corn-on-the-cob and multiple shapes of zucchini abound, nothing announces summer's arrival like perfectly plump raspberries. Savouring the sweettart flavour of this delicate, velvet-textured fruit can be one of the most sensual experiences of the season.
Science looks at Mediterranean diet
Over the past 35 years, the main focus of North American dietary recommendations have been to reduce our intake of fat. Not surprisingly, the public has come to associate dietary fat with obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer, while low-fat or fat-free eating is synonymous with heart health, a trim physique and overall well-being.
Eat! Vancouver recipe
Peruvian-born chef Pedro Guillen will be demonstrating traditional recipes from that country this weekend at Eat! Vancouver, a festival dedicated to food and cooking June 1 to 3 at B.C. Place.
Go spear an asparagus
Although asparagus is available to us year round, mid-April to June is the best time to eat these delicate spears. For optimal taste and nutrition, cook this veggie the day it's purchased. If that's not possible, keep it in the fridge for up to five days by wrapping the bottom of the stalks in a damp paper towel and placing them in a paper bag in the crisper drawer.
Gluten for punishment
If you've been keeping up with the latest food and diet trends, you’ve most likely heard the buzz about gluten-free eating. In the last five years there’s been an explosion of gluten-free articles in the media and gluten-free products in the marketplace.
10 super foods to help weight loss
In North America’s celebrity-obsessed milieu, we tend to gravitate towards internationally renowned actresses, models and athletes for diet advice. But many of the dodgy claims made by today’s newsmakers promote theories and therapies that make little scientific sense. Instead of referring to the “galaxy of the stars” for sound nutritional guidance, we need to look no further than our own neighbourhoods.
Holiday overeating may be risky
What are the holidays if they don't include the enjoyment of the season's parties, dinners and cocktails? While it's old news that this time of year can take its toll on our weight, the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter reports other possible adverse health consequences related to our indulgences-especially if we have pre-existing heart disease or associated risk factors.
Coconut oil's benefits almost entirely anecdotal
Last week I was enjoying lunch with friends when the topic of conversation turned to coconut oil. One of my diet-conscious mates was describing a dish she recently prepared using the tropical fat. Everyone at the table was terribly impressed; what a healthy alternative to canola oil or olive oil. To say that I didn't share my friends' enthusiasm is putting it mildly.
Thanks for the gravy
In our modern times, many of the friends and family who gather around our table at Thanksgiving come with opposing food preferences: some worship the almighty bird, while others take a pass. An intense dislike or moral issues about eating animals, leave them wanting nothing to do with Mr. Tom Turkey.
Food talk: plum’s the word
Big, dark purple plums always remind me of September’s return to school days. My sensory association dates back to 1970 when I started elementary school. As a recess snack, my mother tucked plums into my school bag daily for the first week of grade one (there wasn’t kindergarten in Alberta). And during that time of tremendous change, the luscious fruit was a consistent source of comfort for me, in a sweet-sour juicy way.
