Edmonton Yoga Weekend

Had a wonderful but short weekend with my travelling Delicious Detox seminar in Edmonton. I flew in on Saturday morning and was shuttled off to do a 3 hr yoga bootcamp with my sister and a visiting instructor from BC (Karlito!!) at Moksha Yoga Edmonton.

Today I did the detox seminar in the morning for a great group of instructors and people that were starting a 30-day challenge. We covered some great information about how to decrease the burden on the body and how to be more conscious about environmental toxins and how they affect us. We can be affected by the water we drink (pesticide run-off), by the food we eat (preservatives, pesticides), by the air we breathe (smog), the clothes we wear, the furniture we sit on (off-gassing), etc. We also chatted about the necessity of sweating as a cooling mechanism and how important it is not to continually wipe the sweat off while in the hot room.

In the afternoon I stayed at the studio and did another 3 hr workshop. This one was a posture and alignment clinic that went through each of the postures in the moksha series. It was fantastic as I learned alot of new things even though I've been doing yoga for 8 years.

Next detox seminar will be at Flip Dog Yoga in Mississauga on March 19th at 2:30 pm.

Laptop Use and Male Fertility

Male fertility is not the first thing that comes to many people's minds when putting their laptop on their lap, or when thinking about how laptops affect health. Usually eye strain and posture are the health concerns that come to mind with laptops. My friend and colleague, Jennifer Hillier, is an ND at the University of Guelph health center and was recently interviewed for The Ontarion about the topic. Read the article to learn more!

Raptor Game and Fruits?!

I was so surprised to see a little fruit stand at the ACC last night at the Toronto Raptor game. Right beside the bar, between stands of popcorn and pizza, a stand of fresh apples and pears were shining and calling out my name. They also had little containers of cut up fruit and berries. They sold really well because by the end of half-time all the apples were gone!
If only the Raptors had won the game :(

Alzheimers Tips

Use it or lose it. Here is a link to my friend and colleague's blog post about a book she recently read (Still Alice) and her tips to keep your brain working well.

The book is about a linguistics professor who is diagnosed with Alzheimers at 50 years of age. Shelley and I chat books and movies often and I have always liked her recommendations so this will be the next one on my list! Oh and Shelley if you read this: I don't have a GPS either!!

Butternut Squash for Dinner

Why is butternut squash so hard to cut and peel? Ugh. Usually Chris (my husband and sous-chef) is in charge of dicing squash but he's still at work and I wanted to get a head-start on dinner.

I usually do butternut squash as part of a mixture of root veggies (parsnips, and sweet potato and carrot) and roast them with olive oil and parsley. My mom used to do butternut squash with olive oil and oregano and roast it separately. Oh and she always peeled it; never just cut in half and roasted ... my dad would complain if the squash wasn't peeled (yes my mom is a saint!).

Today I've tossed the peeled and diced butternut squash with a few tablespoons of olive oil, a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper, and a tablespoon of minced fresh thyme (I had some leftover from a meal I made on the weekend). I'm going to roast it at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or so until tender. I guess we'll see what herb I like best with squash.

So tonight's dinner: cajun catfish, roasted butternut squash, and a fresh kale salad.

FYI: Butternut squash is a great source of vitamin A and vitamin C and potassium. Great for glowing skin, and bright eyes among other things!

Diet Pop and Cardiovascular Disease

I had a lovely Davids Tea date with a friend this morning. We were chatting about health because her husband got her some kind of new and exciting wellness monitor for her birthday. One topic lead to another and I told her about a study I read yesterday about diet soda being associated with a higher risk of stroke.

I also read the same info in the Globe and Mail Life section this morning. The new study presented at a stroke conference in LA this week found a link between diet drinks and cardiovascular disease. Results showed that people who drank at least one diet pop a day had a 48% higher risk of having a heart attack, stroke or fatal cardiac event than those who reported no soda consumption.

Am I surprised? Of course not. My two big guidelines when talking to patients are no cold cuts and no artificial sweeteners. I seriously don't get comments around this study saying it's too soon to urge people to shun diet soda. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Yes water is boring. But is essential for life. Why bother with diet soda? It's a chemical... your body doesn't get it. Have real sugar or honey or maple syrup -- in moderation -- at least your body knows what to do with it.

I could go on and on....