Tips for Picking The Healthiest Chocolate :) Happy Valentine's Day!

The first point won't be a big surprise: choose dark chocolate. The darker the bar, the higher the cocoa mass percentage will be. Dark cocoa (at least 70%) will have more healthy polyphenols and antioxidants and less of the processed oils and sugars. If it doesn't list the percentage then don't buy it. Second point also won't be a surprise: read the ingredients. Whether its a cereal, granola bar, or chocolate it's all the same point…. The fewer the ingredients the better. Look for 3 or 4 ingredients in high quality chocolate: chocolate, cocoa butter/ cocoa mass, and/or cocoa liquor, plus sugar. If the bar contains any oil, milk or milk products, soya lecithin, emulsifiers, ‘natural flavour’, or preservatives don’t buy it. Buy organic whenever possible. Cacao plants are some of the most heavily sprayed crops in the world. Pesticide residues can end up in the final product. Find out how your chocolate was manufacture. It is important in determining how 'healthy' it is. Drying cacao beans in the sun instead of roasting them preserves many of the chocolate’s delicate nutrients. Make sure that their processing temperature is not over 110°F. Also look for if the chocolate has undergone “Dutching", an alkalization method that actually removes the polyphenols. The polyphenols, the healthy part, gives the characteristic bitter flavour to the finished product. Hope these tips give you something to think about over the next couple of days if you buy chocolate for your loved one, or yourself!!

One in Three Mixing Supplements with Drugs

In a recent study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, researchers analyzed data on 9,950 adults from the NHANES. In this nationally representative sample of adults, 34.3 percent reported using dietary supplements and prescription medications together. Furthermore, adults diagnosed with a medical condition were 2.5 times more likely to mix supplements with drugs than those without a medical condition. The researchers found that multivitamins with added ingredients were the most commonly used supplements, followed by antacids and multivitamins with added botanical ingredients. Multivitamins may contain a wide range of vitamins and minerals and include additional ingredients such as fish oil and herbs such as ginkgo. Drugs for heart conditions and hormones were the most common medications mixed with supplements. Concomitant Dietary Supplement and Prescription Medication Use Is Prevalent among US Adults with Doctor-Informed Medical Conditions Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; Emily K. Farina, PhD, RD, Krista G. Austin, PhD, Harris R. Lieberman, PhD, Accepted 23 January 2014. published online 07 April 2014.

Pears for Stubborn Cough

I've had a busy couple of hours prepping food for Owen. I always like to have cubes of pear and cubes of apple on hand in the freezer to quickly mix with a vegetable so today started with making pearsauce and ended with a making a tasty chicken and thyme/broccoli/carrot/brown rice stew for him. As I was making the pears I remembered the last time I was making pearsauce. It was actually a few weeks ago for a stubborn cough I had. Now is the tail end of winter and a lot of people have been coming in with that 'change of season' minor cold with a stubborn cough. A couple of the things I would recommend to help soothe the cough is a flaxseed chest poultice and a cup of warm pearsauce. Works wonderfully for adults and kids alike! Take 3 pears (doesn't matter what kind but I like anjou), peel and slice and put in a small saucepan with 1/4 cup of water. Cover and let simmer on low for 15 minutes or until pears are nice and soft. You could put a pinch of cinnamon and grate some fresh ginger into this mixture while it's cooking or just leave as is, nice and plain and eat as is. I like to take the mixture and just run it quickly through my mini food chopper to puree it nicely so it looks exactly like applesauce. To those on March Break: enjoy the week!

The Beauty of Whole Food Through a Child

I just took a sweet potato out of the oven that was baking for an hour. No oils, no salt or pepper, no spices or herbs, just a plain sweet potato pierced with a fork a few times, baking away. I was making it for my little guy's lunch and just tore off the skin and tasted it. Wow. I forgot how delicious a plain sweet potato could be! This also reminds me of how grounding and life-giving whole food is and how this is such an amazing time in establishing for Owen, how good, real food really is. This is when it starts -- healthy food habits for life. I know there will be bumps along the way and that even my naturopathic baby may not like kale and quinoa -- but I am excited to see Owen's discovery of all tastes and textures. His introduction to food was very different than mine. My mom has told me countless times that she started food with me at 4 months at the advice of the pediatrician because I had horrible reflux. I wanted no part of plain old fruits and veggies and so she was busy pureeing beef stews, and perogies and anything else they were eating that day for dinner! Our little guy was probably ready a month ago for food. Sitting up, intrigued with us eating, watching our every move at the dinner table, and his tongue thrust reflex (prevents him from choking) disappeared. However he had some eczema so I was determined to find out what food I was eating that was affecting him before we started introducing anything. So 3 weeks ago we started a cleanse. Less a cleanse for me as I'm breastfeeding, but more of an elimination diet with a careful reintroduction of foods. Owen's eczema disappeared within 3 days of starting..... sure enough my suspicion was right - eggs were the culprit!! I had been eating a lot of eggs as they were such an easy and healthy protein for me and I love our weekend brunches out filled with eggs. I also was planning on introducing egg yolk as one of his first foods so I'm glad I figured that out beforehand. So what have I introduced thus far for Owen? Well we've done butternut squash, pears, parsnips, banana, and today will be day one of sweet potato! It's so amazing to see the discovery in his eyes and here's hoping that he continues to love food and appreciate the beauty of whole food.

Road Tripping Memories

I am so filled with happiness and delight watching today's Marilyn Dennis show. Marilyn and her son did a road trip from Calgary to Jasper and they are chronicling their road adventure on today's show. As I am finishing writing up this month's Zawada Health newsletter, Marilyn is on in the background, Owen is napping in my wrap, and I'm enjoying a cinnamon heart puerh tea from David's! What a great morning. Watching them do their road trip filled my mind and heart with all our family road trips growing up. The Zawada's are master road-trippers. It's truly in our blood I think. If my parents weren't working hard during the season on the tobacco farm, they were throwing us in the car and driving everywhere.... from the Sunday drives in the summer to Kitchener to go to Sportsworld, to the mini road trips to Buffalo shopping, to all the Florida drives, to the cross country trips to Alberta and everywhere in between! There is something special that bonds a family or friends when stuck in the car for hours on end. I remember doing flash cards with my sister in the car, playing helicopter in the car (before seat belts were mandatory!), being threatened to get left at the side of the road if we didn't behave and of course all the stops along the way that cement a trip in your mind. I remember all the music (oh Beyonce!) and all the gas stops and the farm smells driving across Canada with my dear friend Andrea. I remember driving through the night with Chris on the way out East unable to find a hotel to stop, driving with one eye open through the dark, moose-filled highways around a town called Edmunston in New Brunswick. And of course let's not forget as a true Canadian what's a road trip without Tim Horton's along the way! I guess the other reason why road trips are on my mind is because my mom called me this morning and told me that their Ford pick-up truck is 172 km away from turning over to a million km. CRAZY!! I told you the Zawada's are real road-trippers!!! There is something truly special about being on the road and watching the world go by and enjoying either the colour of the leaves in autumn, the snow on the trees in the fall, the smell of the freshly ploughed soil in the spring or the sight of the sun reflecting everywhere in the summer. Now with a 5 month old I cannot wait to start road-tripping and making new memories for our new family of 3!

Food Introduction for Babies!

Last complimentary seminar for the week takes place tomorrow at noon with me! Hopefully those of you that have attended the seminars thus far have enjoyed and learned a few things to keep your kids healthy! Thanks again to some of the companies that have provided samples for the attendees! Thanks to NFH, Olive Baby, Sun Warrior, Seroyal, and of course the practitioners of ZH, Helene, Claire, Tiffany, and Catherine for volunteering their time to make this week a success. “Food Introduction for Infants” – Carol Morley ND, Nov 22nd, 12 pm Are you curious what current trends and acceptable practises are for introducing first foods to your infant? Join new mom and Naturopathic Doctor Carol Morley in a discussion of what are the best first foods and why your choices could result in a healthier immune system and fewer allergies, eczema, and other common childhood concerns for your infant. A draw for an Olive Baby gift basket valued at $35.00. Winter

Want to Know More About Treating Kids and Babies with Osteopathy?

“Osteopathy and Childhood Concerns” – Catherine Cabral-Marotta, Nov 21st, 7 pm This seminar will focus on the benefits of osteopathic manual treatment for the pediatric patient. Information on the benefits of treatment for colic, sleep disturbances, and biomechanical development (specifically toe-in/toe-out gait) will be emphasized. Call or email the clinic today to sit in for tonights seminar!