Our Blog has moved!

Hey everyone!

I suppose you might be asking where have all our posts gone? Well, we've move our blog.

You can now follow us over at our new 21st Century Food Blog. It's still slightly under construction, but all our great posts are now over there!

Hope you enjoyed things so far!

Problems with the Agricultural Industry of Today

The food chain is a little bit out of whack these days, notably with fruits and vegetables. Ideally, crops would be grown, harvest and then shared or sold and eaten. It starts at the farm, and gets to your dinner table in maybe two steps. However, that is hardly the case these days with the way the agricultural industry is run in the Western world.

The sad truth of the matter is that the cozy little image of a small family running a small farm is quickly becoming an antiquated concept. Every day there are fewer and fewer farms run by actual people and more and more run by enormous companies. Where people can give their product a human touch and pride themselves in their work, mega corporations are normally more concerned with volume of produce and making money.

One of the main problems with this line of thinking is that once corporations begin buying up farms and land, they eventually gain control of massive holdings that are well beyond their reasonable scope of being able to manage and overview every holding effectively.

It has taken a recent massive outbreak of E-Coli in Europe for officials to admit that the way the agricultural industry is set up doesn't work. Because such a massive volume of food is produced by only two or three corporations, they are having a hard time tracking the source of the outbreak because there is simply too much going on.

The food could come from dozens of farms in an area, which all grow the same crop and ship it to the same distributor, who then mingles it will all the other food and sends it out to various locations, and then to grocery stores and markets and so forth. Because of this, tracking the origins of an outbreak is a nightmare, become too much food comes into contact with it and ends up in too many areas.

If farms were more localized, an outbreak of E-Coli wouldn't spread across the continent, and would be easy to contain because the crop could be identified immediately.

One of the reasons small local and organic farms are so important is that they are actually accountable for the crops they produce. Unlike in the system of corporations where farms just produce and send the crops away and out of their hands, smaller farms tend to take pride in their work and remain local and visible. As well, there is much smaller chance that dangerous food bacteria will emerge and spread from these locations.

It also helps that organic farms do not use pesticides and other toxic chemicals to protect their crops from insects, considering that there are plenty of natural and safe to humans ways of fighting off insects and other ills from their crops.

A drug to erase bad memories?

Here's some odd health news: researchers believe they have developed a pill that can erase bad memories.

When we are experiencing high levels of stress our anxiety, our bodies produce a hormone called cortisol.  Researchers at a clinical study realized that the hormone remains with us when we recall the memory and once again feel stressed out, and hypothesized that the hormone itself was tied to reproducing the memory.

By giving volunteers a cortisol-dampening pill after having exposed them to a stressful short film, researchers discovered that patients had difficulty in remembering the film and what it was about it that caused them anxiety in the first place.

This research honestly feels like something out a science-fiction, and eerily close to what happened in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind where the main characters both had their memories of each other erased after their relationship grew painful.

While this new pill sounds like it good have positive benefits, such as soothing people haunted by a traumatic event, it also has the potential to be abused. People might see the pill as the solution to minor problems and heart aches, rather than coping with them. Imagine taking a pill to erase your memory every time you make a mistake; you will only end up repeating that mistake over and over.

Our memories and experience make up who we are, without them we would be much like goldfish circling forever in our fish bowl, not realizing how we got there or where we are going. Bad memories are as important as the good, because without them we would never learn from past mistakes or become stronger human beings.

What do you think? Can having some of your memories erased be a good thing, or should we go on living?

San Tropez Latin Dance Studio

 Looking for something to do this summer that will also help you get moving? How about some feisty latin dance courses offered over at the San Tropez dance studio, based right here in Montreal.

The studio has two locations, one in the West Island and the other in the Downtown Core, which both offer a wide range of fun classes which both enthusiasts and amateurs can enjoy. They offer classes in Salsa, Bachata, Ballroom dancing and even Zumba, which pretty much means that anyone who attends a few lessons can abandon the shy feeling that dancefloors often give us.

The studios can fit about 20 people per class, along with a helpful and courteous staff that is there to help you get into the rhythme and feel at ease learning something new. Show up wearing comfortable clothing and running shoes, and you and your dance partner can expect a decent workout as well as learning something exciting and new.

San Tropez also hosts and organizez to the Montreal Salsa dancing convention, an event where a certain member of the 21st Century Food team had the privilege of attending. This event is no small time competition but a full on gala, with professional dancers and talented dance enthusiasts competing in front of large crowds on an elegantly decorated stage.

Honestly, some of these couples could put the people from So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars to utter shame. Talk about wonderful outfits and routines, all set to feisty summer music.

It was really something special, and a great way to spend the evening. Judging by the success of these events (the place was packed!), you can expect them to be a regular occurence here in Montreal.

So if you are looking for a way to get the most out of this summer, perhaps learning Salsa is the thing for you.

British Columbia's Bike to Work Week

Beginning next Monday is the province of British Columbia's "Bike to Work Week". Celebreated in 15 municipalities, including Victoria, participants are encouraged, well, to bike to work.

This May will mark the 17th year that the event has taken place. Close to 10 000 participants are expected to participated across the province, with as many as 6000 people in victoria abandoning their cars for a bicycle that week.

 

 

The purpose of the event is two fold fold.

In one sense it acts a way for people to see that biking is actually a viable mode of transportation in cities. With up to six thousand less cars on the road every day for a week, that creates a whole lot of space for people to get around. People are often frightened of biking in cities due to the lack of proper bike paths and aggressive drivers and this serves as a way to encourage people to go biking, and feel how much more enjoyable it is than driving.

Once people actually get on their bikes, the benefits they can enjoy are immediate. Biking is great exercise, far more engaging than walking or running. You get to work a ton of muscles, and not worry about hurting or damaging your knees. At the same time, you get to enjoy fresh air, feel the sun on your shoulders, and arrive at work awake and exhilerated.

Also important, it cuts back on emissions (not to mention saves you from spending gas money!). If 10 000 cars are off the road for the whole week, thats a whole ton less fumes going into the air. While I doubt that BC has a problem with smog, it's something that Montreal certainly faces from time to time from way too much air pollution. Your lungs and the planet will thank you.

Unfortunately, this trend hasn't really caught on to the same degree here in Montreal. We have car free day once a year, where around 6 blocks of city are closes off, which is nice but it only lasts around half a day. Perhaps because our city has the stigma for terrible drivers that people tend to see cyclists as diehards or lunatics. Luckily though, bike lanes are constantly being added to busy streets to protect and encourage cyclists and the Bixi service is expanding every year. I even noticed some down on Monkland Avenue in NDG the other day! Small steps, but all in the right direction.

Watch out arteries: The KFC Double Down is coming back to Canada

Remembe that fried monstrosity that FKC released a little while ago called the "Double Down"? People's arteries the world over cringed the first time that "sandwhich" was released, and now it's bad with a "healthy" (notice the quotation marks!) spin to it.

First, the facts on these terrors:

• Made from two sides of deep fried chicken holding together strips of fried bacon, cheese and special sauce, the whole sandwhich sits hardly larger than your hand. 
• Contains 32 grams of fat (probably not the good kind either... I'm guessing trans and saturated here)
• 1500 mg of sodium, or around a full day's worth.
• It's total calorie count sits around 540. That's roughly equivalent to a giant bowl of pasta with sauce, except in this case the pasta and sauce would actually fill you up and has nutrients in it.
• Nutritional value: none.

Needless to say, anyone who cares in the least bit about their body should avoid these. In fact, even the people who eat poorly on a regular basis will want to steer clear for their own good.

When it was first released, FKC owners flaunted the fact that it was the single most unhealthy food out there on the market at the time. People eagerly crowded restaurant lines to find out what losing six years of your life tastes like.

Now, the new "healthy" spin on these things is that the makers decided to cut down the sodium by 10%.

That's it... really.

So instead of 1500 mg of sodium they now contain 1320 mg of sodium, which is still way more than should be in any thing other than a salt lick. Nevermind the amount of fat, calories and the damage that these thigns will do to your blood sugar levels.

It is honestly frightening to think that anyone in the right mind would willingly eat these.

So what does healthy food look like? Well for one, it's a lot more colourful.

I'll even say it: it's a lot more flavourful too. Don't believe me? Check out our lifestyle menu. Flavour, colour and healthy? Now there's a real combo.

In Home Fitness, Physio and Personal Trainers

Here's something exciting: 21st Century Food has recently teamed up with the certified personal trainers of Be Training in order to better serve the needs of our clientele. Seeing a personal trainer can be an important step on the road towards a healthier happy you. Offering expert advice, recommendations and work outs, the good people over at Be Training can be the support you need to get moving!

What separates Be Training from most other excercise programs is the fact that instead of having to build up the will power to head out to the gym every evening, Be Training brings the training right into your home. Relying on largely equipment free exercises (because not everyone has their own home gym!) they offer simple, easy to follow routines.

This Summer they have several special programs going, such as Prenatal Fitness for expecting mothers and  Stroller Fitness for new mothers, as well as Summer Bootcamp, a rigourous and intense outdoors physical workout.

With a team of friendly, dedicated and certified professional trainers on call and ready to support you in your pursuit of personal fitness goals, getting in shape has never been so easy. If you live anywhere on the island of Montreal or in Ile-Bizard you owe it to yourself to check out their services if getting in shape this summer is something that's on your mind!

Because fitness is not something you can afford to let go, BeTraining offers special discounts for students as well as couples and group rates. Their service is available and open to everyone on the island of Montreal and Ile-Bizard.

5 Food that can make you more hungry

Uh oh, did you know that some foods, when eaten, can in fact make you more hungry? As if watching what you eat wasn't tough enough already, what with portions, calories, nutrients and all the rest to consider.

So here is a list of 5 foods that you want want to think twice about having if you're trying to watch your weight and eat healthy.

1) French Fries

One of the most popular foods in North America, French Fries, despite being made from potatoes, are definitely one of the more unhealthy foods out there. Whatever nutrients they might have been able to give yo, if steamed or baked with the skin, are virtually gone thanks to deep frying and the addes salt. 

French Fries are basically just salty, fat filled slices of starch. Because they normally accompany fast food, they often act as a stimulant to your taste buds, encouraging you to devour the often accompanying hamburger and sugary drinkthat came with the combo.

2) Potato Chips

Falling under the same category as french fries, Potato Chips have the same problems: potatoes gone wrong! How easy is it to sit on the couch with a bag of these while watching a movie and suddenly realizing that they are all gone and you're not any more full than you were ten minutes before?

The other problem with them, is that fast food chains, like Subways, which pretend to offer healthy alternatives to burger pits, offer Potato Chips as part of their combos, as if they were any better for you than fries! The only real difference is that the portion is smaller, but you still crave soft drinks and plow through your food once the bag of these suckers is opened.

3) Hot Dogs

Hot Dogs are one of the single worst foods a person can east. Made from the over processed scraps of meat that didn't make it into other processed products and burgers, these BBQ favourites contain a ton of preservatives, salt and other junk that your body doesn't really need. As well, they don't really fill you up. It's mostly the bun that takes up room in your stomach. 

People can literally sit down and eat hot dogs all day and not get full. I'm sure you've noticed that American eating contests usually involve these, where contestants can pack down dozens of them in a small amount of time. Tofu Dogs, which taste basically the same once all the dressings are on top, are a smarter choice, and so are burgers for that matter (being that they at least fill you up!)

4) White Pasta

As tasty as it is, White Pasta is basically regular pasta minus all the nutrients and benefits of the whole grain. It's light, easy to eat, and it can also make you more hungry. Because it doesn't really offer your body anything beyond some carbohydrates, eating bowl after bowl of pasta is hardly filling or rewarding for your body. It also encourages you to devour whatever else is being served at the meal, in larger portions than you normally would.

Whole Wheat Pasta, while on it's on is rather bland and tough to get through, tastes the same once covered with a home made tomato sauce and at least that way your body will get something good from the meal.

5) Flavoured Yogurt

While yogurt is a wonderful treat, notably the frozen kind that they serve at those popular Yeh! places all over town, is not always very healthy. Plain and light yogurts do give your body a ton of useful positive bacterial cultures to work with, great for helping sore stomachs, but Flavoured Yogurts tend to be loaded with sugar and other junk to make it more appealing. Eating this kind of yogurt doesn't really let your body know when your full. In fact, I've seen more than a few people head to a fast food place right after eating some flavoured frozen yogurt, just to actually feel full.

A wiser alternative would be to purchase plain yogurt and add in the fruits yourself. A good food processor can turn boring plain yogurt into something quite a bit more delicious, thanks to a handful of strawberries and a few slices of banana. Or ever, to get the most out of it, try making home made smoothies. Throw in some plain yogurt, ice cubes and a ton of fruit and berries and voilà! A healthier, and tasty, alternative.

Get in shape this spring with the 17 Day Diet

Get out and get active this spring (provided that it ever stops raining)! Pull yourself away from that winter slumber, and shed those hibernal pounds.

Offered until the end of this month, 21st Century Food has on promotion the 17 Day Diet, a fast, well balanced and effective weight loss program that couples nutrition with exercise.

The system revolves around the number 17.

Broken into four cycles of 17 days, involving specific meal plans that differ between each cycle, and coupled with 17 minutes of exercise routines each day, a dieter can expect to lose up to 17 pounds in the first cycle alone.

While the first cycle is by far the most extreme, and challenging part of the diet, it is the following 3 cycles which have the greatest long term payoff. Unlike most diets which think about the here and now, and forget about tomorrow, the 17 Day Diet encourages you to keep those pounds gone.

The final 3 cycles helps your body regain its balance, and get you into a routine which you can continue to enjoy even long after the diet period is over. With a smart routine in place, along with enjoyable meal options and an invigorating exercise routine, you can kiss those pounds goodbye forever.

At 21st Century Food, we prepare all of he meals for the 17 Day Diet, some taken from our weight loss menu, and others as special creations for the diet. We also offer recommendations and can get you in touch with a personal trainer or motivator, along with a consultation with one of our nutritionists.

When you diet with 21st Centry Food, you are never alone.

Lufa Farms - The largest rooftop garden in the world

Here's something I didn't know: the world's largest rooftop greenhouse farm is located right here in the city. Lufa Farms is a Montreal iniative designed to make the best use of our city space as possible. The people at Lufa are "taking back" spaces that were once farmlands in the only way possible: building on top of existing infrastructure.

The 31 000 square foot greenhouse is capable of providing enough food to feed approximately 2000 people, and that's just one rooftop! The project is currently in its prototype stage, but you can imagine what sort of crops these greenhouses could yield if more roofing space was given over to their cause.

The Lufa greenhouse is part of an initiative to take greater responsiblity towards our environment. While not exactly organic, in the usual sense, due to the hydroponic growing methods, the food that is grown in the greenhouse contains no pesticides or other harmful chemicals. As well, though they do use fossil fuels to heat the green house, they nevertheless use heat curtains to trap the heat during the nights and cold periods, and use far less than other facilities of equal size would.

One of the greatest advantages of the project is the fact that the food is all local, which means that it is not only fresh, but also doesn't have to be transported from China or some other distant place, costing a huge waste of resources. How great of a concept is that, eating food grown right here in the city? There is nothing better than eating vegetables that come from your own garden, and the food from Lufa is on the same level.

While the greenhouse project is still in its infancy stages, 21st Century Food has already petitioned the good people over them to be able to have access to some of their first crops. Is this something that the future has in store for all of us? How about enjoying a pleasant lifestyle meal from ingredients that were picked the very morning you receive it?! All I can say is, I hope it works out!

Coffee preventing breast cancer? More to it than that.

Coffee seems to be a recurring theme in this blog, what with my half-hearted struggle to cut back, and the general fascination that medical researchers seem to have with it. Almost every week, I read something in the news about coffee either being the next best thing for your body, or something to fearfully avoid. Don't drink too much, don't drink too little and on and on.

Recently I read a news article on a Canadian news website, one that was also reported in various papers, that consuming coffee might help women prevent breast cancer. The article begins by strongly stating that coffee consumption can greatly reduce the risk of breast.

Doesn't sound too bad right?

But then the interesting thing happens where the article suggests that lifestyle choices, such as overall health and nutrition, of the women in the study, as well as whether they smoked or consumed alcohol on a regular basis, were not factored in.

Hmm. Then the article states that it's not suggesting women go out and consume massive amounts of coffee, but that worse case, coffee couldn't possibly contribute.

Now, curiously, that's not how the article began. The article began with a gripping premise, that consuming our favourite caffeinated beverage can produce remarkable health benefits, and then ended with a wimper saying it wasn't sure.

In fact all the article is really telling is us that coffee probably does not cause breast cancer. If the researchers who did the study came up with irrelevant conclusions, it makes you wonder why they bothered to publish it at all.

Yoga in the Old Port - Centre Luna

Centre Luna, is a Montreal yoga studio base in the Old Port. Founded in 2003 by Jennifer Maagendans, the studio's main aims are to offer a cozy and hip atmostphere where visitors can discipline their mind as well as their body.

The centre currently staffs five instructors, who each teach numerous and different courses throughout the week. While the most popular classes are in during the lunch hour drop in sessions, classes are also offered in the evenings and on weekends.

Two types of classes are offered, in two separate intensity levels. The first type of class offered is Yoga Flo, which emphasizes movement. Imagine a constant flow, moving fluidly from one posture to the next throughout the class. While, thi type of class should be familiar to people who have done yoga before or on a regular basis, what separates it from other experiences is the general feeling of unity that each and every class offers.

The second type of class is Jivamukti, the only one of it's kind in Montreal. In these classes, the work out is joined by breathing exercises and music to help keep you soothed and meditative, while being active at the same time. This form of yoga might sound intimidating at first, but in reality it is far from that. This yoga is designed to make you feel more at ease with yourself and your surroundings.

Both classes offer intermediate and advanced levels, so beginners and experts will surely be able to find something that is right for them.

Exclusive to clients from 21st Century Food

As a special promotion, any client from 21st Century Food who is interested in the experience offered by Luna Yoga may use the the promotional code "21stcenturyfood" and receive 10% off classes for the rest of the month!

Elizabeth May wants to clean up Parliament as well as the Environment

Elizabeth May made history this past election for having been the first ever Green Party MP elected to the Canadian house of Parliament. Her riding, Saanich-Gulf Islands, had one of the highest voter turnouts in the country with over 75 per cent of the riding going out and voting. Having one by a landslide against a former Conservative cabinet minister, it's safe to say that voters who stayed home in 2008, came out to show their support for the Green Party leader.

What does this mean having a lone Green MP in the house of commons? Well, with a Conservative majority, probably not a whole lot, especially considering that the two parties sit at the opposite ends of the politcal spectrum. There isn't a single specific point where the Green and the Conservative party platforms lines up. May, however, doesn't seem very phased by this.

In a recent interview with CBC (the television stations seem to have remembered she existed all of a sudden) she sounded optimistic that her voice in parliament wouldn't just be a shout from the back row, but possible to make a real difference.

Citing some of the many occasions in which our parliament has recently degenerated in shouting matches, name calling and the pointing of the finger, May hopes to bring a dignified composure, and a calm demeanour to the house that will help her get noticed and her party be taken seriously.

Honestly, I find her outlook, if perhaps a little too optimistic, to be somewhat refreshing. As our larger parties have begun acting like American politicians in recent years, using personal attacks and smear campaigns agaisnt one another, it would be quite nice to see our government start acting like... well, a government again. If the sole MP from our smallest serious political party can actually control herself and show Canadians that it's possible to act responsible on parliament hill, all the better.

In fact May has also announced a few plans for her riding, which seem rather commendable. On the last election campaign, MP absentia from the house as well as their riding was a growing target of attacks, which is something May hopes to avoid. This week she announced that she would be holding a meeting every 6 weeks in her riding where anyone could come and approach her and her staff and discuss issues facing the area, kind of like an open meeting at a small town.

This is certainly something quite a bit different than what some of our other MPs have been doing, such as going on lengthy vacations out of the country.

I honestly hope this works out for her. Just as Canadians vote for many different parties, we need many different voices on parliament hill. As well, our house of commons could use a lesson in etiquette, and if she is the one to do it, then all the better: I hope the other parties learn something about being proper representatives of their ridings.

A bit of a Rant - Montreal Street Cleaners

I usually try to keep optimistic about things, but sometimes you witness something so utterly bizarre and wasteful that it get difficult. So, where to begin?

As most of you undoubtedly knowing, living here in the city, that Montreal, at times, seems like it's being rather poorly managed and run. Those of us who live out in the suburbs and rely on public transportation have surely felt the sting from faulty, and late, trains every winter, while the rest of us who live downtown have had the wondrous joy of having to deal with constant construction with closed roads and sidewalks that seem to last months at a time. Over in the Plateau this has especially been the case (anyone remember the days before St-Laurent was torn up, and rebuilt at an agonizingly slow pace?).

Well, while poor construction planning, and a shaky public transit system can be cause enough for some pulled hairs, recently some other oddities have started to catch our attention over here at 21st Century Food, namely with the public servants who clean our streets.

Have you ever been out on the sidewalk when the streets cleaners and are doing their rounds? These wonderfully ugly, noisy red phone booth like cabs that sometimes drive by at high speeds (without warning!) and clean up our streets with vacuum like trunks? As weird as they are, those aren't so bad. Normally I would have no problem with our city getting a little bit of a shine, but this spring we've noticed something a little odd with the other vehicles and crew that sometimes follow them.

What I'm talking about here are those other vehicles, the ones that drive by really slowly, with a massive container of water and simply spray the sidewalks. A few feet behind them is usually another vehicle, which then not so much scrubs, but pushes the water around.

Now, in case there is one person living out there that hasn't noticed it yet, it's been raining the past five days, so why do we need a vehicle to go down the streets and spray untold gallons of water on concrete that is already wet? They've been out there all week, just dumping more water on the already drenched sidewalks, half the time while it is currently raining.

I suppose the cleaners are probably scheduled to go out and hit the streets on certain days, but isn't there someone who has the authority to look out the window, and decide "hmm maybe we don't need to spray more water on the ground today"?

I find this so aggravating. Not only are our tax dollars being spent to have our city workers perform a sometimes useless task, when there are so many other pressing matters in the spring (pot holes anyone?), but it is such an incredible waste of water as well.  These vehicles use up hundreds of liters of water on every section of our streets and sidewalks. We have hundreds of kilometers of roads, and times this by the water used in this way and its starting to get pretty crazy. We always hear how clean water is one of the most valuable resource, and yet we can afford to waste it.

I have an idea, why not just send out the guys who scrub the streets when it rains? Let nature do her part, and cut back on costs, and not recklessly waste such a useful resource.

Dogs help keep owners active

A recent study at the University of Calgary concluded what many of us have probably suspected for a long time: that dogs can help keep us active.

Valerie Berenyi of the Calgary herald wryly remarks that we should "think of Fido as a home-based personal trainer who drags you out for a workout, even in winter, when it's cold, dark and icy".

Well, while owning a pet doesn't necessarily rule out the need to hit the gym, or do some yoga once in a while, you have to admit that dogs are rather persistent motivators when it comes to getting us up off the couch when we'd rather just vege out. At the very least having to go out and walk the dog, rain or shine, guarantees that we spend a little more time on our feet every day than we might normally do.

Though realistically, our pets can provide us with a little more than just a push to get up and walk around. Our pets need exercise just as much as we do, so why not take advantage of this?

Go for a jog with your dog, I'm sure they'll appreciate it so much more than just a walk around the block. As well, with a running partner you will be sure to push yourself that extra bit. In fact, Summer's just around the corner, and even though the weather has been less than great meteorologists predict (provided they get it right for once) that we will be in for nice weather in the coming months, which means going out to walk the dog can be something we all look forward to.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Dogs+keep+owners+active+researchers+find/4729762/story.html#ixzz1LTunOm9L

Good News: Raising Money for A Good Cause

At a recent fundraiser for the Montreal Jewish General hospital, famed Hollywood actor Michael Douglas gave a special appearance as the spokesperson for the event.

Douglas, who recently recovered from his battle with throat cancer, was first diagnosed with the disease here in Montreal at the Jewish General. To show his gratitude, he felt that perhaps his stardom would help out at the fundraiser, where it is estimated that he helped raise over $1 million dollars over the course of the gala, to help fund the hospital and as a way to increase awareness for some of the less common and lesser known forms of cancer which, when left untreated, are just as dangerous as any other form of the disease.

The fundraiser will hopefully make quite a difference, being that our hospital system can use all the help it cane get. Perhaps some of us will find it amusing then, that the actor praised the efficiency of our health care system, despite the fact that the wait times can be atrocious.

Sleep Deprivation Speeds Up Ageing

Back in March I wrote a blog about the unpleasant side effects of sleep deprivation, such as how we are subject to mood swings and general grumpiness.

While being in a bad mood is certainly unpleasant, and a just cause to argue for sleeping in, it turns out that scientists have once again put forward evidence that sleep deprivation can cause less than pleasant side effects.

In a recent article, scientists have found than sleep deprivation can speed up aging (or ageing, silly spelling differences) by a significant amount.

For women, regularly receiving less than 7-8 hours of sleep, and 6-7 for most men, can cause, over the cause of your life, your body to "age' an up to an additional 7 years. That might not sound like much, but imagine being 55, in great shape, just hitting retirement, and already feeling like your 62.

In fact, where exercise and eating healthy can help keep you young, a poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle can speed up aging as well. Couple this with a lack of sleep, and you might start feeling the years well before you want to.

So, while I'm not encouraging you to sleep in past noon every day, make sure you give your body what it wants. Sleep well, and long enough. Don't forget about nutrition and exercise though!

Laughter is good medicine - Really!

Here's something interesting: a recent article from Calgary has pointed out that a paralyzed teen has begun to regain her ability to move and communicate by cultivating her sense of humour. Apparently, when her parents realized that she was showings and reacting to jokes they told her, they decided that perhaps more laughter would be the key to her recovery.

Now the teen in enrolled in a program that contains something called "Laughter Yoga", which is apparently a new health and wellness movement that focuses on, er.. well, laughing.

It seems like it's a fairly novel idea, but believe me, the organizing seems rather legitimate and wants to be anything but a novelty.

So what is it all about? Well, apart from the fact that laughter helps people get their minds off more distressing matters or pain, the Laughter Yoga movement suggests that laughing can be a full body wellness routine.

 

Going on the principle that just as our bodies cannot physically tell the difference between real and "fake" laughter, the idea here is that our bodies will reap the same psychological benefits from forced and natural laughter. Pretty interesting. I mean, who cannot deny that they feel pretty good after a decent laugh or two? As well, even fake laughter can be fun, provided it's not done in a mocking way, but rather a bunch of close friends sitting around and just plain laughing.

So I wonder then, is this something that's catching on? Laughter, after all, is contagious. Have you had a good laugh today? Maybe your body and mind will thank you.

Children's Physical Activity Watchdog Gives Canada a Big F!

Active Healthy Kids Canada, a group which studies the activity level of children in Canada, and then gives the nation an overall letter grade, continued the trend set last year by giving Canada a big fat capital F

 

This isn't meant to be taken lightly as an arbitrary letter grade, or as some form of binary as either "good / bad". It's actually the worst mark possible. The group's complete methodology and grading system can be checked out on their site, and believe me: we didn't do very well. 

I found a pie chart on their site, which illustrates (approximately) how a Canadian child's day is broken up. Moderate-to-Vigorous activity includes sports, running and. playing games outdoors with friends. Light activity would be walking, going to the park or some other activity that might naturally make up part of one's day. Sedentary habits (I say habits because we can't really call it activity) include, sitting down in class, watching TV at home or browsing the web. 

As you can see, the sedentary portion of a child's day is far greater than any of the active slices of the pie. Of course, it's not entirely likely that the moderate to vigorous category would take up most of one's day, but 8% isn't very much at all. That's less than an hour. I suppose I could get into how things were different when I was young but I hardly have the right to since my current adult lifestyle is starting to look quite a bit like the pie chart.

Though, kids are meant to be out and about and aren't really supposed to spend their days like adults. We have 8 hour day desk jobs, and offices to go to. People aren't supposed to become exhausted couch potatoes so early in life.

The study underlines the growing trend of "leisure first, activity second" which seems to dominate the way people both relax and have fun. What can we do to reverse it?

To start: parents need to be aware of what they can do to help change their children's lifestyles.

Children need to know that they can have just as much fun outside playing sports as they can indoors, on the couch playing video games. Show them the wonders of the great outdoors, and bring them to a park, a walk in the woods, or pack up and head out for a day hike. Exercise and physical activity doesn't have to be a chore, it can be just as much, if not more, fun than holding a controller and staring at a television.

"Health-Care is facing a crisis" - Canadian Medical Association

Recently I underlined the urgent need for our political parties to start taking the issues that plague our health care more seriously. It seems now that the same call is being urged all over the country. The gravest report, however, comes from Dr. John Turnbull, head of the Canadian Medical Association, who argues that our health care, due to rising costs and lower service, is facing a dire economic crisis.

 

According to recent studies, since 2001 our health care spending has increased on average 7.5% a year, whereas our country's economy as GDP has only grown by 5.2%. This means that unless something is done very soon, our health care spending will likely soar out of control, well beyond what our country's budget can afford. Currently, health care spending accounts for as much as 40% of provincial budgets. 

At the rate things are going, health care looks like it will continue to need more funding, but where will the money come from? Cutting from other sectors isn't the answer, as our other sectors and industries require funding to stay afloat as well. 

What other solutions are there? We need more doctors and nurses as is, so reducing staff will only aggravate the problem. Close hospital? Not likely. Axing health care itself is hardly a viable answer either. That would be not only an entire waste of all the resources we have already commit to it, as well as generations of dreams and striving coming to an end. So where does that leave us?

Some recent reports suggest that one of the reasons our health care is becoming overburdened is due to an overall increase in poor health among Canadians. That's not to say that suddenly people aren't living as long as they used to be, but rather that many people are not living as well as they could. Poverty isn't quite the issue here, rather it is consumption. An estimated 1.6 Billion Dollars is spent on health care dealing with problems and complicated associated with physical inactivity. As well, if Canadians as a whole went out and increased got a mere 10% more exercise a day, we could be saving as much as 150 Million Dollars a year on health care.

These are some impressive numbers, which suggest that your health is not your responsibility alone, when everyone as a whole chips in for health care. Though punishing people who are physically inactive is not the solution, neither is forcing them to pay more taxes. What we need to do, as a whole society, is work together to encourage healthier lifestyles. People won't feel motivated to change their way of life through finger pointing or accusations. Everyone needs support, and friends to share the journey with. Whether you are in great health or not, a couch potato or a regular jogger, it doesn't matter. We all need to chip in, get people on their feat, and help fight these habits of laziness that are invading our culture.

One Week to go until the 2011 Federal Election

My, how time flies: next Monday (May 2nd) we will be heading to the polls after what felt like one of the shortest electoral campaigns of all time.

 

Apart from the masses of election posters that litter our streets, doesn't it feel like the election was called just a few days ago? For some reason this past month felt quite a bit tamer than previous ones. Is it because we're all slightly more apathetic than we were last time around, or is our political scene just that bland?

Maybe I'm being too harsh. A few interesting things have happened this election. For one, we're currently witnessing a startling rise in popularity for the NDP across the country, and notably here in Quebec. Their recent surge in popularity can largely be attributed to Jack Layton's strong performance on both the English and French language debates (as well as the colourful remarks he made regarding a "hashtag fail"). Will La Belle Province be seeing things in orange on May 2nd? I guess we will have to see.

What is striking about this rise in popularity for the NDP is that for the first time ever, Instead of being irelegated as some distant third party, the NDP looks as if they might overtake the Liberals in number of votes, as well as final seat count. As their own numbers spiral downwards, the Liberal party looks now finds itself on slippery ground. The Grits have looked this bad since... well, ever.

Speaking of party's whose support is slipping: the Greens are looking like they might once again face dismal end results. Last election, the Greens were the only party to see their overall vote count increase since the election before. Despite receiving just shy of a million votes the party still failed once again to net even a single seat, largely due to the even distribution of their support across the country.

Elsewhere it looks like Steven Harper and his Tories are set once again to form a government, though whether it will be a majority or not is anyone's guess at this point.

Reality TV Weight Loss and Exercise Programs: Not So Real...

Exercise and health driven reality television shows seem to the the tour de force on TV these days. How many different shows are there that involve races, weight loss, marathons and / or other physical challenges? By my last count, quite a few. The question we have to ask ourselves about these programs is: are they actually all that real?

Oftentimes these shows center on the theme of very rapid weight loss, such as The Biggest Loser. In this shows contestants set for themselves seemingly unrealistic weight loss goals and then, as it is touted, through will and determination, lose dozens of pounds over the course of a few short weeks. In one season a contestant lost 100 lbs in less than two months. In another, a different contestant dropped 34 lbs in a single week.

While these are impressive figures (pun intended?), especially since the contestants seem to be in good health after these major body transformations, there are a few things we need to keep in mind before hoping to follow suit and trim out waistlines exponentially.

1) The weight loss plans that these shows cover are a bit of a fantasy. When a contestant enters into a reality TV show's world, that is all that they do during every waking moment of their day. Losing 34 lbs in a week is quite doable if all you do is exercise for 40+ hours. For the rest of us, we have jobs, family and friends that require a fair bit of our time. Few people have the luxury to just drop everything for a few weeks and constantly work out.

2) We have to keep in mind that losing such a serious amount of weight can be far easier than making sure that it stays gone. Someone who just dropped 50 lbs and now weighs 150 lbs will have a much harder time maintaining that weight than someone who was always 150 lbs. Adapting to your new weight can be quite tricky, as it often means one has to keep up the same routine, or a similar one, as the one that got you there in the first place.

3) Rapid weight loss has the potential to be very unhealthy. Starving ourselves, succumbing to a fad diet, or not taking proper nutrition into consideration can take it's toll on our health and well being. It can also cause mood swings, and even depressing.... quite the opposite from the optimistic weight loss we might have been going for? As well, getting into a serious exercise routine can also lead to injuries if we are not prepared and take things too fast. Being sore the next day from a work out is one thing, but having torn muscles and sprains are not pleasant experiences.

The contests on these shows get by well because they are under constant supervision. They have nutritionists looking out for their diet, they have motivators to get them up and about every morning as well as personal trainers keeping a watch on them every second that they are in the weight room.

So, remember, before you watch one of these programs, and get exciting about some rapid weight loss, remember that sometimes television is far more fantasy than reality.

Great ways to save money and have fun with 21st Century Food

 There are a ton of ways in which you can eat for less with 21st Century Food. Here are some of them:

1) In case you haven't noticed: we have an active 21st Century Food Facebook page!

Apart from being a great place to hang out and chat, we also run Nutrition Trivia every Tuesday. The question is posted at 9:30am on the wall, and contestants (I.E. all our fans) have until 2:30pm that same day to pick whichever answer they think is correct. The first 10 people to pick the correct answer win $5 off their next order!

Also, not that I'm hinting or anything, but we might be having some new and exciting giveaways coming up soon.


2) Have you heard about our customer referral program? Enjoy the meals you order? Tell a friend!

Use our referral form on our website to let a friend know about the great experience you're having with 21st Century Food. If your friend places a full order with us, we will send you a $50 gift certificate!

If you keep on sending friends who place orders, we will keep on sending you gift certificates!

3) There's our Blog, but of course you already know about that since you're here reading this ;)

What you might know, though, is that when our Blog hits 10 followers, we will give out a $10 off coupon code to our loyal readers!

Just for Fun - Foods that fight bad breath

Here's something fun that I just came across: an article that give some tips on what to eat or drink in order to fight bad breath.

When it comes to food that causes bad breath, I'm sure we're all somewhat familiar with some of the culprits. Garlic, onions and radishes, while very flavourful, can give our breath a harsh and more noticeable character. You definitely don't want to be the only person at the table enjoying some of those root vegetables.
You might want to try to balance off your palette with foods that naturally neutralize whatever bacteria is living on our gums. Parsley is great because it helps increase our saliva flow, and can even be useful in the prevention of gum disease.
Other herbs also help reduce the effect that some foods might have on our breath. Mint leaves, either in the meal or served as tea, can help impart our breathes with a much more pleasant odour (as well as not tasting all that bad either).
The other thing you might have noticed, if you have ever gone to a Thai restaurant, or fast food outlet, is that they will often serve you lime slices with your meal. Since most of the meals they serve are rather spicy, the acid in the lime can act as a palette refresher at the end of the meal. It will neutralize any lingering burning, or spiciness, as well as giving your breath a less fiery quality.
Beverages can also affect the way our breath smells. In case you haven't noticed, beer and hard alcohol do little to improve our oral hygiene. Teas on the other hand, do the exact opposite. Green tea in particular, with no sugar or milk added, can help dissolve whatever compounds are left lingering in your mouth. As a bonus, green tea is also known to offer a ton of health benefits.

So the next time you're gearing up for a big date or an important business meeting, you might want to think twice about what you eat and drink, just to make sure that you make the best impression you can.

Original article can be found at Food that fight bad breath.