Some thought for food
This weekend the house is pretty empty. Two of my roommates have gone to Toronto to attend a seminar hosted by nutritionist John Berardi. For those of you looking to improve your diet (that should include most Canadians) there is a whole spectrum of information out there and its tough to decipher what works and what doesn't. If you're looking for the best story science can put together, I suggest you try out John Berardi.
I think thedisparity of mainstream nutrition information is due in great part to the slew of new discoveries in nutrition being made on a regular basis. Nutrition is a fairly new science (the first vitamins wasn't discovered til 1897 & the first protien structures weren't described til 1945) so the information we've complied so far doesn't paint as clear a picture as some would lead you to believe. Many contemporary "nutriiton experts" give bad advice because they don't understand the full picture. The Atkins diet works because it exploits certain aspects of human metabolism, but its an atrocious diet to put oneself on because it's an incomplete theory of nutrition; it ignores many long-understood basics of nutrition. What we need to do with this new information is find a way to marry it with what we already understand to be true.
Basic nutrition is pretty much covered in the old school of thought, but ideal nutritional strategies to achieve specific goals is the target of this new school of thought. If you just want to be relatively healthy & have your bases covered, then look to the Canada Food Guide to Healthy Eating.
If you've got a specific goal in mind like sports nutrition, or fat loss, or are willing to put in some extra effort to be more nourished, then forget you've ever heard of Dr Atkins or Dr. Phil, and check out Dr. John Berardi. He's probably one of the most cutting-edge nutritionists that I've ever read, and he's got a real knack for marrying old ideas with new, and for tying all the soundbites Atkins and Phil throw around into one cohesive picture of how people should really eat.
*UPDATE*
Here's a link to an article on Berardi's website which I think is a perfect intro to his methods. It's a pretty simple set of 7 principles to eat by, but when followed can have a dramatic effect on your health, wellness & appearance.
I think thedisparity of mainstream nutrition information is due in great part to the slew of new discoveries in nutrition being made on a regular basis. Nutrition is a fairly new science (the first vitamins wasn't discovered til 1897 & the first protien structures weren't described til 1945) so the information we've complied so far doesn't paint as clear a picture as some would lead you to believe. Many contemporary "nutriiton experts" give bad advice because they don't understand the full picture. The Atkins diet works because it exploits certain aspects of human metabolism, but its an atrocious diet to put oneself on because it's an incomplete theory of nutrition; it ignores many long-understood basics of nutrition. What we need to do with this new information is find a way to marry it with what we already understand to be true.
Basic nutrition is pretty much covered in the old school of thought, but ideal nutritional strategies to achieve specific goals is the target of this new school of thought. If you just want to be relatively healthy & have your bases covered, then look to the Canada Food Guide to Healthy Eating.
If you've got a specific goal in mind like sports nutrition, or fat loss, or are willing to put in some extra effort to be more nourished, then forget you've ever heard of Dr Atkins or Dr. Phil, and check out Dr. John Berardi. He's probably one of the most cutting-edge nutritionists that I've ever read, and he's got a real knack for marrying old ideas with new, and for tying all the soundbites Atkins and Phil throw around into one cohesive picture of how people should really eat.
*UPDATE*
Here's a link to an article on Berardi's website which I think is a perfect intro to his methods. It's a pretty simple set of 7 principles to eat by, but when followed can have a dramatic effect on your health, wellness & appearance.
