Is a chocolate bar worth 3000 sit-ups? That's what it'll take to burn it off.

I find that most people these days are unaware of what 100 calories or even 1000 calories really means.  It seems like it's just a number.  One is bigger than the other and we know that too many calories can be bad for you - that's what we've been told.

However there are ways to get through to patients and it's to re-phrase calories to number of minutes or hours needed of exercise to burn those calories.  All of a sudden, when I tell patients that they may need to walk for one to two hours to burn off that bag of chips, the chips don't look as appetizing any more.

Here's a fabulous slide showing different fast food options and the number of hours or number of reps of a particular exercise needed to burn it off the meal.

It even makes me think twice about eating that bag of chips even though that's my weakness.

Yours in Health,
Ian Koo, ND

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www.NaturopathicEssentials.com
"The care you want, the health you need."

Portion Sizes - They have gotten bigger along with our waist lines

In a report released this month in the Lancet, researchers from Columbia University state that half of U.S. adults will be "obese" by 2030 - that means 164 million Americans, a staggering statistic. Medically, being obese (BMI 30-35) is a different term than being overweight (BMI 25-29.9)

I've also noticed a couple of trends as we've gotten bigger. Some clothes sizes have become misleading. Retailers and manufacturers know that the public are more averse to buying bigger sizes so they have actually shrunk the sizes on the labels while increasing the waist and hip sizes. Don't believe me? If you have a really old pair of jeans, try them on for size and try one with the same size today to compare.

Another trend is the hyper portion food sizes that have become the norm. It seems like we all love a good deal so the more the merrier. Take a look at this article showing a pictorial representation of the changes in portion sizes from 20 years ago. I would like to add to that list a can of pop from my youth (with something like 250mL) vs today's can with (330 mL).

By the way, the researchers also note that a mere 1% reduction in BMI would prevent 2.4 million cases of diabetes and 1.7 million cases of heart disease and stroke. I would like to add that a mere 15 minutes of exercise (done regularly) has been shown to significantly improve one's health. What are you waiting for? If you've fallen off a good lifestyle regiment, then it's time to begin again. And I'm talking to my patients specifically. I know, I'm a nag.......but it's because I care!

Yours in Health,
Ian Koo, ND

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www.NaturopathicEssentials.com
"The care you want, the health you need."

Blueberries in some packaged foods & cereals are FAKE

I posted a video link to an investigative journalist piece about fake blueberries on the clinic's Facebook page some time ago and have received some comments. Apparently some of you are looking at the labels and are concurring with what you saw on this piece.

I would encourage you all to watch or read this piece about FAKE blueberries in your foods and to make informed choices when purchasing products.

Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

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Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"

Engineered foods: So tasty you can't resist?

This news piece helps people understand why we may crave certain foods. However, we can't pass the blame. Ultimately, the buck stops with each one of us.

See this video.

Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"

TV food ads skewing our decisions on what we eat.

A link to the Time Magazine article.

Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"

Definitely Food for Thought!

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/the-7-foods-experts-wont-eat-547963/


Yours in health,

Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"

Pesticides and the foods you should eat organically.

Have you ever wondered which foods contain the most pesticides? The Environmental Working Group (a US non-profit organization) analyzed over 42,000 of the latest U.S government tests for pesticide residues on commonly-eaten fruits and vegetables. Then they ranked the results based on six measures of pesticide load, even after washing and peeling. It is probably a fair assumption to say that U.S results will mirror that of Canada's. There are three charts and one link to a short video clip below:

1) The dirty dozen

The Dirty Dozen	Score*	% with pesticides	% with 2 or more pesticides
Peaches	100	96.6	86.6
Apples	96	93.6	82.3
Sweet bell peppers	86	81.5	62.2
Celery	85	94.1	79.8
Nectarines	84	97.3	85.3
Strawberries	83	92.3	69.2
Cherries	75	91.4	75.8
Lettuce	69	68.2	44.2
Grapes (imported)	68	84.2	53.2
Pears	65	86.2	45.7
Spinach	60	70	31.2
Potatoes	58	81	18

2) The consistently clean

The Consistently Clean	Score*	% with pesticides	% with 2 or more pesticides
Onions	1	0.2	0
Avocado	1	1.4	0
Sweet corn (frozen)	2	3.8	0
Pineapples	7	7.7	0.6
Mango	9	7.1	0.5
Sweet peas (frozen)	11	22.9	2.3
Asparagus	11	6.7	0.6
Kiwi	14	15.3	3.4
Bananas	16	41.7	2.0
Cabbage	17	17.9	4.8
Broccoli	18	28.1	3.2
Egglpant	19	23.4	6.9

3) Here is the full list in order from worst to best:

RANK	FRUIT OR VEGGIE	SCORE
1 (worst)	Peaches	100 (highest pesticide load)
2	Apples	96
3	Sweet Bell Peppers	86
4	Celery	85
5	Nectarines	84
6	Strawberries	83
7	Cherries	75
8	Lettuce	69
9	Grapes - Imported	68
10	Pears	65
11	Spinach	60
12	Potatoes	58
13	Carrots	57
14	Green Beans	55
15	Hot Peppers	53
16	Cucumbers	52
17	Raspberries	47
18	Plums	46
19	Oranges	46
20	Grapes-Domestic	46
21	Cauliflower	39
22	Tangerine	38
23	Mushrooms	37
24	Cantaloupe	34
25	Lemon	31
26	Honeydew Melon	31
27	Grapefruit	31
28	Winter Squash	31
29	Tomatoes	30
30	Sweet Potatoes	30
31	Watermelon	25
32	Blueberries	24
33	Papaya	21
34	Eggplant	19
35	Broccoli	18
36	Cabbage	17
37	Bananas	16
38	Kiwi	14
39	Asparagus	11
40	Sweet Peas-Frozen	11
41	Mango	9
42	Pineapples	7
43	Sweet Corn-Frozen	2
44	Avocado	1
45 (best)	Onions	1 (lowest pesticide load)

4) Video clip:
http://www.ewg.org/node/22100

Winter Nutrition: A TCM Perspective

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and naturopathic medicine are similar in that they both adhere to the principle of balance. You’ve heard of yin and yang, good and evil. Well, the same concept applies to the foods that we eat: “hot” foods versus “cold” foods.

A general premise during the winter season states that because the outside environment is cold, we need to ingest foods that are more warming to the body and avoid foods with a cold nature. Foods with cold properties include raw fruits and vegetables and treats like ice cream. In TCM, the properties of foods can be changed by the cooking process, so TCM does not advocate avoiding fruits and veggies, it merely states that a balance has to be struck. It’s still important to get in your intake of fruits, but rather than eating cold salads or greens, it is preferable that you cook your vegetables. Warming foods include soups, meats, peppers, ginger and spices like turmeric (the yellow colour found in curry dishes).

Here is a basic congee recipe to keep you warm during the winter season. Congee can be viewed as a substitute for chicken noodle soup. Enjoy!

Basic Congee Recipe:
1 cup rice
9 cups water
1 tsp salt
ginger, garlic, etc… (optional)

Preparation:
In a large pot, bring the water and rice to a boil.
When the rice is boiling, turn the heat down to medium low.
Cook on medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice has a thick, creamy texture of porridge (1 – 1.5 hours). Garnish with green onions or add chopped coriander leaves at the end.

You can add anything to congee from different meats, seafood, vegetables and spices. If adding meats, do so at the beginning.