When I was a kid I went through a stage where I was a picky eater. I’m sure that it drove my mom crazy! One day to the next she would never know what I would and wouldn’t eat. For some foods I legitimately didn’t like the taste or texture. However, there were other foods for which I don’t recall ever disliking the taste, I just didn’t like the idea of them. Brussels sprouts were one of those foods.  READ MORE

I just finished enjoying my morning fiber-rich snack that I made myself with buckwheat, chia, hemp seeds, goji berries and cinnamon. As I was sitting here feeling my bowels thank me, I got to thinking, “what is it that many other people eat for a snack if they want to increase the fiber in their diet?” I asked around the office and a common response was All-Bran bars or Fiber1 bars. The names themselves scream, “You need to eat me! I’m healthy and full of fiber!” Being the skeptic that I am when it comes to product packaging and marketing, I decided to look into what these products contain to see if they lived up to all their claims. Let’s have a look at what I found out about the All-Bran bars when I started to undress their dirty little secrets. READ MORE

Let’s talk beans. Are your canned beans keeping a dirty little secret? If you are buying canned beans that are made by any company other than EDEN, chances are they can’t be trusted. If they aren’t EDEN then they contain Bisphenal-A (BPA). Yikes!! This is harmful stuff. It is an endocrine disruptor and can wreak havoc on your hot bod. In just a minute I’ll go into more detail about this pain in the butt toxin, so keep reading! Furthermore, many canned beans contain preservatives, refined salt, and other unwanted substances. The naked truth about these canned products is that they could be harming you and your family unless you are buying the right ones. Let’s undress this issue further to see what we can do to protect ourselves. READ MORE

Talk about being an outcast! It’s like the cucumber and the bean sprout were part of the popular crowd and then some kid at school spread a nasty rumour about them having head lice and suddenly all the kids avoided them. Only, it’s not head lice, it’s a deadly E. coli bacteria, and it’s not kids, it’s government officials spreading this information. At the end of May a rare and toxic strain of E. coli started to make itself known in Germany and to date, 26 people have died from this outbreak. Thousands more have been infected, not only in Germany but in other European countries, the USA, and Canada. This is not a situation to be taken lightly as it involves one of the largest number of deaths from any E. coli outbreak. READ MORE

While breezing through a local grocery store the other day, this WeightWatchers Chocolate Chip cookie box caught my eye. Being the label-reading sleuth that I am, I immediately flipped it over to see what the ingredients were. My heart quickly sank as I read through a list containing many ingredients that I consider to be harmful to human health (ingredient list provided below). READ MORE

Gosh-darn it! I woke up this morning with a wee bit of a cold coming on. It’s rare that I get under the weather, but when I do, it’s usually because I’m burning the candle at both ends. An expression my dad loved to use when I was a youngster. Ironically, this seems to happen leading up to holidays. Between the excitement and cramming too many things in my schedule, my poor immune system has trouble keeping up. READ MORE

I came across this video today and laughed hysterically! It is hilarious. It blatantly illustrates in a comedic way the problems shoppers face today when looking for healthy products to put into their grocery cart. The video pokes fun at the fact that the General Mills cereal called TOTAL Blueberry and Pomegranate cereal actually contains no blueberries and no pomegranates. This is a classic example of a company trying to mislead consumers with their fancy marketing. READ MORE

I love lemons, I love lemons, I love lemons, hey hey hey hey! I recently held a living foods and cleansing retreat weekend. There were 12 of us in total and we went through 25 lemons in a day and a half! Like I said, I love these little yellow warriors of goodness. Sure, they add zing to many of our foods but the real reason I love them is because of their unwavering devotion to boosting my digestion and improving my overall health. READ MORE

Have you noticed lately how many products on the grocery store shelf are products I would classify as “unhealthy”, yet their packaging is screaming at you “I’m Healthy, Eat Me!” These are the products that clutter the front of their package with claims about “Trans Fat Free”, “Low Sodium”, “Fortified with Vitamin D”, “Omega-3”, “High in fiber”, etc. etc. These are all food marketing buzzwords but what do they actually mean? Are they a good indication of whether a food is healthy or not? People often ask me how I read food labels and how I determine which foods make it into my cart and which ones I gladly abandon on the grocery store shelf. READ MORE

Fall is in the air and that means it’s time to preserve!! Today we’re going to get our groove on as we be jamin’ with some concord grapes. Being the health nut that I am, I wanted to do something different and make this jam in a more healthful way than many traditional recipes or store bought jams. As you’ll see in the video, I undress two great products that are fantastic substitutes for traditional white sugar and the common pectin found at the grocery store. READ MORE