Sourdough Sardine Toast
This is a classic recipe used in my nutrition plans. If you want to become obsessed with sardines this is how you start!
Toast is a great way to double the protein intake in what would normally be a mediocre meal as a closed sandwich. Sardine toast is also new for many people and it is a hard sell at first but trust me, it is so good and if need be you can replace the sardines with other protein choices. Though not included here I have great options in my nutrition plans with marinated tofu, pulled chicken, chickpea mash and a spicy deer steak slices, all of which can be prepared beforehand and used over the course of about 4-5 days.
The Truth About Seed Oils
Nutrition science is difficult, the food matrix and the digestive and metabolic processes that engage with it are incredibly complex. Trust in science makes things even more complicated when money and politics can interfere and incentives can be questioned. Yet in the hopes of saving lives hundreds of thousands of researchers around the world dedicate their entire careers to understanding dietary mechanisms and the net effect they have on human health.
When you simultaneously demand proof while dismissing overwhelming evidence you are not a skeptic you are a denialist.
Is Organic Food Healthier and Safer?
According to a clinical report by the Committee of Nutrition, Council on Environmental Health and Academy of American Pediatrics –
current evidence does not support any meaningful nutritional benefits or deficits from eating organic compared with conventionally grown foods, and there are no well-powered human studies that directly demonstrate health benefits or disease protection as a result of consuming an organic diet.”
Myth-Busting Raw Milk
A frenzy of talk around food safety is currently buzzing around media outlets and across social media platforms. More awareness about the safety and nutrition of food should bolster our individual and communal health., right? Unfortunately many sources of information on food safety (wellness gurus, politicians and doctors with little to no nutrition, chemistry or policy background) seem to have agendas closer to deregulation and institutional distrust than they do on education and policy changes that make a difference. The guise often includes conspiracy to keep people sick for profit. Given the reality of free market, shareholder interest based capitalism, this is not hard to imagine. But imagining something does not make it real and deregulating our network of safeguards is a giant leap backwards in food safety. Increasing fear around food is particularly harmful to those who might struggle with health issues or those who are on a tight budget. Many of our Institutions have put in place processing practices to try and protect as many people as possible from food borne illnesses while increasing food availability. No one is saying that they are perfect or immune from corruption but these practices are still our best option in a globalized food market. An important example of such regulatory processes are the laws around pasteurization of milk and dairy products.
Longevity Centred Fitness Classes
We have been providing science based programs for Montrealers for over 16 years. We have helped athletes improve performance, women optimize health during pregnancy, people overcome injury and thrive with physical disabilities and have helped hundreds of others go through their health and fitness goals.
Is Aspartame Carcinogenic? No
We tend to lean into all or nothing statements, they appeal to our sense of simplicity ; “Good things always happen to me”, “I am never lucky”, “drugs are bad”. But the word drugs for example includes, marijuana, methamphetamine, metformin, Tylenol and psilocybin, Each compound being completely different and having wildly different affects on our bodies. In this small list alone we have the potential to relieve pain, alter consciousness, save a life or take one . Is there any real meaning in the statement “drugs are bad”?
Self Defence Classes Are Back!
I have been teaching self defence, in one form or another for about 30 years. Over that time I have whittled it down from an art to a system. The longer you teach martial arts the more you realize how narrow the scope of movements is that actually work.
Don’t believe the hype – How much muscle do you need for longevity.
You may have noticed the pendulum swinging with the new craze of huge protein consumption rates and big push to gain muscle mass. I came across one woman’s channel trying to convince every woman to bulk up – to go hard against the fear of it. Indeed I have had many women approach me over the past 2 decades for training and say that they don’t want to bulk up. And then you have loads of trainers, including myself that have for years tried to explain how hard it is to truly get bulky. But being aware that it’s difficult doesn’t mean you should or shouldn’t do it. It is not, though it would appear many would disagree with me, all good to get huge. There are consequences, amenorrhea being just one of them. But to get attention now, you have to sell the other end of the spectrum, now, instead of simply reassuring that bulkiness is not necessary and also very unlikely without massive changes and effort, we try and sell the bulk, be the bulk, Bulk Smash. Extremes sell but guess what, as always, the answer to most questions lies in the middle, close to our instincts and often less fun to talk about at a party.
Our Philosophy
Our philosophy page is often overlooked but it is important in knowing what you get when working with us. The following is more about who we are in general as trainers, researchers and individuals and less about what we are doing when designing training or nutrition programs. But it is that as well.
Obesity and Pregnancy – the risks to the baby
You can be overweight and still be healthy. You can eat a diet where 80% of your nutrition comes from nutrient dense whole foods and the rest may be processed or ultra processed foods and you will probably still be in pretty good health. Especially if you are adding regular intense exercise and moderating stress and have good sleep hygiene. You can also live this way and have small tweaks in one of these factors and begin to develop health issues. But what often happens is that the slightly overweight person tips over into obesity range and inevitably, the health risks begin to accumulate with no real warning signs. At some point, the accumulation of fat stores throws things out of balance and creates a state of inflammation. This is not an overnight process and so it often goes overlooked for way too long. I am all for being comfortable with how you look but I am more interested in all of us as a society moving towards preventative medicine and using signals like obesity to look for red flags elsewhere is important.