/oss/taxonomy/term/337/all en /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/what-does-health-canada-issued-natural-product-number-npn-supplement-mean <p>Prescription drug sales in Canada amount to roughly $50 billion a year. That’s a lot of money, but the $13 billion pulled in annually by the natural health products industry isn’t small potatoes either. The question is what consumers are getting for that money.</p> Wed, 18 Sep 2024 22:07:09 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10081 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/another-bullet-fired-highly-processed-food <p>Elie Metchnikoff drank sour milk every day. He believed that the lactic acid bacteria found in fermented foods like yogurt, especially the <i>Lactobacillus bulgaricus</i> strain, helped to promote longevity by preventing potentially disease-causing bacteria from proliferating in the intestines. He attributed the long life of Bulgarian peasants to their daily consumption of yogurt.</p> Wed, 11 Sep 2024 16:54:56 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10071 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition-general-science/should-you-be-worried-about-eating-burned-toast <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/the-right-chemistry-should-you-be-worry-about-eating-burned-toast">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 06 Sep 2024 21:30:09 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10065 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/no-tolerance-igg-food-intolerance-tests <p>“But where’s the harm?” we are so often asked. When your baby dies and has to be resuscitated in the emergency room, I’d say the harm has a Vegas-sized neon arrow above it.</p> <p>An infant boy in Hong Kong had a really bad reaction to being introduced to cow’s milk at eight months of age: vomiting, difficulty breathing, and a generalized skin rash. The doctors performed an allergy test by pricking his skin and sure enough the boy was allergic to a protein in cow’s milk. Hurray for modern science.</p> Fri, 30 Aug 2024 02:02:34 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10050 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/waxing-lyrical-about-fruit-wax <p>Apparently Snow White's wicked stepmother knew something about chemistry and toxicology. She brewed up a remarkable poison to put the anemic young lady into a state of suspended animation. But how to get her to ingest it? Who, thought the evil queen, could resist a bright, shiny apple? Certainly not Snow White. And you know the rest of the story. </p> Wed, 21 Aug 2024 20:15:59 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10042 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/doc-detox-tries-rewrite-all-medicine <p>If you are desperate enough, there is someone out there willing to rewrite all of medicine and relieve you of your savings. A former nurse with multiple sclerosis lost over $10,000 in this way, according to a CBC Marketplace investigation. To whom did she give this money, you may wonder? To Darrell Wolfe, who calls himself Doc of Detox.</p> Fri, 09 Aug 2024 02:14:41 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10021 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/coffee-brain <p>Most nutritional studies are observational meaning that researchers observe what happens in a given population as a result of consuming a food or beverage without any sort of intervention on their part. Such studies usually depend on participants filling out questionnaires about the amounts of specific foods consumed as well as the frequency of consumption. This is problematic because of faulty recall, inability to estimate amounts, and a tendency to report what the subject thinks should have been eaten as opposed to what was actually consumed.</p> Wed, 07 Aug 2024 14:25:36 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10019 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/many-mistakes-johnny-harris <p>Media literacy is not faring well. If we look at OECD countries, most of whom are described as high-income economies, do you know how many of their fifteen-year-olds can distinguish between a fact and an opinion in a text?</p> Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:04:22 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10015 at /oss /oss/article/student-contributors-health-and-nutrition-did-you-know/are-your-refrigerator-habits-inviting-unwanted-bacteria <p>As a kid I grew up being told that I had to let food cool down before putting it in the fridge. I was under the notion that placing warm food directly in the refrigerator could cause the other foods in the refrigerator to warm up. I had also been told that placing warm food in the refrigerator was a waste of energy as the fridge would have to work harder to maintain a cool temperature. I was shocked when I learned that leaving leftovers to cool on the countertop posed a potential risk for my health.</p> Fri, 02 Aug 2024 14:39:35 +0000 Daniela Padres 10014 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/sea-moss-chili-peppers-and-broccoli-soup <p>Some of the nutritional advice that flashes across my computer screen every day is outright nonsense, much of it is speckled with smidgens of science that have no practical relevance, and in a few rare instances, there may be some points of interest that merit a further look. Let me illustrate with a few examples that cropped up on a single morning.</p> Wed, 24 Jul 2024 18:19:35 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10007 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/how-do-scientists-study-effects-diets <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/the-right-chemistry-how-do-scientists-study-the-effects-of-diets">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 19 Jul 2024 17:13:17 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10006 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/concerns-about-smoked-foods-heat <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-concerns-about-smoked-foods-heat-up">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>Cavemen in the Stone Age didn’t have many luxuries. They had, however, learned to make fire by banging together flintstones or rubbing two sticks together, and that at least made their cold and dingy dwellings more comfortable.</p> Fri, 12 Jul 2024 17:01:14 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10000 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-student-contributors-health-and-nutrition/taste-bitter-melon <p>Bitter melon, also known as Momordica charantia, is a peculiar-looking vegetable that has piqued the interest of many for its potential health benefits, particularly in managing diabetes. Native to Asia, East Africa, India, and South America, this plant has various other names such as bitter gourd, balsam pear, and karela, depending on the region. The name Momordica, derived from the Latin word meaning "to bite," refers to the jagged edges of its leaves, which look as though they've been nibbled.</p> Fri, 28 Jun 2024 01:41:06 +0000 Hosna Akhgary 9990 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition-history/story-linking-nutrition-and-health-has-unexpected-twists <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-nutrition-heart-health-history-tips">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:28:05 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9991 at /oss /oss/article/student-contributors-health-and-nutrition/high-protein-milk-its-not-just-milk-added-protein-powder <p>It used to be so simple. One would receive their daily milk bottles from the milkman. Nowadays, the number of milk alternatives is enough to make anyone’s head swirl. There is skim milk, organic milk, fortified milk, raw milk, low-fat milk, buttermilk, A2 milk, lactose-free milk, flavored milk, condensed milk, powdered milk, evaporated milk, scalded milk, and now protein milk.</p> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 16:00:00 +0000 Daniela Padres 9976 at /oss