An interview with Dr. Yoni Freedoff regarding his article published in the CMAJ about Health Canada’s intention to allow fortifcation of food products without any evidence that it will benefit public health. Instead, Dr. Freedhoff states that the beneficiaries are the food corporations.
Read more about this on his blog.
It seems as a society we are sleepwalking towards a myriad of preventable diseases. I say this because after reading another of Dr. Richard Béliveau’s masterful books on how our lifestyle, eating habits, and food choices are intricately linked with our physical, emotional and spiritual health, the evidence is compelling. In his new book, Eating [...]
Original broadcast date: July 12, 2009 We like to believe that we are a rational species. If, the assumption goes, we are presented with information that is cogent, specific and valid, we will respond by incorporating these ideas for the betterment of our lives. What we decide to eat and drink is a world onto [...]
Original broadcast date: May 31, 2009 How sensitive and specific are blood tests for food allergies? Are children’s diets being overly restricted on the basis of these tests? A study abstract published in the February 2009 edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology sought to answer these questions. Dr. David Fleischer, M.D., Division [...]
Original broadcast date: April 19, 2009 Walk down any grocery store aisle that stock processed foods and drinks and you will see labelling that uses nutritional science to promote the health benefits of the manufacturer’s product. The trouble is that the claims can be misleading and dance on the edge of the facts what I [...]
Original broadcast date: April 19, 2009 What can we learn from examining the dietary habits of people in other countries? We have seen epidemiological studies elegantly outlined in Dr. Richard Beliveau’s evidenced-based Foods that Fight Cancer series of books that reveal the biochemical and physiological properties of the foods we eat and how they contribute [...]
Original broadcast date: March 29, 2009 If there is one quote that epitomizes the plethora of ideas expressed in physician and Guardian columnist Dr. Ben Goldacre’s book bad science, it is this from paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science, Steven Jay Gould: “ When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their [...]
Original broadcast date: February 22, 2009 You have heard the advertisements ad nauseum. Promises of shedding weight made easy and safely. There are testimonials about the efficacy of the various weight-loss approaches and how it can change your life. It is a multibillion-dollar industry that according to two physicians authoring this week’s Canadian Medical Association [...]
Original broadcast date: February 1, 2009 Have you had a Monster or a Red Bull or one of the myriad of “energy” drinks recently? Have you had a chance to read the ingredients label? If you have not, you may want to reconsider. A study published in the September 2008 edition of the journal Drug [...]
New research presented June 13 at EULAR 2008, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France, from the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden suggests that dietary factors such as the intake of oily fish can reduce the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis whereas work stress and smoking will increase the [...]
We had read and heard of how through epidemiological studies how food can either promote or prevent the risk of developing the onset of certain cancers. A study published in a recent issue of the British Journal of Cancer looked at a mechanism that could explain this phenomenon that involves a person’s epigenetic code as [...]
So you have a hankering for a quick lunch or dinner. The greasy spoon or fast food joint down the street will hit the spot. Its close by and is bustling with people. But there is some competition in the Wild West that wants your business as well to run some of its operations, your [...]
Food science is a major topic for discussion on Sunday House Call. To me, there was one seminal interview that beautifully encapsulated the exciting science and discovery of the biochemistry of foods and the role they play in fighting cancer.
The interview in June 2006 featured Dr. Richard Beliveau, author of Foods That Fight Cancer: Preventing Cancer through Diet. To date, 200,000 copies of the book have sold in Canada, an incredible number given that 5,000 is considered a best-seller.
As we discussed in our last interview of June 25, 2006, phytochemicals in the foods we eat can play a significant role in cancer prevention and overall health; literally a non-toxic version of chemotherapy. Our current Western diets seem to have weakened our body’s ability to fend off certain types of cancer among other diseases. In short, our society’s food choices have become divorced from reality and from our biology and physiology.
It seems the next logical step was to expand on the science and, at the same time, produce a book on how to incorporate these foods into our diet. With that in mind sprung his next book, Cooking with Foods that Fight Cancer.
Dr. Yoni Freedhoff comments about issues dealing with obesity, salt content of food, his recent appearance on CBC’s Marketplace talking about the lack of nutritional information provided by restaurants, diet, and recent studies linking obesity and cancer. He will discuss the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Heart Check program, with which he takes issue with some [...]
We will be speaking with Dr. Yoni Freedhoff about issues dealing with obesity, salt content of food, his recent appearance on CBC’s Marketplace talking about the lack of nutritional information provided by restaurants, diet, and recent studies linking obesity and cancer. He will discuss the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Heart Check program, with which he [...]
Much has been made of the effect of certain chemical compounds found in a diet rich in fruits and vegetables on cancer prevention and recurrence. Although no one would argue about the benefit of proper nutrition on our health, a study published in the July 18, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical [...]
Fruit and vegetable consumption study on breast cancer recurrence Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadStories of trekking through jungles, deserts and mountainous terrain, avoiding poisonous snakes, armed militias, crocodiles, lions, snakes, swarms of bats and zebra stampedes, is the stuff we associate with the adventures of Indiana Jones. What one person defines as a treasure quest may not seem like any quest anyone else would want to take. The [...]
What are the health consequences of banning trans-fats? Will our food be more heart healthful for it? What will be substituted for trans-fats and will a ban mean to people that the food is now safer to eat? These are some questions that need to be answered when one considers the ban-the-trans-fats issue. To discuss [...]
How much table salt do you consume each day? What are the short and long term health consequences of excessive salt intake? A study by Statistics Canada published this week in Health Reports has determined the majority of Canadian men and women exceed the upper recommended limit. Most Canadians consume far more salt in their [...]
A great deal of research connects nutrition with cancer risk. Overweight people are at higher risk of developing post-menopausal breast cancer, endometrial cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer and a certain type of esophageal cancer. Now preliminary findings from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest that eating less protein may help [...]
The new Canada Food Guide was released this week with great fanfare. Various food advocacy groups have sent me their press releases expressing their favourable opinion about the guide. What does the science have to say about these recommendations? Is there a consensus about what constitutes an evidence-based food guide? Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, Medical Director [...]
Food science is providing new and exciting insights into how intricately and elegantly linked our good health is to our food choices. This does not only apply to cancer prevention and cardiovascular health but to our mental health as well. There is now evidence that black tea does indeed play a role in helping people [...]
Although largely the domain of hospital-based infections, two recent studies findings show that C. difficile bacteria is found in a variety of ground and processed meats bought from grocery stores in Canada and the United States. This unexpected discovery some experts say may be linked to recent changes in the pattern of the disease with [...]
What is one to make of the recent and troubling appearance of infectious and toxin producing bacteria in our North American food supply? It is an illustration how quickly food-borne illnesses can spread and the importance of food safety. How common and how easy is it to contaminate food on an industrial scale? Rob Mancini [...]
Health policy initiatives like the Canada Food Guide should be based on the latest credible research in food science, the public’s dietary habits and choices, and cardiovascular risk among others. In his presentation this past Thursday to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health regarding childhood obesity and Canada’s Food Guide, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff [...]
The AFC Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has evaluated the new long-term study on the carcinogenicity of aspartame conducted by the European Ramazzini Foundation in Bologna, Italy. In its opinion published today, the Panel concluded, on the basis of all the evidence currently available, that there is no need to further review [...]
There are many claims being made about the positive health benefits of vitamins, minerals and other supplements. However, current research is showing that less publicly-recognized phytochemnicals in the foods we eat can play a significant role in cancer prevention and overall health; literally a non-toxic version of chemotherapy. Our current Western diets seem to have [...]
