Last week in JAMA Internal Medicine, a study (summarized here by the Globe and Mail) came out linking a high intake of “added” sugar (over 25% of total daily calories) to a *tripled* risk of heart disease in Americans. This is huge!

Added sugar is defined as all sugar, corn syrup, honey and maple syrup added to foods. It does not included naturally occurring sugar.

For the most part, we health care professionals hold to the idea that moderation is key. But maybe we need to rethink this with sugar. It is thought that up to 72% of adults eat enough sugar (between 10-25% of their calories) to increase their cardiovascular risk by 30%.

If you add that to the 10% of adults eating over that 25% line, a whopping 82% of American adults are significantly increasing their risk of dying from heart disease just by eating too much sugar. And I don’t think Canadians are that different.

Curbing a sweet tooth can be an incredible challenge for many. But here is yet another reason (maybe the best one yet) to work on it.

Alex Verge, ND

p.s. I apologize for posting this close to Valentine’s Day!!

I’ll admit it, I love the library. Mostly because I Iove books. But this week I found another reason to go.

J.O.E.

J.O.E. is Jobs. Opportunity. Employment. J.O.E. is families and community members focused on creating local, meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with special needs in Guelph. J.O.E. is great.

The J.O.E. team started selling Planet Bean coffee this summer at the Exhibition Park based Farmer’s Market. More recently, they’ve been selling the coffee in the Main Public Library downtown.

Check J.O.E. out and enjoy some delicious locally roasted joe to boot.

Alexandra Verge, ND

My sister introduced me to this great book just before Christmas. As someone who both enjoys and encourages generous fruit and vegetable intake, I was thrilled to learn more about how best to choose and prepare these foods.

In “Eating on the Wild Side”, health writer/food activist Jo Robinson explains which versions are most nutritious and how to make them even more so.

I have two favourite tips so far. The first involves letting your garlic sit for 10 minutes after chopping before cooking with it. The second is to choose smaller onions (or better yet, replace some of the onions in your recipe with shallots – the powerhouse of the onion world!).

This book is available at the Guelph Public Library and I bought my copy at the Bookshelf.

Alexandra Verge, ND