Body Energy Club
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Gluten-Free: Health Issue Or Fad Diet
Last year a friend – who I’ve known since elementary school – came to British Columbia for a visit. Showing her around town included stopping in a restaurant for drinks and appetizers, generally an easy task for two friends and looking at the menu I easily found a few options to share. This is when she sheepishly looked at me and said ‘I can’t eat gluten.’ Being gluten free has become a health fad, a way for people to lose weight by not eating wheat, barley and rye. My friend was awkward about this because she has Celiac disease which causes gluten to become poison in her body, and did not want…
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Declining Bee Populations
With the bee population in decline, farmers have found that the little bee pollen harvest there was, would be too labour intensive to collect. In mid March Body Energy Club (BEC) employees received an email concerning our stock of bee pollen and the resulting shortage. Bee pollen is extremely good for you and contains all the nutrients humans need. Bee pollen is high in protein and contains more amino acids then beef, cheese and eggs of the same weight. If you have respiratory issues, skin irritation, or digestive issues, bee pollen is a great supplement. The problem is the amount of time and energy bees put in to making this incredible product. Foodmatters.tv reported on the benefits of bee pollen…
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Hospital Information Access Denied
In early April, CBC (Canadian Broadcast Company) launched an investigation into individual hospitals across Canada. ‘Rate My Hospital’ part of the Fifth Estate includes statistics, letter grades and detailed surveys regarding the hospitals closest to you. In order to access this information CBC asked the Canadian Institute of Health Information – the CIHI receives information directly from the hospitals, which it in turn shares with the public – but when the CIHI went to health officials from provinces across the country they gave a collective “no.” It gets worse. In Nova Scotia, health minister Kevin McNamara approved the release of data only to revoke his approval six days later: “In those six…
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Kraft Blames Consumers For Food Dyes
Kraft Dinner has organic, natural products but says fans prefer the original formula – filled with harmful dyes. Synthetic dyes are used not only to create a fun product but to maintain colour life. While natural alternatives exist and are used in the United Kingdom, American and Canadian companies still use these harmful substances. Since 2008, England has asked for a voluntary ban of of six common synthetic food dyes: Tartrazine (Yellow 4), Quinoline Yellow (Yellow 13), Sunset Yellow (Yellow 3), Carmoisine (Red 3), Ponceau 4R (Red 7) and Allura Red (Red 17). These dyes were flagged when a government funded study in The Lancet showed increased hyperactivity in children…
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How Much Salt Is In Your Diet?
In 2005, the Kellogg’s Company – an American company, founded in Michigan – along with other companies, committed to United Kingdom citizens to reduce salt. In 2010, Kellogg’s finally folded in their attempts to halt this commitment, and said they would reduce 300 tons of salt per year. This is a 70 percent reduction and the company has also reduced their total sodium count by 45 percent since 1998. This has saved over 9, 000 lives, not a huge number considering over 100, 000 people in the United States alone die from heart attack and stroke, but it’s a start. The salt you use on your food accounts for only twenty…
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Trainers Cash in on Weight Loss Supplements
The Biggest Loser has been running on NBC since 2004. The show involves credible personal trainers, Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper, who say diet and exercise are all you need to lose weight. It turns out even reputable celebrity trainers are looking to cash in on weight loss supplements, even unproven ones. Off the show, and far from any website claiming to be affiliated with the show, Michaels and Harper both sell weight loss supplements. These are products not just sold under their names, these products have been cultivated by the stars who believe in their success. Because supplements do not need to be approved by the FDA (The US Food and Drug Administration), Michaels and…
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The Sugar Associations Sour Past
“That’s the beauty of argument. ‘Cause if you argue correctly, you’re never wrong…Gentlemen, practice these words in front of the mirror. “Although we are constantly exploring the subject, currently, there is no direct evidence that links cell phone usage to brain cancer.” – Nick Naylor, Thank You For Smoking. Thank You For Smoking takes a look into the world of tobacco and the tactics lobbyists use against the public. Like the tobacco companies, the Sugar Association has been using award winning Public Relations firms to clear sugars bad name. Cristin Couzens, a dentist, decided to dig through the Sugar Associations past to see why leading figures were denying the harmful…