Protein Foods

Plant Protein: getting it right!

by Vesanto Melina and Mio Lainchbury and Arooj Hayat, Moving towards a plant-based diet can initially raise questions about whether you’re getting enough protein—especially if you’re not up on the science. If you’ve been on a plant-based journey for some time, you’re already aware of the many rich protein sources available, especially legumes (beans, peas, …

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Making Plant-based Food Prep Fun

By Vesanto Melina, MS, Registered Dietitian As a dietitian, I learned which foods rated highest in folate or vitamin C, and what made beans, peas and lentils the protein, iron, and B vitamin superstars they are. Earlier, my mother had enjoyed sharing time in the kitchen and food preparation skills. My birthdays featured participatory cookie-making …

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Going Plant-based? By Leaps or by Baby Steps?

Going Plant-based? By Leaps or by Baby Steps? By Vesanto Melina MS, Registered Dietitian Have you been considering a shift towards a plant-based diet? Does a sudden leap towards an entirely vegan diet seem too overwhelming? Could you commit to eating one plant based dinner each week? How about a whole day of vegan meals? …

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Redefining Protein Quality:  What’s New About Protein?

by Vesanto Melina, MS, Registered Dietitian A paper published by the American Society for Nutrition makes the case for modernizing the definition of protein quality. This is a welcome development. The current definition is outdated and fails to protect public health because it assesses how well various proteins meet human requirements based solely on digestibility …

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Why go more plant-based?

by Vesanto Melina A half-century ago, vegetarian and vegan diets were viewed with concern by health professionals. In decades since, these have been the focus of vast amounts of research. Today, a dietary shift in the direction of plant foods is regarded as a very positive step by knowledgeable dietitians, MDs, nutritional scientists and by …

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Preventing and Reversing Type 2 Diabetes

by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis Since 2000, the number of people in Canada with diabetes has doubled. Today, one in three Canadians lives with prediabetes or diabetes. Those 20-year-olds now have a 50-50 chance of developing the disease. The risk for some indigenous people is 80 per cent. Close to 40 per cent of newly …

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Dairy-free and well nourished!

by Vesanto Melina, MS, Registered Dietitian There are many good reasons to embrace a diary-free diet: Human health: Most of the world’s population has some degree of lactase insufficiency or lactose intolerance after the age of weaning and milk protein is one of the top allergens. The environment: Pleasant, pastoral scenes don’t show the environmental damage …

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Fish farming

11/10/2017 +Share NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina Last month, we explored the cruelty and environmental damage inherent in commercial fishing. This month, we look at aquaculture. Today, approximately half the fish consumed are reared in crowded enclosures whether on land or in water. Globally, between 40-120 billion farmed fish are slaughtered for food each year. The goal in …

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