Recipes

Plant powered? Here’s how to make sure you’re getting enough protein

Plant powered? Here’s how to make sure you’re getting enough protein B.C. authors looks to bust myth that plant-based diets lack protein. Author of the article: Aleesha Harris  Published Jun 09, 2023 In the Vancouver Sun. Gado Gado from Plant Powered Protein: by Brenda Davis, RD, Vesanto Melina, MS, RD and Cory Davis, MBA, PAg. …

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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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Celebrate with Compassion

Celebrate with Compassion By Vesanto Melina, MS, RD Across North America and Europe, people are choosing plant-based meals and the trend is accelerating, especially among young people. So you are likely to have at least one vegetarian or vegan at your holiday dinner table. They may be making this choice because they have learned from …

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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 The current definition is outdated and fails to protect public health because it assesses how well various proteins meet human requirements based solely on digestibility …

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Plant-based Meetups

by Vesanto Melina Some people call our fair city “Vegcouver”.  One reason is that when we go to the helpful guide for plant-based eating, www.happycow.net , and search Vancouver BC, we find no less than 99 listings. (These include vegan and vegetarian restaurants.)   If we narrow our filter just to vegan restaurants, we still end …

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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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Getting kids to eat their veggies

by Vesanto Melina and Kristen Yarker While many toddlers and preschoolers aren’t fans of vegetables, thankfully, there are effective, helpful strategies less forceful than the age-old techniques of forcing kids to eat two bites of broccoli or allowing dessert only after they’ve finished their peas. The following techniques will help kids enjoy veggies now and appreciate …

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