You might think that steering clear of heavy conversations - Is there a God? What is the meaning of life? Is dry cleaning really worth the money? - and focusing on life's lighter side will make you happier. It makes sense, right? By dwelling on trivial matters and avoiding too much soul searching, you can avoid the agony of trying to answer unanswerable questions. A new study from the University of Arizona, as reported by Roni Caryn Rabin in The New York Times' Well blog (Talk Deeply, Be Happy?), took on this topic to determine whether small talk makes people happier than big talk.

So what were the study results?

You are going to LOVE this recipe, it's hearty, sweet, delicious and a healthy replacement to granola bars.

Speaking of which, when was the last time you looked at the nutritional panel on the box of your favourite cranberry, chocolate chip granola bars? If you haven't, I invite you to check out both the sugar and the sodium content.You might be shocked to realize it has as much sugar as a processed chocolate bar and as much sodium as potato chips.

Granola bars are a sneaky food and unfortunately manufacturers are more concerned about shelf life and profits than good nutrition. Without naming brands here, most granola bars are nothing more than junk food: Empty calories and containing more ingredients than in my entire kitchen combined. As Michael Pollan puts it: "If a 3rd grader cannot pronounce the ingredient list, don't buy it". This is great advice to live by regarding all the food you put into your body.

OK, enough lecturing as I'm more interested in sharing this latest recipe that will make your cells joyous. If you tried my previous raw cookie recipe, then I know you'll love these raw chocolate bar bites and maybe you'll even toss those cardboard granola bars in favour of these.

Benefit of raw chocolate and recipe after the jump

Chew your food. Mom's been telling us this since our first teeth came in, yet, like a lot of what mom told us, we've forgotten this golden rule of digestion. Whether it's because we're always in a rush or we're suffering from low blood sugar and thus starving when we finally sit down to eat, many of us aren't properly chewing our food.

Although it may seem a nit-picky subject to harp on in a nutrition column, chewing is a very important, although often overlooked, part of healthy digestion. The drill is simple - put the food in your mouth, chew it a few times and swallow, right? So why aren't we doing it?

"OK smart guy, first you tell me my dream of a cookie diet is a bad thing, then you go on at length about the fact that I'm probably riddled with hidden food allergies and now you're telling me I don't know how to chew?! So what's the proper way?" While some health professionals recommend a specific number of times food should be chewed, you know how I feel about mixing math with eating. Nothing takes the fun out of eating more than counting; be it calories, grams of carbs or number of times you're chewing.

Since becoming a yoga practitioner nine years ago, I've seen some significant changes in my life - transformations beyond belief. And one of the really great things I've noticed is a better sex life. I'm apparently not the only one who has experienced the true wonders of yoga; according to a recent article in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, yogis are having better sex.

If you're looking to spice up your sex life, here are five ways yoga can help!


1. Focusing on the now
Yoga is a moving meditation; we bring our attention to our breath as we transition from pose to pose. This helps us diminish mental chatter, as we focus on the present moment. How often have you only thought about getting to the orgasm while having sex? Don't worry; you're not the only one. As a result, many people have not been able to enjoy sex. Sex is about connecting to your partner and enjoying the process, you're both on a sexual adventure together. Staying in the present moment as opposed to jumping to the future will allow you to do that.

Each morning, we dish out a few links we love.

Looking for stagette ideas? Forget cosmo-guzzling marathons -- why not do something healthy like a bachelorette bootcamp?

Staying in this weekend? Maybe you should make plans with a friend -- studies show that loneliness is bad for your health.

On March 27th, Tom and Gisele want you to turn off your lights. Here's why you should do it and how to participate.

Looking for some dinner inspiration? Try adding sweet potatoes to your plate -- they're delicious and full of vitamins.

Love to snack? You can nosh all day long and still lose weight with these smart snacking strategies.

Natasha Turner, N.D. is a Toronto-based naturopathic doctor. She is the founder of the Clear Medicine wellness boutique and author of the bestselling book The Hormone Diet. Each week in her column for That's Fit.ca, Dr. Turner advises readers on how to remedy common health issues as well as improve their overall health.


Very soon, for the first time in history, there will be more people over the age of 50 than under it. This means there will be a lot of women going into menopause which may explain why I get questions about this topic daily.

Q: Dear Dr. Turner, What are some things you can take to ease hot flashes and night sweats?
Thanks for your help!

A: Hot flashes can be very irritating because they disrupt sleep. They occur as estrogen levels change in the body, not because of a deficiency of estrogen, a common misconception. What you need to consider as possible treatments are anything that will help support a constant level of estrogen in your body.

Here are eight tips to follow to support your estrogen needs:

1. Pour on the flaxseeds. Add two to three tablespoons of flaxseeds to protein smoothies, salads, cereals, yogurt and oatmeal each day. They should be purchased ground, in a sealed container and kept in the freezer for freshness. You could also purchase whole flaxseeds and grind them yourself at home.

Dear Sarah,

I know that I am supposed to do a warm-up to get my body ready for exercise and I usually just jump on the treadmill for 10 minutes or so before starting my weight-lifting routine. Is this enough or is there more I should be doing? Shirley


Dear Shirley,

Fast-paced walking and jogging on a treadmill is great way to get your circulation moving and I suggest adding dynamic stretching to your warm-up routine to help prepare your body for a great workout.

We spend most of the day in a static position: commuting, sitting at our desks, etc. and joints naturally stiffen when not in use and muscles become lazy. While fast walking and jogging do create heat in the body, dynamic motion puts the joints and muscle fibres into action are an important component of a proper warm-up.

We spend so much time thinking about what we put into our mouth, but what about the stuff we smear across our body? Nutritionist and holistic lifestyle consultant Meghan Telpner, who is hosting an upcoming workshop on natural beauty products, explains why we should use natural beauty items and offers a few of her favourite recipes.

Q: Why do you recommend natural body products?

A: What we put on the outside our body will end up inside our body. There is not much sense in spending so much time being concerned with what we are eating if we fail to also take into account what we are absorbing through our skin. There are loads of toxins in our environment that we can't control, so why not be a little more careful about the things we can control?

We have a layer of fat that surrounds our body, just below the skin's surface. These fat cells serve to insulate us and lend a little padding and protection for our internal organs. Toxins collect and store in the fat cells. When products absorb through our skin, those fat cells are the first places the toxins will land and that will ultimately affect the appearance of health on our skin's surface over time.

Q: How can making our own body products at home improve our health?

Dear Healthy Foodie,
I've recently had an allergy test done and my diet now is free of the foods I'm allergic to but now I'm wondering how important is food combining? Is there a basic rule to follow when combining foods?
Thank you,
Corina

Hello Corina,
Food combining is an important step on the road to your ideal state of health, but in my opinion, it isn't something one should be required to do forever. Certain concepts from food combining should carry over into your daily meals, but I see strict food combining as a nutritional therapy and something not necessary for everyone all the time.

Food combining is a term used to describe an approach to eating where foods that require different digestive environments are eaten separately. Your body processes protein, carbohydrates and fats, as well as acidic foods and alkaline foods, differently. In order to have truly efficient digestion, these different types of foods need to be eaten separately so that they don't interfere with each other's ideal digestive environment. Eating bad combinations of foods can lead to gas, upset stomach, heartburn or even diarrhea.

Each week, holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy tells us about a common health problem she's seen in her practice and how she came to a solution.
This week's client: Josh, a 34-year-old cafe owner and social networking butterfly.

The Problem: Josh had never been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disorder, but he was convinced something was wrong as he was often on a cycle of one week constipation and the next week diarrhea.

Not surprisingly, he was at his wit's end having tried everything (or so he thought) from over-the-counter meds to colon cleanses, but nothing seemed to improve his very delicate digestive state. In his own words, "I'm OK for a few days and then BAM, just like that, I'm sitting on the toilet for an hour." Apologies for the graphic.

Josh's concerns are not uncommon. Digestive problems are the main reason clients come to see me and the issues are widespread and universal (constipation accounts for about two million doctor visits per year in the United States). Pharmaceutical companies are getting rich from our digestive disturbances and make more profit from stomach remedies than any other drugs, according to according to Elizabeth Lipski, PhD, CCN, and author of Digestive Wellness. The problem with these drugs is they merely suppress the symptoms, but do not address the root cause. So while you may have stopped your diarrhea for a week, you haven't got to the health issue to blame for the digestive upset in the first place.

Solution after the jump