Most women in North America swear off alcohol entirely for the duration of a pregnancy -- no glass of wine on their birthday or sip of champagne on New Year's lest it interfere with the development of their baby. But do we really need to be so strict? Randi Epstein, author of Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank, weighs in on moderate drinking during pregnancy.

Q: Where does the idea that pregnant women can't drink come from?

A: It's really a modern concept. When I started researching my book, I read pregnancy advice books from generations past. Way back then -- we're talking the 1600s -- doctors told women to drink red wine to get pregnant and to stay pregnant. Moderate amounts, of course.

The notion that alcohol is toxic emerged in the 1970s when two pediatricians found that a group of infants with developmental delays and facial deformities all had mothers who were chronic alcoholics and drank heavily throughout pregnancy. They published their findings in The Lancet, a British medical journal, and coined the term Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Q: What are the possible outcomes of drinking too much while pregnant?

A: Women who drink a lot - and we are talking quarts of vodka a day or bottles of wine a day - throughout pregnancy are at risk of having a baby with mental retardation and facial deformities. These problems are lifelong for the child.

Q: Is it OK if a woman drinks moderate amounts of alcohol while pregnant?

Drinking and dieting: Can these two elements exist in harmony? Nobody wants a beer belly, and coolers and cocktails are just too full of sugar to be waistline-friendly. That's why wine tends to be the drink of choice for those watching their waistline. But is this reputation justified?

It seems it is, at least in the case of red wine. Recent studies done at the University of Ulm in Germany have found that resveratrol -- which comes from the skin of grapes and is one of the healthy compounds found in red wine -- can prevent immature human fat cells from fully maturing. "Our findings open up the new perspective that resveratrol-induced intracellular pathways could be a target for prevention or treatment of obesity-associated endocrine and metabolic adverse effects," the researchers said in the July issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Translation: Red wine can help protect you against obesity. In moderation, of course.

When it comes to beer, I have a refined palate, which is a nice way of saying I'm a snob.

My local favourite is Big Rock Traditional, but I'll take a Newcastle, Bass Ale, Guinness or just about anything German any day. So when the PR person for the new Molson 67 Calorie beer asked me to write about choosing low-calorie beer as part of a weight loss regimen I thought, You're asking the wrong guy.

Still, I agreed. It's free beer, after all.

Before even receiving it I was coming up with similes in my head: "It tastes like it passed through the urethra of a pack animal" came to mind. Alas, as with so many things in life, timing is everything.

It was a hot day and I was pulling up to my beer-less house having just returned from a 95km bicycle ride. And there it was on the porch: a six-pack of Molson 67. And it was still cold. I took it inside and threw it in the fridge, then I guzzled a large glass of water to replace some of the fluids lost on my ride and hit the shower, thinking about the beer waiting for me when I got out.

I wasn't expecting much. We are talking about a 67-calorie beer here, but you know what? It didn't suck.

OK, we're done. Review over.

Crud. My editor said something about a "minimum word count" for my articles, so let's do some math.

According to comments on Thatsfit.ca's Facebook page, it seems some of our readers are late-night snackers in need of advice on the healthy way to nibble at night. And, interestingly, it seems more than a few of our fans work the nightshift, which is a subject I've addressed in the past. The overall topic of eating later in the evening is a good one and there are a few different scenarios that I'd like to talk about here. Some of them aren't great for your health and I have suggestions on how to improve that.

Hungry Before Bed: If this is you, chances are you ate your last meal too long ago or that your meal wasn't substantial enough. And often the need for snacking a couple of hours after dinner means you didn't get enough protein or that you're not digesting the protein properly.

Eating right before bed is not generally a good idea -- it can interfere with your sleep, which means you won't be well-rested upon waking. If you need to snack at night, try to do so at least 2 hours before retiring for the evening.

Night-Eating Syndrome is a very real disorder wherein people eat little during the day and then binge in the evening. This study found that the disorder is hormonal in nature and is specifically related to the hunger hormone leptin and the stress hormone cortisol. See a natural practitioner if these symptoms sound like they describe you.

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.


According to the Canadian Cancer Society, in 2010:

• An estimated 23,200 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 5,300 will die of it.
• An estimated 180 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 50 will die of it.
• On average, 445 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every week.
• On average, 100 Canadian women will die of breast cancer every week.

More encouraging current statistics suggest that mortality rates have declined in every age group since at least the mid 1980s. This is due in part to early detection, new drug therapies and also to lifestyle changes as the majority of women diagnosed with cancer change their diet and begin taking supplements.

Here are some simple tips to stay healthy and cancer-free.

When my father was diagnosed as celiac, a condition in which the afflicted person has a violent reaction to a protein called gluten found in various grains including wheat, rye and barley, it hit him pretty hard. This is a guy who took a whole wheat bread sandwich in his lunch every day for thirty years; an Italian who loved his pasta; even the malt vinegar on his fries was now off limits.

He worked out the bread thing by dusting off the bread machine and researching gluten-free recipes. Then he found a brand of rice pasta that was virtually indistinguishable from the durum wheat variety and he also found apple cider vinegar will replace malt vinegar in a pinch.

But one thing that he really missed was his beer. Brewed by fermenting barley, a gluten containing grain, beer is off limits to a celiac sufferer. Even though the filtering process some beers go through removes most of the gluten, it simply isn't worth it for the celiac to take the chance. The consequences of extreme discomfort are too great.

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: Adam, 32, an account manager and passionate cyclist.
The Problem: Gout in his big toe, which he was embarrassed to reveal.

Gout is a very common type of arthritis that occurs when there is too much uric acid in the blood tissues and urine. Adam assumed his young age made him immune to such health issues and he was shocked and baffled when his doctor gave him the diagnosis. Approximately 90 percent of people who suffer from gout are male.

It was once considered a "rich man's disease" because it's associated with too much rich food and alcohol, both of which Adam indulged in often. He was a passionate cyclist and due to his lean frame assumed, yet again, that his strong cardiovascular system meant he would have a perfect bill of health.

Gout can be quite painful because it's literally crystallized uric acid that takes on the shape of a needle and jabs its way into the joints. Uric acid is the end product of the metabolism of a class of chemicals known as purines (found in food). It is also a powerful antioxidant, almost as effective as vitamin C. It is only when levels become abnormally elevated that it becomes a problem.

Solution after the jump.

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.


Last week's column on 8 Hormonal Imbalances That Stop You From Losing Weight received a lot of feedback so I've decided to follow it up over the coming weeks with discussions on the cause and natural treatment options for each of the eight conditions. This week's topic: Estrogen Dominance.

Estrogen balance is essential for achieving and maintaining fat loss. In men and premenopausal women, too much estrogen, a condition called estrogen dominance causes toxic fat gain, water retention, bloating and a host of other health and wellness issues. While premenopausal women with too much estrogen tend to have the pear-shape body type with more weight at the hips, both men and menopausal women with this excess exhibit an apple shape with more fat accumulation in the abdominal area. Researchers have now identified excess estrogen to be just as great a risk factor for obesity – in both sexes – as poor eating habits and lack of exercise.

Estrogen dominance can also be an issue for men, as testosterone and progesterone naturally decline with age or stress, and estrogen conversely rises. This hormonal shift impacts not only the physique but also prostate health. Statistics show that shockingly high numbers of men who live to the age of 65 and older will develop prostate cancer, likely due to estrogen exposure.

Causes of Estrogen Dominance after the jump

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

Yes, you can be sociable and still cut calories -- here are some easy ways to drink and diet during girls' night out this weekend.

Expecting? Make sure you spend lots of time outdoors this summer season -- recent reports claim that pregnant women just aren't getting enough vitamin D.

Planning a road trip this summer? Don't use that as an excuse for eating poorly -- here's how to eat well on the road.

Heading to the greenhouse this weekend? Here are some healthy and delicious herbs you should definitely pick up.

How does a supermodel slim down? If you're Naomi Campbell, the secret to success is the gross-sounding Master Cleanse.

Do you find yourself looking to a cup of coffee or glass of red wine when you are feeling down in the dumps? According to nutritionist Patrick Holford, author of The 10 Secrets of 100% Healthy People, the best way to feel happy is to encourage your brain to produce its own feel good chemicals.

Q: What does being "naturally happy" mean?

A: The brain naturally produces feel good chemicals – such as serotonin, dopamine and endorphins. Eating nutritious food, supplementing certain amino acids, exercising and many other actions such as sex, listening to great music, yoga, meditation or being in nature all promote these feel-good chemicals. There are no downsides to getting "high" these ways.

Q: Why is a natural high better than common alternatives?

A: Many drugs – legal, illegal and prescribed – are attractive precisely because they temporarily promote more feel good chemicals. This is true for caffeine and cocaine, alcohol, heroin and ecstasy. The problem is that they create artificially high levels of feel good chemicals, and the brain fights back by shutting down receptors for these feel good chemicals. This means you become deafer and deafer to the effects of your own natural feel good chemicals. The net consequence of this, in time, is that you need more of the drug to get the same effect. After time even more of the drug doesn't make you feel good – it just takes away the withdrawal.

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

Love wine? This is likely because you're so intelligent -- studies show that smart women tend to drink more

Be kind to your teeth -- here are some eating and drinking habits that could erode your enamel big time.

We ALL need more exercise -- studies show that your teenagers should get at least an hour of exercise a day.

Scared of having to push out a 10-pound kid? If you want to have a healthy and normal-sized baby, studies advise exercise during pregnancy.

Got a bad case of shyness? New research has discovered some interesting insights into what makes shy people tick.

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

Trying to do it all? Slow down, Superwoman -- stretching yourself too far is dangerous for your health.

Apparently scientists have discovered a kind of booze that won't give you a hangover. Hello, what!? Sign me up.

Your weight, potential health risks, diseases ... new studies are showing all these things might be down to the kind of bacteria lurking in your gut.

Want to help your significant other slim down without insulting them? Here's some advice on helping your loved one get healthy with a few gentle nudges in the right direction.

Got puffy, sleepy eyes? Here's some expert advice on how to look bright-eyed at all times.

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

Heading to the slopes this winter? Helmets aren't just for kids anymore -- make sure you're wearing one.

Despite the opposite often happening, recent research shows that people in their 20s need at least an hour more of sleep than people in their 60s.

OK, this is slightly(!) disturbing -- experts are encouraging seniors to start dirty texting -- or "sexting" -- their partners. Dude, that could be your grandparents.

Drink up! Studies show that moderate alcohol consumption may protect against dementia. And, no, 12 shots of tequila does not count as 'moderate.'

You're mother was right -- good posture matters. Perfect yours with these tips. (You were probably slouching until you read that, right?)

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

Is drunk skiing as dangerous as drunk driving? That's what some experts in Europe are suggesting. Best to leave the partying for after the ski holiday.

Parents, you're not totally to blame for your child's behaviour -- studies show that their siblings are just as influential.

Don't be a victim of 'sleep stealers' -- here are some foods to avoid (and ones to stock up on) if you're in need of a good night's sleep.

How do you deal with stress? Recent findings suggest that our gender plays a very big role in our answer to that question.

While most of the time it feels like they're doing the opposite, research shows that your kids are actually really good for your blood pressure levels.

I am roasting beets nestled in a bed of sweet onions and garlic. As I write this, I'm simply surrounded by the aromas of those ingredients and let me tell you, it's truly delightful. This truly is what comfort food smells like on a cold day.

If you are detoxing this month, you are not alone -- January is one the most popular times for people to start a new nutrition regime. This often means saying goodbye to old habits and foods such as sugar, alcohol and in many cases even red meat and wheat. Even if you're not following a specific detox diet, simply eliminating certain calorie-dense, nutrient-poor refined foods and eating more fruits, veggies and whole grains is incredibly energizing and invigorating.

Beets are definitely an item to add to your list of nutrient-dense foods (detoxing or not). Think of them as tiny powerhouses of nutrition. Although they have the highest sugar content of all the vegetables, which is what gives them their distinct sweet taste, they are very low in calories and a source of folate, manganese, potassium and antioxidants. The juice in beets contain betaine, which stimulates the function of liver cells and protects the liver and bile ducts -- making them ideal for a detox. Recent studies have concluded the betaine lowers the risk of coronary and cerebral artery diseases and this may be due to the fact that betaine lowers inflammation in the body.

Recipe after the jump...