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.

For many people, myself included, grabbing a latte is the high point of a day. You may occasionally give it up for a few weeks at a time, but the comfort and gratification from this basic pleasure doesn't keep you away from the local coffee shop for long. However, there are a few things you can do right now to make this unhealthy habit, a whole lot healthier:

1. Go for soy milk over cow's milk: Some sources suggest that cow's milk is a common food allergy that can contribute to eczema, asthma, sinus congestion or digestive upset. Soy is high in protein and in calcium. It is also beneficial for heart health, prostate cells, menopausal and PMS symptoms, bone density and sex hormone balance (due to its phytoestrogenic isoflavones). Breast tenderness, irritability and acne breakouts before menses can be lessened by having a cup of soy milk each day. Recent studies even suggest that soy protein contributes to fat loss and the maintenance of muscle during a weight loss program.


2. Top it off with cinnamon: Cinnamon is all the rage right now in the treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes because of its insulin-sensitizing effects. Insulin instructs the body to store extra calories as fat if they are not burned off after consumption. An insulin-sensitizing agent is one that causes the cells of the body to have a better response to insulin, which ultimately lessens the need for excessive insulin secretion. A study published in Diabetes Care found that half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day significantly reduces blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. It also reduces triglyceride, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol levels among this group. Less insulin is beneficial beyond weight loss reasons and cholesterol control as avoidance of high insulin levels over long periods of time is linked to reduced risk of cancer (i.e. breast), Alzheimer's disease, high blood pressure, accelerated aging and heart disease.


3. Coffee: One cup a day is not that bad: New research confirms that moderate coffee consumption has possible benefits and may not cause us harm. These benefits include reduced risk for type 2 diabetes, gallstones, liver disease, colon cancer and Parkinson's disease. Studies show that type 2 diabetes is lower among regular coffee drinkers (two or less cups per day). In addition to the long-term health benefits, the immediate effects of coffee consumption include improved endurance in long-duration physical activities and higher, fat-burning effects before a workout.

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.

We need to build and maintain muscle - regardless of our age and fitness goals. Possessing strong, lean muscles is not only important for how we look, it's also essential for enduring wellness. Our health reserves exist in our muscles. If illness, surgery or another stressful event occurs, our bodies will naturally use muscle tissue to support us during the experience. Without sufficient muscle tissue, organ function may become compromised. Some studies have actually found a 20 to 30 percent reduction in lifespan associated with muscle tissue loss!

Why Do We Need Muscle?

As a highly metabolically active tissue, muscle maintains metabolic rate. Simply stated, the more muscle we have, the more calories we can burn each day – even while we sleep. Muscle tissue provides structural strength, aids bone density and can prevent injury due to falls. Next to a highly nutritious, calorie-restricted diet, maintaining muscle is proven as the next best method to slowing down the aging process.

Loss of muscle mass is accompanied with a relative increase in body fat and metabolic decline. These unfavourable changes in body composition and function can lead to insulin resistance, a precursor to health risks such as obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancers.

Is Proper Nutrition and Regular Exercise Enough?

It looks like my wish has come true. Last October, I mentioned the need for studies that separate processed meats and unadulterated meats when looking at the effect of meat on our health. There is now such a report. (While I had also wanted these hypothetical studies to compare organic, naturally-raised meats versus factory- farmed meat, I didn't get my wish, but the research is going in this direction.)

A new meta-analysis review published in the journal Circulation found that while an average of 50 grams of processed meat consumption per day was associated with a 42 percent higher risk of coronary heart disease and a 19 percent increase in type 2 diabetes, 100 grams of unprocessed red meats per day was not associated with these risks. They also noted that unprocessed red meat consumption was not associated with stroke, although this was not a strong association and requires more research.

"When you tease [the data on] these meats out, you see different associations for disease risk between processed and unprocessed meats," lead researcher Dr Renata Micha from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA told Heartwire CME.

At the beginning of the year, researchers from the Research Institute at Bastyr University completed a study that found the ancient Chinese energy healing modality qigong (also known as ch'i kung) helped lower some of the markers associated with type II diabetes. The findings are published in the January 2010 issue of Diabetes Care, the official journal of the American Diabetes Association.

Qigong is an internal, subtle energy, meditative practice that promotes the circulation of qi or chi energy throughout the body. This energy is considered the life force and working with this life force with movement or stillness (standing, sitting or lying down) is thought to enhance the overall health of the practitioner.

Understandably, this discipline lies outside of the domain of modern western science. However, there is a movement, in both China and the West, to study this practice using scientific methods. It is for this reason that this latest study is of such keen interest.

Researchers compared three variables: the effects of qigong versus the effects of resistance exercise training versus the care usually given to those with type 2 diabetes (as the control group).The qigong group practiced the energy technique twice a week for 12 weeks, as well as meeting with a qigong practitioner once per week to make sure the exercises were being done correctly. This schedule was mimicked by the resistance exercise group. The control group simply continued with the usual care for type II diabetics, as recommended by their doctor.

In all the hubbub surrounding red wine and its high antioxidant levels, I tend to think people have overlooked the obvious - all these nutrients are also found in grapes, only without the negative health effects of alcohol consumption. Yes, drinking is fun, but drinking red wine specifically for the health benefits is a little like riding a unicycle from Montreal to Toronto - it'll get you there, but there are more efficient ways of reaching your destination. Namely, eating the grape.

Researchers out of the University of Michigan Health System are working out a hypothesis involving grapes and their ability to reduce risk factors related to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. It is thought that these observed effects are due to the phytochemicals in the grapes that are naturally occurring antioxidants; the antioxidants which also, not surprisingly, show up in the wine glass. This includes the potent antioxidant resveratrol which has been capturing headlines for the last few years and has been touted as the secret behind the French paradox.

Click here for That's Fit.ca's Top Ten Antioxidant Foods

Eating grapes, the researchers speculate, could in fact slow down the progression of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a term used to describe a group of symptoms, including abdominal obesity, blood fat and cholesterol disorders, high blood pressure and insulin resistance, which are precursors to heart disease and type II diabetes.

I am always thrilled to hear about studies that find positive health benefits for garlic, mostly because I absolutely adore the stuff. Bad breath be damned, I love me some garlic!

A few years ago, I was excited to discover a study published in the journal Phytomedicine that found an extract of garlic was effective at controlling symptoms of Type II Diabetes in rats. From the study abstract: "Oral administrations of the garlic extract significantly decreased serum glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, urea, uric acid, creatinine, AST and ALT levels, while increased serum insulin in diabetic rats but not in normal rats."

But the big shocker in this study is that the garlic extract was found to be more effective in its anti-diabetic effect than the pharmaceutical drug glibenclamide, a commonly prescribed drug for Type II Diabetes.

That's right - eating garlic may be better than taking pills if you're a diabetic. Mind you, this is only one study and nothing can be conclusively drawn from it. But what you can take away from this is that it doesn't hurt to load up on your garlic! The only side-effect of garlic consumption is improved health and stinky breath.

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.


The verdict is in; the latest research shows our favourite treats, in moderation, can be good for us!

Dark Chocolate: A one-inch square per day

A research team from the University of Helsinki, Finland, asked pregnant women to rate their stress levels and document their chocolate consumption. Guess what they found? Six months after birth, the mothers rated their infants' behaviour in various categories including fear, soothability, smiling and laughter. The babies born to women who had eaten chocolate daily during pregnancy smiled and laughed more and were more active. Even the babies of stressed women who had regularly consumed chocolate during pregnancy showed less fear of new situations than babies of stressed moms-to-be who abstained. Awesome news for new moms and chocoholics!

Nutritionist Elisa Zied, author of Nutrition at Your Fingertips, says that certain diseases can be prevented by consuming certain foods on a regular basis. To find out which diseases you can prevent and what to eat, keep reading.

Q: What kinds of diseases can be prevented through diet?

A: There's evidence that making dietary and lifestyle changes can play a role in the prevention of a variety of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, and osteoporosis.

Q: What are your top disease-fighting foods and why?

A: There's no one food that can prevent disease, but consuming a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods in the context of a healthful dietary pattern can add to the disease-fighting arsenal of the diet.

Here are four foods/classes of foods that may play a role in preventing several diet-related diseases.

Dr. Richard Beliveau and Dr. Denis Gingras are the authors of Eating Well, Living Well, translated by Valentina Baslyk along with their bestselling books Foods That Fight Cancer and Cooking With Foods That Fight Cancer.

It is always amusing to look at photos from the 1980s or earlier to see just how clothing, hairstyles, or even the design of cars has changed over the years. But what is less fun is seeing just how much slimmer people were back then! The phenomena of overweight and obesity, at one time quite rare, have increased considerably over the last 25 years, such that today two-thirds of Western populations are overweight.

Excess weight and obesity associated with excessive consumption of calories best illustrate the dangers of today's mass-produced diet. We still dwell too often on the external aspects of fat gain and fail to take into account the number of works or articles discussing the physical or psychological aspects related to excess weight.

However, scientific data gathered over the last few years about the consequences of excess fat on how the body functions show it is high time we became concerned about the internal effects and their repercussions on health. Being overweight is a major factor in the onset of all chronic diseases affecting the population: Type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, many types of cancer, and Alzheimer's.

Like quitting smoking, the maintenance of a normal body weight (a BMI of about 23) should be a key objective in chronic disease prevention.

Dr. Richard Beliveau and Dr. Denis Gingras are the authors of Eating Well, Living Well, translated by Valentina Baslyk along with their bestselling books Foods That Fight Cancer and Cooking With Foods That Fight Cancer.

Here they explain the easy steps we should all take to prevent this type of diabetes.

Given the serious consequences emanating from insulin resistance and Type-2 diabetes, preventing this disease is certainly our best weapon in reducing the damage caused by a surplus of blood sugar. Luckily for us, the preventive potential is extraordinary: Adopting a healthy lifestyle can prevent up to 90 percent of Type-2 diabetes cases! To see how we can reduce the risk of diabetes, let us review some lifestyle factors.

1. Controlling body weight: Given that excess weight and obesity are instrumental in the development of Type-2 diabetes, maintaining a normal body weight is an essential aspect of any preventive approach. The most spectacular illustration of how weight loss can influence the risk of diabetes is undoubtedly the effect of bariatric surgery (reducing stomach size) on morbidly obese people. Radically reducing the size of the stomach rapidly decreases obesity and almost completely eliminates Type-2 diabetes!

However, it is neither necessary nor desirable to undergo this type of surgery to reap the benefits of weight loss: Losing just 5 kg, even over several years, can reduce the risk of diabetes by 50 percent! At a time when overweight has become the norm rather than the exception, Type-2 diabetes undoubtedly illustrates the dangers of excess weight and the need to be as slim as possible in order to prevent this disease.

2. Controlling glycemia: