Feb 1, 2016

you can’t beat Mother Nature by Bruce Mason • Do, or die. At COP 21*, humanity turned a corner and agreed upon a coordinated, if somewhat symbolic, attempt to save itself. Not only did it signal the end of the fossil fuel era, but more importantly, we began to rethink our assumed and abusive role in nature. We accepted we must begin again or become extinct...

Feb 1, 2016

Part 1 – five ways to express love emotionally by Gary Chapman • After 30 years as a marriage counsellor, I am convinced there are five basic love languages – five ways to express love emotionally. Each person has a primary love language that we must learn to speak if we want that person to feel loved. Words of affirmation One time when my wife and I...

Feb 1, 2016

Heart, meet gut by Dr. Mercola • It’s becoming relatively common knowledge that your health is not just about your body, but rather the result of its symbiotic relationship with 100 trillion bacteria and other microorganisms. Your microbiome is unique to you, like a fingerprint, and represents a combination of lifestyle factors, genetics, environment and...

Feb 1, 2016

by Dr. Mercola • Mounting research reveals that you cannot separate your health from your emotions and numerous studies support the idea that having an upbeat and positive perspective can translate into living a longer healthier life. For example, in one older study, pessimism was linked to a 19 percent higher risk of dying over a 30-year period. After...

Feb 1, 2016

DRUG BUST by Alan Cassels • Calvin, the central character of my column this month, is a nice, hard-working guy who could be anyone’s relative. But he’s not a real person; he’s a composite I created out of several people whose stories I have followed over the years. In this scenario, he’s a 32-year-old carpenter who had a minor accident a few years ago...

by Rick Blickstead • Would you support a tax that reduced your risk of early death, blindness, amputation, stroke, heart attack and kidney failure? We know that excessive consumption of calories contributes to obesity, which is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Sugar-sweetened beverages, such as non-diet pop, sports drinks, energy drinks,...

The new name for an old problem by Magda Havas   • At the turn of the 20th century a mysterious illness emerged. The first people to be affected by it were the telegraph line installers and the telephone switchboard operators. The symptoms of the illness included nerve disorders – hence the name neurasthenia or nervous asthenia – depression, extreme...

Feb 1, 2016

SCIENCE MATTERS by David Suzuki • My grandparents came here from Japan at the beginning of the 20th century. Although it would be a one-way trip, the perilous journey across the Pacific was worth the risk. They left behind extreme poverty for a wealth of opportunity. But Canada was different then, a racist country built on policies of colonization,...

Feb 1, 2016

NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina MS, RD   • Can snacking be a key ingredient in a healthy lifestyle? If your first response was “No!” here’s a chance to update your perceptions. Some of us were raised with the advice to “never eat between meals,” which makes sense in protecting our teeth from sweets. Yet there can be significant advantages to...

Feb 1, 2016

UNIVERSE WITHIN by Gwen Randall-Young   A miracle is a shift in perception … it can happen in an instant. – A Course in Miracles Sometimes life events affect us in a negative way. I often hear my clients say, “It’s just not fair!” The way they are treated at work is not fair. The way mom treats her adult children is not fair. It’s not fair that...