Our brains are among the most energy-demanding organs in our bodies. Although the adult brain represents only about two percent of our body weight, it accounts for approximately twenty percent of the energy our bodies use at rest.

When we become ill, our desire to eat may diminish, yet our bodies haven't stopped needing nourishment. Depending on the illness and its severity, certain metabolic demands can actually increase. Understanding this relationship opens up a much more useful conversation about nutrition than the familiar advice to eat more oranges and drink chicken soup.

Have you ever had one of those days when everything seems to be going wrong and, before you know it, you're standing in the kitchen eating potato chips straight from the bag? You weren't necessarily hungry when you walked into the room, but the moment you saw them, they seemed like exactly what you needed. Maybe your preference is chocolate, a piece of cake, or something warm and buttery. Whatever your choice, the desire can be remarkably strong, particularly when you're feel

if food provides our body with energy, why doesn't eating more always leave us feeling more energetic? The answer begins with understanding that the energy contained in food and the energy our bodies can actually use are not quite the same thing. Food supplies the raw materials, but our bodies must digest, absorb, transport, and transform those materials before they become useful to our cells. Every part of that process depends on a remarkable collection of nutrients, enz

There was a time when feeding a family involved a great deal more than deciding what to pick up on the way home. Meals were planned around what was available, what could be afforded, what was growing, what had been preserved, and what could be made from the ingredients already in the house. Cooking was not treated as a special interest or hobby because, for many families, it was part of running a household. The person preparing the food learned through repetition.

Have We Forgotten How Remarkable It Is to Have Enough? There is a moment at Thanksgiving when the food finally reaches the table. After the shopping, peeling, chopping, stirring, roasting, and last-minute rush to get everything hot at approximately the same time, the serving dishes begin to arrive. There may be turkey and stuffing, potatoes and vegetables, cranberry sauce and gravy, followed later by the pie that everyone insists they are too full to eat until the plates app

There is something about this time of year that changes the way we think about food. Through the summer, we can walk outside and pick something from the garden, stop at a roadside stand, bring home a basket of berries, or find local vegetables piled high at the market, but by the end of September the question begins to change from “What is ready to eat?” to “What are we going to do with all of this before we lose it?”

Meal planning is so much more than creating a grocery list. Long before your first bite. Behind each meal comes awareness, intention, and planning — or lack of them. When does your supper actually begin? Most of us would probably say that it begins when we sit down with the plate in front of us, or possibly when we take the first bite, but by then a remarkable number of decisions have already been made. Someone has decided what the meal will be, the ingredients have been chos

We have become very accustomed to deciding whether a food is good for us by turning the package around and reading the numbers. We look at calories, protein, fibre, sugar, and perhaps a few vitamins and minerals, and if the numbers seem respectable, it is easy to assume that the body will experience that food in much the same way as another food containing similar nutrients.

What Happened Before You Finally Ate? When we talk about nutrition, we almost always begin with the food. What did you eat? Was there enough protein? Were there vegetables on the plate? How much sugar did you have? Were the carbohydrates good ones? All of those questions can be useful, but after everything we have been talking about in this Wellness Letter, I think there may be another question we need to ask first: what happened during the hours before you finally sat down

Are you getting any of these incredible vegetables? How Many Real Plants Did You Eat Today? When we talk about eating more fruits and vegetables, it is easy to picture a salad at lunch, broccoli with supper, and an apple somewhere in between and think we've done fairly well. But this week's Casaroma challenge is asking you to look at your food a little differently — not just at how much plant food you're eating, but how much variety is actually showing up throughout your day.

There is an old saying that has stood the test of time: "Let food be thy medicine." While no single food can solve every health concern, the meals we prepare and enjoy every day provide our bodies with the building blocks they need to repair, restore, and function at their best.