Health and Nutrition

You Probably Didn’t Know That…

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 09:32:19 +0000

Cracking the Case on Seeds, Nuts, and Bowel Issues

Christopher Labos MD, MSc — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

If you have diverticulosis, you were probably told to avoid eating nuts and seeds. The worry was that tiny food particles could get stuck in the small cervices of the bowel wall and get infected. It was inherently logical and made a lot of sense to many physicians. But it may not be true.

Can McDonald’s Cure Your Migraine? Debunking the Viral McMigraine Trend

Eva Kellner BASc and Hosna Akhgary — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000

For those who consider themselves to be a part of the “Migraine girlies” community, you may be familiar with the recent McMigraine trend on TikTok’s #migraine page.

This wellness hack is one that promotes ordering McDonald’s fries and a Coke as a newfound, DIY migraine treatment. In fact, one user (whose TikTok bio says that she is a future heart surgery nurse) claims that this order is “literally the only thing that can fix a migraine.”

Let’s not jump the gun.

The China Study

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 13:11:07 +0000

In 2005, Colin Campbell, now Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, authored “The China Study.” The book became a best seller with its claim that the road to good health meanders through fields of vegetables and fruits with no animal in sight. A vegan diet, he claimed, is the answer to beating the diseases of western civilization, namely heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Campbell’s opinion is forged by one of the most extensive epidemiological studies ever carried out, a collaborative effort between Cornell and Oxford Universities and the Chinese government back in the 1980s.

Supermodel Heidi Klum Floats In Air and Blows Hot Air

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 23:19:00 +0000

Let’s start with the floating illusion. I would hope that if anyone sees a person suspended in mid-air, they realize that the law of gravitation has not been suspended and that some mechanism hidden from the audience is at work. The history of this illusion traces back to early 19th century India, but it was French magician Robert-Houdin who popularized it by adding a clever twist. Ether had just been introduced as an anesthetic in 1846 and Robert-Houdin cleverly wove the discovery into his act.

Liquid Nitrogen Tattoos

Angelina Lapalme — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 18:18:29 +0000

Body modifications have been around for a very long time. Tattoos and piercings were found on a frozen mummy dating back to 3000 B.C.E. In many countries, these modifications have cultural significance, yet they have also been introduced in western culture as a form of self-expression. But sometimes, we can get carried away.

Betel Nuts

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

The first time I heard of betel nuts was in 1991 at a performance of Miss Saigon at the Broadway Theatre in New York. This was Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil’s second hit musical after 1985’s phenomenally successful Les Misérables. It is a loose adaptation of Puccini’s Madam Butterfly, but instead of being set in Japan, the story unwinds in Saigon during the Viet Nam War. In the second act, a sleazy night-club hustler known as the “engineer” belts out “My American Dream,” a song with the following lyrics:

Science Shows Carnivore Diet Is Best Left to Lions

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 16:15:43 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

Jenny McCarthy, a former Playboy Playmate of the Year, is playing with science again. This time it is all about the “carnivore diet.”

The Science Behind Willpower vs. Tastebuds

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 16:49:06 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

Orange You Overdoing It? A Deep Dive into the Science of Zone Training

Sophie Tseng Pellar BSc — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

The Truth About Heart Rate Zones: Beyond the Burn

Why It’s Hard to Study What People Eat

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 16:26:21 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

Does a Chocolate a Day Keep the Grim Reaper Away?

Eva Kellner B.A.Sc. — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Theobromine is a naturally occurring bitter alkaloid most prominently found in cocoa beans. A metabolite of caffeine, theobromine shares some of the common effects of the household stimulant. Compared to caffeine, theobromine has a much gentler stimulating effect. This is because it lingers longer in our bodies before being metabolized.

Will Vitamin D Go the Way of Cod Liver Oil?

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 16:58:08 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

In many of my public lectures, I address the topic of dietary supplements and often do a rudimentary audience survey. When I ask about taking Vitamin D, the majority of adult hands go up.

What If We Were Able To Graze on Grass Like Cows?

Shona Hanaishi — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000

On a future field trip to Mount Royal, I imagine opening up my lunch box to find a small forest of fried insects flavoured with MSG and curry powder. On the side are some salmon rice balls. Noting I missed some greenery, I grab some grass and sprinkle it onto my rice balls.

An Ode to Yogurt

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 20:55:34 +0000

Many years ago, when I first started teaching about the chemistry of food, yogurt was only granted a few minutes of lecture time. It appeared as one of the first processed foods, albeit accidentally processed, dating back some 7000 years to when bacteria happened to drift into a pot of milk in Mesopotamia, thickening it and giving it a tart taste. I explained that the bacteria were likely of the Lactobacillus genus that produce lactate dehydrogenase, an enzyme that converts the milk sugar lactose into lactic acid.