Eat Move Think

We’ve spent 99 episodes interviewing global experts about optimal wellness. So for our 100th episode, host Shaun Francis and his team turned the mic over to listeners and explored audience-submitted Eat, Move and Think stories. Featuring one listener’s thoughts on dairy, a 70-year-old man performing remarkable feats of strength, and an easy way to control your social media use. Also: An Omicron COVID-19 update from Medcan’s chief medical officer, Dr. Peter Nord.   For links and insights with time codes, visit the Episode 100 web page.

Life can be difficult. Whatever we’re enduring—a global pandemic? a difficult medical diagnosis?—emerging scientific research shows that humour can be an important coping tool. In this episode, we explore how author/comedian Jessica Holmes (Royal Canadian Air Farce, The Holmes Show) and mental health comedian Ryan Zeitz (Mental Hellth) use humour to get through tough times—and what the rest of us can learn from them.   For links and insights with time codes, visit the Episode 99 web page.

As we ring in the new year, many of us have goals we want to accomplish. Some of us will achieve them. Others won’t. University of Victoria exercise psychologist Dr. Ryan Rhodes has devoted his career to determining why people don’t do the things they want to do—and devised strategies to help. In conversation with Medcan’s Dr. Jack Muskat, Dr. Rhodes describes how to achieve those resolutions. (Encore episode.)  For links and insights, visit the Episode 98 web page.

Omnipresent screens and always-on work schedules are playing havoc with our sleep cycles, creating a population that is getting less shut-eye, and experiencing more sleep disruptions, than ever before. That’s a problem because research suggests that sleep is integral to our cognitive, physical and mental health, with poor sleep increasing risk for everything from high blood pressure to diabetes and depression. Former insomniac and ABC News anchor Diane Macedo’s new book, The Sleep Fix, includes practical, proven and surprising solutions for insomnia, snoring, shift work and more. In episode 97, Macedo joins Medcan’s clinical director of travel medicine Dr. Aisha Khatib as they explore how sleep really works, and how to identify exactly what is keeping you up at night.  For links and insights with time codes, visit the Episode 97 web page.

When she was 17, Samra Zafar was forced to marry an older man she’d never met and move to Canada with him. She suffered years of verbal, physical and emotional abuse, but eventually, through hard work and the support of peers, she gained the courage to walk away, and build a new life for herself and her daughters. Now, Zafar is an international speaker, a bestselling author and a med school student at McMaster University. Here, she shares her riveting story with Dr. Jack Muskat, and provides encouragement on how to survive, and even thrive, after difficult situations. Episode 96 webpage LINKS If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, a variety of resources can help. Visit the Ending Violence Association of Canada for a list of services across Canada. Read Samra’s book, A Good Wife: Escaping the Life I Never Chose, co-authored with Meg Masters Check out her Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and her website.   Learn more about Brave Beginnings, the non-profit organization for survivors of oppression that Samra founded. Watch this CBC video on her story.  Watch her TEDtalk about her story. Watch her TEDtalk on the culture of honour. Watch her TEDtalk on being your own hero.  INSIGHTS Samra Zafar grew up in Abu Dhabi, where arranged marriages are common. “The social norms that were surrounding me were all about, you know, girls are supposed to get married. The purpose of a girl is to fulfill the gender role that's prescribed for her,” she says. Meanwhile, she was told that her dream of getting an education at a top university would never come true. [04:49]  After relocating to Canada with her husband, Samra was not allowed to leave the house, save money, go to university, or have friends. “I often describe it as being in a place where there's just enough air that I could breathe and barely survive, but not enough to be able to breathe freely and thrive,” says Samra. “It was like living in a state of constant suffocation, constant fear and walking on eggshells.” [12:02] The first time Samra spoke to a counsellor, everything changed. “That's the first time anyone ever said to me: Samra, it's not your fault. No matter what you do, you do not deserve to be treated this way,” she says. “Suddenly, everything that I had internalized for all those years, suddenly it had a name. It was abuse. And it was not okay, and it was not normal.” Through counselling, she realized that she had been normalizing abuse, and she now needed to break that cycle not just for herself, but for the safety and wellbeing of her daughters. [20:10] After walking away, Samra met people who praised and appreciated her intelligence and ambition: the same qualities she’d always been told to suppress. “I was able to find friends, professors, mentors, who are my chosen family. That's the family that I consider, even today,” says Samra. “When you meet someone that you feel connected to, reach out…. When we connect authentically with others, that raises our resilience…it shows us that we're not alone.” [24:30] Since Samra has been sharing her story with the world, she’s been able to regain her trust in herself. She was able to achieve the dreams that once seemed impossible. Now, she runs a nonprofit called Brave Beginnings that helps other abuse survivors gain their own strength. “There's a lot of life, and there's a lot of beauty, after trauma and adversity,” she says. “I'm living proof of that. And my mission in life is to help others make that a reality for themselves as well.” [37:55]

Eat Move Think experts nutritionist Leslie Beck (eat), our host Shaun Francis (move), psychologist Dr. Jack Muskat (think) and Dr. Peter Nord (medicine) discuss the year that was, make their picks for the wellness trend that dominated the last 12 months, and speculate about what’s to come in 2022.   Episode 95 webpage   We’ll get to links and insights in a moment, but first: Our 100th episode is coming up! And want to hear from you: What’s YOUR best eat, move or think tip? We’ll use the best optimal wellness suggestions in episode 100. To submit your tip, record a quick video or voice note on your phone, and send it to info@eatmovethinkpodcast.com.   LINKS   Leslie Beck on plant-based eating.  Famous CEOs talk about the benefits and problems of the hybrid work arrangements that so trouble Dr. Jack Muskat.  Discussing the way social isolation can contribute to addictive behaviours, Dr. Jack Muskat is in conversation with psychologist Marc Lewis in Eat Move Think episode 90.  Dr. Peter Nord’s pick for a top wellness theme of 2021 was virtual medicine. And the pendulum has shifted so far toward virtual care that the government of Ontario has asked doctors to do more in-person appointments. The “gamification of fitness” theme that so fascinated Shaun Francis happened thanks to the mainstream enthusiasm for such connected fitness equipment as Peloton, Tonal, Hydrow and Lululemon Mirror.   INSIGHTS   According to Medcan director of food and nutrition Leslie Beck, plant-based eating was one of the biggest food trends of the past year, with sales of plant-based “meats” booming. Part of the reason is that livestock production is among the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Shifting to a more plant based diet is one way to help reduce global warming. In fact, demand for plant-based options is greatest among flexitarians, those who eat a primarily vegetarian diet but occasionally also eat meat and fish. [03:24, 06:15]   Dr. Jack Muskat, Medcan’s clinical director of mental health, believes the “think” theme of 2021 has to do with the lingering effects of social isolation. Humans are social animals, and yet we've talked ourselves into believing that we're okay with radically less social contact than before. Take hybrid work, which results in physical separation from coworkers. The psychological and emotional fallout of social isolation has been stress, fear, anger, paranoia, unwillingness to do things, unwillingness to try things. What Dr. Muskat calls “cognitive fog.” [13:35]   Combating the isolating effects of hybrid work takes effort from employers, Dr. Muskat says. One technique that he likes is used by Medcan: Weekly “high five” emails that allow colleagues to publicly recognize extraordinary work from coworkers. The emails include photos, and Dr. Muskat uses them as an excuse to introduce himself to other staff. So it creates a positive feedback loop. [21:07]   In medicine, according to Medcan chief medical officer Dr. Peter Nord, the biggest sea change happened with virtual medicine, which has taken off in the last year. Before the pandemic, our health care was built around the convenience of the providers—the doctors—saying, this is how I run my day, and the patients fit into that. Virtual care shifts things so the locus of control is sliding more to the patient side, Dr. Nord says. [23:23, 27:03] Eat Move Think host and Medcan CEO Shaun Francis believes the biggest “move” trend of 2021 involved the “gamification” of fitness borne out by the new wave of connected fitness equipment like Peloton, Tonal, Hydrow and the Lululemon Mirror. Now, regardless of where you’re physically located, it’s possible to go on rides, runs and workouts with other human beings in a community, in real-time, amping up competition with oneself, and other participants. [30:08]

Does your local Starbucks barista make a mean frappuccino? Perhaps that’s because their company provides them with one of the most comprehensive wellness benefits packages around. Each Starbucks “partner” who works 20 hours a week is eligible for $5,000 for mental health support every year, among other perks. Here, Medcan Chief Growth Officer Bronwen Evans chats with Starbucks Canada VP of Partner Resources Cara Beck about the way the Seattle-based coffee company is bridging the gap between wellness and work. Episode 94 webpage   LINKS Check out Cara Beck on LinkedIn. Explore these articles from Starbucks that delve into their healthcare plan and their mission: Starbucks Canada’s Comprehensive Mental Health Initiative: A Timeline Starbucks Canada Makes Historic Investments in its Partners, Building on Long-Time Belief that Success is Best When Shared. Starbucks history: Great background. Read more about Canada’s mental health stats from the Statistics Canada survey mentioned in this episode.  Check out Headspace and Lifeworks, two of the tools available to Starbucks Canada partners as part of their mental health benefit.  Watch this quick video to learn more about how the Starbucks Bean Stock works.    INSIGHTS  At Starbucks, all staff are referred to as “partners.” And it’s not just a name, either. Since 1991, all partners receive an annual grant of stock called “Bean Stock,” which makes them shareholders in the company Every two years of employment will earn partners one share of Starbucks, which they are allowed to keep or sell as they like.  [09:06]  To better learn about the needs of its partners, Starbucks has a yearly partner experience survey and hosts open forums to get feedback. It was at a 2016 open forum that the company decided to increase the annual mental health benefit from $500 to $5,000 (a 900 per cent increase!). But that wasn’t the first time Starbucks had pioneered the way a corporation cares for the health of its employees. Back in 1988 Starbucks implemented a full extended health, mental and dental health care benefits plan for all partners. “If you work as few as 20 hours a week, you’re eligible for the same benefits as our VPs or any other partner,” says Beck. [12:19] As well as the annual $5,000 mental health benefit, Starbucks offers its partners digital tools like open chat forums, and a Headspace membership which offers meditation and sleep aid tools. “I love the Headspace app… There’s some good stuff in there to help you find a way back to that calm state to go back to sleep, if you happen to wake up at 2 a.m., like I do,” says Beck. [14:49] Also included in Starbucks’ healthcare benefit package for hourly partners is three paid shifts a year to cover personal or family care, and access to the LifeWorks program for all partners and their families. The platform offers support services in a variety of areas, like mental health counselling, financial or legal consultations, and childcare. There is also a mental health first aid course for management teams, “so they feel equipped with how they can address some really tough scenarios that they face,” says Beck. Guest host Bronwen Evans asked about the return on investment that Starbucks experiences from the money that it spends on mental wellness for its partners. Beck did not supply numbers, but did provide greater context on the thinking behind the investments made by the Seattle-based company. “Our belief is firmly grounded in one primary thing, and that is, when we take care of our partners, they take care of our customers, and our customers take care of our business,” Beck says.  “And so, our guiding principles have always been that we prioritize partner care. And that comes in many ways. That could come through benefits, it may come through wages, it may come through the work environment that they experience. But it really is grounded in, our partners come first.” [25:35]

Keijo Taivassalo is 82 years old, and at the 2021 Boston Marathon he demolished the competition, winning his age group by more than 30 minutes. We think Keijo is the embodiment of the Eat Move Think approach to living a long and healthy life. So what’s his secret? We had Medcan’s chief medical officer, Dr. Peter Nord, sit down with Keijo to explore the life of the master marathoner, and the lessons the rest of us can draw from it. Episode 93 webpage features video of the entire podcast! LINKS Keijo embodies the Five Secrets of Longevity that we covered in a previous episode featuring Dr. Peter Nord. Check it out.  Read this CBC article by Gregory Strong about Keijo.  See Keijo Taivassalo on Twitter and Instagram. Check out the University of Toronto track club where Taivassalo trains.  Read this article by Noel Paine on Taivassalo in Canadian Running Magazine. Watch this CBC video on Taivassalo.  INSIGHTS When Taivassalo was growing up in Finland, it was the norm to use cross-country skiing not only as exercise, but as transportation. He cross-country skied to school in the winter, as did many others. Dr. Nord says that finding ways to incorporate exercise into your daily routine, without it feeling like exercise, is a great way to promote longevity and keep active into your later years. [21:58] Taivassalo attributes his good health to getting a good night’s sleep and a stable diet. He makes sure to get eight or nine hours of sleep every night, and follows a Mediterranean diet (something we mention often lately!), which consists of lots of fish, fruits and vegetables and helps to reduce inflammation. “I eat meat too, but not too often,” he says. Establishing routines for good sleep and diet habits have helped both his mind and body stay sharp. [18:28] You might imagine that a marathon runner requires rigorous training, but Taivassalo paces himself. Following a program by University of Toronto Masters coach Walter Faion, he starts his first training days running three miles a day, and works his way up to a long run of 23 miles. In the last weeks before a marathon, he scales back his mileage to ensure that he stays rested. With overuse injuries, he reduces his mileage but doesn’t stop moving. It’s important to listen to your body and to be aware when it’s telling you to slow down, or to stop. [14:51] Researchers have linked time outdoors to lower mortality rates. As a runner, cross-country skier and a Finn, Taivassalo is outdoors a lot, and he thoroughly enjoys it. Finland has very short summers, but Finns take advantage of the outdoors all year round and are known for their relaxed culture and appreciation of nature. Running is a solo activity, but Taivassalo really enjoys being part of his running club in Thornhill, and getting together with other runners at the University of Toronto track club. “It’s easier… You can talk and have a more relaxed run.” Finding a community you enjoy, whether it is related to fitness or not, can boost your wellness and help you live happier, longer. [16:17]

Low-fat, sugar-free, zero carb….oh my! Society has come up with every diet imaginable in our journey toward living healthy, but rates of obesity continue to rise. Food journalist Mark Schatzker argues that tampering with the food we eat has harmed our ability to properly feed ourselves. Medcan director of food and nutrition Leslie Beck chats with Schatzker about his new book, The End of Craving, what’s so bad about manufactured additives, artificial sweeteners, and the puzzling paradox of Italian cuisine. Episode 92 webpage LINKS Check out Mark Schatzker on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. See his website here. Schatzker’s new book is The End of Craving: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of Eating Well. Buy it on Indigo and Amazon.  Buy his other books:  The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavour  Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef See some scientific studies mentioned in the interview and Schatzker’s book:  This 2020 study in Cell Metabolism shows how artificial sweeteners can reduce insulin sensitivity and blunt brain response to sucrose. This 2017 study in Current Biology suggests how artificial sweeteners disrupt normal physiological responses to carbohydrate ingestion. This 2011 study in Trends in Cognitive Sciences used brain scans to show the difference between an obese person’s brain and a non-obese person’s brain at the sight of food. This 2008 study in Neuron shows mice with blocked sweetness receptors still preferred sugar water. This research from the 1960s shows how diets are ineffective against the body’s natural weight set point. Check out information on Italy’s obesity rate here. Learn more about Canada’s permitted food additives and how they are regulated here.  Read about FDA food ingredients and packaging regulations here.   INSIGHTS The stigma against people with obesity is that they are overindulgent or weak. “This is absolutely wrong,” says Schatzker. Instead, the brains of obese people respond to food differently. For example, at the sight of food, research has shown that obese people experience a spike in dopamine levels in their brains’ reward centres. “The difference,” says Schatzker, “is one of craving.” [9:25] Our brain analyzes everything we eat, to know what nutrients it’s getting and to predict what it will get in the future. Scientists speculate that we think high-sugar and high-fat foods taste the best because they contain the most energy for our bodies. In one fascinating study, scientists engineered mice that were unable to sense sweetness levels of food—and the mice still preferred sugar water to plain water. The reason? Researchers believed that it was because the mouse brains were able to sense the sugar water provided more calories. [12:23]  “We always thought that sweetness is this indulgent, enjoyable sensation,” says Schatzker. “It’s actually like an instruction manual… for how much energy we’re getting.” When our food contains additives like artificial sweeteners or fat replacers, it tastes like it should contain more sugar or fat than it actually does. “When there's this mismatch… the brain doesn't know what to do,” Schatzker says. “It kind of throws up its hands.” The uncertainty of how much energy we’re getting leads the body to want to eat more, just to cover its bases. Which explains the obesity crisis in North America, where so much of the diet is processed (a.k.a. mismatched) food. [16:55]  “We tend to think that our appetite is primitive and unhinged, and that there’s something wrong with food,” says Schatzker. As a result, we’ve been adding things to our food to change its taste, texture, shelf-life or caloric content, and these additives have been directly altering our brains and the amount of food that we’re driven to eat. To make matters worse, these additives are difficult to spot on ingredient labels. They’re often called things that sound healthy and natural, like citrus fibre or milk protein (both fat replacers). [28:58] “If delicious food is a guilty pleasure, you would expect that Italians would be the heaviest people in the world,” says Schatzker. In fact Italy has one of the world’s lowest obesity rates, and he credits that to Italy’s cultural attitude toward mealtime, home cooking and savouring. “Eating is meant to be deeply pleasurable, so don’t be afraid to enjoy real food. That’s the way it’s meant to be eaten,” he says. [32:33]

Should we break up our work days with short bouts of exercise? Should we exchange the single 45-minute workout for three 15-minute bouts, or even smaller units of physical activity? According to The One-Minute Workout author and McMaster kinesiology professor Martin Gibala, a series of short exercise bursts distributed throughout the day provides a wide variety of health and longevity benefits. In this episode, Prof. Gibala chats with host Shaun Francis about the benefits of exercise snacking, and how to do it right. Episode 91 webpage LINKS Check out Prof. Martin Gibala’s website, and follow him on Twitter. Gibala wrote his book in collaboration with Eat Move Think producer Chris Shulgan. In it, Prof. Gibala distills the scientific evidence that shows how to gain the benefits of exercise in a more time-efficient manner than ever before. It's called The One-Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That’s Smarter, Faster, Shorter and it's available at Indigo and Amazon. In episode 91, Gibala references a large Norwegian study that suggested interval training is as good or better than traditional moderate exercise for longevity benefits. Here’s the link from the British Medical Journal. Read Canada’s 24-Hour Movement Guidelines  Exercise snacks can simply involve climbing up a set of stairs. Here’s a 2021 study published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living (and co-authored by Gibala) suggesting that brief, vigorous stair climbing is effective to improve aerobic fitness.  Here’s Gibala’s study that showed that one minute of all-out exercise three times a week could have similar benefits to 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.   Read other studies and trials Gibala has co-authored here. Here’s a link to the Oura ring fitness tracker discussed in this episode.    INSIGHTS  According to Gibala, breaking up our exercise into short bursts throughout the day may be a better strategy to promote longevity and fitness compared to a single bout of exercise in an otherwise sedentary workday. For example, three 15-minute exercise breaks throughout the day is better for us than one 45-minute workout, Gibala says. [04:33] Long bouts of sitting or reclining—what scientists term “sedentary behaviour”—come with their own health risks regardless of whether you’re getting in a daily workout. For example, a sedentary lifestyle has been tied to such risks as developing diabetes, or dying from cardiovascular disease. That’s part of the reason why the snacking strategy is so beneficial—it breaks up periods of inactivity. [09:49] Gibala recommends breaking up our levels of exercise intensity into green, yellow and red zones. A light walk around the block would be a green zone exercise, and running up and down a flight of stairs might bring you into the “sub-maximal” yellow zone, which corresponds to above 80 percent of maximal heart rate. And then the red zone is as hard as you can go. “An extremely vigorous sprint would put you in the red zone...The more intense the better,” says Gibala. [10:21] One of Gibala’s best-known studies (linked above) showed that three 20-second all-out sprints set into a 10-minute long protocol, repeated three times a week, could have the same benefits as the exercise guidelines’ recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. In other words, one minute of hard exercise repeated three times a week could be as efficient as two and a half hours of physical activity. “We're talking minutes in order to reap some significant benefits,” said Gibala. [10:57] One simple protocol for exercise snacking discussed by Shaun and Gibala is one minute of hard exercise followed by a minute-long break, repeated five times. Shaun tends to repeat the minute-on, minute-off protocol ten times, to great effect. “It kills me… more than any other routine that I do,” Shaun says. “It’s amazing, I can’t even stop sweating when I’m done.” Gibala points out that if you’re interested in time efficiency, five repeats will provide 70-80 percent of the benefit in just half the time. [22:15]