Coffee & Tea: Healthy or Harmful?

Other than a sense of adventure and entertainment, one key reason why people eat spicy food is the common belief that it’s good for you! Folklore has it that eating spicy food can cure colds, boost your metabolism and even induce birth when a woman is past her due date. And while some of these are simply urban legends, the health allure around spice is not entirely false. Which brings us to today’s question: can spicy food improve our health? Let’s dig in.

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Over the past year many people have felt the weight of their food bill. With an inflation and recession double whammy, food prices have increased at astronomical rates. From produce to cooking oil to bread and meat nearly every category of food has been affected by inflation. So it's no surprise that many people are trying to save on food. But considering how closely tied diet is to our health, it’s super important we don’t compromise nutritional quality during times of financial constraint. Which begs the question, how can you eat healthy on the cheap?

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Credit to MonoSheep for the theme music.

Whether it’s on-the-go, during a work break, or late at night to accompany a TV show, snacking is a shared human experience. But in the past few decades snacking has transformed into something we do wherever and whenever. And with our lives becoming increasingly time-constrained, grabbing a quick bite in between meals seems like a necessity. But this habit is starting to affect our health - causing unintended weight gain and contributing to the rise of chronic diseases. So is snacking inherently unhealthy? Or is there something else to blame for its bad reputation? Tune in to find out.

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Eating plant-based is no longer a trend, it’s an established lifestyle. This  vegetarian diet for non-committal folks is centred around plants with the occasional inclusion of meat. But there are no hard and fast rules. And by and large, it's a pretty healthy way of eating. After all, many experts and organizations advise us to consume less meat. But how much healthier is strict adherence to a vegetarian diet compared to just eating less meat overall? Tune in to find out.

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Everyone’s motivations for buying organic differs, but one of the most commonly listed reasons is that it is healthier for you. Now organic farming was first and foremost developed to protect the environment, but could these old-school agricultural ways also benefit our health? Tune in to Nutrition Bites to find out!

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Having a full head of hair is a societal expectation - at least that’s what the media tells us. Apart from George Costanze in Seinfeld, you don’t see many balding characters, actors, or singers.  But hair loss and thinning are clinical conditions that affect all genders, and over half of the global population will experience this. Supplements on the market today promise to  target the root causes of hair thinning and promote faster-growing, thicker, fuller and stronger hair. But are  these pills and gummies actually helping us, or are they merely preying on our vanity and wallets. Tune in to find out !

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Sugar substitutes, which include artificial sweeteners, are substances that provide a sweet taste while contributing few or no calories. They are primarily used as an additive in packaged foods and beverages, like Diet Coke or sugar-free gum. The main benefit of sugar substitutes is that they provide an option for people to consume sweet foods and drinks, while helping to reduce their overall added sugar and caloric intake.  In theory, this can provide assistance with weight management and blood sugar control. But is that really the case? New research is hinting that the very opposite might be true, that artificial sweeteners are actually causing us to gain weight and worsen Diabetes. Tune in to find out the truth!

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Do you start every morning with a mug of coffee or tea? If so, welcome to the billion-member morning brew club! Drinking coffee and/or tea has been a standard ritual for thousands of years, but for such a popular, and historic drink, not many people understand the health implications. Are these caffeinated beverages benefitting our health? Harming it? Both? Neither? Tune in to find out.

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If you’ve ever been frustrated at the mismatch between the way you eat, and how you look on the outside, or feel on the inside, you’ve likely blamed the scapegoat of human variability - genetics.  While you can adapt your lifestyle and modify your environment to live healthier, you can’t change your DNA. And the genetic diversity between people means there is no “one-size fits all” approach to nutrition. An eating pattern that works for your friend may be terrible for you. So the idea of analysing your DNA, and prescribing a diet based on your unique genetic code, seems fantastic. But is it even possible to do? And is it actually the nutrition solution some make it out to be? Tune in to find out.

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Our modern way of eating certainly necessitates criticism. But the once harmless suggestion of "eating clean" has now been tarnished thanks to a takeover by food-shaming influencers. In the clean eating world the rules of what’s good and bad aren’t well defined, and can even change depending on who’s giving the instructions. So it’s about time we untangle this powerfully branded dietary approach, and determine how holy clean eating really is. Tune in to find out more!

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Credit to MonoSheep for the theme music