Arcadia Microgreens, founded by Shawn Paiva & Mitchel Downham, is a sustainable urban farm operating in the heart of Ajax, Ontario Canada, producing a variety of nutritious microgreens for direct to home delivery across the GTA. They have always been very interested in food as medicine (Shawn is vegan environmental scientist, Mitchel is a Personal Trainer). They were inspired to start this small business when they learned about microgreens and how they can be grown in a vertical hydroponic system to provide their local community with fresh and nutritious food year round. As a sustainable urban farm, they are focused on innovating the food system by reducing Food Miles and Land Use.Learning points:
What are microgreens?
Why are microgreens so healthy for us?
Why is vertical farming is innovating the food system?
Every Tuesday from 11am -12pm I host The Health Hub, an interactive, forward thinking talk show on Radio Maria Canada. Call, tweet or email your questions as together we explore health issues that are relevant to you from new and innovative points of view.
If you have a health topic that you would like us to discuss or are a health care specialist who wants to be a guest on our show let us know!
Here is our email. We would love to hear from you! thh@radiomaria.ca
Sarah Hendrickson is an Olympian and World Champion in the sport of ski jumping. She attended the first ever Olympic Games in Sochi Russia in 2014, and with bib number one, became the first ever female to ski jump in an Olympic event. Prior to that event, she won the first ever world cup event and world cup overall title in the sport. Although she does not like to be defined by her injuries, a crash in 2013, training for the Olympics, severely injured her right knee. But with an intense rehab program, recovered in a short five months to qualify for the Olympic team. Sarah knows her challenges with injuries has taught her a lot about mental toughness, mental health, rehabilitation and perseverance to return to her passion. Although she has retired from the sport, she remains highly involved on the international level through the International Ski Federation as a four year athlete representative for women’s ski jumping. The inequality that this sport specifically faces fuels her dedication to push for more acceptance, increase prize money and increase the amount of events to someday match the men.Learning points:
Can a plant-based diet support the nutritional needs of an Olympic athlete?
Every Tuesday from 11am -12pm I host The Health Hub, an interactive, forward thinking talk show on Radio Maria Canada. Call, tweet or email your questions as together we explore health issues that are relevant to you from new and innovative points of view.
Nicole Avena, PhD is a research neuroscientist and expert in the fields of nutrition, diet and addiction. She is also an expert in diet during pregnancy, and childhood nutrition. Dr. Avena received a Ph.D. in Psychology and Neuroscience from Princeton University in 2006. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in 2010 at the prestigious Rockefeller University in New York City, an all-research institution that lays claim to having had 24 Nobel Prize winners on its staff over the years.Dr. Avena is Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and a Visiting Professor in Health Psychology at Princeton University. She has published over 90 scholarly journal articles on topics related to diet, nutrition and overeating, and she frequently presents her research findings at scientific conferences and University symposia. Her research achievements have been honored by awards from several groups including the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Psychological Association, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She has received research funding from prestigious sources, including the National Institutes of Health and the National Eating Disorders Association. Dr. Avena is the author of the bestselling book What to Eat When You’re Pregnant (2015, Ten Speed Press).Her new book is WHAT TO EAT WHEN YOU WANT TO GET PREGNANT (on-sale March 30, 2021), the definitive guide to diet and its impact on prenatal health, based on a revolutionary new research on how nutrition impacts pregnancy and the ability to conceive. Written for women and men, it is the planning parent’s resource for optimizing your diet to ensure you have a healthy baby.Learning point:
Why is preparing for pregnancy important?
What are key nutrients that should be consumed in preparation for pregnancy?
Every Tuesday from 11am -12pm I host The Health Hub, an interactive, forward thinking talk show on Radio Maria Canada. Call, tweet or email your questions as together we explore health issues that are relevant to you from new and innovative points of view.
Meal prepping is a beautiful thing! Once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder how you ever survived without it.
So let’s set you up for success.
Get Organized
For me, a crucial aspect of meal prepping is getting organized. This means before I step foot into the grocery store, I want to have all of my containers washed and ready to go.
I recommend using glass storage containers for food prepping and storage. Glass containers last forever, are easy to clean and don’t contain harmful chemicals. Stay away from plastics! As well, look for a variety of sizes.
Also, make sure to invest in enough containers to last you all week.
You also want to make sure your containers are travel-friendly, so you don’t experience any spills along the way.
Once you have your containers, it’s time to start the grocery list.
Make Your List
I love making lists. This way, I don’t forget anything I need. Lists also allow you to group like items together, so you’re not wasting time at the store going back and forth between aisles and departments.
Before you can make your list, you need to know what you’re making.
How to find the recipes is really up to you. Some people like to peruse the internet and apps like Pinterest for tasty recipes throughout the week. Others enjoy looking through cookbooks while having their morning coffee.
While you’re likely to come across a ton of tasty sounding dishes, keep in mind too many recipes can also be overwhelming. To save time, and to go easy on your wallet, look for recipes with similar ingredients for the week.
If you’re new to cooking or meal prepping, there’s nothing wrong with starting with just a couple of recipes to prep for the week to get you going.
How Are You Prepping?
When it comes to how you meal prep, you have many options.
Types of meal prep include:
Full make-ahead meals: You cook an entire meal and store it in your fridge or freezer.
Batch cooking or freezing: Make multiple meals, then portion and store them. This approach is useful for recipes you can easily cook in large amounts (like big pots of soup, rice, or mashed sweet potatoes).
Meals for one: Prepare food and portion it in single-serving containers. (Usually enough to last a few days)
Ingredient prep: For people who like to cook and serve food all at once, just prep parts of recipes. Chop veggies, mix spices, or marinate meat in advance to save time when you’re ready to cook.
The best part is you don’t have to choose just one option!
While you’re prepping your lunches for the week, let’s say, you know you’ll need chopped onions and carrots for at least one dinner. Prep everything at once and store the dinner ingredients separately.
What a time-saver!
And Here Are Other Benefits To Meal Prepping
When done right, meal prep can save you money. Meal prepping allows you to save money by purchasing items in bulk and freezing for later use. Always stock up on staples like olive oil, spices, and condiments when they’re on sale.
Meal prepping also helps you reduce waste. When you’re portioning out your servings for the week, you know exactly how much to make and how much you have. So, no more forgotten leftovers in the back of the fridge.
Finally, unlike processed meals, this method gives you total control over what goes into your food—perfect for anyone who wants to stay on track with their health goals.
Tips To Top It All Off
When you first start meal prepping, there are some mistakes I want to help you avoid.
Don’t overwhelm yourself with too many new or complex recipes with a long list of ingredients. It’s easy to get swept away with yummy and exotic-sounding new dishes—start simple, with recipes you already know how to make and know you like.
Make sure to plan meals that will help keep you feeling satisfied throughout the day. Look for recipes that offer you the right balance of your macros and micros.
Lastly, when planning for your prepping, keep your schedule in mind. You’ll need to set aside time to shop and prepare your meals. This might take some reorganizing but it’s worth it!
It just takes a little time and practice but soon you’ll be a happy meal prepper!
Trudy Stone is a certified culinary nutritionist, founder of Trudy Stone Nutrition, podcast host and TV guest wellness expert who educates people about nutrition and solutions for managing stress and anxiety.From healthy habits to brain health, Trudy is passionate about empowering people to build healthier habits and unlock the power of food to build a strong and vibrant brain and body.Trudy is also a brain health instructor for Clean Eating Magazine for the course Feed a Healthy Brain. The course explores the connection between diet, cognitive decline and mental health, helping people to realize the full potential of food to support a healthy brain, so people can thrive now and well into their later years.Trudy is also the creator of the R.I.S.E method, a step-by-step framework to help people to overcome stress, overwhelm and fatigue.Learning point:
How we can use our stress in a positive way?
What are some key nutrients we can consume to alleviate stress?
What is the R.I.S.E 4 step method for transforming our stress into something more positive?
Every Tuesday from 11am -12pm I host The Health Hub, an interactive, forward thinking talk show on Radio Maria Canada. Call, tweet or email your questions as together we explore health issues that are relevant to you from new and innovative points of view.
If you have a health topic that you would like us to discuss or are a health care specialist who wants to be a guest on our show let us know!
Here is our email. We would love to hear from you! thh@radiomaria.ca
The best part is you don’t have to choose just one option! 
