Dietetics & Human Nutrition Undergraduate Society

People always say  « Humans are by nature social animals », but are we aware of the extend to which social settings affect us? Spending time with family and friends might only seem like a enjoyable hobby, but it’s actually an important factor that greatly shapes our eating behaviour!

Did you know that since you were a child, your eating habits are constantly modified by the people you eat with, most often by your parents. Children observe and imitate so it’s especially important to connect w...

It’s that time of the year again when you have a runny nose, dry cough, sore throat and all those other symptoms that make you want to stay in bed all day. But there’s always that one person who tells you to just eat an orange and get that vitamin C! But have you ever wondered if it really works?

Think about it, vitamin C does have a lot of beneficial effects including bone, iron and skin maintenance. It also serves importance in boosting your immune system which should help cure your cold, right? As...

1. Organic Foods do not use Pesticides

Organic foods like conventional foods both use pesticides. The difference lies in quantity and source. Organic foods just do not use synthetic pesticides and instead rely on naturally derived pesticides which have gone through little to no processing. Moreover, it is important to note that “natural” is not synonymous with “safe” and therefore the pesticides used in organic farming are not safer than those that are synthetic (University of Illinois, 2017). Differe...

We’ve all heard the saying that if we swallow gum, it’ll stay in our stomach for seven years. But it that really the case? Well, no. Along with added flavours, colours, and sweeteners, gum is primarily made up of gum resin. While it’s true that this gum resin isn’t digestible by our bodies, the gum resin passes through our digestive system and comes out the other end, and in small amounts won’t do any harm. In rare cases large amounts of gum that are swallowed can cause blockages that may require sur...

With this week’s Annual Chocolate Party (youpyouup!), I thought it would be very convenient to write about the different health benefits of the phytochemicals that are mostly found in dark chocolate and that you might not know about: flavonoids and methylxanthines.

1. Flavonoids

Flavonoids include subgroups such as flavanols, flavonols, flavones, flavanones, anthocyanins, and isoflavones. 

Flavanols are most abundant in cocoa beans and here are some of their health benefits:

• Antioxidant pro...