Healthy food increasingly out of reach for the Island’s poorest

Report highlights high cost of housing and food; lower-income people are forced to make difficult choices

Healthy food is becoming increasingly out of reach for low-income families on Vancouver Island, a new report says.

Grocery costs for a family of four on a nutritious diet costs $1,366 on average per month in the Island Health region, a BC Center for Disease Control report says.

Those in the North Island health region, which includes the Sunshine Coast, were found to pay $1,370 on average, while families in Central Vancouver Island and South Vancouver Island paid an average of $1,343 and $1,386

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The community plan builds on the success of the food kitchen

Building on a successful nonprofit food kitchen, the Highland neighborhood in Gastonia, North Carolina, is planning to grow in a healthy and walkable way as gentrification pressure mounts. Located northwest of downtown, Highland is home to 5,000 mostly African-American residents. A team of new urbanist practitioners recently came to the city of 77,000, 20 miles west of Charlotte, to design a building with affordable housing and ground-floor commercial space for the RAMS Kitchen (Really Amazing Meals with Soul).

The development will serve as the impetus for a broader urban development strategy that targets the social, economic, health and educational conditions

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What is the healthiest oil? These two options may be best to cook with

Oil – we use it in frying, baking, salad dressing and even covering the entire cake around it. While oils are not a major food group, they’re still an important source of unsaturated fats and vitamin E that improve high-density lipoprotein, or “good” cholesterol levels.

But some oils contain trans fat, often used in restaurant deep fryers.

So how do you figure out which oil is the healthiest choice? Here’s what a registered dietitian has to say.

What’s the healthiest oil to cook with?

The oil at the grocery store may go on for the entire aisle, so how do

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8 Proven Tips for a Good Night Sleep that Actually Work

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Getting good quality sleep at night is pivotal for a person’s mental and physical health. Falling short of that takes a serious toll on a person’s energy, productivity, weight and emotional state. It invites a whole host of illnesses and issues. Making small changes to a person’s overall nighttime routine can do wonders in improving their quality of sleep and can help in managing some sleep related issues. It can also make them wake up feeling well rested, balanced and full of energy for the day ahead.

There are a whole host of issues that interfere with

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Food programs break the link between food insecurity and obesity in children

food pantry

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Food FARMacias could be one part of the solution to the nation’s growing food insecurity problem, according to a new study by pediatricians at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York-Presbyterian.

Food insecurity—or lack of enough healthy food for an active, healthy life—is not just an issue of hunger. Food insecurity prevents children from reaching their full potential physically, cognitively, and socially. Children who grow up in food-insecure homes are sick more often, recover from illness more slowly, and are hospitalized more frequently. Food insecurity can contribute to obesity because people who

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Dental Flossing | Guest Diet Blog

Teeth Flossing

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A key part of maintaining good dental hygiene is teeth flossing. However, as many as 36% of Americans don’t bother with flossing at all. While there have been claims made that flossing is not necessary, there is enough evidence to the contrary that flossing does, in fact, help with the prevention of oral diseases.

Why is Teeth Flossing Important?

Flossing is an important part of good dental hygiene. Here is why.

Plaque is a natural result of bacterial buildup in the mouth. Bacterial build up is also a natural result from the food we eat and our

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7 Kimchi Benefits That Prove This Korean Superfood Is as Healthy as It Is Tasty

If you haven’t tried kimchi, you’re missing out on probiotics, antioxidants, vitamins, fiber, and more healthy benefits.

<p>Kondoruk/Getty Images</p>

Kimchi is an integral part of Korean cuisine and culture. In its most basic form, kimchi is made from fermented cabbage, fermented fish, and spicy seasonings like Korean chili pepper flakes, though it can be made from hundreds of vegetables and other ingredients. It’s often treated as a condiment, but kimchi is traditionally eaten as a side dish.

“I’ve been eating all kinds of kimchi my whole life, and even helped my grandmother make it as a kid,” says Maggie Moon, RD, a

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8 Beverages for Flawless and Glowing Skin

Maintaining beautiful, healthy skin requires more than just applying expensive beauty products and a consistent trip to the Dermatologist — nutrition plays a very important role too.

Our skin is a mirror of what’s happening inside our bodies. Therefore, healthy skin cannot exist without a healthy body. So when we are healthy and clean on the inside, our skin cells will be visibly nourished on the outside.

In my previous articles, I already talked about natural and frugal ways to get glowing skin, as well as spices that you can incorporate into your diet and skincare routine. Now for today’s

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