Irritable bowel syndrome is one of the world’s most common gastrointestinal disorders, and Canada’s rates are some of the highest. It’s difficult to diagnose, impossible to cure, and can be tough to talk about—but not for today’s guest.

Kate Scarlata, RD, (pictured above) is an expert in IBS and the low FODMAP diet. Here, she joins Leslie Beck, Medcan’s Clinical Director of Food and Nutrition, to give you a comprehensive guide to the many facets of IBS, and how to get the best results using the low FODMAP diet.

As 2023 comes to a close, Eat Move Think is rounding up the health and wellness trends and updates that left lasting impressions on such Medcan experts as Shaun Francis, Dr. Peter Nord, Leslie Beck and Dr. Andrew Miners. How did their own personal wellness evolve? What innovations will they be watching next year? And what are the biggest takeaways that you can carry forward to optimize your own health in 2024?

When the temperature drops, we spend more time indoors and get less fresh air, increasing our risk of getting sick. Get tips and tricks from all of your favourite hosts (pictured: Dr. Peter Nord) to help you eat, move, and think your way to staving off the sniffles, avoiding those aches and pains, and getting back on your feet. Learn which common remedies work, which don’t, and which are essential for staying healthy.

It’s an exciting time for the fields of nutrition and neurology. This year, two large studies determined that taking a daily multivitamin could improve memory and cognition in older adults. So can supplements actually improve your brain health? How else can food choices affect cognitive function? Here, our Eat host, Leslie Beck, RD, is joined by Toronto Memory Program medical director Dr. Sharon Cohen (pictured above) to provide a comprehensive guide to multivitamins and cognition.

Gastrointestinal health complaints form a large proportion of the reasons people visit their doctors—even though few people like to talk about what’s going on down there. So our Eat host, Leslie Beck, suggested a guide to all the gut, microbiome and digestive tract questions our listeners might otherwise not be comfortable asking. Here, Beck is joined by Medcan gastroenterologist Dr. Bharat Markandey (pictured above).

Intermittent fasting is one of the most popular fitness and nutrition trends out there right now—not only as an effective weight loss technique, but as a way to manage chronic disease risk and lower blood pressure. So what risks come with IF, and what should you know before giving it a try? In this encore presentation, Eat host Leslie Beck joins IF expert Dr. Krista Varady (pictured above) to break down the various types of IF, and how to do it safely and effectively for your body.

“If you’re eating something that came wrapped in plastic and contains even one ingredient that wouldn’t be found in most household kitchens, it is most likely ultra-processed food,” writes today’s guest, Dr. Chris van Tulleken (pictured above). His latest book, an international bestseller, is Ultra-Processed People. He says that North Americans get 50-60% of their calories from ultra-processed food. So how is ultra-processed food affecting our bodies and our brains? How is it really bad for us, and how can you optimize your wellness in an ultra-processed world? Medcan director of food and nutrition Leslie Beck, RD, answers these questions and more in her conversation with Dr. Chris van Tulleken.

The body’s metabolism rate, genes, and microbiomes can all affect the way we lose or gain weight. The good news? The field of personalized nutrition will likely soon be able to give you a full list of which foods will help your body lose weight, and which will contribute to weight gain. Medcan’s director of food and nutrition, Leslie Beck chats with Dr. Christopher Gardner, the director of nutrition studies at the Stanford Prevention Research Center (pictured above).

In this episode of Eat Move Think, we explore the world of women's nutrition. Guided by Medcan’s director of clinical innovation, Allison Hazell, our Eat expert, Leslie Beck, RD, and registered dietitian Joanna Stochla (pictured above) clear up the biggest misconceptions around nutrition for women, and provide a suggestion for what you should be incorporating into your diet, right away.

Curious about the food trends that will affect how and what you eat in 2023? Medcan director of food and nutrition Leslie Beck sure is. So in this episode she checks in with Nourish Food Marketing president Jo-Ann McArthur, the author of a closely watched annual report on food trends. The two experts discuss what’s likely to trend in the next year, the innovations headed our way, and how we may eat differently in the next 12 months and beyond.

We hear lots of talk about the importance of a healthy and diverse gut microbiome. So what foods should we be eating to maintain our gut health, and how does a healthy microbiome affect the rest of our body? What’s the science behind at-home microbiome testing products, and are they worth trying? How could microbial science help with early detection or treatment of conditions like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s? Medcan’s director of food and nutrition, Leslie Beck, RD, sits down with Dr. Brett Finlay, (pictured above) microbiologist and University of British Columbia professor, to find out.

Adults tend to gain weight as they age — about one to two pounds a year, research shows. A recent study indicates that small changes to one’s diet and/or exercise routine can prevent that incremental accumulation. In this episode, our Eat host, Leslie Beck, interviews the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Robert Ross of Queen’s University (pictured above), a global expert on sustainable positive lifestyle change for weight loss and better health. He shares the study’s findings, and discusses tips on how to halt age-related weight gain.

A growing body of research suggests that your food choices can affect the long-term health of your brain. In fact, one study showed that those who scored in the top third in terms of adherence to the MIND diet were associated with being 7.5 years younger in brain age versus those who scored in the lower third. So how does the MIND diet work? Which foods are in the MIND diet—and what are some practical tips to help us to incorporate this eating pattern into our lives? Leslie Beck (pictured above) gets the answers from two of the researchers who helped develop the MIND diet: cognitive neurologist Dr. Neelum Aggarwal, and nutritionist Dr. Christy Tangney, both of Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center.

A growing body of research indicates the MIND diet can be so protective of the brain that one study showed those who most adhered to it had a brain age 7.5 years younger compared to those who least adhered to the diet. So how does the MIND diet work? Which foods are in the MIND diet—and what are some practical tips to help us to incorporate this eating pattern into our lives? In the second of our three-part series on Alzheimer’s, Leslie Beck (pictured above) gets the answers from two of the researchers who helped develop the MIND diet: cognitive neurologist Dr. Neelum Aggarwal, and nutritionist Dr. Christy Tangney, both of Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center.