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If you’ve ever felt headache-y or sleepy after ingesting Chinese food, you might have eaten too much MSG. This probably sounds familiar but let’s dive deeper into what exactly MSG does to your body.  What Exactly is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)?   It is a popular food additive that brings a unique taste called umami, which translates to “savory” and is the fifth basic taste along with sweet, sour, salty and bitter (Zanfirescu et al.). Due to its popularity in many countries, the debate of whether this food additive is detrimental to our health or not has been going on for many...

Photo by Jannis Brandt on Unsplash Let's be honest, fibre doesn't always get the best reputation because it's not seen as anything 'tasty'! But it's a necessary part of our regular diet. We break down how fibre can help you in more ways than you realize.  What Exactly is Fibre? Dietary fibre is a natural part of plant-derived food that can’t be completely digested by the human body (1). There are many physiological functions in humans depending on the composition of the fibre, but the two most important ones are soluble and insoluble fibre. Soluble Fibre: This type of fibre dissolves in...

The more time we spend online, it seems there’s an increase in fad diets and body comparisons, making diet culture more prevalent. But what exactly is diet culture?  Social Influences Causing Damage Sadly, diet culture means putting the importance of one’s weight above their mental well-being and health (4). One way it’s portrayed is by equating weight to health, and determining one’s worthiness based on their weight. Another form would be telling people what, how, and when to eat their food (1,2). As well, diet culture can be used to oppress certain groups of people based on their body size...

By 2050, the world population is slated to reach 9 billion people (3). Nine BILLION people all looking to feed themselves. So, how do we feed the world?  Feeding Nine Billion Stomachs This has been an ongoing question for numerous years and has been addressed by many people on a global scale. The largest global challenge that we face in the next 30 years is to sustain our health and well-being as the food supply diminishes (3).  As of now, many scholars are thinking of innovative ways to combat this global food crisis. For example, there is a video series...