Synergy Nutrition
2140 East Hastings St V5L 1V1 Vancouver, BC, Canada

Holiday Giveaway! Head over to @rhiannonthevegan to enter to win one of the numerous $100 prize packs. One of the prize packs will include a Custom 7 Day Vegan Meal Plan ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #vegansofvancouver #veganvancouver #plantbasedvancouver #vancouvervegans #vancouvervegan #vancityvegans #yvrvegans #vancouvervegangiveaway #holidaygiveaways #iggiveaway #veganbiz #veganbizvancouver #vancouverbusinesses #shoplocalvancouver #vancitylocal #vanfitfam #vancouvergiveaways See more

One of my favourite @vegan_boss episodes @vesanto.melina has always been a role model and a huge inspiration for me, especially with my decision to study nutrition at the University of British Columbia. Before smart phones were around, there weren't a lot of places to read about vegan nutrition, so I would always look forward to her articles each month in Common Ground Magazine.... Her books with @brendadavisrd are essential nutrition resources for anyone interested in having a healthy, vegan lifestyle. This interview is filled with interesting nutrition information, the link to Vegan Boss Radio is in my bio if you'd like to listen to the full episode. Thank you to Vesanto and Brenda for being trailblazers in the industry, and literally writing the books on how to be vegan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #vancityvegans #vancouvervegans #vancouvervegan #vegancommunity #veganvancouver #vegansofvancouver #plantbasedvancouver #yvrvegan #veganpodcast #newpodcast #vegansofig #plantbasednutrition #vegannutrition #veganresearch #healthresearch #veganhealth #vancouverpodcast #nutritionpodcast #veganbossradio See more

There are numerous benefits to eating a whole food plant based diet, and the results of a recent Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT) adds to the growing body of positive research. This RCT involved 244 particiaptes over a 4 month period. The participants all had a high BMI, and were divided evenly into a control group (did not change their diet), and the low-fat, plant based group (changed to a plant based diet with 75% calories from carbohydrates, 15% from protein, and 10% fro...m fat). At the end of the 4 months, the plant based group lost weight, had increased insulin sensitivity, increased metabolism, and reductions in intramyocellular lipid levels (high intramyocellular lipids can contribute to insulin resistance and the development of Type 2 Diabetes). There were no significant changes seen in the control group. "A low-fat plant-based dietary intervention reduces body weight by reducing energy intake and increasing postprandial metabolism. The changes are associated with reductions in hepatocellular and intramyocellular fat and increased insulin sensitivity." If we are in good health, active, and just looking to maintain our current weight, I feel like we can eat a more fat, closer to 20-25% of calories. And of course the types and quality of fat are important. Please also keep in mind that growing children will need closer to 30-40% of calories coming from fat. I'm not really an advocate for tracking calories or macros as I feel it can take away from the joy of eating, add too much stress, and is not really necessary if you are eating mostly plant based whole foods. It can be helpful when people are just starting out on a plant based diet if they are not sure how much food they actually need to eat since plant foods are generally lower in calories. If you have questions about how to balance your plant based meals, supplements, or meal plans please feel free to send me a message. . . . . . . . . #veganhealth #vegannutrition #wfpbdiet #vancouvervegans #vancouvervegan #vegancommunity #vancouvernutritionist #plantbasednutritionist #plantbasedvancouver #randomizedclinicaltrial #nutritionresearch #plantbaseddiet #diseaseprevention #weighloss

Feeling honoured to be the first in EcoLuxLifestyle.co's series on Vancouver's top plantbased businesses! Sharing the story with me is my incredible sister Megan Media Design who is my co-host at Vegan Boss Radio podcast. Hope you enjoy and share with your friends who may be thinking about getting healthy and active during these times. ... http://www.ecoluxlifestyle.co/transition-shawna-barker-pla/ #vegannutrition #veganlifestyle #veganpodcast Thank you to Helen Siwak, Eco.Lux.Luv

Happy World Vegan Day Thought I would share my vegan story today, and help answer any questions or concerns you may have. I was a huge animal lover as a child. When I was 9 years old I started an animal club with a couple of friends where we would write about and present a different animal each week, and bring a quarter for our donations to the World Wildlife Fund ... Just before my 11th birthday I was at a neighbour's for dinner. They had ordered pizza, one of the pizza's was vegetarian and I realized in that moment that I didn't need to eat animals Around that same time I had started volunteering at the SPCA. We weren't allowed pets where we lived, but at least I could visit the cats and dogs at the SPCA. My parents supported my decision to be vegetarian, but I definitely didn't do it properly in terms of the nutrition. This was in 1993, so not only had I never even heard the word vegan, there really wasn't access to as much information as there is now. In high school, I started to pay a bit more attention to the quality of my diet, but really wasn't something I focused on. In my first year I college there was an event at school, one of the booths was a vegan group. I actually told them I could never give up cheese Fast forward to a year later, I was in my first year of the nutrition program at UBC. We were doing a project at a small family-run dairy farm. I decided after that to go completely vegan I had decided to get a nutrition degree, and go to a natural nutrition school as well, so that I could learn as much as possible about physiology, biochemistry, food science, agricultural science, and how to apply this information to be as healthy as possible as a vegan, and eventually help others do the same. In my 3rd year at UBC I organized a Food and Climate Change Conference with AIMS (the Alternative and Integrative Medical Society). So the environmental benefits of eating a plant based diet was also a motivating factor. I graduated UBC in 2010 and have been working as a vegan nutritionist ever since. Continued in comments See more

If you missed my chat today with Crystal Bonnet the replay is up on YouTube! It was amazing to connect with you Crystal, and thank you to everyone that tuned in :)

Vegan Nutrition interview with Synergy Nutrition and Crystal Bonnet this Friday! We will be sharing the replay on Instagram and here on our Facebook page.

If you have found yourself snacking more these past few months you are definitely not alone. And I am not here to tell you to stop, or that it's a bad thing to do. My approach to nutrition is not about restriction, deprivation, or stressing about how much you are eating. However, I do want to talk about the migrating motor complex (MMC) and its role in maintaining healthy gut function.... What is MMC? Migrating Motor Complex is a sequence of muscle contractions throughout the digestive system that acts as a 'cleaning wave' to help keep contents moving along. These cleaning waves occur after ~ 90 mins of fasting. The majority of the cleaning waves happen at night while we are asleep, and for many people this will be enough to help maintain a healthy, balanced environment in the digestive tract. For others, it may be beneficial to space out food intake to allow for a couple cleaning waves to occur between meals throughout the day as well. If you are someone that experiences bloating or other digestive issues, it may be worth trying out a few different options when it comes to supporting the MMC. Whether or not snacking in between meals is a new habit or something you have always done, try spacing out your snacks/meals by 4-5 hours, and only having water in between. To help maintain this eating schedule, it is important to eat enough at each meal, and for the meals to include plant-based proteins, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. This type of eating schedule won't be suitable for everyone, and it may be difficult for athletes to get the calories they need by just eating 3 meals a day. If you try it and feel it doesn't work for you, you could try instead to increase the length of time you are not eating between dinner and breakfast the next day in order to help increase the number of cleaning waves that happen at night (aim for a 12-14 hour window). Again, everyone is different so it will be important to figure out what works for you, and to work with a practitioner to determine possible underlying causes for your digestive symptoms.... Full article "Bloating, Gut Health, & the Migrating Motor Complex" (link in bio). @ Vancouver, British Columbia

Tomorrow at 5pm PST Rhiannon Whitney from Willow's Wax Bar and I will be talking about our go-to tips for having healthy skin on the Plant Life Nutrition Instagram Live! If you have any questions you'd like us to go over please feel free to leave a comment or send a DM. https://www.instagram.com/plantlifenutrition/

Happy Monday Everyone! I hope you are having a great start to the week. I am finishing up my blog post about the Migrating Motor Complex and its role in gut health. I'll be sending it out tomorrow in my monthly newsletter! @meganmediadesign and I will also be releasing a new @vegan_boss episode this week ... If you have any requests for topics you'd like us to address in a future episode, or nutrition questions you'd like to see answered on the blog please let me know by commenting below or sending a DM . . . . . . . . . . . . #vancityvegans #vancouvervegans #vancouvervegan #vegancommunity #vancouverpodcast #veganpodcast #newpodcast #vegansofig #plantbasedvancouver #yvrvegans #veganbiz #veganentrepreneur #vegansofvancouver #vegannutritionist #vegannutrition #plantbasednutritionist #veganhealth #guthealth See more