Nutrition Conversations

por The Canadian Nutrition Society

Temporada 4

Bien manger durant la grossesse; un choix personnel? Quand la nutrition sociale périnatale s’invite à la table avec Bénédicte Fontaine-Bisson / Eating Well During Pregnancy: A Personal Choice? When Perinatal Social Nutrition Comes to the Table

La nutrition sociale est un domaine émergent qui va au-delà des choix alimentaires individuels pour comprendre comment les facteurs sociaux, économiques, culturels et environnementaux influencent la façon dont les gens mangent et leur état de santé. Cette approche reconnaît que la nutrition n’est pas seulement une question de biologie, mais aussi d’accès, d’inégalités, de vie familiale, de soutien communautaire et de politiques publiques. Dre Bénédicte Fontaine-Bisson est diététiste professionnelle et professeure agrégée à l’École des sciences de la nutrition de l’Université d’Ottawa. Elle a obtenu un doctorat en sciences de la nutrition avec une spécialisation en nutrigénétique à l’Université de Toronto, avant de compléter un stage postdoctoral en épidémiologie génétique à l’INSERM à Paris. Ses recherches portent principalement sur la nutrition sociale périnatale, la santé maternelle et infantile, l’insécurité alimentaire et les interventions communautaires visant à réduire les inégalités en santé. Dans cet épisode, Dre Fontaine-Bisson discute la nutrition sociale, en explorant les liens entre la nutrition, la santé maternelle et infantile, l’insécurité alimentaire et le soutien aux populations vulnérables au Canada. This podcast was recorded in French

T4 · E5

29 may 2026

43:03

Personalized nutrition - are we ready to deliver DNA-based diets? with Dr. Ahmed El-Sohemy

There’s growing interest in using genetic information to guide nutrition, alongside ongoing discussion about the strength of the evidence and its practical applications. As the field evolves, it’s raising important questions about how best to translate science into meaningful recommendations. Dr. Ahmed El-Sohemy is a Professor and Associate Chair at the University of Toronto and held a Canada Research Chair in Nutrigenomics. He is also the Founder of Nutrigenomix Inc. and Chair’s the company’s International Science Advisory Board. Dr. El-Sohemy obtained his PhD from the University of Toronto and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard. He has over 200 peer-reviewed publications and has given more than 400 invited talks around the world. The goal of his research program is to identify genetic markers that predict response to various dietary factors on a variety of health and performance outcomes. Dr. El-Sohemy has served on Health Canada’s Scientific Advisory Board and several international expert advisory panels. He is also the recipient of several awards for research excellence by the Canadian Nutrition Society, the American College of Nutrition, and the American Nutrition Association. In this episode, Dr. El Sohemy discusses the role of genetics in shaping how we respond to food and the evolving field of personalized nutrition.

T4 · E4

30 abr 2026

40:18

Seed Oils: Science vs Social Media with Dr. Jessie Burns

Few nutrition topics have generated as much heat—and as little clarity—as seed oils. They are often blamed for inflammation, chronic disease, and poor metabolic health, yet they are also some of the most studied fats in human nutrition. Dr. Jessie Burns is a clinical scientist and consultant with a PhD in Human Health and Nutritional Sciences from the University of Guelph, where her doctoral research focused on dietary fatty acids, inflammation, and chronic disease prevention. She also completed postdoctoral training in clinical women’s health research at Carleton University before transitioning from academia into a non-academic career in clinical science and evidence-based medicine. In her current roles, she collaborates with clinicians, industry partners, researchers, and health organizations to review, appraise, and synthesize complex scientific evidence for clinical guidance, knowledge translation, and education. Though she has formally left academia, she continues to collaborate with academic researchers on projects related to dietary fats and women’s health. In this episode, Dr. Burns discusses the role of seed oils on our health, challenge common fears, and distinguish evidence-based facts from social media misinformation.

T4 · E3

31 mar 2026

26:43

Dinner Doesn’t Just Appear: Foodwork, Households, and Health with Dr. Leah Cahill

Food is central to our health, but the work that goes into making food happen every day—planning, shopping, cooking, negotiating, and cleaning up—is often invisible. This foodwork shapes not only what we eat, but how food, care, responsibility, and power are shared within households. Yet it’s rarely measured, named, or addressed in health research or policy. Dr. Leah Cahill is a registered dietitian and associate professor in the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She completed her undergraduate degree in nutritional sciences at the University of Manitoba, a dietetic internship with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and her PhD in medicine focusing on interactions between nutrition and genetics at the University of Toronto, and then moved to Boston to work as a postdoctoral scientist at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. During her five-year postdoc at Harvard, Dr. Cahill worked in the Department of Nutrition collecting skills in nutritional epidemiology and research methodology as she investigated the dietary and genetic origins of cardiometabolic disease in large cohort studies. She is currently the Howard Webster Research Chair in the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie University and Nova Scotia Health where she leads a research program named nourish that investigates nutrition, biomarkers, and clinical patient-oriented research initiatives. In this episode, Dr. Cahill discusses foodwork as a critical—but overlooked—determinant of health and wellbeing, and what it means to study food not just as nutrients, but as a social and relational practice.

T4 · E2

27 feb 2026

37:03

What Nutrition Epidemiology Can (and Can’t) Tell Us with Dr. Russell de Souza

Nutrition plays a role in nearly every major chronic disease, yet the science behind what we eat often feels confusing or contradictory. Nutritional epidemiology is the field that tries to make sense of these patterns by studying diet and health across populations. In this conversation, we are going to explore what this field can—and can’t—tell us about how food affects our health. Dr. Russell de Souza is a registered dietitian and Associate Professor in the Mary Heersink School of Global Health and Social Medicine and the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster University. His passion lies in understanding how what we eat and the environments we live in shape our health throughout life. He conducts everything from clinical trials to in-depth interviews, and works with teams to use cutting-edge ‘omics’ science to dig deeper into our diets. What really drives him is finding ways to help communities that often get overlooked, like pregnant women, South Asian immigrants and Indigenous Peoples, reduce their risk of chronic diseases. Along the way, he has earned prestigious recognition, including the 2023 CNS Young Investigator Award, and his department’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award. In this episode, Dr. de Souza discusses how nutritional epidemiology shapes our understanding of diet and health.

T4 · E1

31 ene 2026

42:54

Temporada 3

Sipping Smarter: How Sugary Drinks Shape Health and Habits with Dr. Scott Harding

Sugar-sweetened beverages are one of the most widely consumed sources of added sugars in our diets, and their impact on health has become a major focus of nutrition research and public policy. Governments around the world are exploring tools like taxation to curb intake, but how well do these strategies work—and for whom? Dr. Scott Harding is an Associate Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at Memorial University in Newfoundland. His research interests include glucose metabolism, cholesterol biochemistry, and the effects of public health policies on reducing obesity and chronic disease, particularly in Newfoundland and Labrador. Dr. Harding's research lab focuses on cardiometabolic diseases, using animal and in vitro models, human trials, and population studies. His team studies public health initiatives like sugar taxes and the metabolic impacts of dietary sugars and fats under varying intake levels. They also investigate how diet and lifestyle factors, such as short or disrupted sleep, activity, and dietary patterns, affect disease risk and nutrient metabolism. Dr. Harding earned his PhD in Human Nutrition from McGill University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Manitoba and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. He has previously held an academic position at King’s College London before joining Memorial University and is currently the Co-Editor of the Journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. In this episode, Dr. Harding discusses the evidence behind sugar-sweetened beverages, what drives consumptions, and what policies including taxation might actually move the needle.

T3 · E10

19 dic 2025

42:34

Milk Molecules That Matter: Human Milk Oligosaccharides in Infant Development with Dr. Lisa Renzi-Hammond

The first months of life are a special time for the health development and protection of infants. Breastfeeding is the natural and best way of feeding an infant, and positively influences their development and health. Human milk provides the ideal balance of nutrients for the infant and contains countless bioactive ingredients such as immunoglobulins, hormones, oligosaccharides and others. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are a very important and interesting constituent of human milk, and are the third most abundant solid component after lactose and lipids. Dr. Lisa Renzi Hammond is the Leonard W. Poon Professor for Innovation in Public Health at the University of Georgia in the United States, interdisciplinary group lead for Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, and founder of the Human Biofactors Laboratory. She is also Director of the University of Georgia College of Public Health’s Institute of Gerontology, a research institute that studies lifespan development, from infancy through older adulthood. Her latest project is the development of the Cognitive Aging Research and Education (CARE) Center at the University of Georgia – a state of the art facility dedicated to lifespan neurodegenerative disease prevention, starting in infancy and early childhood, through behavioral intervention, neurodegenerative disease diagnosis and post-diagnosis support. She has presented this research in a wide variety of national and international venues, including the TED stage. This episode is sponsored by Abbott Nutrition.

T3 · E9

28 nov 2025

42:13

From Science to the Supper Table: Nutrition at the Heart of Diabetes Care with Dr. Hertzel Gerstein and Ms. Keri Howell

Diabetes is one of the fastest-growing health challenges worldwide, affecting approximately 589 million adults between the ages of 20-79 years and shaping the way we think about diet, lifestyle, and long-term health. While advances in medicine have transformed treatment, nutrition remains one of the most powerful tools for both prevention and management. Dr. Hertzel Gerstein is an Endocrinologist and Professor at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences in Hamilton, where he holds the Population Health Research Institute Chair in Diabetes. He is also the Executive Director of the Population Health Research Institute, former Director of the Boris Clinic Diabetes Care and Research Program, and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Gerstein pioneered and firmly established international long-term patient-important cardiovascular outcomes trials as the norm for clinical diabetes research. Throughout his career, he’s received many awards, including the 2012 Canadian Diabetes Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2022 American Diabetes Association’s Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research Award. Ms. Keri Howell is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator with Diabetes Care Guelph. She is also a member of the PEACH Sustainable Food Services Committee and has contributed to the Sustainable Food Services Business Case and Implementation Guide. She has dedicated her career to exploring the personal, cultural, and community-focused aspects of nutrition, emphasizing that nourishment extends beyond physical health to emotional and spiritual well-being. Ms. Howell believes that integrating nutrition into patient care requires an understanding of what food means to each individual and asserts that when patients see their cultural foods represented and have autonomy over their food choices, their health outcomes improve. In this episode, Dr. Gerstein and Ms. Howell discuss how nutrition shapes the prevention and management of diabetes. This episode is sponsored by CONTOUR NEXT.

T3 · E8

31 oct 2025

46:02

Feeding the Future - Inuit Food Sovereignty in Action with Lynn Blackwood and Dr. Farzaneh Barak

Food security is a critical issue that affects communities worldwide, yet the challenges and solutions are deeply rooted in local contexts, cultures, and policies. Disadvantaged groups, including Indigenous Peoples in Canada, face unique barriers to food access, deeply tied to historical, environmental, and socioeconomic factors. Ensuring culturally relevant and sustainable food systems requires evidence-based policies and community-driven solutions. Lynn Blackwood is a Nunatsiavut beneficiary born and raised in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador. She currently serves as Food Security Programs Manager with the Nunatsiavut Government, leading initiatives to improve food security in the region and is the first Inuk dietitian and one of the few Indigenous dietitians in Canada, with over 25 years of professional experience across the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Lynn has served as a jury member for the Canadian Space Agency’s Deep Space Food Challenge and as a past director on the boards of Dietitians of Canada and the Canadian Foundation of Dietetic Research. Dr. Farzaneh Barak is an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton and Waterloo Universities, where she conducts research on Canada’s and global food security. She also serves as Senior Policy Advisor and Food Security Lead at Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the national representative organization for Inuit in Canada. She has over fifteen years of experience in national and international research and practice—including work in Uganda, Malawi, Canada, and Iran. With expertise in food policy, intersectional gender analysis, and public health nutrition, Dr. Barak is dedicated to addressing systemic barriers to food security and promoting policies that advance food sovereignty and sustainable community-driven food systems. In this episode, Lynn and Dr. Barak discuss food security in Inuit communities, highlighting the unique challenges they face and the culturally grounded, community-led solutions needed to support sustainable and equitable food systems.

T3 · E7

7 oct 2025

43:35

Hidden Hunger in the First 1000 Days with Dr. Kyly Whitfield

The first 1,000 days—from conception to a child’s second birthday—represent a critical window for growth, development, and long-term health. Nutrition during this period lays the foundation for growth, cognitive development, immune function, and chronic disease risk. Research in this area helps inform global strategies to improve maternal and child health outcomes. Dr. Kyly Whitfield is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Human Nutrition at Mount Saint Vincent University and is passionate about international nutrition, with interests in identifying and combating micronutrient deficiencies during ‘the first thousand days’ window. Her research focuses on maternal thiamin deficiency and infantile beriberi, mainly in rural Cambodia, an area where thiamin-related infant mortality remains a major public health issue. Alongside a few fellow CNS members, Kyly also co-edited a book titled ’The biology of the first 1,000 days’ which is a cross-disciplinary deep dive that explores the biological underpinnings of this critical developmental window. In this episode, Dr. Whitfield discusses global micronutrient deficiencies in the first 1000 days with a focus on thiamin.

T3 · E6

31 jul 2025

34:27

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