Canadians need to take their vitamin D supplement this winter said Kathy Smart, a nutrition expert who gave a two-hour long presentation to 30 people in the corner of the E-building on Feb 4.
Smart is a registered holistic nutritionist and is known as North America’s leading gluten-free expert. She gave health tips and answered students’ questions about certain foods and what is best for them. She gave an energetic and enthusiastic speech, and even awarded the audience with prizes for asking good questions.
Most of her talk was de-railed due to the constant questioning by the audience, but she managed to get through the entirety of it before her time was up.
During the presentation, the topic of alcohol came up, she advocated that college students should try to limit their alcohol use because it affects your liver in a negative way and can cause inflammation. Drinking should be completely avoided by anyone who is feeling stressed out or is taking any sort of anti-depressant.
She broke down how each individual is unique and because of this she is not a fan of meal plans, unless it is created for you by a specialist. Some of her other health tips she gave included being active in a fun way, meditation and living life in a balanced way.
“There’s seven billion people on his planet, each with their own genetics, body type, back ground and climate,” she said.
Smart recommended to people who live in colder climates like Canada need to take a vitamin D supplement, especially in the winter months.
“This time is the time of year when people start to breakdown the most, I never get as many clients dealing with depression than in winter,” she said.
She clarified that food should be prioritized over taking vitamins. If you are taking vitamins, make sure you buy high quality gel tablet or liquid form because the hard type is difficult for your body to breakdown and digest.
Smart claims that the most important thing to eat for breakfast is protein; eggs and toast, if your vegan, have peanut or almond butter on bread.
After the show she answered some questions for the Times
“My advice for aspiring nutritionists is to never forget why you’re doing this, always remember the people you’re doing this for or the reason you’re doing this,” said Smart.
She provided advice on how college students can eat healthy on a budget.
“For students on a budget, I would recommend eating a lot of beans and legumes to get a cheap source of protein, you can get a can of beans for less than a dollar and it has quite a lot of protein inside of it,” she said.