The ethics of eating (American Public Media interview with Barbara Kingsolver)

One of the first books I want to read on my "summer" (that does not begin until September, sigh) vacation is Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. My book choice is partly because I'm a dietitian but mostly because I'm a persevering urban gardener who wants to become more of a locavore.

Until today, this book was further down the "to read" list but it moved to the top after I listened to an engaging interview with Ms. Kingsolver on American Public Media's Speaking of Faith.

Here is the link to the web page with all your listening and reading options. I downloaded this podcast and listened to it on my ipod. It's a keeper and one I will be replaying.

Nutrition Support for Head Injury

I have uploaded another Cochrane review on nutrition for neurosciences patients. This one is Nutritional Support for Head-Injured Patients.

The reviewers concluded:

...[T]here have been few trials into nutritional support following head injury, which makes it hard for the clinician to make an evidence-based decision about nutritional support in head-injured patients. Overall the quality of the trials was poor (page 8).

Vancouver Coastal Health's Food Security Web Page

Kudos to Vancouver Coastal Health for creating this Web page that explains food security and provides links to resources such as farmers’ markets in Vancouver and the rest of BC, community gardens and community kitchens in Vancouver, and food action reports from Bella Bella to Richmond and places in-between.

Fluid and Electrolyte Metabolism

Writing this blog motivates me to regularly prune and update my collection of basic tools, and if they are in a book, see if there is a web-based version of the same or better quality.

Today as I was recording lab values for my tube feeding patients, I decided to look for online interpretation tools. I really like the Merck Manual's chapter on Fluid and Electrolyte Metabolism. The information is well-organized and explained clearly and concisely.

Here is the link to the Introduction. You can navigate to other pages by clicking on the topics (e.g., water and sodium balance)  listed at the top of each web page.

This guide on converting conventional units to Système International d'Unités (SI) or international units (IU) also would be useful to refer to when reading the literature.

Nutrition Podcasts

Today, when one of my colleagues asked me to define podcast, I began to wonder what food and nutrition podcasts are currently available, particularly for dietetics students and practicing dietitians who might want to design their own summer school curriculum. One of the benefits of a podcast is you can download the course or show to your iPod or other MP3 player and listen to it while you run, cycle, hike or just lie on a blanket under a shady tree.

 Here is a beginning list I put together after doing a quick selective Google search.

Introduction to Human Nutrition (UC Berkeley)

Food, Ethics and the Environment - This five-part conference held at Princeton University in 2006 featured Marion Nestle, Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser as speakers.

All You Can Eat, the podcast of journalist and foodie Don Genova, whom you may already know from his CBC Radio features.