Joy Erdile, MSc, RD

Most people think of pre-diabetes as a ‘warning sign’ that they are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, but it is the final stage before diagnosis. The criteria for diagnosing prediabetes is having a fasting blood glucose between 6.1-6.9 mmol/L (110-12.4 mg/dl) and/or HbA1C between 6.0-6.4% [1], and the criteria for diagnosing Type 2 … Read more

INTRODUCTION: Last Friday, February 8, 2019, the Montreal Gazette published a special article with accompanying video by Dr. Joe Schwarcz, Professor of Chemistry from McGill University, titled “Keto Diets Work, but is There a Catch?” and this morning the follow-up was published titled “The Known Benefits of Low-Carb Keto Diets”. This post contains a summary … Read more

INTRODUCTION: In a recent article titled Carbohydrates are not Evil I referred to myself as a “nutritional centrist” and in this post I’ll elaborate on what I mean by this. This post is more of an editorial than a standard ‘Science Made Simple’ article. References can be found in the previous articles by using the … Read more

There has been some discussion on Twitter that the macronutrient estimated in the previous article of an average ~325-350 g of carbohydrate per day based on a 2000 kcal per day diet for the new Canada Food Guide was “too high”, so in the interest of determining whether it was accurate, I’ve evaluated the carbohydrate content of … Read more

This morning at 10 AM EST, the new Canada Food Guide was officially released in Montreal. The suite of Food Guide resources includes: Canada’s Dietary Guidelines for Health Professionals and Policy Makers Food Guide Snapshot Resources such as actionable advice, videos and recipes Evidence including the Evidence Review for Dietary Guidance 2015 and the Food, … Read more

We’ve come to expect that as people age they will gain more fat, loose bone mass and have decreased muscle strength which in time leads to difficulty in them getting around on their own, a greater risk of falls and eventually to physical disability. We commonly see older people with spindly little legs and bony arms and we think … Read more

A new report released on January 16, 2019 by the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet and Health sets out what it calls a “healthy and sustainable diet” [1] for the whole world. The EAT-Lancet report proposes what it calls the “Planetary Health Diet”; a largely plant-based diet which aims to address the simultaneous global problems of malnutrition (under-nutrition) … Read more

This article is to provide background information to the article posted yesterday (available here) about the proposed changes to the new Canada’s Food Guide. As I thought yesterday, I can confirm now that the source of the draft version of the new Canada’s Food Guide was from the Earnscliffe Strategy Group’s report titled “Healthy Eating Strategy … Read more

According to an article published in the Globe and Mail yesterday, the new Canada’s Food Guide will have only 3 Food Groups; (1) Vegetables and Fruit (2) Whole Grains and (3) Protein Foods — and will have dropped the Meat and Alternatives and Milk and Alternatives food groups, along with dropping the recommendation for adults and children to … Read more

Most people have heard that a “Mediterranean Diet” is healthy, but what is it? According to the 2018 Clinical Practice Guidelines from Diabetes Canada; A ”Mediterranean diet” primarily refers to a plant-based diet first described in the 1960s. General features include a high consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, cereals and whole grains; moderate-to-high … Read more

It is said that the definition of “insanity” is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results, yet with the best of intentions many of us make a New Year’s Resolution each January 1st saying “this will be the year“!  The problem is, that by the end of the first week in … Read more

NOTE: This article was originally posted on December 26, 2018, and was updated and reposted on February 26, 2026.  Introduction When I first wrote this article in 2018, the most data available at the time showed that of those who made New Year’s Resolutions for losing weight, exercising, and eating healthier, 50% gave up on … Read more

Note: This article was originally posted on January 14, 2021, and was updated and reviewed on April 24, 2026. Practitioner’s Preface On Monday, December 17, 2018, the American Diabetes Association released its new 2019 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, including its Lifestyle Management Standards of Care, which includes the use of a low-carbohydrate diet, … Read more

Some speak of having “reversed” Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) as a result of dietary changes whereas others refer to having achieved “remission”. What is the difference and why is the distinction important? What is meant by Type 2 Diabetes “reversal” “Reversal” of a disease implies that whatever was causing it is now gone and is … Read more

NOTE: This article was originally posted on December 5, 2018, and was updated and reposted on April 19, 2026. Practitioner’s Preface High insulin levels and insulin resistance work together in a damaging circle that harms health. When cells stop responding to insulin, blood sugar rises, forcing the body to produce even more insulin. Over time, … Read more

This past Wednesday (November 28, 2018), the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) announced publication of a new Position Statement which identifies four separate disease stages associated with an abnormal glucose response, including Type 2 Diabetes; Stage 1: Insulin Resistance Stage 2: Prediabetes Stage 3: Type 2 Diabetes Stage 4: Vascular Complications — including retinopathy … Read more

In the previous article titled When Normal Fasting Blood Glucose Results Aren’t Necessarily “Fine” I explained how normal results on a fasting blood glucose (FBG) test may simply mask ‘silent Diabetes’ and that even when fasting blood glucose is normal and results from a 2-hour Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (2-hr OGTT) do not indicate glucose intolerance, a person can still have a … Read more

Practitioner’s Preface When people have a fasting blood glucose test, and the results come back normal, they’re told (or assume) that everything’s fine. But is it? Certainly, a fasting blood glucose test is the least expensive test to find out if someone is already pre-diabetic, but for those wanting to avoid becoming diabetic and to … Read more

Practitioner’s Preface As of October 17th 2018, marijuana (cannabis sativa, cannabis indica) will be legal to be sold to or possessed by adults 18 years or older in Canada and to be consumed for recreational use.  Medical marijuana has been available for some time in Canada (and in some US states) to those with authorization from … Read more

The new joint American Diabetes Association (ADA) / European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) position paper [1] published online ahead of print on October 4th now classifies a low carbohydrate diet as Medical Nutrition Therapy. in the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in adults. What this means is these two organizations which are responsible for educating over 30 million … Read more