NUTRITION

My hubby age 53 is overweight and is not working. He has high
cholestrol, so Dr. said no cheese and no red meats. He would follow exactly
what was written as to layout of meals, and portions per meal. but we need
help getting a schedule, is there one available?

It is very difficult to give you a schedule for what to eat and when to eat it because I don't know anything about your eating habits. However, I can provide you with some guidelines that may influence your meal planning. First of all, you should follow Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating.

I am a weightlifter and I train 4 times a week for about an hour. Besides that I spend about 2 hours in the gym doing cardio 5 times a week. What kinds of foods should I be eating to maximise my performance in weightlifting and keep my energy up throughout the day?
Click here for the Inside Track on the refueling system.

I have a Moderate case of hypoglycemia. So what foods will work into my life style and not effect my medical problems?
Here is a link for you to get more information on hypoglcemia: http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/diabetes/pubs/hypo/hypo.htm#other
Congratulations on your physically active lifestyle - these daily physical activities combined with a healthy diet will help you to achieve a fit and healthy body and soul! Making sure that you are well fueled for your active lifesyle is important, even if you want to lose some excess body fat. Make sure that you have had a small pre-workout snack - such as 1/2 piece of fruit or 1/2 cup of juice. Always bring a water bottle along for the ride/workout. Post workout nutrition is really important for women to pay attention to - you need to start your body's refueling by eating/drinking a small amount of a carbohydrate/protein combination. Small amounts, 100-200 kcal are likely all that is needed to get a head start on your nutrition and to make sure that your blood sugar does not drop toolow and cause you to feel symptoms of hypoglycemia after exercise. Examples include: low fat milk or yogurt, veggies with hummus dip, crackers, cheese and juice. Smaller appetites need smaller amounts and vice versa.

I've read that I should avoid tea, coffee and milk while eating iron-rich foods as they block absorption of iron - is this true for herbal teas, such as green tea? I drink quite a bit of green tea and I want to know if I should not have as much of this as well as regular tea.
Dietary iron absorption is most affected by calcium phosphate, bran, phytic acid (present in umprocessed grain products and polyphenols (found in all types of tea and some vegetables). Even herbal teas such as green tea are a source of polyphenols.

How does iron defiency, anorexia and bone density in women their affect physical performance?
Iron deficiency means that a woman does not have sufficient oxygen carrying capacity in her blood - so that she feels tired and has reduced endurance performance. Anorexia means that a woman will have very few reserves of body fat or muscle glycogen which will also affect her ability to train and achieve peak performance. Low bone density puts that woman at a risk of stress fractures and fractures which will limit her ability to be involved in physical activities. So each of these three situations will affect not only a woman's physical performance but ultimately, her health will suffer.

I am a runner but i dont know what foods i should eat and stay away from before and after a race or just a jog?
What you should eat depends upon the foods that you like to eat and that work well for you. The intensity and duration of your run will also influence what you can eat and how much you can tolerate. Gearing up for a high intensity training session means a small snack in the hour before NOT a meal. Post workout, focus on small frequent feedings of predominantly carbohydrate rich foods (e.g. milk, yogurt, fruit, nut butter sandwich) until your next meal.

My daughter is on a totally dairy free diet and we give her OJ fortified with calcium hydroxide. I think that calcium hydroxide contains no dairy at all, but is from mineral souces. Is that correct?
Calcium Hydroxide is basically limestone - which is calcium carbonate - so it is dairy free! However there are milk ingredients added to many foods so check your ingredient lists to make sure.

What foods are high in vitamen B 12?
Animal products and fermented foods are sources of Vitamin B 12.

I have recently been put on a restrictive diet because they found out I am allergic to corn, wheat, and peanuts. Do you think pure butter and the cheese is alright?
Any food product that has MSG in it has to have it marked on the ingredient list on the label. For people with gluten intolerance the presence of MSG indicates the presence of gliadin (a breakdown product of the protein component of some grains, including wheat) so you would want to avoid consuming these food products. So read your food labels of your cheeses, etc and if you are unsure about a certain food product - call the manufacturer of the product.