SJHHEA Participant Website Introduction

Welcome to the St Josephs Healthy Eaters Anonymous (SJHHEA) page !

This page is for staff at St Joseph’s Hospital and its affiliated sites.

Dr Ganguli, a gastroenterologist at St Joseph’s has volunteered to organise a 6 session series to help individuals to make these changes to their diet. These sessions will be held on Thursdays from 12:00-12:50 pm on Zoom and will start in late January 2021.  You are welcome to eat your lunch during the sessions and learn as well as share how you are trying to make these changes and get support and feedback from others trying to do the same.  The format will usually include a brief presentation followed by discussion and a chance to talk about how you are doing with the changes you are trying to make.

To sign up for these sessions see here

Information about Small Group Sessions

1. All sessions are on a Thursday from 12:00-1:00 PM (however they are NOT held every week so please check below).
2. Please remember to register in advance.
3. You’re welcome to eat your lunch during the session
4. Please have a pen & paper handy.

Sign up for a free 21-day Plant-based Health challenge here.

Dates of Small Group Sessions

1. Thursday January 28th at 12:00-1:00 PM – Slides here.  Video here
2. Thursday February 11th at 12:00-1:00 PM – Slides here. Feedback here. Video here
3. Thursday February 18th at 12:00-1:00 PM – Slides here. Feedback here. Video here.
4. Thursday February 25th at 12:00-1:00 PM – register here. Slides here.  Feedback here. Video
5. Thursday March 4th at 12:00-1:00 PM  – Slides here, feedback here, Video
6. Thursday March 11th at 12:00-1:00 PM – slides here, feedback here, video

Links from Sessions

1. Dealing with bloating: natural ways (always dilute apple cider vinegar), seaweed
2. Favorite WFPB recipes here.
3. How to Read a Nutrition Label.

Please note that because this diet is highly effective it can actually sometimes reverse conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes making it very important for people with these conditions who are on medications to notify their physician who can then adjust the doses of their medications.  If this is not done there will be a risk of complications due to low blood pressure (eg fainting) or blood sugars (weakness).

In order to ensure your safety, you will be notified at each session that individuals on medications (especially those for blood pressure, heart conditions, and diabetes) need to notify their physician of the changes they are making so that appropriate adjustments in medications can be made.

This page contains introductory information about the value of healthy nutrition.

The information on this page is structured in small ‘bite-sized’ pieces so that you can gradually work through the material as your time and schedule permits.

A good first question is, “Why should I care about nutrition ?” – see this 3 minute video for the answer:

Now let’s start by introducing you to the ONLY diet which has been shown to prevent, arrest, or reverse type 2 diabetes, and hypertension:

As this video illustrates, being healthy is something which we all have to take personal responsibility for.

Now let’s learn how to address the cause of the majority of heart disease (5 min) :

In Canada, over 50% of men and over 40% of women are overweight or obese.  This puts them at risk for diabetes – see this video for the solution (3 min):

Another major killer in Canada is Cancer – this 8 minute video tells you how not die from it (and tells you the relative roles of diet and exercise):

Hopefully by now you realise that the same diet achieves all of the above benefits.  It turns out that a whole food plant-based diet is effective in decreasing the likelihood of developing these disorders.  For more information, feel free to explore this website (overview here).

If you’re in the greater Hamilton area, there is a Whole Food Plant-based Potluck held on the third Sunday of each month – see here for details and feel free to contact Amanda at plantpurehamilton@gmail.com for more information.

Now, please start on your journey by exploring the rest of Dr Ganguli’s website (overview here).

To sign up for these sessions (for SJH employees) see here.

See below for presentations:

1. Food as Prevention for Obesity and Diabetes (given 11/19/20) – video, slides
2. Food as Prevention in Cancer (given 12/10/20) – video, slides
3. Food as Prevention in Cardiovascular Disease (given 1/14/21) – video, slides
4. Food as Prevention for Obesity & Diabetes (given 1/21/21) – slides

Recipes

1. Plant-based holiday recipes
2. Prep-ahead easy WFPB recipes
3. Banana Oat Pancakes – remember the applesauce.  I add ground flax (2 Tbsp) & chai (1 Tbsp) and cook slowly (8-9 minutes)

Other Links

1. Using the produce aisle to boost immune function
2. Green tea & antiviral immune function