BT Calgary Blogs

It’s the time of year when teenagers are being exposed to new ideas and new challenges. One of them, might be becoming a vegetarian. Here’s what you need to know if your teen decides they want to go down that road.

Here’s the story.

Jennifer Goring loves eating at this vegetarian restaurant, The Coup. She’s gone without meat for about a year.

“At first I thought it would be hard to make the change but I found the change has been easy, I don’t miss it and I feel better for it.”

Goring got onto the veggie diet as an adult, but many teenagers try it out. And parents don’t need to worry, says dietitian Andrea Holwegner.

“The best thing to keep in mind as a parent, is don’t freak out.  Sometimes it’s temporary, sometimes they’ll stick to it for lifelong habits- regardless the best thing to do is educate yourself and have them educate themselves.”

And start slowly.

‘”Start as a lacto ovo vegetarian, keep milk and eggs in your diet, maybe even chicken or fish and slowly transition.”

Because they’re going to need to get their protein elsewhere.

“If not eating meat, chicken or fish you need to be taking in beans and lentils or chickpeas twice a day, so that’s some at lunch and supper. That’s a huge difference.”

And those food items may be harder to digest.  But they need to be there, because Holwegner says, being vegetarian is not about cutting out foods, but simply replacing them.

“So protein rich foods, iron rich foods, calcium rich foods and those things like beans, lentils, chickpeas, soy, seeds and calcium rich fortified soy milks.”

The other thing to consider if your teenager decides to become a vegetarian is whether they have an eating disorder. It’s not a huge issue but it is a red flag – because basically when someone starts removing items from their diet you have to wonder whether there’s an issue around eating.

Holwegner says just watch your teen for any changes.

“We’re also going to be looking for things around body image, how they’re feeling about their health, their weight and also any odd eating behaviours, skipping meals or dieting.”

Goring says becoming vegetarian does take a shift in thinking, and planning but it’s well worth it.

“It took me a couple months to find some interesting foods that were replacing the protein but I think I’ve got the hang of it now and it’s been really good.”

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Andrea Holwegner recommends this book, written by two vegetarians who are also dietitians, if you’re looking for more information:

Becoming Vegetarian by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis

I need to get something off my chest. I have a slight confession to make. I was never a big comic book fan. In fact, I have never bought a Batman comic, or even really followed the Batman animated series. So when I was given the task to review the new Batman game I was a little worried. Would a non Batman fan get much out of the game? Would it be enjoyable to someone who has never bothered to read the comic or watch the animated series? Well I can assure you the answer to both of these questions is YES!

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Online shopping has come a long ways. It wasn’t that long ago when you rolled the dice every time you purchased something online. Would it arrive? Were you getting ripped off? Companies started using better encryption techniques and Paypal came out providing relief for many online shoppers.

Now a Canadian company wants to take online security one step further by allowing you to swipe your own credit card every time you make a purchase online. Is SmartSwipe the future of online shopping?

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Add some style to your nebook, laptop or iPhone! Canadian company Gelaskins has created a material which wraps around your gadgets, giving them a funky look! Once you get tired of it, just remove it! Simple!

Want to win one? Just leave a comment and let me know f you have a netbook, ipod, iphone, and what size your device is. (netbook 15 inch etc) That’s it!

Good Luck!

Before I did this story, I had no idea that acetaminophen or Tylenol overdose is the most common poisoning in North America. In fact, Emergency Physician, Dr. Mark Yarema says right here in Calgary, they see one case everyday. And the scary thing is, if it’s not treated right away, you can die from this overdose.

So – this story is about the symptoms of Tylenol overdose, and a new study about the best way to treat it.

Here it is.

Colin Germaniuk usually chooses Advil for pain relief. But today, he’s trying something different.

“I’m going to try this Tylenol Cold daytime and nightime and see how it works.”

Germaniuk will use his Tylenol for basic pain relief.

“Headaches, nasal congestion, coughing.”

But many people, reach for Tylenol, or acetaminophen, for the wrong reasons…
to harm themselves, says Dr. Mark Yarema, an emergency physician here in Calgary.

“A number of these people were those who just had fights with a spouse or significant other and as an impulsive act ended up overdosing on what tends to be in the home and that tends to be acetaminophen.”

Or people can take too much, while using Tylenol therapeutically. Either way, acetaminophen overdose is the most common poisoning in North America – which is why Dr. Yarema wanted to determine the best way to treat it.

“We had never compared the two protocols to determine in fact which one was better.”

In Canada, doctors use a medication intravenously over a 20 hour period. In the US, they use the same medication orally over 72 hours. And Dr. Yarema’s study discovered, “in patients treated with the 20 hour protocol, that if you were treated early within 12 hours after ingestion, you did better than those treated with the 72 hour protocol.”

Whereas those who came to hospital, after 18 hours had passed, did better on the 72 hour method. So basically, Doctor Yarema says, it’s important to treat each patient individually.

“We’re recognizing now that a more individualized approach which takes into account patient risk factors, their lab values, and clinical status is most appropriate.”

So how do you know if you have acetaminophen poisoning? There are four stages. It starts with non specific symptoms like a sore stomach, nausea and vomitting. Then after 24 hours oddly enough you start to feel better, but in fact your liver is getting poisoned. That’s why in 3-5 days, you become jaundiced, your skin yellows and you bruise easily. Then, you get confused. The toxicity goes to your brain.

And those are the patients most at risk of dying. So, Doctor Yarema, wants all patients who think they might be overdosing on acetaminophen, to get to hospital right away.