NOURISH-US: a mixed-methods, randomized crossover study of a program designed to reduce the financial burden of food allergy.

Background: Food allergy imposes considerable financial costs on families, but few programs are available in Canada to offset these costs. To fill this gap, we developed, piloted, and evaluated a program designed to address the financial burden of food allergy.

Methods: The current study employed the use of an unblinded, crossover design.

Lived Experiences of Older Adults with Advanced CKD and Their Caregivers: A Qualitative Study Uncovering Risk and Resilience Dynamics.

Key Points: Older adults with advanced CKD and their caregivers experience a variety of stressors that substantially affect their well-being. These families use a set of interpersonal and ecological coping mechanisms to deal with the challenges they face. More research on the lived experiences of this marginalized population is needed to identify the mechanisms that promote resilience in these families.

Characterization of individuals achieving type 2 diabetes remission in real-world settings: bridging clinical evidence and patient experiences.

The objectives of the study were to (1) describe characteristics and lifestyle factors of individuals who have achieved type 2 diabetes (T2D) remission (sub-diabetes glucose levels without glucose-lowering medications for ≥3 months) through changes to diet and exercise behaviour in real-world settings; (2) investigate continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) profiles of these individuals and explore how dietary pattern may influence glucose regulation metrics. This cross-sectional study recruited individuals living with T2D who achieved remission via changes to diet or exercise behaviours. Various questionnaires were used to assess overall health and participants wore a blinded CGM for 14 days to assess glucose profiles and filled out 3-day food records.

Development of the 10-question household foodwork interactional assessment questionnaire (FIA-Q10).

Background: Public health nutrition recommendations and clinical dietary interventions emphasize eating healthy food at home, implicitly requiring household foodwork. Household foodwork is defined as the physical and mental tasks a household does for eating meals and snacks. Because no tools exist to measure it, how much time people spend doing household foodwork and the foodwork barriers they experience remain unknown.

Consensus Considerations and Good Practice Points for Use of Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems in Hospital Settings.

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems provide frequent glucose measurements in interstitial fluid and have been used widely in ambulatory settings for diabetes management. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, regulators in the U.S.

Effects of dietary interventions for metabolic acidosis in chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Metabolic acidosis is a common complication of kidney disease and can result in further disease progression. Alkali therapy has been used to treat metabolic acidosis for decades. However, some concerns have been raised regarding its safety and long-term tolerability.

Perceived Access to Healthcare of Indigenous Peoples in Canada With Rheumatoid Arthritis and Their First-Degree Relatives.

Objective: There are complex and interrelated factors that lead to inequitable healthcare delivery in Canada. Many of the factors that underlie these inequities for Canada's geographically dispersed Indigenous peoples remain underexamined.

Methods: A cohort of 831 First Nations (FN) individuals from urban and remote communities were recruited into a longitudinal study of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk from 2005 to 2017.

The Hans Kai trial: study protocol of a mixed methods randomized controlled trial evaluating a peer-led health promotion program for adults with or without noncommunicable diseases.

Background: A significant proportion of Canadian adults is impacted by chronic noncommunicable diseases. These conditions may be improved by peer-led health promotion interventions that target modifiable risk factors; however, to date, there is mixed evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions. Unlike other health promotion programs, Hans Kai is grounded in a holistic model of health that simultaneously addresses multiple determinants of health at different levels of human ecology.

Dietary potassium liberalization with fruit and vegetables versus potassium restriction in people with chronic kidney disease (DK-Lib CKD): a clinical trial protocol.

Background: Potassium regulation in the body is primarily done in the kidney. In addition to this, hyperkalemia, occurs in approximately 10% of individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is associated with elevated all-cause mortality. Individuals with CKD are often told to restrict dietary potassium (K), however, this recommendation is based on low quality evidence.

A clinically managed weight loss program evaluation and the impact of COVID-19.

Introduction: With the prevalence of obesity increasing, many weight-loss programs were created to aid in combating the trend. The Weight Loss Clinic (WLC) was created to provide personalized support for lifestyle changes using a multidisciplinary team with medical oversight. This study evaluated the clinically-managed weight loss program at the Wellness Institute.

Dietary Patterns and Perceptions in Older Adults With Chronic Kidney Disease in the Canadian Frailty Observation and Interventions Trial (CanFIT): A Mixed-Methods Study.

Background: People living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have identified diet as an important aspect of their life and care. Understanding current consumption patterns in this population, and how they relate to patient perspectives of dietary recommendations, may help identify and design potential dietary intervention strategies in CKD.

Objective: To investigate the dietary intake patterns of people with advanced-stage CKD, as well as subjective perspectives regarding dietary recommendations from participants and their caregivers.

Many authors of publicly available top-selling nutrition books in Canada are without clinical nutrition credentials, do not cite evidence, and promote their own services or products.

The accuracy of books as public nutrition resources varies substantially; whether authors of publicly available nutrition books possess related experience, cite scientific evidence, or have other financial incentives has not been assessed thoroughly. This study aimed to determine if publicly available top-selling nutrition books are written by authors who (1) have relevant expertise, (2) cite scientific evidence, and (3) benefit financially in other ways. Best-selling nutrition books were gathered from Amazon Canada.

The Effects of Resistant Starch Consumption in Adult Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review.

Background: Resistant starches (RSs) are not digested by human digestive enzymes and pass through the upper digestive tract to become substrates for colonic bacteria. Resistant starch supplementation has shown promising results in altering the microbiota of animal models of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Resistant starch consumption may influence the production of uremic toxins in CKD.

Paying the price? Academic work and parenting during COVID-19.

Introduction: The shift to remote working/learning to slow transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has had widespread mental health impacts. We aimed to describe how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the mental health of students and faculty within a health sciences faculty at a central Canadian university.

Methods: Via an online survey, we queried mental health in the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic quantitatively (scale: 1 (most negative)-100 (most positive)) and qualitatively.