About

Welcome to my website. My name is Maisie Vanriel and I am a Registered Dietitian (retired). I am a graduate of The University of Toronto with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Food and Nutritional Science and a Diploma in Food Safety from the Guelph Food Technology Centre.

I realized a few years ago that some of the best times I have had in my career as a Dietitian have been those times when I was writing. For many years I was part of the Editorial Advisory Board of Diabetes Dialogue Magazine (The Canadian Diabetes Association, now Diabetes Canada) which afforded me the opportunity to write articles and editorials on diabetes care in Canada and around the world. I was one of the few Dietitians in the province tasked with reviewing and correcting the lesson plans in Ontario’s first Healthy Eating Manual and again later to the updated version. In May of 2011, I won the Toronto Star’s MoneyVille section Next Blogger’s contest beating out 265 other contestants for the chance to write on nutrition and sensible shopping. My winning Blog was entitled: 5 Things Your Grocery Store Won’t Tell you.

Writing is one of my favourite ways of communicating and like cooking it relaxes me; so, sharing with you will contribute to my health and I hope in return I can contribute to your health and wellbeing. The inspiration for this website is my maternal grandmother who lived 97 years and enjoyed excellent health for almost all of those 97 years. She knew how to use herbs and plants like ginger, aloe vera and Cerasee (bush tea) for health conditions and really believed “you are what you eat”. I will share the knowledge she left me with you and will not focus on the constant stream of –you should eat this or not eat that or researchers have found this or that. That info for the most part is just confusing hype with someone seeking to profit financially.  Very little has changed for centuries as to what to eat and how to eat. Fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, cereals, fish, seafood, poultry, rice, potatoes, yams, noodles, pastas and lots of herbs and spices are still the foods that should go into your body. Maybe prepared with less fats and salt but overall unchanged. When researchers find something that constitutes a significant improvement in health–for example Folic Acid during pregnancy, this is widely communicated immediately and foods are supplemented with it or a vitamin/mineral supplement is added to the diet.  Unless you have a specific deficiency e.g. anemia needing iron, everything the supplement or vitamin industry tries to sell you is totally unnecessary and just produces expensive urine.