Halloween brings potential health and safety hazards, but there’s no need to take all of the fun out of the night! Keep the boos from becoming boo-hoos by following some tricks (and treats) of the trade.

> Creeped out by calories? Get the stats on 9 sweet Halloween treats

> Before you hack away at that Jack-o’-lantern-to-be, check these “carve with care” safety tips

> Danger-free dress-up: A costume can make you feel scary, silly, or sinister, but it shouldn’t make you feel unsafe

> Tricks for treating: The big night has come! Here are some age-appropriate tricks for safe treating.

> Sugar shock? Here’s how to prevent post-Halloween candy overload.

> Who’s afraid of the big, bad clown? Lots of folks, apparently!

> We fear this? It’s apparently scarier than any spooky creature or frightening threat lurking in the dark!

> The dark? Tunnels? Tight spaces? Heights? What’s your greatest phobia?

> Freddy Kruger may cause nightmares. What else does?

You don’t have to go trick-or-treating to be haunted by Halloween candy. Bite-sized chocolate bars and chewy sweet treats tempt us from overflowing bowls in offices, lobbies, and front halls every year.

You see those tiny packages and shrug, “Oh well, one won’t hurt me.” But then one can quickly turn to three, especially if the candy sits in the office kitchen or on the table near your front door.

If you’re like many people this year - trying to stretch your dollar a bit farther - you’ll buy big bulk bags of candies to hand out to the parade of trick-or-treating tots who ring your doorbell. Though the mega-bag may list the nutritional info of each type of candy inside, those teensy individual portions do not.

Here’s the bittersweet nutritional rundown of some of our bite-sized favourites: [Read more →]

Take a cue from lovable Peanuts comics character Linus: Believe in The Great Pumpkin!

The great gourd is one of the mightiest of the squash family, chock-full of nutrients and flavour. If you plan to carve a Jack-o’-lantern this weekend, be sure to salvage the goopy, stringy innards and seeds for cooking up a pie or pumpkin pancakes - or for roasting up a handful of iron-and-zinc rich snacks.

Why pumpkin is so pleasing:

> You can gaze upon the gorgeousness of gourds with healthy vision, supported by an abundance of the antioxidant beta-carotene. This carotenoid converts to vitamin A when eaten, and protects the body - especially the eyes - from free radical damage.

> Dig into a pumpkin for a potassium punch. This mineral is crucial to proper functioning of the kidneys and heart, as well as the muscles and nerves.

> Hidden inside all of the many shape and sizes of squash you’ll find fibre, essential for digestive health, and the maintenance of blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Oh, I just remembered that one of the most surprisingly delicious dishes I’ve ever had was a roasted pumpkin stir-fry at a Thai restaurant - warm, savory, starchy, filling, and flavourful. Great, indeed.

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In a vain attempt to prevent hat hair, I am guilty of going outside on cold days with my head bared to the elements. And there have been mornings when I’ve been running late and couldn’t even be bothered to dry my hair completely. In my mind, I always hear my grandma grumbling at me, “Cover that fool head of yours or you’ll catch your death of cold.”

But is this old wives’ (or old grannies’) tale true? Can you catch a cold if you leave your head out in the cold?

According to research from Cardiff University in Wales, it’s not your head you should be as worried about as much as another part of your body … [Read more →]

Fact or fiction: We’re already a third of the way through autumn. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s a fact! Enjoy these last 8 weeks of fall before winter really settles in. Start the weekend with a some fun health myth-busting:

- Fact or fiction: It’s dangerous to swallow gum.

- Fact or fiction: You can get the flu from a flu shot.

- Fact or fiction: You should never wake a sleepwalker.

- Fact or fiction: Sex can trigger a heart attack.

- Fact or fiction: Eating turkey makes you sleepy.

- Fact or fiction: Knuckle-cracking causes arthritis.

- Fact or fiction: Skinny jeans trigger nerve pain.

The screenplay for the movie Blade Runner was based on the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, a science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. In the book, more so than the movie, there is an emphasis on empathy as a major characteristic that distinguished the human from the android population. In fact, there was a machine that tested a person’s capability for empathy.

I wonder how well we would do with that test today. It seems that, on the whole, our ability to empathize with others has seriously diminished.

The other day I heard someone remark that when the Philippines gets about 28 typhoons a year why was everyone making such a big deal about the past two (which, as we know, devastated parts of the country). I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Is this what we have come to?

In raising the last few generations nurturing self-esteem has trumped the lessons that might have been learned from competition and critique. Self-centeredness flourished. Yes, we need to believe in ourselves – but we also need to be able to look beyond ourselves and consider the needs and feelings of others.

Are we teaching our children the importance of empathy?

One teacher in Japan has made it a priority and watching him in action is inspiring. In the award-winning documentary Children Full of Life (linked here and for sale here), a fourth-grade class learn lessons about compassion from their homeroom teacher, Toshiro Kanamori. By sharing their lives, the children begin to realize the importance of caring for their classmates.

We are social creatures above all. We need the comfort of human interaction and compassion. If we are incapable of empathy what kind of future is there for us?