That Was So Last Year...

Like everything else in life, health and wellness ideas evolve from year to year. So what’s hot right now? We went to the experts for the scoop. 

- Jill Buchner

1 BUG BOOSTING

This year you might find yourself replacing your boring old protein powder with cricket powder. Hear us out — crickets are packed with protein, iron, zinc, calcium and even omega-3s. Plus, they emit 100 times less greenhouse gases than cows, so they’re way easier on the planet than whey powder. They are already being farmed in Canada, but don’t worry — no one expects you to crunch right into a bug. Companies like Coast Cricket Protein have concocted peanut butter, and dark chocolate protein bars to help them go down a little easier.

2 MICROBE MANAGEMENT

Sure, we heard a lot about gut healthy fermented foods like kimchi and kombucha in 2017, but this is a trend that’s just getting started, says Debora Sloan, a registered dietitian and certified personal trainer at Debora Sloan Healthy Solutions in Ottawa. Research is continually emerging about the way in which our microbiomes impact our health. Sloan lists weight, mental health and autoimmune diseases as a few of the links we know about so far. In 2018, she predicts the power of probiotics will become even clearer, as we learn new ways in which the tiny organisms determine our wellbeing. “The reason we have all these chronic health problems may have more to do with what’s going on in the gut,” she says.

3 GETTING SOCIAL WITH FITNESS