MAY 27 NEWSLETTER

3 health and wellness things you’ll learn in this newsletter:

People sometimes snicker when they see me with my shopping list at the grocery store. But that list is part of a bigger, and important exercise; meal planning. We don’t plan every meal for the week, but we do plan for all our weekday dinners. The benefits of meal planning are manifest: we ensure that we’re eating well-balanced nutritious meals, there’s less food waste, limited impulse purchases and therefore more savings…super important during these times of soaring food costs.

Registered dietitian, Nicole Addison, a recent guest on the Tonic Talk Show/Podcast agrees. Although for many, the idea of meal planning all the time can be daunting. Nicole’s advice? Start small. Perhaps plan a few meals a week at first.

To learn more about the benefits of meal planning and how to get started, listen here

Shocker! Men, with generally greater size and muscle mass, need to eat more than women. But did you know that women have different and more specific diet and nutritional needs than men, particularly as they age?  For example, women of childbearing age require more iron due to menstruation, while women post-menopause need increased calcium to combat declining bone mass. These varying needs mean dietary patterns should evolve across a woman’s life.

Mindful eating and meal planning are useful practices to facilitate proper nutrition for women (and men). But consider trying food tracking. Not for calorie-counting alone, but for increasing awareness. For example, you can monitor protein and fiber intake and reflect on how food affects your energy and mood. Many women often don’t realize when their low energy is connected to nutritional deficiencies or poor meal timing. Tracking helps create that mindful connection between what we eat and how we feel.

To learn more hacks for better nutrition, read here

And if you’d like to do a Deeper Dive, I suggest reading the following online articles:

Researchers from the University of Geneva and the University of Bern tested whether artificial intelligence (AI) can show emotional intelligence (EI). They used five emotional intelligence tests, usually meant for humans, on six different AI systems including ChatGPT and Gemini. 

The tests asked questions like how someone should react when treated unfairly at work. In these tests, AI systems gave more emotionally intelligent answers than humans, scoring 82% correct versus humans’ 56%.

One example question was: what should someone do if a coworker steals their idea and is praised for it? The best answer, according to experts, was to talk to a supervisor. The AIs often chose this kind of response.

In another part of the study, ChatGPT-4 was asked to create new emotional intelligence tests. These were later used by over 400 people and found to be just as good as the ones that took years to produce..

The results show that AI might be helpful in fields like teaching, coaching, or managing conflicts—areas that usually need human understanding. However, experts say AI should still be used with care and human oversight.

To learn more read here

Thanks for your time. If you have any questions or concerns, or if there’s a health and wellness topic you’d like me to cover, please feel free to reach out to me at jamie@thetonic.ca

Thanks for reading, 

Jamie