Best Health - October & November 2023

BESTHEALTHMAG.CA | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2023 $4.99 | PM 40070677
MELT YOUR MUSCLES WITH
THERMAL THERAPY
FIXING THE SHORTAGE OF
FAMILY DOCTORS
HOW TO STOCK A REFINED
ššĘ5ӱNÄ55ԡÄ
MEET THE
DRAGON BOAT
PADDLERS
LEAVING BREAST
CANCER IN
THEIR WAKE

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1
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2023
THE BEST BOOZE-FREE BEER
AND WINE, CANNED MOCKTAILS
AND CRAFT SELTZERS P.29 Trend Report
The health benefits
of backyard hot
tubs and saunas—
a pandemic fad
with staying power.
PAGE 5
Eat More
How to switch
from cooking with
canned beans to
dried ones, with
minimal effort.
PAGE 12
Get Into It
Shooting hoops is
great for overall
fitness, no matter
your age.
PAGE 14
Life Lesson
How experimenting
with magic
mushrooms
transformed my
mental health.
PAGE 16
Recipes
Easy and healthful
plant-based meals
from soccer stars
Toni Pressley and
Ali Riley.
PAGE 20
VITALS
֑
PHOTOGRAPH
BY
(COVER)
STEPH
MARTYNIUK;
(DRINKS)
SUECH
AND
BECK;
STYLING
BY
FRANNY
ALDER
Photographer Steph Martyniuk followed the Dragons Abreast
dragon boat team at practice and on race day for our feature,
“Power Boat” (page 38). “This has truly been one of my favourite
assignments,” she said. “The women embraced me and were quick
to make me feel a part of the team. I laughed, I cried, I cheered—it
was really special. And from an athletic point of view, it was so
cool to see how in sync and powerful they were. Practice day was
a scorcher, but everyone was so consistent and strong. It was really
something to witness.”
On the
Cover
20
THE NUMBER OF YEARS IT MAY
TAKE FOR AN HPV INFECTION
TO DEVELOP INTO CANCER OR
PRECANCEROUS CELLS
PAGE 60
Proxies
makes
blends
of
fruit,
verjus,
vinegar,
spices
and
tea
to
mimic
the
taste
of
wine.

2
Divorced and
dating-again
writer Lola
Augustine
Brown
PAGE 60
“Because I want cervical cancer about
as much as I want a fourth baby at age
47, I said yes, and booked the first of
three Gardasil HPV vaccines.”
54
PHOTOGRAPHS
BY
(HOOPQUEENS)
BRIANNA
ROYE;
JUDY
NING
(SATY
Family doctor
Tara Kiran
PAGE 8
“We’ve under-invested in primary care
for decades, and we have an archaic
system designed for the way medicine
was practiced maybe 50 years ago.”
14
Farmer
Judy Ning
PAGE 54
FROM THE BIG READS
Assistant professor
(and author
of a paper on
dragon boating)
Angela Fong
PAGE 38
“They see themselves as survivors,
but they also see themselves as
athletes. And the additional social time
allows them to talk and process
the whole experience.”
“When I moved to Canada, I was
the only Hmong person I knew.
So growing this food is kind of like
an identity project.”
In her feature,
“Great Expectations”
(page 48), writer
Sanam Islam dives
into a thorny topic:
Why different
generations can
clash over boundary-
setting. For more
advice, check out
these titles.
[1]
The Book of
Boundaries: Set the
Limits That Will
Set You Free by
Melissa Urban,
$35, The Dial Press,
October 2022
[2]
Designing Healthy
Boundaries: A
Guide to Embracing
Self-Love, Building
Better Boundaries
and Protecting Your
Peace by Shainna
Ali, $25, Ulysses
Press, February 2023
[3]
Drama Free: A
Guide to Managing
Unhealthy Family
Relationships
by Nedra Glover
Tawwab, $38,
Penguin Publishing
Group, February 2023
[4]
Set Boundaries, Find
Peace: A Guide to
Reclaiming Yourself
by Nedra Glover
Tawwab, $35,
Penguin Publishing
Group, March 2021
—Sanam Islam
STANDING
FIRM
֑
5 TREND REPORT 14 FITNESS
12 EAT MORE 20 RECIPES 29 GOODS 64 PRESERVATION
$šØ5ØÍӋԡš$Øš5Äӎšÿ5‰5Äԡомоп
1
2
4
3

3
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA PHOTOGRAPH BY STEPH MARTYNIUK
FROM THE EDITOR
REBECCA PHILPS
Editor-in-chief
“Every time I have an appointment,
the doctors tell me, ‘Whatever you do,
keep paddling, because it just keeps
you so strong and fit.’”
—Dragon boater Shelagh Tyreman, 60, who is in active breast cancer treatment
BEING OUT ON THE WATER AND CON-
necting to the environment is an impor-
tant aspect of dragon boating for many
of the women pictured above, reports
Erica Ngao in her cover story “Power
Boat” (page 38). The women, who are
all living with a breast cancer diagno-
sis, talk about how it provides moments
of peace and encourages mindfulness,
֏
Dragons Abreast
practicing on Lake
Ontario. The team
will compete in the
Club Crew World
Championships in
Ravenna, Italy in
September 2024.
something I suspect we could all use
more of in our lives.
Friendship is the foundation of the
team, which provides a supportive space
for people to navigate all the complexities
of survivorship. Outside of dragon boat,
the members are an integral part of each
other’s lives. “We’ve all been through
basically the same thing in our various
ways,” says race coordinator Liz Johnston
Hill. “I never thought that in my 50s I’d
have a group of new besties.”
While the number of breast cancer sur-
vivor teams grows, barriers to the sport
remain, such as cost, time, access to
water and practice facilities and the lack
of cultural and language diversity. But
there are ongoing efforts to introduce
more people living with breast cancer to
dragon boat, Ngao finds. Sponsorships
and fundraisers help subsidize member-
ship costs, while teams like Toronto’s
Phoenix—the first Chinese breast cancer
survivors’ team in Canada—are becom-
ing more common.
Increasing access to sport is also what
drove Keesa Koomalsingh to establish
HoopQueens. The Toronto-based orga-
nization aims to make the basketball
court a more inclusive space for women
and girls of all ages and skill levels (“Get
Into It,” page 14). Countess studies show
that team sports not only contribute to a
more active lifestyle, they have a hugely
positive impact on our mental health.
The members of Dragons Abreast cer-
tainly know it.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF REBECCA PHILPS
ART DIRECTOR NICOLA HAMILTON
DEPUTY EDITOR ARIEL BREWSTER
SENIOR EDITOR RENÉE REARDIN
ASSOCIATE EDITOR ANGELA SEREDNICKI
COPY EDITORS MELISSA EDWARDS
SABRINA PAPAS
RESEARCHERS ALI AMAD
REBECCA GAO
GABRIELLE DROLET
CONTRIBUTORS
FRANNY ALDER, LOLA AUGUSTINE BROWN, REBECCA GAO, DANIELLE GROEN, VANESSA HILL, SANAM ISLAM,
LAURA JEHA, LISA KADANE, MITCHELL KEYS, CORNELIA LI, STEPH MARTYNIUK,
ERICA NGAO, CHANELLE NIBBELINK, JACQUI OAKLEY, ODESSA PALOMA PARKER, ZEAHAA REHMAN,
BRIANNA ROYE, SATY + PRATHA, SABRINA SISCO, SUECH AND BECK
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5
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
How to transform an
unsexy pantry staple
into healthy, pizza-
esque comfort food.
PAGE 12
Why the primary-
care crisis is
escalating, and how
we might solve it.
PAGE 8
BY LISA KADANE ց Our hot tub was by
far our best pandemic purchase. If we
couldn’t lounge on a beach, or even
drive to a nearby hot springs resort, why
not turn our Kelowna, B.C. residence
into a vacation home? In June 2020 we
spent our family travel fund on a Costco
hot tub. When it arrived two months
later, my husband and I unpacked the
five-person tub, heaved it onto the deck
right outside our bedroom, filled it up
and plugged it in. (This is what’s called a
“plug and play,” which works in a regu-
lar 110-volt outdoor outlet.) Happy-hour
sessions and post-workout soaks soon
became part of our lifestyle.
We’re not the only Canadians who
took the plunge during lockdowns. Vern
Nelson, the Kelowna sales manager for
Arctic Spas, a Canadian luxury hot tub
company, says his store saw a 40 percent
increase in hot tub sales, and it would
have been greater if there had been more
stock. The surge in demand for home
spas put stress on the entire industry,
which struggled with staffing and supply
issues, says Nelson. Some people turned
to rental companies—which can deliver
and install a hot tub for a week or just a
few days—to mark special occasions when
everything else was closed.
“It was a good option to spend time
together safely, bubbled up,” says Nelson.
Trend Report
THERMAL THERAPY IS
SO HOT RIGHT NOW
PHOTOGRAPH
COURTESY
OF
GOODLAND

6
VITALS
AlumiTubs, a smaller manufacturer located
on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, recorded a six-
fold increase in sales of their wood-fired
cedar hot tubs.
“There was a shift in people’s desire
to seek simple pleasures—from time spent
at home, or doing renovations to find-
ing unique products like ours,” says
AlumiTubs co-owner Laura Anderson.
Sales haven’t slowed since, despite a
ten-month lead time. “People are will-
ing to wait.”
By 2028, the global spa market size
will reach nearly $118 billion (USD), with
destination spas—a more practical option
for those who don’t have the space or
budget for an at-home tub—forecast to
experience the fastest growth. Last win-
ter, IKEA launched a super-buzzy sauna
line in collaboration with Marimekko,
the iconic Finnish design brand. The
collection included robes, bench towels
and a sauna bucket and ladle—main-
streaming the idea that we should all be
pampering ourselves at home.
Of course, Nordic people have, for cen-
turies, sworn by the benefits of soaking
and steaming. In Iceland, public hot
springs and pools are commonplace,
while in Finland, many families have
access to a sauna. The trend also spans
the globe to the banya steam baths of
Russia, the onsen of Japan, and the jjimjil-
bang bathhouses of South Korea. Parts of
Canada are already blessed with natural
hot springs, and a particularly famous
one—Banff—was the impetus for our first
national park. Really, it’s little wonder
we’re bringing hydrotherapy and ther-
motherapy home and reaping the health
rewards in the process.
Alison Hoens, a clinical professor in
the UBC Department of Physical Therapy,
says those positive side effects are both
phyical and mental, but they’re largely
temporary. She notes reduced muscle
and joint stiffness and pain, and better
muscle flexibility, along with increased
blood flow and tissue oxygen uptake
(which preps muscles for activity), as
possible benefits derived from immers-
ing yourself in hot water.
Saunas provide similar results, but
there isn’t enough research to confirm
that schvitzing in a sauna helps rid your
body of toxins or improves your com-
plexion, says Hoens. “[In a sauna] your
body is sweating in response to being
stressed. It’s about heat exchange. The
body is just trying to cool itself.”
The physical gains of hot-tub time
come with mental health perks includ-
ing stress relief and social connection—I
can vouch for the attitude adjustment
achieved during a soak with friends after
a day of skiing, for example.
But in order to enjoy hot tubs and sau-
nas safely, users need to manage a few
risks, says Michael Schwandt, a clinical
assistant professor in the UBC Faculty
of Medicine’s School of Population and
Public Health.
The main concern is keeping spa water
sanitized to prevent the growth of harm-
ful bacteria such as legionella or pseudo-
monas, which can grow in warmer water
temps, or the spread of viruses that cause
gastrointestinal illnesses (like norovirus).
Tracking the pH is also important to pre-
vent skin irritation, and showering after
use is a good idea regardless.
“We recommend water testing fre-
quently—almost daily—when the tub is in
use,” says Schwandt.
Excessive heat or staying in a hot tub
or sauna too long can also be problem-
atic, especially for pregnant women or
those with cardiovascular health prob-
lems, says Schwandt. Use by children
should always be monitored by an adult
due to risk of drowning and overheating.
Schwandt also recommends not drink-
ing alcohol before or during hot tub use.
If you do, it’s a good idea to imbibe in
moderation and with others present,
he says, and make sure to hydrate with
water—you may not realize you’re sweat-
ing while in the hot tub, and you’ll get
dehydrated faster.
Cleaning our hot tub has been a cinch—
we change out the water every couple
months and stay on top of the chemicals
through regular testing. And because it
holds a lot less water than a swimming
pool, it’s much easier to maintain. We’ve
experienced none of the scary health risks,
and we’ve definitely enjoyed the restor-
ative and mood-boosting benefits.
Take the plunge
FOUR CANADIAN
HOT TUB AND
SAUNA COMPANIES
PLUG ‘N PLAY
As with all things
Costco, this take
on a hot tub is easy
and affordable. The
four-person spa
has underwater
LED lights and an
insulated thermal
cover. $4,800;
costco.ca.
UNWIND
FOR LESS
SPACE SAVER
This inflatable spa
from Coleman
is roomy enough
for four adults
and can be stored
away when
you’re not using
it. $1,099;
canadiantire.ca.

7
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
VITALS
1. SOAK IT UP
The Custom Series Summit
is the most popular hot
tub from Arctic Spas, an
Alberta-based company with
locations across Canada.
Ideal for families, this model
seats six and has different
depth seats. There are even
armrests and a swivel/
lounge seat that offers a
variety of seating angles and
leg positions for maximum
comfort. Starting from
$15,000, arcticspas.com
2. HOT AIR
Turn your backyard into
an après ski haven with
your own cedar barrel
sauna. This gorgeous, six-
foot tube of relaxation is
made by a Vancouver Island
company from fragrant
western red cedar and can
be powered with either
wood or electricity. The
self-assembly kit takes
about three or four hours
to build. $7,700 plus shipping;
backcountryrecreation.com.
3. OUT OF THE WOODS
This family-owned B.C.
business uses local,
recyclable materials and
builds their cedar tubs on
the Sunshine Coast. It takes
two to four hours for a
wood-fired tub to heat up,
and the temperature can
be maintained all day with
an additional armload of
wood. (The meditative work
of chopping wood is part of
the appeal.) $7,495 for a two-
person tub, alumitubs.com
4. HIP TO BE SQUARE
Crafted by a company
on B.C.’s Bowen Island,
these rectangular, wood-
burning hot tubs have been
featured in Dwell, Goop
and Elle Decor and on
many influencer accounts.
The tubs are made of
western redcedar, oak,
brass and marine-grade
aluminum and comfortably
seat four people. $7,995;
hellogoodland.com.
1 2
4
3
PHOTOGRAPHS
COURTESY
OF
ARTIC
SPAS;
BACKCOUNTRY
RECREATION;
ALUMITUBS;
GOODLAND

9
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
VITALS
PHOTOGRAPH BY VANESSA HILL
BY DANIELLE GROEN z Primary care,
Tara Kiran likes to say, is the front door
to the health care system. It’s the first
place we turn to when there’s an issue,
and it helps coordinate our entry into
other parts of the system, whether that’s
organizing diagnostic tests or surgical
procedures or specialized care. Family
doctors like Kiran, who is a physician at
St. Michael’s Hospital and Unity Health
and the Fidani Chair of Improvement and
Innovation at the University of Toronto,
can see patients over decades, lean-
ing on this long relationship to manage
their physical and mental health and
keep them well.
But for an alarming number of Canadi-
ans, health care’s front door has slammed
shut. A large national survey conducted by
Kiran and her research team found that 22
percent of us don’t have access to a family
doctor or nurse practitioner, which works
out to more than 6.5 million adults. Some
provinces are in particularly bad shape: 27
percent of people in B.C. and 31 percent
of those in Quebec and Atlantic Canada
go without primary care. Other provinces
will soon see the doctor shortage worsen:
A recent study in Ontario found that 65
percent of family physicians plan to reduce
their hours or leave the profession alto-
gether in the next five years.
In Conversation
FAMILY DOCTOR
TARA KIRAN
ON HOW WE MIGHT
FIX CANADA’S
PRIMARY-CARE
CRISIS
So far, there’s been a lot of hand-wring-
ing and not a lot of action. But, last year,
Kiran launched OurCare, a national pub-
lic initiative to shape the blueprint for
stronger, more equitable primary care.
“All too often, whenever clinicians, pro-
fessional organizations and policymak-
ers talk about reform, the people missing
from the table are the patients,” she says.
“Patients should co-design the future
of primary care.” Kiran is holding com-
munity roundtables in five provinces,
and their recommendations will anchor
reports presented to policymakers across
the country. Here, she discusses how we
got into this mess, which approaches can
lead us out of it and why family doctors
don’t get the respect they deserve.
What happens when you can’t find
a family doctor?
It has a huge impact. You might be missing
out on screenings or immunizations, and
you may struggle to minimize the impact
of chronic conditions. You also have dif-
ficulty accessing care when you’re really
sick, and you turn to places that I would
say are poor substitutes. Walk-in clinics
don’t do preventative care. Emergency
departments are made for emergencies,
not chronic conditions. And when there
aren’t family doctors who can take care
of people in the community, hospitals
become even more overwhelmed.
I can’t imagine the shortage impacts
everyone equally, though.
Absolutely—certain groups are less likely
to have a family doctor or nurse practi-
tioner, and those include people who are
new to Canada, people who are racial-
ized and people who live in low-income
neighbourhoods. There are remote areas
that have specific challenges as well, and
barriers to access aren’t the same across
the provinces. We have an Indigenous
population that faces continued discrimi-
nation and racism within the system, and
all sorts of barriers to care. So that’s all to
say that the crisis really is a crisis.
How did we get here?
We’ve under-invested in primary care for
decades, and we have an archaic system
designed for the way medicine was prac-
ticed maybe 50 years ago. But people are
living longer, there are far more medi-
cations, more people have many more
diagnoses. We’re stuck in a system where
family doctors are paid by the visit, and
often working on their own. And more
and more doctors are retiring. In the first
six months of the pandemic, for example,
twice as many family doctors stopped
working as we expected, given the trends
from the previous decade. And there are
fewer people who’ve graduated medical
school wanting to become family doctors.
Why don’t med students go into
primary care?
One of the major reasons is respect.
People still hear the narrative of: “Oh,
you just want to be a family doctor?” Just.
Respect can manifest through the amount
we are paid, and family medicine is cer-
tainly not among the highest remunera-
tive specialties. Also, family doctors run
their own small business. So if you want
to go on vacation, or go on parental leave,
you have to find your own replacement
and figure out how you’re going to pay
your employees and pay the rent.
And the pandemic didn’t help matters.
It was a challenging time for family doc-
tors, who didn’t get priority access to per-
sonal protective equipment, who actually
often had to buy it themselves, arrange
for infection protection control practices
and stay up to date on what those prac-
tices should be—at the same time that they
were losing money, because they’re paid
by the visit. Then, in addition to COVID,
we saw a rise in mental health [issues] and

10
VITALS
PHOTOGRAPH BY VANESSA HILL
addictions, a backlog of deferred care,
long wait times for surgery or diagnostic
tests and difficulty accessing specialists.
Patients are suffering, and family doctors
are struggling to support them. That can
feel really hard and bad every day.
I can see why it would be tempting
for family doctors to leave the public
system entirely, which is what’s
happening in Quebec, right?
Unfortunately, more and more doctors
in Quebec are gravitating toward the
private pay system. So they’re leaving
the public system, where they would get
paid through billing the government,
and instead are billing patients directly
for care that should be covered by Medi-
care. That’s making the family doctor
shortage even worse, and patients are
“TOO OFTEN, WHENEVER POLICYMAKERS TALK ABOUT
REFORM, THE PEOPLE MISSING FROM THE TABLE ARE THE PATIENTS.
ØZ5čԡÍZšâ€+ԡ$šӱ+5ÍePԡØZ5ԡNâØâÄ5ԡšNԡÀÄe‰Äčԡ$Ä5Ҽӹ
so desperate that they end up paying,
because it’s the only option they see.
How do we reverse these trends?
We know that there are not enough doc-
tors and nurse practitioners to serve
everyone, even with increases in medi-
cal school and nursing enrolments. So the
only way we can offer everybody access
to primary care is by changing the way we
work. A single doctor can’t do everything.
But if we take a team-based approach, it
can expand the capacity of doctors to
support a large roster of patients, because
they’re working with nurse practitioners,
with social workers, with pharmacists or
physiotherapists or psychologists. Not
everything falls to a doctor, and if a doc-
tor leaves, patients still have a place of
care. And when everyone has access to
primary care, mortality rates go down
and life expectancy goes up.
The Canadian Medical Association
cited expanding team-based care
as a top solution to the health-care
crisis. So how does that happen?
Governments need to commit the money.
On average, Canada spends a lot less on
primary care than comparative OECD
countries do. So we need that investment
and the political will to make it happen.
But we also need the professional groups
to be on board. Working in a team will
involve some tradeoffs for doctors, which
might mean a bit less autonomy, or more
accountability, in exchange for more sup-
port. But medicine is harder and harder
to practice, and it’s really helpful to have
people around you to share the load.

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12
VITALS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LAURA JEHA
BY LAURA JEHA z Beans are a staple in
most cuisines around the world, and for
good reason. They’re nutritious, afford-
able, convenient to make and comforting.
Both canned and dried beans are a good
source of plant-based protein, fibre and
iron to keep you feeling energized and full
over longer periods of time. Most beans
are also an excellent source of potassium,
which helps to keep blood pressure lev-
els in check. Perhaps the best part about
beans, though, is how easily they can trans-
form from a plain pantry staple to a truly
wonderful and satisfying meal.
Devote the time to dried
It’s true that cooking dried beans may
Eat More
BROTHY BEANS
cost per serving than canned. Another
benefit to dried is texture: Dried beans
maintain their shape better during cook-
ing, while remaining soft and creamy on
the inside, whereas canned beans tend
to turn mushy and break down.
Choose your bean adventure
The same cooking method can be used
for almost all dried beans, which can
then be eaten as is, or added to soups and
salads or blended into dips and purees.
For saucy dishes where beans are the
main attraction, I love a creamy, starchy
white bean such as a cannellini, great
northern or gigantes. For chilis, I’m par-
tial to smaller and sturdier black beans,
not sound that appealing—they can’t com-
pete with canned when it comes to con-
venience. But for recipes where beans
take centre stage, dried are well worth
the extra time and effort. By adding your
own seasonings from the start, you can
impart big flavour and control the salt
levels. (Canned beans contain added salt,
which you can partially remove by drain-
ing and rinsing them, but it’s worth keep-
ing in mind if you are looking to reduce
your sodium intake.)
Dried beans lend themselves well to
batch cooking, since it’s easy to cook
up a large quantity at once, and you
can freeze them after cooking to add to
future meals. They also yield a cheaper

13
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
VITALS
and my go-to for a low-effort curry
is always quick-cooking, nutritionally
dense red lentils.
Don’t forget to prep
Most dried beans benefit from a pre-
cooking soak for a few reasons. Soak-
ing the beans in water plumps them up,
helps them soften and leads to a shorter
cook time. Soaking also helps to wash
away some of the compounds in beans
called lectins that can create uncom-
fortable gastrointestinal effects like gas
and bloating. For smaller, thin-skinned
varieties like lentils, black eyed peas and
split mung beans, you can skip the soak
and opt for a rinse instead—it will still
help reduce the lectins.
Season, season, season
At the minimum, you’ll want to add salt
to season the beans from the inside out
as they cook (ballpark about 1 table-
spoon per pound of beans used). Salt
also helps beans retain their shape dur-
ing cooking, for a tender interior with
a bit of resistance when you bite into
it. You can throw in woody herbs like
rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and oregano;
leafy herbs like parsley, cilantro and dill;
a halved lemon (try searing it cut-side
down in a hot pan before adding it to the
pot for extra flavour); onions or shallots;
fresh or dried chilies; and even a hunk of
smoked bacon or ham hock.
Once you’ve selected your cast of fla-
vours, bring the pot of beans to a sim-
mer, and cook over low heat until they’re
cooked through and tender. Don’t rush
this process: Amping up to a boil will
make the beans tough and cause their
skins to split. Once cooking is complete,
you can add in acidic elements like
a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to
brighten things up (adding them too early
in the cooking process can prevent beans
from softening). To make your broth
extra creamy, stir a spoonful of aioli or
an egg yolk into the hot liquid right after
plating into bowls.
Once cooked, store beans in their cook-
ing liquid in the refrigerator to prevent
them from shriveling, or freeze them for
meals down the line. That cooking liquid
is a highly flavourful, aromatic broth,
so save it to use as the base of soups,
in braises or as a replacement for pasta
water to thicken pasta sauces.
After my first bowl of creamy, brothy
beans, I was hooked. The perfectly sea-
soned leftovers in the freezer I used for
minestrone the following week clinched
it: Consider me a dried-bean convert.
1 lb (454 g) large lima,
butter or gigantes beans
soaked in cold water for 4-8
hours, or overnight in fridge
¼ cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ tsp fennel seed
½ tsp chili flakes, plus
more for topping
4 cups water
1½ tsp kosher salt
2 dried bay leaves
1 sprig fresh oregano
1 can whole, peeled
San Marzano tomatoes,
liquid drained
A handful of cheese for
topping (optional)
Step 1
Heat olive oil in a large
pot over medium-low heat.
Add onions and cook until
translucent and beginning
to brown, 5 to 8 minutes.
Add garlic, fennel and
chili flakes and cook 2 to
3 minutes more. Add
drained beans, 4 cups of
water, salt and bay leaves.
Bring to a boil then reduce
to a simmer and cook,
keeping at a gentle simmer
until beans are tender,
45 minutes to 1 hour.
Step 2
Add tomatoes, breaking up
with your hands, and cook
over medium heat, stirring
occasionally until liquid is
thickened, tomatoes begin
to break down and beans
are very tender, 25 to
30 minutes. Season with
more salt, if needed.
Step 3
Serve beans topped
with your favourite cheese,
fresh oregano or basil
leaves, some crusty bread
and a drizzle of olive oil.
Makes 6 servings
Cook This
PIZZA BEANS
TIP
You can substitute
two 15-ounce cans
of lima or cannellini
beans for dried.
After you cook the
garlic, fennel
and chili flakes in
Step 1, add the
canned beans and
move directly
to Step 2.

14
VITALS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIANNA ROYE
BY REBECCA GAO z Back when Keesa
Koomalsingh played basketball in uni-
versity, she noticed a few irksome things.
The lack of female representation within
university sports, for one, but particularly
the unfair treatment of her fellow women
basketball players—they contended with
subpar workout conditions, less money
and resources than men and fewer oppor-
tunities to develop their skills during the
off-season and after their varsity careers
ended. Koomalsingh, who is also known
as Keesa K, had a successful university
sports career, playing at Holland College
Get Into It
BASKETBALL
in P.E.I. and Nipissing University in North
Bay, Ont. After she was sidelined with an
ACL injury, she started coaching young
women with the Canada Elite rep team,
an incubator program for elite basketball
players that provides support on and
off the court. When the pandemic shut
everything down, Koomalsingh started
thinking about how the sports commu-
nity could close the gaps between youth
sports and professional spaces. “I wanted
to see more Black women in stakeholder
positions,” she says, “and set a high bar
for women’s basketball in Canada.”
HoopQueen’s summer league showcases the talent of elite women basketball players and is Canada’s first
paid women’s basketball league. Here, members of the Roadrunners gear up for a game in Toronto.
Koomalsingh founded HoopQueens
in Toronto in 2020. It’s an organization
that works to make the basketball court
a more inclusive space for women and
girls of all ages and skill levels. Now,
HoopQueens runs a skill development
program for youth, a scholarship for
athletes, free workshops and an adult
summer league. “We’ve created this eco-
system of support so that young girls and
women stay in the sport,” says Koomals-
ingh. “Sports teach you a lot. We want
those opportunities to be available to
underrepresented young girls.”

15
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
We know that young women and girls
are much more likely to quit sports
than their male counterparts. The Rally
Report, a 2020 national study on sport
participation for Canadian girls, shows
that 1 in 3 drop out of sports by late ado-
lescence (unlike 1 in 10 teen boys) for rea-
sons that include the poor quality of the
sport experience, negative body image
and feeling unwelcomed. Factors such
as a lack of resources and funding for
women’s sports and few opportunities
to go pro or semi-pro likely also make
a difference. The same study shows
just 18 percent of women aged 16 to 63
stay involved in sports. That’s a shame:
Sports, especially team sports like basket-
ball, provide space for socialization, con-
tribute to a more active lifestyle, improve
teamwork skills, improve self-esteem and
have a positive impact on mental health.
A 2022 report from Canadian Women
and Sport found that 76 percent of young
girls say that sports participation makes
them more confident.
Veronica Jamnik—an associate profes-
sor at York University who studies exer-
cise physiology for health, sports and
physically demanding occupations—says
that basketball in particular is great for
mental health because you get so many
opportunities to score. “Sometimes you’ll
make shots, sometimes you’ll miss,” she
says, but the ability to keep shooting
leads to a sense of empowerment when
you do sink a basket.
Then, of course, there are all the physi-
cal health benefits that come from shoot-
ing, dribbling and traversing a court.
Object control and coordination improve
your cognitive function: “You have to
make decisions [during the game] and
control movements to make a shot or
direct the ball,” Jamnik says.
Basketball is also a beautifully acces-
sible sport. Unlike games that require
equipment and a particular arena for
play, all you need for basketball is a ball
and a hoop—which many parks and public
spaces have. It’s easy, especially if you live
near a park, to play a game of pick-up.
As women’s basketball surges in popu-
larity in Canada (as demonstrated by a
rowdy WNBA showcase game in Toronto
last May), Koomalsingh says that seeing
more women on the court will inspire
women of all ages to get involved. “Bas-
ketball for women has always been
around,” says Jamnik, even though it
doesn’t get the same attention or support
that men’s basketball does. “It’s a fun
way to workout, regardless of your skill
level. Basketball is great for everyone.”
First things first: Veronica
Jamnik, associate professor
of kinesiology at York
University, encourages all
players to warm up before
launching into a game of
basketball. Then you can
reap the benefits:
Strong bones
All that jumping to sink
buckets improves your bone
density, says Jamnik. This
leads to stronger bones
that are more resilient
against osteoporosis.
Metabolic conditioning
Basketball involves a lot of
fast, explosive movement—
great for conditioning your
aerobic and anaerobic
systems. Similar to HIIT
exercises, basketball has
you moving intensely and
then recovering actively for
a shorter period.
Cardio gains
“Basketball is a very
fast-paced game that
puts stress on the heart
and lungs, which is
beneficial for cardiovascular
health,” says Jamnik.
Cognitive coordination
Skills like making a basket,
blocking shots, passing
to your teammates, scoring
a lay-up and running while
dribbling down the court all
require muscle coordination
that in turn boosts your
cognitive health.
A full-body workout
Basketball involves and
engages your major muscle
groups. Over the course
of a game, you’re going to
use your arms to throw and
dribble, your core to stay
stable and your lower body
to run and jump.—R.G.
Get Started
THE HEALTH BENEFITS
OF BALLING OUT

16
VITALS
ILLUSTRATION BY MITCHELL KEYS
BY ODESSA PALOMA PARKER ցԡIt didn’t
take much convincing to get me to try
magic mushrooms to improve my men-
tal health. I’m no stranger to psyche-
delic drugs—I’ve tried a number of them
throughout my life for recreational rea-
sons—and I even worked in the cannabis
industry for a time as the head content
strategist for a trio of brands. This career
move—pivoting from fashion editor to
pot proponent—did not come as a shock to
my friends and family, who are well aware
of my long-time use of psychedelics.
My experiences with these hallucina-
tory compounds have all been resound-
ingly positive. (With one exception: the
time I cried after doing a small sampling
of acid while listening to Neil Young’s After
the Gold Rush. Surely I’m not the only one.)
That’s why I decided to try microdos-
ing psilocybin as a tool for managing my
anxiety and depression. Of all the cur-
rently recommended pharmaceuticals
and experimental offerings used to treat
these disorders, psilocybin was the one
I was ultimately most comfortable with.
My mental health crisis originally
stemmed not only from the myriad effects
of COVID lockdowns, when so many of us
felt down and isolated, but also from two
horrible health scares in my family and
the realization that I no longer felt mor-
ally okay with many aspects of the indus-
try I then worked in—fashion. I was also
suffering from body dysmorphia. Then,
in June 2022, I severely injured my ankle.
I needed multiple surgeries and had to
move in with my parents for help during
my recovery. Everything was reopening,
but I spent the summer seething—and
mostly indoors—because I was afraid to
move and injure my healing body again.
It all contributed to what became a
highly agitated and depressive state.
Eventually, I found myself in a hole so
deep I couldn’t conceive of therapy
alone being able to help me. That’s the
thing about a mental health crisis: Over
time, a few snowflakes build into an
avalanche. And then you become con-
vinced that there’s no way to dig your-
self out from under it.
In the deepest throes of my depres-
sion, I did try talk psychotherapy, which
was greatly helpful; I eventually felt
decent enough to discontinue it in favour
of online check-ins, which I still do. And
while I know that many depression and
anxiety sufferers have had success using
prescription meds—my husband has
chosen this route—I can’t help but resist
the idea. I have a deep skepticism of the
pharmaceutical industry in general,
Life Lesson
I FOUND HAPPINESS
BY MICRODOSING
MAGIC MUSHROOMS

17
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
VITALS
which I believe cares far more about
profits than about creating a product
that actually helps people.
My choice to try psilocybin was bol-
stered by science as much as by my
proclivity toward feeling groovy. The
concept of microdosing had caught my
attention a few years earlier, thanks to
the work of folks like the bestselling
author and fellow psychonaut Michael
Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma; This Is
Your Mind on Plants) and the amateur
mycologist Paul Stamets. The emerg-
ing research is promising, but it’s still
pitifully meagre—largely because of
psilocybin’s criminalization and the
villainization of psychedelics in general.
But psychedelic-assisted therapy clinics,
which already exist in other countries,
are slowly opening across North Amer-
ica, and they promise to offer psilocybin
once it’s legalized. (In California, magic
mushrooms, mescaline and ayahuasca
have been included in a natural psyche-
delics decriminalization bill.)
It’s Stamets who is responsible for
inventing the microdosing routine that
I currently follow. From what would
colloquially be dubbed a “grey market”
company—that is, one operating in an
illegal industry with the notion that it
will one day be legalized—I order a ship-
ment of capsules containing a low-dose
blend of psilocybin mushrooms, as well
as another variety called Lion’s Mane. I
take the capsule with a niacin pill, which
can improve absorption into the body.
This treatment, which I take every three
days, is dubbed the Stamets Stack, and
I’m immensely grateful for its existence.
My therapeutic dose also includes
chaga and reishi mushrooms as part
of the recipe, and I’m confident this
combination of fungi is rewiring my
brain. About a week after starting my
routine, I noticed improvements across
nearly every aspect of my life. To me,
it’s no different from taking a vitamin
or supplement, and aside from the obvi-
ous-to-everyone side effects I’m about
to describe, the one thing I don’t feel
is... stoned.
I now feel like I’m on an even keel,
emotionally. I have a better understand-
ing of my place in the world, and at
42, I finally believe that I deserve to be
happy. With this newfound clarity, I find
myself better articulating what I need
from my personal relationships and what
no longer serves me.
The anxiety is still there, but I under-
stand how to mitigate it. When depression
descends, I can ride the dips and waves
with insight and tenacity rather than sink-
ing further. I’ve also become acutely aware
of what can trigger or anger me and I can
control how I react.
I feel like I’m becoming the person I’ve
always wanted to be: Instead of lying in
bed until the last minute every morning, I
get up and meditate, tidy, check my plants
and exercise. When I’m microdosing, I
have more bandwidth for daily tasks, I
can more easily recognize when I’m about
to get annoyed or irritated and I’m more
inclined to give myself breaks before I do.
Career-wise, I have the capacity to
work on the idea that my job does not
define me. I’m now able to take on work
Psychedelics use the same
pathways as serotonin,
which is a chemical
produced by our nerve
cells. Serotonin is a
neuro-transmitter, which
means it sends signals
between those nerve cells,
and it regulates our sleep,
our moods, sexual function,
healing and more. It’s
often called our body’s
“feel good” hormone.
This is how SSRIs
(selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors) help
people with depression
and anxiety: When you’re
depressed, you have
low levels of serotonin,
and the SSRIs increase
serotonin levels inside
our brain cells.
Typically, SSRI
prescriptions can take
weeks to kick in (and
for some people, such
as those with treatment-
resistant depression,
they don’t work at all).
But psilocybin can take
effect within 30 minutes,
with measurable
changes in “brain neuron
connectivity,” Brian Roth,
a professor of psychiatry
and pharmacology at the
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, told CNN.
It can connect areas
of the brain that don’t
usually communicate
while also interrupting or
disconnecting other areas,
which explains the state
of “altered consciousness”
magic mushroom
enthusiasts so often report.
Some experts describe
it as a therapeutically
“disorganized brain,”
which helps break negative
thought patterns, self-
criticism and rumination.
Crash Course
HOW DOES
PSILOCYBIN WORK
INSIDE YOUR BRAIN?
assignments that my ego and my pride
wouldn’t have allowed me to consider
before, when I was younger and more
professionally ambitious. This means I
might never again be extended the more
prestigious invites, such as London Fash-
ion Week, but that no longer bothers me.
This idea—the concept of “ego death,”
and the ability to see the bigger pic-
ture—has been described by other users
of psychedelics throughout history and
it’s really a joy. Ultimately, microdosing
helps me feel in tune with nature: its
beauty, its cycles and what it can show
us about living a harmonious, peaceful
and happy life.

18
VITALS
Four decades ago, Canada’s worst public health disaster
was unfolding. Mismanagement of the country’s blood
supply allowed contaminated blood to be knowingly
distributed nationwide, infecting close to 2,000 Canadi-
ans with HIV. Among them was Melanie Brooks’s father,
a surgeon in small-town Nova Scotia. ¶ At a time when
HIV/AIDS was misunderstood and public perception was
shaped by fear, prejudice and homophobia, victims of
the disease faced ostracism. “The tragedy that unfolded
in my family is rooted in a rarely acknowledged piece
of a larger cultural story,” said Brooks. “I can only speak to that
larger story as one who lived on the periphery of the communi-
ties most impacted by this illness…With profound respect and
compassion for the LGBTQ+ community, I tell my story because
there was no space into which my family and I fit as we dealt with
AIDS outside any recognized group. We lived our experience in
isolation and secrecy, bearing the burden of my father’s illness
and the certainty of his impending death from behind a curtain
of silence. In writing this book, I’ve drawn back that curtain and
voiced the story I needed to tell.” The following excerpt comes
from the chapter titled “Stigma.”
Melanie Brooks’s father was infected with HIV
from contaminated blood in the mid-1980s.
He decided to keep his illness a secret, and
died 10 years later. Brooks’s candid memoir,
A Hard Silence, looks at the consequences of
her family’s secret-keeping and, in this excerpt,
interrogates the stigma and discrimination that
played into their decision to hide the truth.
IN THE 1980S AND MID-1990S,
few people were apologizing
for their ignorant, often mis-
guided, and cruel responses
to the growing AIDS pan-
demic. My dad learned of his
infection in December of 1985
when, eight months after his
open-heart surgery, a public
health official identified the
blood he’d been given as con-
taminated, and his doctors
tested him to confirm the disastrous
news. We lived then in a frightened soci-
ety. A society that largely believed that
people diagnosed with HIV were respon-
sible for their own infection.
In a feature piece in the fall of 1985,
Time magazine called people with AIDS
“The New Untouchables.” Inconsistent
and conflicting messages of how HIV
spread made people afraid of even com-
ing into contact with someone infected
with the virus. When one child in a New
York City school was identified as having

19
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
VITALS
from our lives. Even when the reality of
my dad’s HIV status had the potential
to bridge that separation, he could not
acknowledge the connection because
he was entrenched in the mindset of the
religious institutions that blamed the gay
community for the spread of HIV. As
a result of delayed and apathetic public
and government response to the disease,
support mechanisms for people living
with HIV/AIDS were established almost
exclusively by activists within the gay
community. These mechanisms seemed
beyond my father’s reach, and any nod
in the direction of their activism anti-
thetical to his religious upbringing. His
prejudice also fuelled his fears that his
personal reputation was at risk. What if
people believed he was gay?
In the 20-plus years since David came
out to our family, I’ve watched my moth-
er’s beliefs about homosexuality pivot
far away from the fundamentalist views
she and my father espoused when I was
younger, as her experience and under-
standing has broadened. I’d like to think
Dad would be different today, too, but
the chance to know was taken from us
before his evolution had the opportu-
nity to begin. I do know that when he
received his diagnosis, Dad saw AIDS
and all of its associations as threats to
everything he valued.
Even though he was an accomplished
physician, Dad felt disempowered by the
limitations of his and the greater health
system’s knowledge about the facts of
HIV. AIDS was a mystery. The only cer-
tainties were that the disease spread at
a rapid rate and there was no cure. He
expected that, like most patients he knew
or knew about, he could die at any time,
in any number of terrible ways. He was
unwilling to chance infecting his patients,
and he made the painful choice to end
his medical practice, taking an advisory
position in a national medical legal asso-
ciation. He refused to allow his family
to endure any form of ostracism because
of his HIV status. His illness would be a
secret from almost everyone. A secret
we’d all keep.
We didn’t know that Dad would live
past that first year, or for the next 10
years. And we didn’t know that long after
the secret was exposed, we’d continue to
carry its silence.
Excerpted from A Hard Silence,
by Melanie Books. Copyright 2023.
Published by Vine Leaves Press.
Reproduced by arrangement with the
Publisher. All rights reserved.
EVEN THOUGH HE WAS
AN ACCOMPLISHED
PHYSICIAN, DAD FELT
DISEMPOWERED
BY THE LIMITATIONS
OF HIS AND THE
GREATER HEALTH
SYSTEM’S KNOWLEDGE
ABOUT THE FACTS
OF HIV. AIDS WAS A
MYSTERY. THE ONLY
CERTAINTIES WERE
THAT THE DISEASE
SPREAD AT A RAPID
RATE AND THERE
WAS NO CURE.
that believed homosexuality was a sin-
ful lifestyle choice. The homophobia that
sprouted from that belief was fixed in
him. As a young girl, I took that belief
for granted because I knew nothing else.
Throughout my childhood, I learned
from him and that same church tradi-
tion, the faith platitude, “Love the sinner;
hate the sin,” which conveniently allowed
me and other Christians I knew to pass
judgment (under the guise of “Christian
love”) on members of the LGBTQ+ com-
munity. My father’s implicit and explicit
messages about homosexuality—includ-
ing a tendency to indelicately point out
the friends in my brothers’ circles who
he concluded were “homos”—ampli-
fied in our household the shame and
deviance that many in the 1980s main-
stream culture already associated with
the gay community. My heart hurts for
my brother David who, for 18 years, lived
closeted in that environment, unable to
find safe space to be himself amidst these
barriers. My family’s social network was
insular, making it easy to diminish and
condemn a group that felt far-removed
AIDS, crowds of parents picketed the
streets of New York wearing shirts read-
ing “No AIDS in Our Schools” and called
on the city to pass legislation banning
the child admission. In an op-ed for the
New York Times, commentator William
F. Buckley, Jr. called for all HIV-positive
persons to be branded, saying, “Every-
one detected with AIDS should be tat-
tooed.” In Canada, members of groups
with names like “Citizens Demanding the
Right to Know” spoke in public forums
and accused medical experts of hiding
the truth about the disease. Officials
from the Canadian government’s health
department debated protective mea-
sures as radical as publicly identifying
all individuals who tested positive for
HIV and enforcing mandatory quaran-
tines to protect the general population.
Many people known to be HIV positive or
have AIDS were fired by their employers,
evicted by their landlords and shunned
by their neighbours. Because of systemic
inequities in community structures and
healthcare, and the exclusion of Black
voices from the public conversations and
education initiatives, communities of
colour faced disproportionate infection
rates. And since that time, those dispari-
ties have only deepened.
And then there were those who claimed
AIDS as a weapon of God’s wrath. The
evangelical Christian right was one of
the loudest voices of discrimination in
the 1980s. Jerry Falwell, an influential
Southern Baptist preacher, televangelist,
and founder of the Moral Majority, which
was a political action group associated
with the Republican Party whose agenda
reflected fundamentalist Christian con-
cepts of morality, declared, “AIDS is not
just God’s punishment for homosexuals;
it is God’s punishment for the society
that tolerates homosexuals.” Conserva-
tive commentator Pat Buchanan, a close
advisor to President Reagan, called AIDS
“nature’s revenge on homosexuals.”
This message of hatred and intolerance
trickled down and established a church
culture where those infected with HIV,
condemned for bringing on their own
demise, were not only unwelcome, they
were also denied the care and compassion
that Christianity ardently preached.
Elements of this harmful theology
played a considerable role in shaping my
family’s isolated trajectory. As a devout
Christian, my father struggled to recon-
cile his situation with society’s and the
evangelical church’s perceptions of his
disease and its causes. He’d grown
up in a fundamentalist church tradition

20
VITALS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KATHRYN MCCRARY AND JEREMY REPER
Based on the hit YouTube
cooking show from professional
U.S. soccer stars Ali Riley and
Toni Pressley, Girls Gone Veg is a
colourful celebration of plant-based
recipes. Here are some of our
fall-weather favourites from their
new cookbook.
A few years ago, we became
best friends while playing
professionally on the same
team. It was COVID; we
were heavily quarantined.
So to try to bring some joy
into what was a very dark
time, we’d leave vegan
treats on each other’s door-
steps. Picture Romy and
Michelle leaving each other
tiny Tupperware filled to
the brim with delicious cakes, pastas
and tacos. That’s us.
After quarantine was lifted, we were
able to start cooking together and began
cooking regularly for our teammates,
family and friends. Cooking became our
shared outlet off the field for express-
ing our creativity and simply relaxing.
The pressure of being a professional ath-
lete can push you to a breaking point at
times, and for us, cooking became our
therapy. It became our escape away from
the stress on the field, and, at the same
time, the healthy food we were making
became what fuelled us on the field.
While cooking together one day, we
had the idea to write a cookbook. We
wanted to create a cook-
book for many reasons—
from simply having a doc-
umented collection of all
the recipes we had devel-
oped together to showing
others how plant-based
eating can be affordable;
from putting vegan spins
on everyday dishes to
showing that being vegan
doesn’t have to mean a total
lifestyle change. All these reasons con-
nect to the overarching purpose we
have in writing this book and in our
professional careers overall: to ignite
the possibilities.
What exactly do we mean by “pos-
sibilities?” We mean hope. We mean
believing you can do and be anything.
We mean believing in a world in which
there can be inclusivity for all. We mean
believing without a doubt in what you
can become.
When we started out as professional
athletes, being anything but that was
unfathomable. We are now officially
published cookbook authors. And we’re
just getting started.
Beet Hummus
MAKES 2 CUPS When
I talk to people about
nutrition, one of my first
pieces of advice is to “eat
a rainbow.” Fruits and
veggies give us nutrients
that make us feel full
longer, boost our immune
system and reduce the
risk of various diseases.
Different colours of fruits
and veggies provide
different awesome health
benefits, which is why
we should try to eat all the
colours of the rainbow.
The earthy beet, with its
deep reddish-purple hue,
is known to lower blood
pressure, aid in digestion
and reduce inflammation.
Just try not to get it on
your clothes. If you don’t
want to spend time
roasting the beet, you can
buy already-cooked beets
at the grocery store.—AR
1 medium beet
1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive
oil, plus additional
for coating the beet
and drizzling over the
hummus
1 (15-ounce) can
chickpeas, drained
and rinsed
1⁄3 cup tahini
1 clove garlic, roughly
chopped
1 lemon, finely grated
zest and juice
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt,
plus additional as needed
2-3 tablespoons water,
as needed
Pita chips, crackers,
or veggies, for serving
1. Preheat the oven to
400°F. Place an oven rack
in the middle position.
(Skip the next step if
using an already cooked
beet.) Wash the beet well,
making sure to scrub
off any dirt. Trim off the
leaves. Coat the beet
lightly with extra-virgin
olive oil and wrap it in
aluminum foil. Make sure

VITALS
Seed Crackers
PAGE 25
Sweet Potato
and White Bean
Hummus
PAGE 25
Beet
Hummus
PAGE 20
Edamame
Hummus
PAGE 23

Shredded
Brussels Sprouts
Salad
PAGE 25

23
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
VITALS
the beet is completely
wrapped. Place the
aluminum-wrapped beet
on the oven rack and roast
for 40 minutes. Take out
the beet, unwrap it and
pierce it with a knife. If
the knife can slide to the
centre of the beet with
no resistance, the beet
is done. If not, rewrap it
and continue to roast it,
checking the tenderness
every 10 minutes. Once the
beet is done, let it cool for
five minutes. Then place it
under running water and
rub off the skin. Cut the
beet into quarters.
2. Place the beet,
chickpeas, tahini, garlic,
lemon zest, lemon juice
and 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
into a food processor.
Blend until smooth. With
the motor running, slowly
add the 1⁄4 cup of olive
oil and continue to blend
until combined. If the
hummus is too thick, blend
in water, 1 tablespoon at
a time, until you reach the
desired consistency. Add
additional salt to taste.
3. Spoon into a bowl and
drizzle over additional
olive oil for serving. Serve
with pita chips, crackers
or crunchy vegetables like
carrots or celery. Store
the hummus in a sealed
container in the fridge for
up to three days.
Edamame
Hummus
MAKES 2 CUPS Edamame
beans are a whole protein
source that work perfectly
in a hummus recipe.
If you’re a cilantro lover
like us, you will love this
delicious green dip. I like
to make this hummus a
day before serving it since
it becomes even more
flavourful after a night in
the fridge.—AR
11⁄2 cups frozen shelled
edamame
1⁄4 cup tahini
1 teaspoon finely grated
lemon zest
3 tablespoons freshly
squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1⁄2 teaspoon flaky sea salt,
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cumin
1⁄4 cup water
4 tablespoons extra-virgin
olive oil, plus additional
for drizzling
1 tablespoon finely
chopped cilantro
Crackers or veggie sticks,
for serving
1. Cook the edamame by
dropping them into lightly
salted boiling water for
five minutes. Drain the
edamame before placing
them in a food processor
along with the tahini, lemon
zest, lemon juice, garlic,
salt, cumin and water.
Blend until smooth. With
the motor running, slowly
add the 4 tablespoons
of olive oil and continue
to blend until combined.
Scoop into a sealed
container and refrigerate for
at least 1 hour, and ideally
overnight. Just before
serving, remove from the
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24
VITALS
fridge, stir in the cilantro
and add salt to taste.
Drizzle some additional
extra-virgin olive oil over
the top. Serve with your
favourite crackers or veggie
sticks. Store the hummus
in a sealed container in the
fridge for up to 3 days.
Sweet Potato
and White Bean
Hummus
MAKES 2 CUPS This vibrant
hummus gives you fibre,
vitamins and minerals
from sweet potato, plus a
nice punch of protein from
cannellini beans. Cannellini
beans have a nutty flavour
similar to that of chickpeas
but are slightly richer in
protein, making them
a great substitute in a
hummus recipe.—AR
1 small sweet potato,
peeled and cut into
1-inch cubes
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini
beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons tahini
2 cloves garlic
freshly squeezed juice
of 1⁄2 lemon
11⁄2 teaspoons kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil,
for drizzling
Tortilla chips or
sourdough bread slices,
for serving
1. Bring a large pot of
water to a boil. There
should be enough water
in the pot to cover the
sweet potato by at least
1 inch. Carefully add the
sweet potato cubes.
Decrease the heat to
medium-high and slowly
boil the sweet potato until
cooked through, or about
15 minutes. Drain the
sweet potato in a colander.
Transfer the sweet potato
to a food processor. Add
the beans, tahini, garlic,
lemon juice and salt. Blend
until smooth. Before
serving, drizzle with some
olive oil. I love serving this
hummus with salty tortilla
chips or sourdough bread.
Store leftover hummus in
a sealed container in the
fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.
Seed Crackers
SERVES 4 These crispy
crackers are made from
seeds only, which means
they are rich in nutrients
and give you long-lasting
energy. It’s amazing how
the chia seeds just soak
up all the water and bind
everything together while
providing calcium and iron.
I love using these crackers
as a healthy vessel to dunk
into my favourite dips, and
you can personalize them
with your favourite mix
of 1 1⁄2 cups of seeds, in
addition to the 1⁄2 cup of
chia seeds.—AR
1⁄2 cup pumpkin seeds
1⁄2 cup sunflower seeds
1⁄4 cup sesame seeds
1⁄4 cup whole flax seeds
1⁄2 cup chia seeds
2 tablespoons extra-virgin
olive oil
1 cup boiling water
Flaky sea salt
1. Preheat the oven to
300°F. Line a large baking
sheet with parchment
paper. Place the pumpkin
seeds, sunflower seeds,
sesame seeds, flax seeds,
chia seeds, extra-virgin
olive oil and water into a
large bowl. Stir to combine.
Let the mixture rest for10
minutes. You should be left
with a thick seed gel. Pour
the seed gel mixture onto
the baking sheet. Place a
second piece of parchment
paper on top of the mixture
and then use your hands
or a rolling pin to spread
the mixture as thin and
evenly as possible. Remove
the top parchment paper
and sprinkle sea salt over
the mixture. Bake for 50
minutes or until the cracker
Orange Vinaigrette
MAKES ¾ CUP This easy
dressing uses the simple
yet effective combination
of sweetness (orange and
maple syrup) and tang
(mustard and vinegar) to
brighten up any salad.
I always have a jar of this
vinaigrette on hand in
the fridge.—AR
Finely grated zest of
1 orange
1⁄3 cup freshly squeezed
orange juice
1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon apple
cider vinegar
1⁄4 teaspoon table salt,
Freshly ground black
pepper
1. Whisk all of the
ingredients together in
a small bowl. Season
to taste with more salt
and pepper as needed.
This dressing can be
served chilled or at room
temperature. Store in a
sealed jar in the fridge
for up to 1 week. Shake
well before serving.
Butter Chickpeas
and Potatoes
SERVES 4 TO 6 Yum, yum,
yum! That’s all I can say
about this recipe. The
spices really warm up
this dish, and the coconut
cream gives it such
richness. I love to eat this
the night before a game,
paired with rice. It gives me
everything I need: carbs,
protein and a full belly.—TP
4 tablespoons vegan butter
1 medium yellow onion,
finely diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon peeled and
minced fresh ginger
11⁄2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
sheet is dry and turning
golden brown. Let it come
to room temperature before
breaking it into pieces of
your desired cracker shape
and size. Serve with one of
our delectable dips. Store
your leftover crackers in an
airtight container in a cool,
dry and dark place for up to
1 week.
Shredded
Brussels Sprouts
Salad
SERVES 4 While you might
be used to seeing Brussels
sprouts boiled, roasted or
fried, they make the perfect
salad base when they are
raw and finely shredded.
They’re crunchy, take on
the flavour of any dressing
and they’re one of the
most protein-rich veggies
out there. I still throw in
almonds and hemp hearts
for additional protein and
texture and the dates add
the perfect amount of
sweetness.—AR
1 pound Brussels sprouts
1 apple (I like Honeycrisp),
cored and chopped into
small cubes
1⁄2 cup slivered almonds
1⁄2 cup pitted Deglet
Noor dates, coarsely
chopped
1⁄4 cup hemp hearts
Orange Vinaigrette
(recipe follows)
1. Rinse the Brussels
sprouts. Trim the bottoms
(the stems can be hard and
dry) and remove the outer
leaves. Slice them finely,
either using a very sharp
knife or the slicing blade
on a food processor. Add
the shredded sprouts to
a large salad bowl along
with the apple, almonds,
dates and hemp hearts.
Serve with a drizzle of
our Orange Vinaigrette.
Add just enough to coat
everything and toss well
before serving.

Butter Chickpeas
and Potatoes
PAGE 25

Peanut
Caramel
Candy Bars
PAGE 27

27
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
VITALS
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander
1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed
tomatoes, with juices
1 cup Thai coconut cream
1 tablespoon light-brown
sugar
1 large russet potato,
peeled, washed and
cubed (about the same
size as the chickpeas)
2 (15-ounce) cans
chickpeas, drained
and rinsed
Fresh cilantro, for garnish
Cooked rice, for serving
1. Place the butter and
onion in a Dutch oven or
heavy-bottom pot over
medium heat. Sauté for
3 to 4 minutes. Add the
garlic and ginger and sauté
for an additional 1 to 2
minutes. Sprinkle in all
the spices and cook for
1 minute, stirring frequently
so that the spices have
a chance to cook. Pour
in the tomatoes. Stir to
incorporate everything and
lower the heat to a simmer.
Using an immersion
blender, blend until the
liquid becomes more like
a creamy soup. If you do
not have an immersion
blender, carefully scoop
the tomato contents into a
blender. Pulse until smooth
and pour back into the
pot. Then add the coconut
cream, sugar, potatoes
and chickpeas. Mix well
and bring to a boil for
1 minute. Then turn down
to a simmer for 30 minutes,
or until the potatoes are
tender. Garnish with fresh
cilantro. Serve over rice
or eat it alone.
Peanut Caramel
Candy Bars
MAKES 16 If you want to
impress someone with
a homemade healthy
dessert (also gluten-free!),
you’ve come to the right
place. Using only natural
ingredients, this treat is
sweetened with dates and
maple syrup instead of the
corn syrup, refined sugar
and artificial flavourings
of traditional candy bars.
Cutting into the bars and
seeing the layers is so
satisfying, and that sprinkle
of sea salt on top enhances
the delicious flavours in
just the right way. Make
sure your dates are nice
and soft, since they play a
key role!—AR
Nonstick cooking
spray, for greasing the
baking dish
1 cup roasted and salted
peanuts
20 pitted Medjool dates,
divided
1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla
extract, divided
3⁄4 cup unsweetened and
unsalted creamy
peanut butter
1⁄2 cup melted coconut
oil, divided
4 tablespoons unsweetened
cocoa powder
1 teaspoon maple syrup
Flaky sea salt
1. Line an 8 by 8-inch
baking dish with
parchment paper. (Greasing
the bottom of the baking
dish first with nonstick
spray can help keep the
parchment paper in place.)
Place the peanuts, 10 of
the dates, and 1⁄4 teaspoon
of the vanilla into a food
processor. Blend on high
speed until the mixture is
crumbly but sticks together
when pressed, about one
minute. Press the mixture
into the bottom of the
lined baking dish to form
an even layer. Place the
baking dish into the freezer.
Now add the peanut butter,
the 10 remaining dates,
1⁄4 cup of the coconut oil
and the remaining
1⁄4 teaspoon of vanilla to the
food processor. Blend on
high speed until smooth,
scraping down the sides
of the food processor as
necessary. Take the baking
dish out of the freezer
and spread the mixture
over the base layer. Return
the dish to the freezer.
2. Pour the remaining
1⁄4 cup of coconut oil into
a small pot. Add the cocoa
powder and maple syrup.
Whisk well over low heat
for about 1 to 2 minutes
until combined. Remove
the baking dish from the
freezer and pour the liquid
mixture over the second
layer. Tilt the dish in all
directions to make sure the
mixture coats the entire
second layer evenly. Top
with a sprinkle of sea salt.
Return to the freezer until
the chocolate layer is solid,
at least 15 minutes. When
ready to serve, remove the
bars from the freezer and
allow them to thaw for
5 minutes. Run the blade
of a sharp knife under hot
water. Cut the bars into
16 squares and serve.
Store the bars in an airtight
container in the fridge
for up to 5 days or in the
freezer for up to 3 months.
If frozen, allow time for
them to thaw before
serving (this can take up
to 20 minutes).
Excerpted from Girls Gone
Veg: Plant-Based Recipes
by Athletes, for Everyone,
by Toni Pressley and Ali
Riley. Copyright 2023,
published by Andrews McMeel
Universal. Reproduced by
arrangement with the
Publisher. All rights reserved.
Ízԡ
5ċÀ5ÄØ
CAN I GET
ENOUGH
PROTEIN
FROM
PLANT-BASED
FOOD?
There are plenty of
healthy plant-based
foods that have
protein, including
beans, lentils, nuts,
seeds, eggs and dairy
products. “If you’re
eating a variety of
foods throughout your
days and weeks, you’ll
get more than enough
protein as a vegetarian
or even vegan,” says
Madalyn Higgins, a
registered dietitian in
Wolfville, N.S.
According to Health
Canada, only about
10 percent of your daily
calories should come
from protein. And
eating more than the
recommended amount
doesn’t necessarily
offer greater health
benefits.—Renée Reardin

29
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
Grab-and-Go
Booze-Free Drinks
By RENÉE REARDIN
Photographs by SUECH and BECK
The new health
guidelines for alcohol
consumption (in short: cut
back) mean drinking habits are
changing. But going sober doesn’t
mean you need to sacrifice flavour
or festiveness. Here are some
of our favourite craft sodas,
mocktails and alcohol-free
beer and wine to keep
the party going.
STYLING BY FRANNY ALDER

30 PHOTOGRAPHS BY SUECH AND BECK
1. Edenvale The
Expedition Series
Sparkling Cuvee,
$28, sansorium.com
2. Oddbird
Domaine de la Prade
Chardonnay, $24,
soberlicious.ca
3. Proxies Club
variety 6-pack, $178,
drinkproxies.com
4. Benjamin Bridge
Piquette Zero
Cans, 12-pack, $36,
benjaminbridge.com
5. Thomson
Scott Noughty
Organic Sparkling
Rosé, $24.50,
soberlicious.ca
1
2
4
3
5
Fun fact: In 1869, Thomas Bramwell Welch pasteurized
unfermented Concord grape juice as a non-intoxicating
communion “wine” for his Methodist church—and
launched the processed fruit juice industry. These
days, vintners produce sophisticated wines stripped
of alcohol, and proxies that emulate your favourite
pinots and chardonnays.

These citrusy
sparklers bring
bright sunshine
flavour to short,
wintry days.
31
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA STYLING BY FRANNY ALDER
GOODS
Editor Pick
This paloma
imposter is made with
zero-proof tequila
extract, grapefruit and
lime for a drink that
packs a strong
punch.
1. Bee’s Knees 4-pack,
$22, drinkwildfolk.com
2. Barbet Love Bite Sparkling
Water, $3.30, well.ca
3. Geez Louise Grapefruit
Basil 12-pack, $40,
drinkgeezlouise.com
4. Edna’s Cocktails
Paloma 4-pack, $17,
ednascocktails.com
1
2
4
3

32
GOODS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SUECH AND BECK
1. BSA Non-Alcoholic
Beer Blonde Pilsner,
$4, well.ca
2. Sober Carpenter Craft
Cider, $3.80, well.ca
3. Partake Red, 12-Pack,
$30, drinkpartake.com
4. Bellwoods Brewery
Non-Alcoholic
Jelly King Dry Hopped
Sour, $4.40, bellwoods
brewery.com
1
2
4
3
Whether you prefer a crisp lager
or a hoppy IPA, Canadian craft
beer (and cider!) companies
take equal care with their non-
alcoholic offerings, right down
to the artfully designed cans.

33
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
GOODS
STYLING BY FRANNY ALDER
Editor Pick
This Quebec-made,
slightly sweetened
iced tea has a
refreshingly complex
herbal flavour.
1. Boreal Botanical
Reishi Tonic, $4.30,
well.ca
2. HealTea Nettle
Rosemary Sparkling
Beverage, $4, well.ca
3. Champ Libre
Sparkling Water
Thyme Elderflower,
$3, well.ca
1
2
3
These herbaceous and fizzy
beverages go beyond basil,
with botanical notes like
nettle, rosemary, elderberries
and spruce tips.

34
GOODS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SUECH AND BECK
Editor Pick
This mock GT has
notes of rose, violet
and cucumber for a
drink that’s fresh, floral
and just the right
side of bitter.
1. HP Floral Gin Tonic
12-pack, $45, clearsips.ca
2. Clever Mocktails G
Tonic Premium Mocktail,
$3, well.ca
1
2
Many bartenders will say that a
proper GT comes down to the
tonic water. If you’re after something
pleasingly sharp, bitter and sweet,
these gin-free cans are for you.

Craving a bit of a kick? These drinks make
ginger and spices the star. And if clam juice is
your thing, then an extra spicy Caesar with
ancho, habanero, cayenne, tabasco, and fire-
roasted jalapeño seriously brings the heat.
GOODS
35
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA STYLING BY FRANNY ALDER
1. Cawston Press Ginger
Beer, $3.50, well.ca
2. Walter Caesar Extra
Spicy Craft Caesar Mix,
$9.50, well.ca
3. Clever Mocktails
Moscow Mule Premium
Mocktail, $3, well.ca
4. Harvey and Vern’s
Olde Fashioned Ginger
Beer, $3, well.ca
5. Barbet Wild Card
Sparkling Water,
$3.30, well.ca
1
2
4
3
5

36
GOODS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SUECH AND BECK / STYLING BY FRANNY ALDER
Editor Pick
Like everything Y2K,
espresso martinis are enjoying
a return to the spotlight, and
we love this brewed-in-Canada,
crack-and-go version by Two Bears.
To serve, mix half a can with ice (each
can makes two drinks), strain into a
martini glass and top with a coffee
bean or shaved chocolate.
Two Bears Espresso
Martini 4-pack, $16,
clearsips.ca

By
ERICA NGAO
Photographs by
STEPH MARTYNIUK
The members of Dragons Abreast are united by friendship,
determination—and a breast cancer diagnosis.
“Any
aggression
or
negative
feelings
I
have
about
my
breast
cancer
goes
into
every
race,”
says
Dragons
Abreast
member
Shelagh
Tyreman,
60,
who
is
in
active
treatment.
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA 39

40 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2023
THE MEMBERS OF THE DRAGONS ABREAST DRAGON BOAT
team end their chant with a resounding cheer. They turn
to watch a race in progress while they wait for their own
heat to be called. Five long boats—each carrying 20 paddlers,
one steersperson at the back and a drummer at the front—
surge toward the buoys that mark the finish line in perfect
synchronicity. All eyes are on the dragonheads at the front of
the boats as each team pours every ounce of their strength
into pulling ahead, inch by inch. It’s still early morning and
the July humidity is climbing alongside the anticipation at the
Hamilton Waterfest Dragon Boat Festival. For some of the pad-
dlers, this is their first regatta. Others are veterans with more
than two decades of paddling experience.
Dragon boat racing began in China more than 2,000 years
ago as part of a cultural community event. On the fifth day of
the fifth month of the lunar calendar (usually in late May or
early June), races would be held in Chinese fishing villages to
commemorate venerated statesman and poet Qu Yuan, who
drowned in the river. The traditional holiday is also a time to
perform rituals for good fortune and prosperity, and to ward
off evil spirits. Over time, dragon boat racing evolved into what
it is today: a global sport that draws in millions of athletes and
spectators every year.
The Toronto-based Dragons Abreast team stands out at
this regatta for a few reasons. For one, its 79-member roster
includes paddlers who range in age from 30 to 93. Prior to
joining Dragons Abreast, some members
hadn’t been part of a sports team since
childhood and wouldn’t have described
themselves as particularly athletic.
And what has brought these women
together is something that none of them
expected—living with breast cancer.
BREAST CANCER IS THE SECOND MOST
common cancer in Canada, with one in
eight women diagnosed in their lifetime.
Most breast cancer patients will have
had either a lumpectomy to excise the
tumour or a mastectomy to remove the
entire breast. If the cancer has spread,
they may also undergo an axillary lymph
node dissection, where the lymph nodes
near the armpits are removed. Up until
a few decades ago, people living with
breast cancer were told to avoid physical
activity, especially anything that involved
strenuous and repetitive upper body
movement, because it was thought that
exercise could cause lymphedema. This
chronic condition, which has no cure,
is characterized by swelling of the arms
and hands caused by lymph fluid that
can’t drain due to the surgical removal
of lymph nodes, or damage by radiation.
In 1996, Don McKenzie, a sports medi-
cine physician and professor in the fac-
ulty of kinesiology at the University of
British Columbia, launched a study to
challenge the exercise-lymphedema con-
nection. He recruited 24 volunteers, all
with a history of breast cancer, to par-
ticipate in a six-month-long dragon boat
program. With its focus on paddling—
which requires intense, repetitive upper
body movement—the sport was the per-
fect vehicle to test out his hypothesis:
that exercise didn’t cause lymphedema
and would, in fact, be beneficial to sur-
vivors. At the time, it was a bold experi-
ment filled with unknown risks—and it
paid off. There were no new cases of
lymphedema among the women, sev-
eral of whom reported improved range
of motion in their shoulders and better
mental health. The group made its debut
as Abreast in a Boat at Vancouver’s 1996
dragon boat festival, officially becoming
the world’s first breast cancer survivor
dragon boat team.
McKenzie’s study was hugely influ-
ential in setting a new course for breast
cancer recovery. Since then, there have
been several more studies recognizing

41
Dragon boat is a sport that anyone can participate in,
no matter their age or athletic ability. The Dragons Abreast
team includes women in their 90s who are still paddling.

42
Anne Melmer, 71, has been part of Dragons Abreast since 2000. Her cancer
reoccured in 2021, and she has just finished treatment. This sequin baseball cap
is one of three that she rotates through. It’s decorated with souvenir pins from
the team’s travels to different countries over the years: Italy, Hungary, Bahamas.

43
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
Flo Zeitz cheers on her teammates. “Support is really
important,” says Dragons Abreast founder Eleanor
Nielsen. “We don’t talk about breast cancer all the time,
but support is there if somebody needs it.”
that exercise doesn’t cause lymphedema, and that it can actu-
ally reduce the amount of lymphedema that patients experi-
ence over time. Further research has shown that dragon boat-
ing offers survivors improved heart function, the benefits of
community and improved quality of life.
The breast cancer survivors on this team are in the same
boat in every way. For many, being part of a community that
knows intimately how life changes after breast cancer is as ben-
eficial as the physical gains. The team offers a supportive space
to navigate all the complexities of survivorship, from regain-
ing confidence post-treatment to remembering those who’ve
passed on with a flower ceremony.
“I was so surprised at how emotional racing was for me,”
says Liz Johnston Hill, the race coordinator for Dragons
Abreast. “It’s almost overwhelming how people encourage
you, no matter what.” Today, there are more than 310 teams
from 37 countries that are part of the International Breast Can-
cer Paddlers’ Commission—and 50 of them are from Canada.
WHEN DRAGONS ABREAST FOUNDER
Eleanor Nielsen, now 85, was diagnosed
in 1989 with stage two breast cancer, she
underwent chemotherapy and a mastec-
tomy, and had her lymph nodes removed.
Back then, her doctors advised her to
avoid using her surgical side. “I was told
I shouldn’t vacuum and carry groceries,”
she recalls. “There was a whole pile of
things I shouldn’t do.” While working at
the Canadian Cancer Society to help grow
and promote their programs, Nielsen
attended a conference in Vancouver,
where she met members from the origi-
nal Abreast in a Boat team. “When I came
home, I asked my husband, ‘Should I start
a team in Toronto?’”
That led to the formation of Dragons
Abreast in 1997. Now in its 26th season,
the team has welcomed more than 300
women and men living with breast can-
cer onto the boat. Together, they’ve trav-
elled the world to compete in places like
Panama, Australia and Italy. In celebra-
tion of the team’s 25th anniversary last
year, they paddled through Ontario’s
Trent-Severn Waterway over six days
to raise $38,000 for the Breast Cancer
Support Fund, a nonprofit providing
financial assistance to patients in need.
In 2021, Nielsen co-authored Internation-
ally Abreast: Exercise as Medicine, which
documents the history and rise of breast
cancer dragon boat paddling across the
world. She summarizes why the sport is
integral to many survivors with a quote
from McKenzie: You aren’t racing against
each other; you’re racing cancer.
TODAY AT THE REGATTA, DRAGONS
Abreast members rest up at their tent.
Lounging in camping chairs, the women
chat and joke, passing around home-
made baked goods, frozen orange slices
and pretzel twists. Pink is everywhere:
the fuchsia Dragons Abreast logo, the
light-pink breast cancer awareness rib-
bons, hot-pink tutus and manicures, and
one member’s glittering sequin baseball

44
cap adorned with pins collected from international regattas.
It’s not hard to spot a breast cancer team, but for many of the
women, the signs of their growing cancer were far stealthier.
For Akaash Singh, 55, it was dryness around her nipple.
Her first mammogram was clear, and Singh, who works in the
pharmaceutical industry, just continued on with her demand-
ing career. “I saw the changes, but they were so gradual,” she
says. “We know to look for lumps, but we don’t necessarily look
for skin changes or associate that with cancer.” Within a year,
the symptoms progressed to redness around the areola and an
inverted nipple. And they weren’t going away. Singh went back
to her doctor and was immediately recommended to a surgeon,
who felt a lump in her milk duct. The biopsy came back positive
for cancerous growth. Following Singh’s localized stage three
diagnosis in 2012, she underwent a full mastectomy with lymph
node dissection the day before her 45th birthday.
Singh joined Dragons Abreast after she finished treatment in
2014, and is now the organization’s chair. Before her diagno-
sis, she considered exercise to be secondary to work. “I never
really took that time for myself to keep my body healthy,” she
says. Dragon boating has helped Singh reprioritize her health.
“I’m not a morning person, yet I would get up at five if I had a
regatta that day.” she says. “Something I wouldn’t do for any-
thing else in my life.”
As the medical director of the After Cancer Treatment Transi-
tion clinic at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, Carol Towns-
ley stresses the importance of physical activity with all of her
patients. It’s now standard to integrate physical activity into a
recovery plan, from light stretching all the way to more rigorous
sports like dragon boat, depending on the patient’s baseline fit-
ness and comfort level. “Breast cancer survivors are on drugs
like tamoxifen or letrozole, which are estrogen blockers, and
these drugs can have a lot of muscle or joint side effects,” she
says. “There’s a lot of evidence that being active minimizes the
side effects of these medications so [patients] can stay on them
longer, which, in turn, decreases their chance of recurrence.”
In Townsley’s experience, patients who participate in group
sports like dragon boating have better outcomes because of
their camaraderie and dedication. “One of the things that I’ve
found as a clinician is that the passion patients have for dragon
boating is unique,” she says. “If we can look for anything in
sports or exercise, sticking with it and enjoying it is key.”
SHELAGH TYREMAN’S SOPRANO VOICE RANG SHARP AND
clear as she sang the national anthem at the regatta. When
the music stopped, her Dragons Abreast teammates burst into
applause—a familiar sound to the 60-year-old classical musi-
cian. She began her training as a pianist, later switching to
opera singing. After performing all over the world, from Notre
Dame to the Vatican, Tyreman is now a teacher and the music
“You don’t want to
disappoint your
teammates, so you
work hard to learn
the strokes properly
and be an active
participant,” says
race coordinator
Liz Johnston Hill.
“You’re giving up on
everyone if you
give up on yourself.
These ladies have
been through a lot—
they can really
power through.”

BESTHEALTHMAG.CA 45
director for St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Brampton,
Ont. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and com-
pleted treatment that same year, after a lumpectomy, six
months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation. But in
2019, she had a gut feeling that something was off. After hav-
ing multiple clear mammograms and ultrasounds over the
next three years, Tyreman’s fears were confirmed: a recur-
rence. Although she’s in active treatment again, dragon boat
practice is still part of her weekly routine. “Every time I have
an appointment, the doctors tell me, ‘Whatever you do, keep
paddling because it just keeps you so strong and fit.’”
When Tyreman was first diagnosed, she kept her condition
private and didn’t meet with any support groups. “I just couldn’t
at that time,” she says. “I felt very private about my diagnosis.”
Now, she credits Dragons Abreast for helping her face the sec-
ond round. “I felt so betrayed by my body because I did every-
thing I was supposed to and you just want to move on with

46
“You’re at the mercy of this disease, and it’s very trying on
your body and on your spirit,” says Akaash Singh (centre).
“Dragon boat is a means of taking back some control.”

BESTHEALTHMAG.CA 47
your life,” she says. “Paddling has given
me not only physical strength but belief
in the power of myself, of my soul, of who
I am.” Even when Tyreman feels nause-
ated from taking her oral chemotherapy
drugs, being out on the water and with
her teammates is healing. “I know that if
I’m having a rough day because of some-
thing to do with breast cancer, there’s
about 40 to 60 people I can talk to,” she
says. “I’m not alone anymore.”
Angela Fong, an assistant professor at
the School of Kinesiology at the Univer-
sity of Michigan and the Rogel Cancer
Center, agrees that dragon boating is a
valuable way for patients to bond. (She
has studied how participation in dragon
boat teams affects breast cancer survi-
vors.) After-practice socials, time spent
mastering techniques and the competi-
tive nature of racing help people move
on from their diagnosis. “They see them-
selves as survivors, but they also see
themselves as athletes,” she says. “This
additional social time allows them to talk
and process that whole experience.”
Tyreman stepped into a dragon boat
for the first time seven years after her
initial diagnosis. In 2019, she saw on
Facebook that Dragons Abreast was hav-
ing an open house to recruit new mem-
bers and jumped at the chance. “I was
finally ready to do something publicly
about being a breast cancer survivor,”
she says. Although she had never paddled
before, Tyreman knew that she wanted to
seek out the community. “I was looking at
all these strong breast cancer survivors,”
she says. “I thought, I’m ready to meet
them and maybe be one of them.”
AFTER A LONG DAY OF RACING, THE
members of Dragons Abreast proudly
sport tangles of gold medals and bright-
pink ribbons around their necks as they
pose triumphantly for a group photo.
In dragon boat racing, the difference
between winning and losing can come
down to less than a tenth of a second. For
the team that day, it was a win by 0.13
seconds. But the paddlers insist they had
already won before they ever stepped
into the boat. “You learn so much from
all of these incredible women,” says
Singh. “It not only makes you a bet-
ter dragon boater, it also makes you a
stronger person, and more comfortable
in your skin.”
Exercising in a group has strong psychological benefits.
Racing and goal-setting gives survivors something to focus
on other than their cancer and recovery. For many on the
team, dragon boat is a key part of their self-care routine.

BY SANAM ISLAM
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
CORNELIA LI
As millennials and Gen Z
embrace therapy-speak and
establish limits, their parents
might wonder what’s going on.
Here’s how to find family peace
by setting—and respecting—
firm boundaries.

50 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2023
THE CONCEPT OF PERSONAL BOUNDARIES
isn’t new: The term first started gaining traction
in the psychology and self-help field in the 1980s.
It can relate to the limits and rules we set for our-
selves within relationships—to safeguard our emo-
tions and our time—and it can also mean assert-
ively communicating your needs when it comes
to healthy and balanced interactions with others.
And, recently, boundary-setting has gone viral,
with countless Instagram reels, TikToks, articles
and books filling our media landscape as what’s
called “therapy-speak” infiltrates popular culture.
Going to therapy has been increasingly normal-
ized and destigmatized, whether that’s from scenes
in mainstream TV shows (The Sopranos, Couples
Therapy, Shrinking) or the fact that a large number
of us sought out mental-health support during the
pandemic. Many millennial and Gen Z adults lucky
enough to have access to affordable therapy con-
sider it a fundamental way to take care of their emo-
tional health and general well-being, without any
of the hangups that earlier generations might have
had. They can converse about therapy and mental
health in fluent terms, casually trading therapist
recommendations and waitlist tips with peers.
But when younger family members advocate for
firm boundaries or drop therapy-speak into con-
versation, loved ones from other generations might
still bristle, or even characterize it as self-indulgent
or sanctimonious. We turned to the experts to
unpack the trend and explain why there seems to
be a generation gap.
Melissa Urban, author of The Book of Boundar-
ies: Set the Limits That Will Set You Free, strongly
believes that learning to enforce healthy boundar-
ies is a skill that can benefit all of us. She says the
pandemic underscored the value of recognizing
and setting limits.
“We realized—especially working moms—that
work and home and school and kids and relation-
ships and household management all bled together
in a way that they had never done before,” says
Urban. “We desperately needed boundaries in order
to protect our time and energy, our mental health
and our capacity.”
But a cultural shift was already underway before
the pandemic hit, Urban says, as many of us learned
more about advocating for healthy relationships
(whether in the home or the workplace). Movements
such as #MeToo influenced many women, espe-
cially, to take a hard look around, to speak up more
often about social justice issues and to feel more con-
fident assessing and vocalizing what is unacceptable.
“Now they are asserting themselves in terms of
taking responsibility for their own needs and feel-
ings, and expressing those—in part—in the form of
boundaries,” says Urban. “I think all of this has
been fuelled in a really good way by the connec-
tivity of social media.” People who have grown up
online tend to find speaking to a general audience
less vulnerable than talking to someone in their
own life, she adds. It can feel easier for them to tell
TikTok about their mental-health struggles than it
can be to tell their own parents.
Social media algorithms have also played a role.
Once someone is interested in a topic—such as
boundaries—they’ll start to see more content about
the same topic on their feeds, Urban adds. And the
more they become a part of these online commu-
nities and see others destigmatizing certain topics
and offering support, the more they feel empow-
ered to take action.
But there’s a problem: The boomers in their life
are not always on the same page (or fed the same
algorithms). If a millennial tells an older family
member, for example, that their behaviour is over-
stepping or too demanding, that family member
may respond that the millennial is unappreciative
of their efforts or is acting selfish. Gen Xers tend
to fall somewhere in between, with some leaning
more toward a millennial mindset and others iden-
tifying with the older generation. What’s clear is
that differing expectations—whether it’s about time
spent together, grandparenting roles, finances or
input on life choices—can leave everyone feeling
frustrated and hurt.
Take Sarah Jennings.* From the time she was a
child, she found that her mother was over-involved
in her life, with those very blurry boundaries con-
tinuing as she grew into adulthood. But, she says,
she never addressed it until she was in her late 40s
and a busy mom of three. During that time, her
boomer mother’s expectations about receiving
a phone call every day—as well as her habit of mak-
ing daily unannounced visits to her family home—
became too difficult to ignore.
“It caused problems in my marriage. My husband
was like, ‘Why is your mother here again?’” says Jen-
nings. “But when she doesn’t get her way, she pouts
and there are temper tantrums.”
Eventually, Jennings stopped the daily calls, and
in retaliation, her mom gave her the silent treatment
for a while. Jennings also moved a few towns away,
which made those unplanned visits less frequent.
Janet Setrakian,* a baby-boomer grandmother in
her early 70s with adult daughters in their 30s and
40s, also clashes frequently with her kids when it
comes to setting boundaries. She believes this
is mostly due to social class divides: how she grew
up (with financial instability, as the oldest daughter
*NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED.

51
BESTHEALTHMAG.CA
upper-middle-class people, they may be of little value
to people who experience more financial struggles,
like her relatives. “Yes, the tensions are there, but
these families are not spending a lot of mental energy
on boundaries,” she says. “And so many people can’t
afford therapy like this. Even if they did, I doubt that
‘boundaries’ would be on the top of their list of trau-
mas to mitigate,” she adds.
The reality, she says, is that many families need
one another in order to survive: “They’re relying on
family connections for childcare, or short-term help
with cash, or emergency housing.”
Setrakian admits that her skepticism over the
importance of boundaries is likely consistent
with others in her generation. “I realize that this
response looks like a typical defensive boomer per-
spective,” she says. “And yes, ‘therapy-speak’ is a
total turnoff to me.” But, she adds, she can’t shake
the perspective that there are much bigger prob-
lems in the world to focus on than pop-psychology
self-improvement tips.
Why the generations don’t see eye to eye
“When older generations were children—if they
were raised in authoritarian households—their
born to a single mom raising five kids) versus how
she raised her daughters (solidly middle-class, in a
university-educated nuclear family of four).
While her adult millennial daughters want her to
accept, in general, that it’s okay to put yourself first
and be assertive about what you need in your life—
and what you don’t have the capacity to tolerate—
Setrakian finds that difficult to put into practice,
especially when it comes to long-standing family
dynamics with her financially insecure adult sib-
lings. It would seem cold-hearted to avoid or cut
out problematic relatives, she says, or even just
to choose not to spend holidays or vacations with
them: She’s had a lifetime of learning to accommo-
date or work around the challenges of family mem-
bers with frequent marital drama, mental-health and
substance-use issues and unpredictable life decisions.
To her, this is what family means: always being there
for each other, even if it’s a rollercoaster. Meanwhile,
her adult daughters argue that it isn’t healthy for her
to constantly absorb and oblige her siblings’ prob-
lems, and urge her to prioritize some stress-free lei-
sure time apart from her extended family.
Setrakian points out that while so-called “healthy”
boundaries might be top of mind for educated,

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