Lust, gluttony and sloth: Canadian researchers explain the science of gravy cravings, sinful seconds and the deep but fitful sleep that follows Thanksgiving dinner

OTTAWA, October 8, 2013 – With the Thanksgiving long weekend only days away, many people are looking forward to the time-honoured family meal: mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce orbiting a roasted turkey. CFI-funded researchers are adding a garnish of science to the feast by explaining how our minds and bodies process the traditional glut of food and drink.

• Lisa Duizer at the University of Guelph is a flavour scientist who studies people’s perceptions of food. Duizer says the way people experience taste is heavily influenced by their memories and expectations. She can explain why the act of enjoying a roasted turkey is equal parts sensation and psychology.
• Hank Classen, a leading poultry scientist at the University of Saskatchewan, is developing the right nutritional balance in fowl feed, the optimal “day length” to keep barnyard birds awake and other environmental and nutritional requirements that will ensure the turkeys tabled this weekend are raised healthily and humanely. Classen is prepared to talk about how the latest research in poultry science will help you serve a succulent bird.
• To avoid the rush for second helpings of a tasty turkey, Angelo Tremblay, a Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity, Nutrition and Energy Balance at Université Laval, suggests diners take the time to fully chew each mouthful. He also recommends grazing throughout the day as a way of curbing the calorie bomb that is the Thanksgiving meal. Tremblay can offer a nutritional breakdown of the feast and discuss what people can do to burn off the expected extra pounds (or how to prevent them while still enjoying Thanksgiving dinner — a case of having your pumpkin pie and eating it too).
• At the University of Calgary, chronobiologist Michael Antle is experimenting with sleep/wake cycles to relieve shift workers and the jet-lagged from losing too much shut-eye. Antle explains the impact of the Thanksgiving meal — and accompanying drink — on the neurobiological rhythms of the brain and the science of why all that turkey, stuffing, beer and wine often results in one very bad night of sleep.

These are just a few angles CFI-funded researchers are prepared to discuss in advance of the Thanksgiving long weekend. For additional research story ideas, contact information for experts or insight into what is happening at the CFI, please click here or contact our media relations specialist listed below.

About the Canada Foundation for Innovation

The Canada Foundation for Innovation gives researchers the tools they need to think big and innovate. By investing in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment in Canada’s universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions, the CFI is helping to attract and retain the world’s top talent, to train the next generation of researchers, to support private-sector innovation and to create high-quality jobs that strengthen the economy and improve the quality of life for all Canadians. For more information, visit Innovation.ca.

Contact:

Michael Bhardwaj

Media Relations Specialist

Canada Foundation for Innovation

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Michael.bhardwaj@innovation.ca