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The 12 Best and Worst Foods to Eat When You’re Sick

Cold and flu season is upon us again. Need help finding the foods and drinks that’ll speed your recovery and get you back on your feet? We take care of that.

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The 5 Best Foods For Fighting a Cold

Popsicles help you take in fluids—important—and help numb down a sore throat.

Doing battle with a cold means taking in plenty of fluids and as many phlegm-fighting foods as you can. Here are some of the best choices.

Popsicles The name of the game is hydration. While you’re usually better to eat your fruit than drink it, popsicles provide convenient relief when you’re sore and congested. Buy the ones made from 100-percent whole fruit—or, better yet, make your own.
Broth-based soups At Vancouver’s popular Solly’s Deli, chicken soup’s nom de guerre is “Jewish penicillin.” Small wonder: Chicken contains an amino acid called cysteine, which thins mucus in the lungs. And hot broth fights throat inflammation and keeps nasal passages moist.
Citrus fruits While vitamin C isn’t a magic bullet, it aids in reducing the length and strength of colds. An added benefit: lemons and limes, oranges and grapefruits contain flavonoids, which improve immune system function.
Hot tea Take advantage of the natural anti-bacterial properties of tea. We’re fond of a green tea or hot water with lemon—besides soothing the throat, they keep you hydrated when you’re down for the count.
Spicy foods Hot foods can make our noses run and our eyes water, which is why they’re effective decongestants. Eating chili peppers, wasabi, and horseradish—not all at once!—can light a fire under the body’s natural clearing-out process.

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The 3 Best Foods For a Stomach Flu

Bland and dense with nutrients, bananas are a boon to the sick.

Bananas Sweating, vomiting, or diarrhea visit the stricken, and all deplete your stores of potassium. Bananas replace it. They’re easy to digest, and replenish lost electrolytes.
Ginger Ginger is a great help in preventing and soothing nausea. Ginger tea or ginger ale—served flat to avoid bubble trouble (i.e., carbonation discomfort)—will keep you hydrated and on an even keel.
Dry toast, crackers Plain, unsalted, or lightly salted crackers and toast are simple, bland foods that go easy on the stomach, promoting digestion and recovery when a flu has you in its grips.

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The 4 Worst Foods for a Stomach Flu

Pickled jalapenos—yikes. Avoid the acid and spice until you’re feeling better..

Acidic & spicy foods While spicy foods are great decongestants, they can be hard on the stomach. Same goes for fruit from the citrus family, which can irritate sensitive stomachs. See “bananas,” above.
Sweet snacks Sugary foods can suppress the immune system and cause inflammation. Though it’s tempting to treat yourself when you’re feeling low, leave the milkshake or chocolate sundae until you’re feeling better.
Fatty foods Don’t make your gut do double duty. Forgo the burgers and fries in favour of foods that are easier to digest, like simple carbohydrates and proteins.
Dairy products Whether dairy causes greater congestion or simply mimics the sensation is open to debate. Perhaps, though, the point is moot. If the feeling thicker mucus bothers you, it can’t hurt to avoid milk products while you’re sick.

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Meet Johnny Reid at London Drugs in Calgary!

Johnny Reid Adds Stop at London Drugs to his “What Love Is All About” Canadian Tour

Johnny Reid is showing London Drugs customers what love is all about. The chart-topping, multi-platinum selling artist has added an autograph signing stop at London Drugs Brentwood Village Shopping Center to his national tour.

Date: Saturday February 27
Time: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Location: London Drugs – Brentwood Village Shopping Center
(3630 Brentwood Rd NW, Calgary)
Details: The first 300 people in line will receive a wrist band to meet Johnny Reid. Limit one autograph per person.

Widely known for his energetic stage performances and talent for finding the grandeur in the highs and lows of everyday life, Reid’s latest album, What Love is All About (now available at London Drugs) has received a JUNO Nomination for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year. The first single on the album, A Picture of You, has earned 28 Canadian Country Music Association Awards and four Juno Awards.

Reid has performances in Calgary at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium starting February 25^th. Watch him live from the Jubilee anytime by purchasing Johnny Reid: Live at the Jubilee on Blu-ray and DVD at London Drugs.

What’s new in taxes for 2015

turbo-tax-taxes-2015

By Jennifer Gorman, TurboTax. Originally posted to the TurboTax Blog

Over the past few months numerous changes to the current tax system have been announced. Although most new laws announced in December by the Federal Government do not affect this year’s filings, there are a few previously announced changes that apply to tax year 2015.

Child Care Maximums Raised

For tax year 2015, the cap on child care deductions has been raised. For each child who is eligible for the Disability Tax Credit, the deduction limit is now $11,000. The child care deduction limit for a child who is under seven years of age at the end of the year is now $8,000. Parents of children born between 1999 and 2008 can now claim up to $5,000 in childcare expenses.

Refundable Children’s Fitness Credit

Tax year 2014 saw the doubling of the Children’s Fitness Credit from $500 to $1000. For 2015 returns, eligible children’s fitness fees are now refundable up to $1000. The deduction has moved from the non-refundable credits schedule 1 to the T1 General refund/balance owing section. This is great news for parents, especially those who may have previously not seen the tax benefit from such expenses. Individuals who have enough deductions to bring their tax owing to zero will now receive a refund of their children’s fitness fees. In past years, if your tax owing was zero, the credit was wasted.

Enhanced Universal Child Care Benefit

The initial change to the UCCB came last July when all parents with children under 18 began receiving monthly benefits. Part two of the enhanced UCCB program will be seen on your tax return. In previous years, a non-refundable credit named the “amount for children” was granted to parents. The credit was worth $2,255 per child under 18. That credit is no longer available.

Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption on QFFP

For qualified farm or fishing properties (QFFP) disposed of after April 20, 2015, the lifetime capital gains exemption has risen from $813,600 to $1,000,000. Because capital gains are taxed at a 50% rate, this translates to a bottom line difference of $93,200 for claiming lifetime capital gains on QFFP only. Qualified small business shares not related to farming or fishing remain unchanged.

Small Business Job Credit

Employment Insurance premiums are paid by both employers and employees. If you are the owner of a small business and have employees, you may see a refund of a portion of the Employment Insurance premiums you pay as an employer. The Small Business Job Credit applies to small businesses whose employer share of EI premiums is less than $15,000 annually. It translates to 39 cents per $100 of insurable earnings. There’s no application for the credit; CRA will do the math for you based upon the T4’s submitted for your employees. If you are entitled to a refund of EI premiums, you will automatically receive either a direct refund or the amount will be applied to any outstanding balance in your business’s payroll account.

TurboTax makes it easy for you to get your taxes done by staying up to date on all the latest tax credits and deductions, so you don’t have to. To learn more about the tax law changes that took effect on January 1, 2016 and don’t impact your 2015 taxes, click here.

About Jennifer Gorman

Jennifer is a tax expert with more than 20 years experience helping Canadians. She enjoys holding yearly seminars in her hometown in Newfoundland to teach seniors and students how to use TurboTax to prepare their own returns.

LD Picks: How to Get the Sleep You Deserve

How much sleep did you get last night? If you’re like many Canadians, it wasn’t enough. Research shows that 30% of us get fewer than 6 hours of sleep a night, with 47% reporting at least occasional insomnia. Rather than pursuing a better night’s sleep, many of us simply pour an extra cup of coffee and soldier on. Luckily, there are easy steps that you can take to combat poor sleep so you’ll wake up with the energy you need to take on the day.
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WATCH: 7 More Short Films That Will Delight Your Kids

These Canadian short films will entertain your kids, make them smarter, and give adults a guilt-free hour to talk after dinner. Simply deputize a helper to hit “play” and “full screen,” and get back to the grownup table! (Don’t miss our original post: 8 Amazing Short Films That Will Delight Your Children.)

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The Sweater Ah, an archetypal tale of Canadian identity. Anyone who loves a hometown team can imagine the distress when, instead of a beloved Montreal Canadians jersey, a boy receives a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater in error. Narrated by Roch Carrier, who based the 1979 story on boyhood experiences in rural Quebec.

New Year, New You: How To Set Smart 2016 Goals

Let’s be clear: Resolutions are so 2015. Forbes estimates that just 8% of us manage to keep our New Year’s resolutions. What’s the point?

We’d like to encourage you to set goals, instead. And not just any goals; we want you to set SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. It’s a great way to break a seemingly impossible goal into steps that will have you living your dreams in no time. Here’s how to get started.

What Do You Want To Do?

Maybe you want to stop smoking, eat healthier or get more exercise. Maybe you want to spend more time with your kids, get a new job or get organized. Maybe you want to totally reboot your life.

Start by picking one thing to focus on. It’s easier to keep motivated when you have a single purpose. If you have many goals, assign each a month for individual focus. This builds habits that support your goals and prevents your getting overwhelmed.

Getting Specific

So, you have your dream goal—now it’s time to get specific. Many resolutions fail because they are vague aspirations instead of concrete steps. Say you’ve decided to start exercising. Next decide on a specific metric for success. Whether it’s completing a couch-to-5K program or 30-day yoga challenge, make sure it’s possible to check the task off as “Done.”

Measure Your Success

Ask yourself, What does success look like? Sometimes it’s clear—if you want a new job, success means signing that new employment contract. Sometimes it’s opaque. Figure out how you are going to quantify success. Having a clear vision will motivate you. So will crossing off each step to your final goal.

Ambitious…Yet Achievable

It’s exciting to take on a big goal, but you have to set yourself up for success. A modest goal, achieved, trumps a grand one, unfulfilled. If you haven’t seen the inside of a gym in a year, completing a triathlon will be too much to accomplish by April. Set your sights on completing a local fun run first, then take aim at the Ironman.

Relevant…To You

Is your motivation genuine? Sometimes, we work to achieve things because we think we should—not because we need to. Choose goals that delight you in the process, not only the destination. Never be cowed if others think your goal unworthy. When it matters to you, it matters.

Time Waits For No One

Goals are dreams with deadlines. A time limit sharpens your mind and allows you to plan the small steps to move you forward. A schedule aids overall SMARTness by forcing accountability and pragmatism.

5 Delightful Video Clips That Will Warm Your Winter Heart

We love winter—more so from indoors, at a distance. If the weather outside is frightful, why not warm yourself by watching some wonderful wintertime videos? And don’t forget to send us your faves, by tweeting to @LondonDrugs.

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1. “It’s kind of fun to play in the snow.”

Here's proof that if you find pure joy in the simple things you can live a 100 years.
Posted by Armand Foisy on Wednesday, November 18, 2015

When your mother lives to be 101, it’s important to keep the camera around. Armand Foisy was happy to catch his mother in this lighthearted moment, playing with snow. It’s a reminder to enjoy the simple things in life.

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2. “Now they know whose game they’re playing.”

Although the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games are six years gone, we’ll never forget this Coke advertisement and its confident statement—”Hockey is our game.” Our favourite part? When, after Canada took home both men’s and women’s gold, Coke replaced “Let’s make sure they know” with “Now they know.”

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3. “This bus driver deserves an award.”

Faith restored in humanity. This bus driver in Ottawa gets out his bus to help his passengers on board. 󾮞🏽󾮞🏽󾮞🏽󾮞🏽 it was…
Posted by Adriesca Julot on Tuesday, December 29, 2015

With Ottawa covered in snow this Christmas past, one bus driver made an extra effort to ensure all of his passengers made it safely aboard. After the video went viral on Facebook, the driver received an official commendation.

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4. “Keep blowing those bubbles, hon.”

A positive attitude does a lot for your happiness when winter temperatures hover around -45C. This Manitoba couple reminds us of the importance of both patience and play.

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5) “Thank you, Mom.”

Produced by P&G for the 2014 Winter Olympics, in Sochi, this video follows the journey of Olympic athletes, from the time they’re toddlers until their first Games. Warning: May cause tears and an intense desire to call your parents.

The 12 Best and Worst Foods to Eat When You’re Sick

The 5 Best Foods For Fighting a Cold

The 3 Best Foods For a Stomach Flu

The 4 Worst Foods for a Stomach Flu

Meet Johnny Reid at London Drugs in Calgary!