Dr Carla Prado is a Professor at the University of Alberta, a Director of the Human Nutrition, Program Chair, and named one of Canada’s Top 100 most powerful women. She is the wife of a former colleague, and the inspiration behind a new cookbook. The cookbook is FREE. The story behind it is priceless.
New To Canada
Carla stepped out of the airport in Edmonton on March 2, 2004. She couldn’t breathe. Originally from Brazil, Prado had never experienced a temperature colder than 22 C. On that day in Edmonton, it was -20 C.
“I want to go home,” she told her husband, Leandro.
She stayed and arrived at the University of Alberta with no position, or funding. So she relied on her passion, prayer, and hard work. She caught her break when a grant came through and years later she is a distinguished nutrition and metabolism researcher who runs her own lab.
Nutrition
The High Protein Cookbook For Muscle Health During Cancer Treatment. That’s a long title with equally deep value. Carla and her associates combined two of their passions: nutrition and serving their community.
Nutrition is powerful! It can be used to help people—including those with cancer—live longer with better health.
Where Did The Cookbook Idea Come From?
Carla was inspired to initiate this project in 2017 during a visit to Dr. Aoife Ryan’s laboratory at the University College Cork in Ireland. At that time, Dr. Ryan gave her a copy of her first cookbook for people with cancer, titled: Good Nutrition for Cancer Recovery. Carla was not only in awe of the quality of the book but, above all, her vision and initiative to create this nutritional educational resource for patients.
Her cookbook was focused on high protein and high calorie recipes for those experiencing cancer-induced weight loss. As many of the patients we were working with in Canada would benefit from high protein but normal calorie recipes, she decided to adapt her idea to meet their needs. The aim was to increase protein intake for muscle health (prevent muscle loss and promote muscle gain) but without higher calorie recipes.
The world is small. Carla recruited my friend, Julie Rohr, who was battling cancer. Julie immediately volunteered to serve as the graphic designer. When you look through the cookbook you’ll see how Julie’s layout designs bring the recipes and photos to life.
Why Focus on Protein
While treating cancer and exercising are important for muscle health, nutrition is an
essential piece of the puzzle because it supplies the nutrients and substances we need to build muscle. This includes protein, which is the main building block of muscle.
This cookbook is particularly focused on muscle health, which is related to the amount and type of protein in our diets. People with cancer need more protein than those who are healthy, and animal. protein sources are particularly important for building muscle mass; these include, among others, beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, and cheese. Our High Protein Cookbook for Muscle Health During Cancer Treatment includes 66 high protein recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to help patients increase their protein intake for muscle health.
Carla says, “This non-profit cookbook is our gift to you. We hope this is distributed to thousands of patients; we have published this cookbook as a freely downloadable resource to achieve this goal. Enjoy the delicious recipes and beautiful pictures we have selected, and we hope that this book serves as a constant reminder that Muscle Matters.”
Honours
Persistence is one of the things that defines her. She does things in a different way, and she rarely takes no for an answer. “Some may call it stubbornness, I call it vision and passion.”
In 2019, Carla was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. The award celebrates exceptional young visionaries and innovators in all sectors of society. Two years later Prado was named to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists in recognition of her early career accomplishments.
On October 19, 2022 she was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Powerful Women. 
Get your FREE copy of the Cookbook here.
Dr. Carla Prado
Professor, University of Alberta
Director, Human Nutrition
Research Unit
Campus Alberta Innovation
Program Chair in Nutrition, Food and Health
Please leave a comment from Dr Carla below. Thank you.
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