Latest news with #MacEwanUniversity
CTV News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Mini-music program offered for emerging artists with ‘big dreams': MacEwan University
A look inside the studio at MacEwan University in Edmonton on August 7, 2025. The summer program is offered for two weeks. (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton) Big dreams are a prerequisite for a two-week summer music program for emerging artists – from songwriters to producers – according to the workshop director at MacEwan University in Edmonton. The TD Music Artist in Residence program welcomed 18 Alberta artists to live on campus for two full weeks to learn about the music industry through a series of workshops and how to stand out as an artist in a 'noisy market.' 'Everybody's immersed in this creative environment for two weeks,' Olivia Street with MacEwan University told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday. 'Ultimately, the artists walk out of here with a fully produced demo of a new song, lots of songwriting opportunities, and even a performance at the end.' Street said the 'crash course' offers a chance for the artists to connect, form relationships with other members, and hopefully develop a lasting community of artists in the province. 'We're all kind of collaborating and we're all sort of part of that bigger musical community,' Street said, adding that the program instructors include faculty from the regular school year and working musicians in the community. MacEwan University music program Mustafa Fad, artist name Moto, works on recording a song as part of the TD Music Artist in Residence program at MacEwan University on August 7, 2025. (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton) Mustafa Fad, who goes by the artist name Moto, is a singer-songwriter in Edmonton and he is taking part in this year's program after 10 years in the music industry. 'I saw the opportunity and I was very excited to expand my knowledge within not just the music industry, but the background of the music industry and information that I wouldn't get to hear about every day from experts within the community.' Fad said classes start at 8:30 a.m. and each day is 'packed with classes,' where he has learned about royalties and rights, grant writing and applications, and meeting other artists. His advice for others thinking about the program is to 'go for it.' 'It will be very beneficial. You won't regret it in the least bit,' he said, adding that he recently released an EP called Hello Moto and hopes to release an album in the future. 'It's an amazing program and I'm excited to have the opportunity to … experience it.' MacEwan University music program A two-week music program is offered at MacEwan University, allowing emerging artists to learn about the music business, record and perform music with a house band. This is a look inside the recording studio on August 7, 2025. (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton) The mini-program also teaches students about building a sustainable business during a difficult time for artists in the industry, according to Street. 'Part of the program is helping people realize how to monetize your art, how to find avenues to make it sustainable, so that you can still put food on the table, which is a growing challenge,' she said. Street explained that artists have to be 'everything' to find a foot in the industry, saying they have to be performers, managers, tour drivers, accountants and social media stars. 'This program allows folks to get their house in order when it comes to building a business that's sustainable and also keeping that art at the forefront.' TD Bank funds the program, which is in its fourth year. Street said funding was recently renewed allowing them to continue the program for two more years. Applications for next year will open in January with the program running again in August next summer. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Cam Wiebe
CTV News
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Danielle Paradis & Bob Sumner
Edmonton Watch MacEwan University Associate Professor Danielle Paradis & Communications Consultant Bob Sumner take part in Alberta Primetime's Primetime This Week Panel
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dairy at bedtime could be affecting your sleep
People who have trouble sleeping are being urged to cut one dairy product from their bedtime routines. New studies have shown that consuming cheese could be causing disturbed sleep and frequent nightmares. Experts say they have found a strong link between getting nighttime terrors and having a form of lactose intolerance. Researchers questioned more than 1,000 students at Canada's MacEwan University about their sleep, eating habits, and any perceived tie between the two. Almost a third of those asked admitted to having regular nightmares with the majority of these respondents women. Females were also more likely to remember their dreams and nearly twice as likely as men to know that they had a food allergy or intolerance. 40 per cent of the students said they thought that eating late at night or eating specific foods had affected their sleep, while a quarter believed that consuming certain foods could make their sleep worse. The study found that people with less healthy diets were more likely to have bad dreams and less likely to remember their dreams. From comparing the data collated, the experts compared reports of food intolerances to those of bad dreams and poor sleep, and found that 'lactose intolerance was associated with gastrointestinal symptoms, nightmares, and low sleep quality'. Lead researcher Dr Tore Nielsen, who helped collate the findings from the University of Montreal, said: 'Nightmare severity is robustly associated with lactose intolerance and other food allergies. 'These new findings imply that changing eating habits for people with some food sensitivities could alleviate nightmares. They could also explain why people so often blame dairy for bad dreams. 'Nightmares are worse for lactose-intolerant people who suffer severe gastrointestinal symptoms and whose sleep is disrupted. This makes sense, because we know that other bodily sensations can affect dreaming.' Some 'grate' advice has been issued by top scientists who think they may have found the remedy to enjoying a peaceful night of slumber. Stomach pain from consuming dairy before laying down for the night plus gas during the night can affect sleep, researchers say, adding that the way to a getting a fully rested night could be as simple as cutting out cheese. Not consuming the dairy product could help improve sleep quality, which may already be disrupted thanks to a number of outside factors such as noise and light pollution or other health issues. Now, the authors are hoping to continue their studies to get a more in depth look at the impact certain foods have on our sleep quality. Nielsen added: 'We need to study more people of different ages, from different walks of life, and with different dietary habits to determine if our results are truly generalizable to the larger population.' The full findings have been published in journal Frontiers in Psychology.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Curious Connection: How Dairy Before Bed Could Haunt Your Sleep
A new study says eating dairy close to bedtime could result in more nightmares. Researchers in Canada say they have found a link between lactose intolerance and a higher likelihood of experiencing bad dreams. The takeaway: consider avoiding Gouda for a good night's sleep. The researchers believe that the distress dairy can cause to the stomach of some people can disrupt sleep, inducing more nightmares. 'The results we obtained confirmed our hypothesis that lactose intolerance is indeed predictive of disturbed dreaming and nightmares,' study co-author Russ Powell, a psychologist and professor emeritus at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, said to Gizmodo. This is not the first time dairy products, like cheese, have been linked to poor sleep. The same team behind the latest study previously published a survey that found around one in five participants reported experiencing odd dreams, which they attributed to consuming certain foods or eating late at night. Many of the participants specifically pointed to dairy as the culprit behind their bizarre dreams. Over 1,000 college students were surveyed for the latest research. Roughly 40% of participants reported that certain foods or late-night snacking affected their sleep, with 25% linking their diet to poor sleep. While only 5.5% of those surveyed this time around blamed foods for affecting their dreams, dairy was among the more common foods singled out. The researchers also say that people with self-reported lactose intolerance were linked to more severe nightmares and poorer sleep. 'It may be that GI distress, in comparison to other types of physical distress, has a particularly strong impact upon sleeping and dreaming. Menstrual cramping, for example, has also been shown to increase the likelihood of disturbed dreaming,' Powell explained. He also suspects that, because GI distress can be driven by ingesting poison, nightmares resulting from dairy might be a mechanism the body uses to alert itself in case of a medical emergency.
Tom's Guide
04-07-2025
- Health
- Tom's Guide
Cheese really could be giving you nightmares, new study says — here's why
If you've ever blamed a wild dream or horrifying nightmare on a cheese plate before bed, the latest research into food and dreams indicates you might be on to something. A new Canadian study has found that eating dairy (including cheese) is associated with nightmares. However, their research indicates that cheese-induced bad dreams are connected to one group in particular: those with lactose intolerance. Here, we're looking into the study findings, how exactly cheese might be contributing to nightmares for some people, and, because we know that diet can also impact our sleep for the better, we're sharing some foods you might want to consider for a healthy nighttime snack. (Hint: none of them are cheese!) While the theory of "cheese dreams" or nightmares induced by cheese has been around for a while, researchers behind a new study into the effect of food on our dreams note that there isn't a huge amount of research into the topic. While anecdotal accounts have long existed (like, they say, the spicy melted cheese toast causing nightmares in cartoonist Winsor McCay's early 20th Century drawings), real evidence was lacking. So, to further explore the relationship between what we eat, sleep and dreams a new study published in Frontiers in Psychology surveyed 1,082 psychology students at MacEwan University in Alberta, Canada about their eating habits and sleep, and their perceptions of how they are connected. The researchers were hoping to discover "whether specific foods influence dreams directly (food-specific effects), through physiological symptoms (food distress), or via altered sleep quality (sleep effects)." Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. In the study, 40% of participants reported that particular foods had an impact on their sleep, with around 25% saying certain foods made their sleep worse, and around 20% saying specific foods improved their sleep. Perceived culprits of bad sleep were: "Desserts/Sweets (22.7%), Spicy food (19.5%), and Dairy (15.7%)." Only 5.5% of participants reported that certain foods or eating late affected their dreams — which the researchers call "food dependent dreaming (FDD)." And, according to the results, "the perceived effect of food on dreams was associated with higher nightmare recall and Nightmare Disorder Index scores." Researchers looked at how particular foods affected dreams, and found that the respondents blamed desserts and sweets (31%) and dairy (22%) for disturbing changes to their dreams. Lactose intolerance was associated with gastrointestinal symptoms and nightmares While that indicates a slice of chocolate cake before bed might be worse than a chunk of cheese when it comes to nightmares, researchers also looked at the relationship between those with food allergies and the reports of bad sleep and disturbing dreams. They discovered that lactose intolerance was associated with gastrointestinal symptoms and nightmares, as well as poorer sleep. Additionally, researchers also found that healthy eating, including not eating at night, "predicted higher dream recall," while unhealthy eating "predicted nightmares and dream negativity." According to this study? It's people who are lactose intolerant that may find that eating dairy has the most significant negative impact on their dreams. Among the 5.5% of participants who said that foods affected their dreams, dairy came in second after sweets as the perceived cause of bad dreams, with participants claiming it induced "disturbing (22%) and bizarre (27%) dreams." However when they explored what participants had reported about food intolerances, bad sleep and nightmares in relation to one another, they found that "food sensitivities, particularly Lactose Intolerance" were contributors to the prevelance of nightmares. The study's results showed that the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms (which are commonly indigestion, bloating, heartburn or constipation) in those that were lactose intolerant, impacted nightmares. Nightmares are worse for lactose intolerant people However, it's not because dairy (like cheese) itself is directly causing nightmares. Instead, the results of the study suggest "dairy-induced gastrointestinal symptoms as one plausible basis for bizarre or disturbing dreams." 'Nightmares are worse for lactose intolerant people who suffer severe gastrointestinal symptoms and whose sleep is disrupted,' said the lead author of the research, Dr Tore Nielsen of Université de Montréal. While it's generally best to leave a few hours between eating and sleeping, there are some foods with melatonin and tryptophan that can aid your slumber. Here are three evening snacks to consider if you can't resist a late night bite. A handful of almonds in the evening could do wonders for your sleep. That's because they're rich in melatonin (the sleepy hormone), according to Northwestern Medicine. And, according to California Almonds, a 1oz serving provides 76mg of magnesium, (which can support deep, restorative sleep). One study even showed that sweet almonds reduced insomnia in students who ate 10 a day for two weeks. One benefit of warmer weather is the seasonal fruits it brings, and luckily, the likes of berries, kiwis and pineapple can all help with your sleep. Natural treats like strawberries and blueberries are sources of melatonin, while research has shown kiwis "may improve sleep onset, duration, and efficiency in adults with self-reported sleep disturbances." Pineapple also contains melatonin, as well as vitamin C, fiber and magnesium, meaning a few chunks are a welcome addition to an evening fruit salad. Oats, quinoa, brown rice, breads, tortillas and cereals are all healthy wholegrains that work for a healthy nighttime snack. While we wouldn't suggest having a heavy dish, consider something like a few wholegrain tortilla chips or oatcakes, or even some popcorn if you have a hunger pang in the evening. Why? Because wholegrains are "are a good source of phytonutrients, melatonin, and tryptophan. These nutrients have been shown to be important for quality sleep," Shelley Balls, MDA, RDN, LDN, a registered dietitian and nutritionist for Consumer Health Digest previously explained to us.
