Archive for category Children's Healthy Eating
Children & teeth … teeth and children
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on December 9, 2009
I have several fillings in my teeth and my husband has none! What a lucky man! Of course, I hate going to the dentist and always try to avoid the experience. The mere sound of the drill makes my skin crawl and my ears ring as I’m sure is the case with many moms. Just thinking about it makes me more determined to avoid the place more than ever.
Like all children, my children nag for sweets and tit-bits that they see other children eat. As a conscientious mum I try to avoid those things altogether. It is not that easy. Whenever we socialize they get sweets from someone. That’s life and we all know it.
My daughters – being women – are particularly fond of chocolate. Although they may choose other sweets off the shelves because they look colorful and fun, they always end up eating MY chocolate instead! In a recent survey women voted chocolate to be their ‘first love’. With statistics like that how can I possibly deprive my two little girls from this pleasure?
Of course I end up allowing them chocolate on a regular basis … followed by guilt and concern. I spend thousands on different types of healthy tit-bits in my effort to try and get them to like something healthier. It doesn’t work. For almost 4 years it didn’t work … how long does one bang your head against a brick wall?
But dental health is a real concern in the short and long term!
Just read this! “Chronic periodontal disease affects about 85% of the adult population!” (Dr Steven J. Smith D.D.S., P.C). This disease can affect the entire body through bacteria that is absorbed into the body via the mouth. In fact – any disease in the mouth can affect the whole body because it has a direct pathway into the bloodstream through inflamed tissue supporting the teeth. It was discovered that disease spread through the body in this way can even cause clotting in the blood increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke. The fact is … the mouth must be healthy or else a compromised systemic body health will result.
Recent studies have shown that people with healthy gums have shown to have higher levels of an antioxidant called ‘glutathione’ in their saliva. Glutathione is an antioxidant naturally produced by the body however supplementation will facilitate dental health and reduce the incidence of gum disease.
My eyes and ears were open when I came across articles and information on a product that contains an array of antioxidants, including natural bioavailable glutathione that supports the healthy functioning of the body … providing a long list of other benefits!
It was just the right product for us! Chocolate! It is crucial to know one thing though – not all chocolate is created equal … you need the right kind of chocolate.
My first question was: “What does it taste like?” and the second questions was: “Will my children like it?” Children do love good things and it turns out, my children love it! They can have chocolate every day now! No more guilt, no more fear, no more worries! The other benefits are amazing too.
My conclusion? God does love the world … he gave us chocolate.
www.healthychocolate.co.za
Starting Down the Path to Health & Wellness
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on December 9, 2009
What is the largest health epidemic affecting, not only the U.S.A., but the world today? Most would probably say Cancer or Heart Disease. The biggest epidemic is actually obesity and being overweight.
What is the difference between being overweight and being obese? Overweight: Individuals with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 25 to 29.9 are considered overweight. Obesity: Obesity refers specifically to having an abnormally high proportion of body fat. Individuals with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 30 or more are considered obese. Please check with a health care professional to determine your BMI.
Here are some disturbing statistics:
• Approximately 300,000 adult deaths in the United States each year are attributable to unhealthy dietary habits and physical inactivity.
• Nearly 70% of U.S. adults are overweight.
• Nearly 30% of U.S. adults are obese.
• An estimated 70 percent of diabetes risk in the U.S. can be attributed to being overweight.
• The percentage of children and adolescents who are defined as overweight has more than doubled since the 70s.
• In 1999-2000, over 10 percent of younger preschool children between ages 2 and 5 are overweight.
• Most bankruptcies, in the U.S.A., are due to unexpected medical emergencies.
What are some of the Health complications that come with being Overweight or Obese?
• Heart Disease
• Elevated Cholesterol
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Gallstones
• Sleep Apnea
• Reproductive Disorders
• Osteoarthritis
• Certain Cancers
• Muscular-Skeletal Pains
• Depression
What I am asking you to do is: Act as if you are going to suffer from one of the above mentioned health issues; which is not hard to do, since we already know that 1 out of 2 Americans will die from Heart Disease, 1 out every 3 Americans will die of Cancer!
These statistics are 5 to 20 times higher than the rest of the world, or even in this country 30 years ago.
There are many lifestyle choices that make these diseases so prevalent. High cholesterol, stress, lack of exercise, eating a diet high in saturated fat, and many other factors place you in pole position in the race to an early death.
If you could look into a crystal ball and see that your current life style choices were ultimately going to make you very ill or possibly kill you prematurely, would you continue on with your current habits? For some of you it depends on the habits. If you love sky diving, the joy may be worth the risk. But we all have some bad habits that we could give up without giving up much joy.
In other words, you may love eating, but do you really enjoy being overweight? The overall health risks associated from being grossly overweight, in my opinion, far out way the joy of over eating. You don’t have to give up eating; you just have to learn to eat the proper amounts. Most foods in the proper quantities are not that bad for you. In reality it is simply the consumption of too many and too much bad food that is bad. An occasional donut won’t kill you, but three a day every day just might.
The point is, it is important to live with the intention of having both quality and quantity. Regardless of you what you ultimately eat, the key to any type of wellness program is to find and achieve your ideal body weight. For some people getting back to a proper body weight may take a long time and some real pain. However, ultimately achieving and maintaining your proper body weight is an essential element to long term wellness.
Regardless of your weight issues, as a practical matter there are many things we can do to at least start down a path to greater wellness. For example, eating organically raised food, proper exercise, reducing or eliminating tobacco use, cutting down on the amount of saturated and trans fats in your diet, reducing or eliminating artificial sweeteners and utilizing less chemicals in your living environment.
The Ultra International Wellness Program is designed to start you down the path to greater health & wellness. The Mind super drink, the Body meal replacement and the Soul super food when taken together will provide your body the essential elements necessary to start finding improved levels of wellness. Working toward the proper weight and consuming the proper level of anti-oxidants, fruits, vegetables, vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients can’t guarantee you good health, but it certainly could help!
From a medical point of view, I can say, that the patients who have the most difficulty are the ones who are overweight or obese. There are always more health complications, like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, gall bladder problems etc… that have to be taken into consideration, when there is excess weight. This all adds up to higher medical costs and an extended treatment plan. The primary focus of any Wellness plan has to be proper weight management and it has to be done in such a manner that all nutritional requirements are being satisfied. Ultra International has done just that, a Wellness system that not only focuses around Weight Loss, but incorporates a nutritional foundation second to none.
Find any millionaire or anyone that has lost their health and ask them what they would pay to have it back. Without good health what will you have? God gave you a great machine known as your body. Please take care of it and make your decisions wisely. You only live once, and at some point, you won’t be able to get your health back.
As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
Please take the time to learn about these products at http://www.myui.com/lscg and how the first step to true Wellness begins with proper Weight Control, Nutrition and Exercise. Mind, Body & Soul,
Think it, Feel it, Live it!
Obesity and Children – an Unwanted Relationship
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on December 8, 2009
Weight loss is all about discipline. If you are to accomplish your goals in the activity of Weight loss and body building you have to set realistic goals and make sure that you devise and implement a feasible plan of accomplishing those goals. Your wok schedule can help you frame your weeks , months, years and days depending on how thorough you want to get down to it. Your schedule will also depend on the time frame that you have given to your weight loss endeavor. If you have to achieve your body building goals it will make sense to make sure that your schedule has a well planed daily, weekly and monthly work out schedule that will expedite the accomplishments of your set goals.
It is important to start your body building mission on the right footing. This means that you have to know what steps to follow; How to do what and when to do it. The feasible training schedules which will deliver success to you have to well be structured in a manner that can stimulate your body to conform to your work outs. Feasible training concepts acknowledge that one must lose fat prior or concurrently with the body building endeavors. Appropriate workouts stunts have to follow in the custom design of what muscle groups are targeted. This section covers these aspects of feasible training models.
In setting up your weekly Weight Lifting plan you have to write down your goals. This step is as must-do for everyone who is eyeing success in this discipline. Goal setting is very important and with goals set on your paper your will marshal your mind to corporate with you pace towards achieving your goals. What happens here with writing your goals down and committing to them to them is that when your mind takes the same side with you there will be no forfeiting of plans from your part and success is guaranteed. In designing your weekly Weight Lifting plan you need to select a Weight Lifting program that matches your goals. This is where again you need to be able to draw the line between weight loss, fat loss as well as muscle building objectives. If you are also looking forward to loosing a lot of fat you must not go for the kind of fat loss programs that promise a quick fix. The catch in this is that fast weight loss comes with undesirable muscle loss which will compound and frustrate your plans of building muscle when you have lost the unwanted fat.
Weight Lifting is indeed a discipline that calls for earnestness. Your objectives in your weekly Weight Lifting plan must be synchronized with everything that is entailed in the activity of weight lifting. This means that even your diet has to be brought to synch with your set goals and objectives to lose weight, build muscle and lift those mammoth weights. Obesity and children- an unwanted relationship
Obesity and children have a deep relationship however it is an unwanted relationship that needs to be broken. Today, many children are suffering from obesity. And the reason behind their overweight is the changing lifestyle of children of all age groups. Obesity is the root of many health disorders and medical troubles. Recent studies have shown that children, suffer over weight since they eat a lot of junk food items which has high calorie content and lack fibers. Obese children are more likely to host health troubles. It is also found in studies that children suffering obesity have chances to follow obesity in their adulthood as well.
If your child is obese then you need to be extra cautious. Obese children are more prone to catch problems like blood pressure, heart attack, asthma, depression, fatigue, sickness, lack of immunity and a lot more. To avoid such disorders and help your child remain healthy and fit, you need to break relationship of obesity and children.
How children put on weight and become obese –
1) Lack of nutritional food items- in our fast lifestyle, we do not pay much attention on healthy and nutrition rich food and this is the reason obesity is hosted by our bodies. No parents take care about nutritional value of food items and therefore their children remain unaware about nutrients rich food items. So, you must try to grasp as much knowledge about nutritional value of food items. There are a lot of magazines you could refer, visit health websites, read blogs, columns etc., refer to health guides, you could also buy good recipe books since they refer such things. This is not all; parents could also visit private dieticians, doctors, food experts and even health trainers. Such professionals deal with the science of food items and their nutritional count.
2) Lack of physical activities. Our daily lifestyles have changed. Now we are more concerned about our maximum comfort. And this is the reason that we all depend upon the electronic gadgets that make our life easier. Same applies to children also. Today, children play all games on their video games, play station or computers. Internet has completely transformed our lifestyle. Children are even attending their schools virtually over internet. Such reasons are responsible of children lacking physical activities. Since children are not performing exercises and other physical activities, they don’t burn fats ad, hence become obese. You must make efforts to encourage your children to perform workout. Ask them for exercises, take them out or send them to play outdoor games, tell them the importance of physical workout. You could also reduce their computer or video games usage.
3) Intake of fast food items- this is the main reason of children being, suffering from obesity. Today, children even cannot imagine their life without noodles, potato chips, pizzas, burgers, hot dogs and several other junk food items. Such food items lack in nutrition value. They only provide calories. Don’t allow your children to eat such food items.
Children and obesity are very common these days. However, obesity is major concern for health of children.
The Importance Of Nutrition For Parents & Children
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on December 8, 2009
You may have heard of first time parents who frantically sterilise everyone and everything that comes within a 10 mile radius of their baby, only to find their bundle of joy trying to eat dirt in the garden. What is within the parents control is the nutrition of their children at home and the education on food which they will take with them to the outside world.
A parent’s role in their child’s nutrition begins much earlier than most think. First and foremost know that we are what we eat, so be mindful of who you choose to have children with on all levels. Most of us understand the effects of hereditary illness, but foods and pollutants that a parent carry can cause damage to their children.
Three months of preconception care should be observed by both parents, it has been said that the soul of a child is here three months prior to conception. To help fertility and general well being, alcohol, tobacco, pollutants and stress should be avoided and vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and exercise increased. If these practises, as well as prayer, mediation, reading or relaxation time (if you enjoy these things) can be established before the child is born, they will become a part of your life and something you can always do as a family. There are also herbs that can be taken by the mother before during and after pregnancy to help stabilise her hormones and therefore avoid pre natal depression or severe mood swings. For example, Raspberry leaf tea helps fertility in both parents and is helpful to the mother throughout the pregnancy from easing morning sickness to the waters breaking. (ALWAYS check that herbs and essential oils are safe for use during pregnancy.)
In the first 3 months of pregnancy, all of the Childs organs are formed, so the mother should very carefully modify their diet to help this crucial stage and continue thereafter. Remember, 9 months of poor eating could lead to years of suffering for your child. If you do decide to give up damaging foods, do so gradually to avoid illness or bad reactions. Meats are now packed with chemicals and steroids, cigarettes contain thousands of chemical, salt and sugar cause any health problems and the resulting self inflicted problems will reduce the nutrients passed to your child. These are definitely foods you should consider cutting out or reducing. Vegetarian or vegan diets are normally advisable, but as everyone is different, if this diet produces too many bad effects, change it accordingly.
Breastfeeding is recommended as it’s linked to intelligence due to high levels of essential fatty acids in the milk, which also contains antibodies, vitamins, minerals and pure water. But it is effected by the mother’s nutrition so feed both of you well. There is a strong link to childhood diabetes resulting from allergies to the protein in cow’s milk and also beef, which affects the pancreas. Breastfeeding mothers are advised by paediatricians to avoid drink cow’s milk and eating beef for this reason. Be cautious with soy milk also as it has been linked to cancer.
Don’t think child minders, nursery and school teachers are qualified to make health decisions for your children. You are responsible for your child’s health and never think you’re being a difficult parent if you specify what you want your child to eat or more importantly not eat. Find out what school dinners consist of and if you don’t agree with them, make packed lunches or request alternative meals be put on the menus (there’s no harm in asking).
Our parents had the excuse of little knowledge of good health while we were younger, this information age should be seen as a legacy in this respect and a chance to link back to our ancestors ways of health and living, 12yr old in ancient Tamare learnt degree level information with ease, our children can be fluent in their own anatomy and the effects of food on it.”
Is lack of time stopping you? By teaching your child good nutritional habits and the benefits of good food, they can be involved in their health and older or matured children can make their own pack lunches. If you can’t deciding what to make them, teach them enough and they can tell you what they want. Let them make up weird and wonderful recipes (details aren’t important) and help them make them. This will make their food interesting to them and your life easier. If you can initially feed them good foods that taste good, they will remember enjoying good foods and ask for them again. Most of our childhood memories of good foods were as punishments and bad foods were treats, reverse that mindset in our children, let them turn their noses up to fast foods and look forward to fresh fruit salad. Don’t allow the media to tell your children what to like, make them be proud of the ways you teach them to eat and live. Four out of seven days healthy eating initially will give great results initially.
Financial constraints are there because cheap foods are normally bad foods and high prices are put on health. However, once your children know what they like, find health food wholesalers, bulk prices are surprisingly reasonable saving you weekly shopping time and money.
Become your child health care practitioner. Pay attention to their urine colour, dark strong odoured urine signals more water, to flush the system and improve concentration and may indicate other more serious problems. If skin rashes appear and you suspect a certain food, remove it from their diet and see if it goes. If you notice your children get clingy or sluggish after large meals, they may have an over worked bowel, struggling to digest a back log of food. Let them snack on fresh fruit and vegetables; this will give them fibre to help unblock their system, vitamins, minerals and fresh water (especially if it’s organic). Sugar should always be avoided as it has no real use except to cause damage. Refined carbohydrates (white bread, flour, sugar, pasta etc) only give a quick burst of energy but aren’t filling so our children are eating too much. They have hardly any nutritional value and no fibre which all lead to obesity. Whole foods (wholegrain rice, raw fruit and vegetable, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, seaweeds etc) provide longer lasting energy, fibres, protein and essential oils which all build beautiful children with healthy organs and alert brains.
Consult nutrition consultants, homeopaths, herbalist and allergy testing centres before making and appointment with your GP, see the money as an investment for you to learn about your child’s health, pay attention and get them to explain everything. The more you learn, the more you can teach your children. They will become your doctors, as every good student surpasses their teacher, and we can create a healthier generation, who will enjoy nutritional freedom from common industrialized illnesses and diseases.
5 Tips to Avoid Eating Junk Food & Stay Healthy and Slim
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on December 8, 2009
What do you mean by junk foods?
These are foods which are low in nutrition but high in calories. They contain a high amount of fat, oil, salt or sugar. Examples can include too much chocolate or candies, potato chips, over-fried items etc.
Needless to say they can be bad for your weight loss efforts and even bad for health if you eat too much of these junk foods. For better health, we need to stay away from eating junk food as much as possible because they come with so many bad effects.
While it may not be so easy to completely cut down on eating junk food, we can certainly lessen our consumption with a little bit of determination. By lessening consumption of junk food we can also curb over-eating to a certain extent thereby helping in proper weight management.
Instead of eating junk food we can then develop the habit of eating healthier foods and eating food in moderate quantities. Below are some tips to help you stay away from eating junk foods.
How to Avoid Eating Junk Food? 5 Tips to Help You:
1. Don’t buy junk food: Avoid buying junk food while shopping for your monthly or weekly grocery at the store. If you don’t buy junk food then it can be easier to stay away from them.
Try to keep your fridge free from tons of junk and unhealthy or fattening foods. So sometimes even if you feel like having some junk snacks or gulping down a coke, you will not be able to do so because its not available now. You have to go out and buy it which may prevent you from giving in to the temptation.
2. Developing healthy eating habits early: If we can teach our children to eat healthy foods right from childhood, then they may grow up to become healthy eaters. They may be less prone to eat junk food later on in life.
And it is all the more important to teach children healthy eating habits because they are more likely to be attracted to junk food. So we may need to pay more attention in teaching them healthy eating habits.
Also as adults we need to lead by example. So we too will have an added incentive to stay away from junk foods because we don’t want to set a bad example for our kids.
3. Educating yourself about junk food: Many people do not fully realize the negative effects of junk food not just for weight loss but also for the health in general. By fully educating yourself and others about the negative and bad effects of junk food, it can become relatively easier for us to stay away from them.
4. Keeping a food journal: This tip can be very handy to curb eating junk food and to curb overeating. Write down in a journal what you eat everyday – whether its healthy eating or bad eating, note everything down.
At the end of the day if you look at your journal you may be shocked to see your very own eating habits. If you keep doing this for few days you may realize how bad your eating habits really are and may find a new inner determination to overcome this bad habit at all costs!
5. Substitute healthy foods for junk foods: Write down the common junk foods you frequently consume like soft drinks, sweets, chips, fried and oily items etc. Next make a list of healthy foods that you can eat instead of the junk items. This list can include carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, fruit and vegetable juices etc.
Most of the times, we do not eat either for taste or due to hunger. We just want to munch on something which can lead to eating junk food. In such cases, we can munch on healthier and low calorie items like carrots, cabbage etc instead of eating junk food.
Replacing your junk food snacks with healthier options can be one great way to avoid eating junk food and staying healthy, lean and fit! With the help of the above tips you can overcome this bad habit and finally be able to say a firm no to junk foods!
Finding Out If Your Adolescence Has A Eating Disorders
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on December 8, 2009
Eating disorders are found in all age groups nevertheless the peak number is registered in adolescents. Many of those who discern that they have an intake disorder later in life become conscious that it all ongoing in their adolescence.
There are in actuality many causes to ingestion disorders such as: character-admire, imperfect to incorporate a group or players, stress, to want to ascend out in a way or the other and so on. Eating disorders are both when you over eat or, when you starving yourself; whichever way you are putting your fitness and sometimes even your life in danger.
Adolescent ingestion disorders are produced sometimes lacking even realizing you are liability so, for order, your girlfriends attrition two sizes lesser clothes than you do and you want to look and store like they do, subconsciously you start starving yourself so you can fail authority faster.
Overeating can arise the same way but this time globular you only get relief from a tense location when you eat something you be fond of; the cravings can be both for pleasant substance or salty but you have to eat them right away even if you have just had your meal.
It is significant that you note the intake behavior of your children charily as you will actually by no means know when they may fall into an intake disorder and you should be able to link it before it is too minute. Talk to your children about adolescent intake disorders, make them conscious of the risks elaborate and they will understand when you give explanation that it can even be their life at stake should they keep up the reduced drinking habits.
Adolescence is a really baffling age throughout which we all have been and as a significance you must be very earn when explaining the risks involved with intake disorders. An adolescent with an intake disorder may very well oppose with that he/she has or ever will have such a difficult and consequently you must always show verify and worship without down your temper. Work with your outcome consecutively to make him/her admit the survival of such an unruly as only then any action can be taken.
Adolescent intake disorders can only be treated if, and when the character will admit the same and acquiesce to any help and/or prove. Adolescent drinking disorders are universal and it is moreover ordinary that he/she may not longing to give up this rehearse yet; as a result, running with your toddler is very central to persuade him/her to match to help and endorse.
There sites accessible which will help you agreement and find out how to style adolescent ingestion disorders to get the best rejoinder from your product as well as get him/her back into common wholesome drinking habits.
Children aged between fourteen to fifteen start to undergo children’s intake disorder and this may hit the premier crux at the age of eighteen. Girls in their adolescent time discover themselves suffering from children’s eating disorder and the incidence among boys too seems to be on the rise.
While genetics are thought to play an important function in an eating disorder in children self-admire is hastily ahead parallel grade. Furthermore, children who are the topic of abuse, real, mental and sexual are also said to be more susceptible to developing an eating disorder.
More and younger children have commerce to magazines and television programs that appear to lionize that excepting they are super-skinny, they are fat. This can also effect an eating disorder in children as they strive for acceptance by their peers and adults. Nearly all children are purely difficult to want their parents or other influential adults in their life, their look, or the perception they have of their appearance, acting a most important part. These thoughts of how they look can plain themselves into an eating disorder in children.
To treatment the children’s eating disorder, one ought to get the result seen by a physician with no advance suspend in defense there are symptoms that face to the result having eating disorders. The surgeon may maybe make a nutritional assessment as also evaluate the result for depression symbols.
The doctor should be capable to judge out other viable causes of import harm previous to proceeding extra and may not respect psychiatric disorders, drug abuse, and inflammatory bowel disease as being symptomatic of children’s eating disorder. An illness such as anorexia may affect the offspring to faint from low blood load or have electrolyte disorders or even be incapable to tolerate cold, constipation and show symbols of depleted energy levels.
Children & teeth … teeth and children
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on November 22, 2009
I have several fillings in my teeth and my husband has none! What a lucky man! Of course, I hate going to the dentist and always try to avoid the experience. The mere sound of the drill makes my skin crawl and my ears ring as I’m sure is the case with many moms. Just thinking about it makes me more determined to avoid the place more than ever.
Like all children, my children nag for sweets and tit-bits that they see other children eat. As a conscientious mum I try to avoid those things altogether. It is not that easy. Whenever we socialize they get sweets from someone. That’s life and we all know it.
My daughters – being women – are particularly fond of chocolate. Although they may choose other sweets off the shelves because they look colorful and fun, they always end up eating MY chocolate instead! In a recent survey women voted chocolate to be their ‘first love’. With statistics like that how can I possibly deprive my two little girls from this pleasure?
Of course I end up allowing them chocolate on a regular basis … followed by guilt and concern. I spend thousands on different types of healthy tit-bits in my effort to try and get them to like something healthier. It doesn’t work. For almost 4 years it didn’t work … how long does one bang your head against a brick wall?
But dental health is a real concern in the short and long term!
Just read this! “Chronic periodontal disease affects about 85% of the adult population!” (Dr Steven J. Smith D.D.S., P.C). This disease can affect the entire body through bacteria that is absorbed into the body via the mouth. In fact – any disease in the mouth can affect the whole body because it has a direct pathway into the bloodstream through inflamed tissue supporting the teeth. It was discovered that disease spread through the body in this way can even cause clotting in the blood increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke. The fact is … the mouth must be healthy or else a compromised systemic body health will result.
Recent studies have shown that people with healthy gums have shown to have higher levels of an antioxidant called ‘glutathione’ in their saliva. Glutathione is an antioxidant naturally produced by the body however supplementation will facilitate dental health and reduce the incidence of gum disease.
My eyes and ears were open when I came across articles and information on a product that contains an array of antioxidants, including natural bioavailable glutathione that supports the healthy functioning of the body … providing a long list of other benefits!
It was just the right product for us! Chocolate! It is crucial to know one thing though – not all chocolate is created equal … you need the right kind of chocolate.
My first question was: “What does it taste like?” and the second questions was: “Will my children like it?” Children do love good things and it turns out, my children love it! They can have chocolate every day now! No more guilt, no more fear, no more worries! The other benefits are amazing too.
My conclusion? God does love the world … he gave us chocolate.
www.healthychocolate.co.za
Starting Down the Path to Health & Wellness
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on November 22, 2009
What is the largest health epidemic affecting, not only the U.S.A., but the world today? Most would probably say Cancer or Heart Disease. The biggest epidemic is actually obesity and being overweight.
What is the difference between being overweight and being obese? Overweight: Individuals with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 25 to 29.9 are considered overweight. Obesity: Obesity refers specifically to having an abnormally high proportion of body fat. Individuals with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 30 or more are considered obese. Please check with a health care professional to determine your BMI.
Here are some disturbing statistics:
• Approximately 300,000 adult deaths in the United States each year are attributable to unhealthy dietary habits and physical inactivity.
• Nearly 70% of U.S. adults are overweight.
• Nearly 30% of U.S. adults are obese.
• An estimated 70 percent of diabetes risk in the U.S. can be attributed to being overweight.
• The percentage of children and adolescents who are defined as overweight has more than doubled since the 70s.
• In 1999-2000, over 10 percent of younger preschool children between ages 2 and 5 are overweight.
• Most bankruptcies, in the U.S.A., are due to unexpected medical emergencies.
What are some of the Health complications that come with being Overweight or Obese?
• Heart Disease
• Elevated Cholesterol
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Gallstones
• Sleep Apnea
• Reproductive Disorders
• Osteoarthritis
• Certain Cancers
• Muscular-Skeletal Pains
• Depression
What I am asking you to do is: Act as if you are going to suffer from one of the above mentioned health issues; which is not hard to do, since we already know that 1 out of 2 Americans will die from Heart Disease, 1 out every 3 Americans will die of Cancer!
These statistics are 5 to 20 times higher than the rest of the world, or even in this country 30 years ago.
There are many lifestyle choices that make these diseases so prevalent. High cholesterol, stress, lack of exercise, eating a diet high in saturated fat, and many other factors place you in pole position in the race to an early death.
If you could look into a crystal ball and see that your current life style choices were ultimately going to make you very ill or possibly kill you prematurely, would you continue on with your current habits? For some of you it depends on the habits. If you love sky diving, the joy may be worth the risk. But we all have some bad habits that we could give up without giving up much joy.
In other words, you may love eating, but do you really enjoy being overweight? The overall health risks associated from being grossly overweight, in my opinion, far out way the joy of over eating. You don’t have to give up eating; you just have to learn to eat the proper amounts. Most foods in the proper quantities are not that bad for you. In reality it is simply the consumption of too many and too much bad food that is bad. An occasional donut won’t kill you, but three a day every day just might.
The point is, it is important to live with the intention of having both quality and quantity. Regardless of you what you ultimately eat, the key to any type of wellness program is to find and achieve your ideal body weight. For some people getting back to a proper body weight may take a long time and some real pain. However, ultimately achieving and maintaining your proper body weight is an essential element to long term wellness.
Regardless of your weight issues, as a practical matter there are many things we can do to at least start down a path to greater wellness. For example, eating organically raised food, proper exercise, reducing or eliminating tobacco use, cutting down on the amount of saturated and trans fats in your diet, reducing or eliminating artificial sweeteners and utilizing less chemicals in your living environment.
The Ultra International Wellness Program is designed to start you down the path to greater health & wellness. The Mind super drink, the Body meal replacement and the Soul super food when taken together will provide your body the essential elements necessary to start finding improved levels of wellness. Working toward the proper weight and consuming the proper level of anti-oxidants, fruits, vegetables, vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients can’t guarantee you good health, but it certainly could help!
From a medical point of view, I can say, that the patients who have the most difficulty are the ones who are overweight or obese. There are always more health complications, like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, gall bladder problems etc… that have to be taken into consideration, when there is excess weight. This all adds up to higher medical costs and an extended treatment plan. The primary focus of any Wellness plan has to be proper weight management and it has to be done in such a manner that all nutritional requirements are being satisfied. Ultra International has done just that, a Wellness system that not only focuses around Weight Loss, but incorporates a nutritional foundation second to none.
Find any millionaire or anyone that has lost their health and ask them what they would pay to have it back. Without good health what will you have? God gave you a great machine known as your body. Please take care of it and make your decisions wisely. You only live once, and at some point, you won’t be able to get your health back.
As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
Please take the time to learn about these products at http://www.myui.com/lscg and how the first step to true Wellness begins with proper Weight Control, Nutrition and Exercise. Mind, Body & Soul,
Think it, Feel it, Live it!
Health Tips for Kids 8 to 14 Years Old
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on November 21, 2009
Start your day with breakfast
When you awake up that moment your tank is empty and you need to fill it. So I will suggest that children should take breakfast and don’t away himself from break fast. Because when you wake up your body need needed calories and breakfast fulfillment that requirement.
Get Moving!
You should merge with some physical activities and you can do such as walk, jogging, game playing, watch TV and some more activities children should adopt.
Don’t Eat Too Much of One Thing
You should avoid your children from such things they make habit or they adopt you should keep away your children from them and don’t eat too much of one things and avoid from them.
Get Fit With Friends and Family
Your children should get fit with friends and family like you should adopt some things such as bike riding, swimming and etc. I want to tell u that your family or friends should do some physical activity and your children should with them.
Eat more grains, fruits and vegetables
Your children should eat things such as fruits, vegetables and grains for their better health. Because fruits and vegetables keep away your children from doctors. So you should maintain a routine of eating grains, fruits and vegetables.
Join in physical activities at school
Child should take a physical education class or do other physical activities at school, such as structured activities, intramural sports are a sure way to look good, feel good and stay physically fit.
Primary Care Services
If your child having some problems with his diet and you feeling that he is not fit you should check your children in primary care services. Some hospitals are providing best primary care services.
5 Tips to Avoid Eating Junk Food & Stay Healthy and Slim
Posted by admin in Children's Healthy Eating on November 20, 2009
What do you mean by junk foods?
These are foods which are low in nutrition but high in calories. They contain a high amount of fat, oil, salt or sugar. Examples can include too much chocolate or candies, potato chips, over-fried items etc.
Needless to say they can be bad for your weight loss efforts and even bad for health if you eat too much of these junk foods. For better health, we need to stay away from eating junk food as much as possible because they come with so many bad effects.
While it may not be so easy to completely cut down on eating junk food, we can certainly lessen our consumption with a little bit of determination. By lessening consumption of junk food we can also curb over-eating to a certain extent thereby helping in proper weight management.
Instead of eating junk food we can then develop the habit of eating healthier foods and eating food in moderate quantities. Below are some tips to help you stay away from eating junk foods.
How to Avoid Eating Junk Food? 5 Tips to Help You:
1. Don’t buy junk food: Avoid buying junk food while shopping for your monthly or weekly grocery at the store. If you don’t buy junk food then it can be easier to stay away from them.
Try to keep your fridge free from tons of junk and unhealthy or fattening foods. So sometimes even if you feel like having some junk snacks or gulping down a coke, you will not be able to do so because its not available now. You have to go out and buy it which may prevent you from giving in to the temptation.
2. Developing healthy eating habits early: If we can teach our children to eat healthy foods right from childhood, then they may grow up to become healthy eaters. They may be less prone to eat junk food later on in life.
And it is all the more important to teach children healthy eating habits because they are more likely to be attracted to junk food. So we may need to pay more attention in teaching them healthy eating habits.
Also as adults we need to lead by example. So we too will have an added incentive to stay away from junk foods because we don’t want to set a bad example for our kids.
3. Educating yourself about junk food: Many people do not fully realize the negative effects of junk food not just for weight loss but also for the health in general. By fully educating yourself and others about the negative and bad effects of junk food, it can become relatively easier for us to stay away from them.
4. Keeping a food journal: This tip can be very handy to curb eating junk food and to curb overeating. Write down in a journal what you eat everyday – whether its healthy eating or bad eating, note everything down.
At the end of the day if you look at your journal you may be shocked to see your very own eating habits. If you keep doing this for few days you may realize how bad your eating habits really are and may find a new inner determination to overcome this bad habit at all costs!
5. Substitute healthy foods for junk foods: Write down the common junk foods you frequently consume like soft drinks, sweets, chips, fried and oily items etc. Next make a list of healthy foods that you can eat instead of the junk items. This list can include carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, fruit and vegetable juices etc.
Most of the times, we do not eat either for taste or due to hunger. We just want to munch on something which can lead to eating junk food. In such cases, we can munch on healthier and low calorie items like carrots, cabbage etc instead of eating junk food.
Replacing your junk food snacks with healthier options can be one great way to avoid eating junk food and staying healthy, lean and fit! With the help of the above tips you can overcome this bad habit and finally be able to say a firm no to junk foods!
