Top Favorite Blog Posts

• Healthy Hint - Get rid of Wrin

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    Want to look younger and reduce wrinkles?  Here are a few ideas on how to help your skin look better naturally:  first, drink lots and lots of filtered water. Next, (you guessed it) eat lots of  raw fruits, nuts and vegetables and reduce your intake of processed, packaged foods.  You can also stop smoking and reduce your in take of alcohol and caffeine.   As always, maintain a good exercise program and reduce your stress (or your facial reaction to stress!). 
     
    A few foods to look for that help your skin are:  any organic berries, almonds, olive oil, sardines, omega three oils like fish and flax, alfalfa, kelp, avocados and cucumber.  When I eat these foods, especially avocados or the omega three oils from fish, I notice a visible reduction in wrinkles and eye puffiness the following day.   Try it, it's a great experiment.  Then take note when you eat processed snack foods before you go to bed (although we all don't do that, do we?!?).  You will notice puffy eyes and a "hmm I don't look very good today" morning. 
     
    Nutrients and supplements to make sure you are getting enough of are:  vitamins A/B/B12/C/D3/E, selenium, zinc, calcium, magnesium, grape seed extract, MSM (methylsufonyl methane), primrose oil and aloe vera.  These are all great for your skin.
     
    Your skin is a reflection of what is going on inside your body.   Eat the foods the way God made them and your body will reward you with beautiful, young looking skin - now that's a motivator!

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  • 1 year ago
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• H.A.V.E. Night!

  • From: HAVEHealthy1
  • Description:

    Febuary 6th is the big day! My first big event will be taking place at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina! H.A.V.E. Night will take place and it is a free event with donations excepted to go to the Children's Miracle Network! There will be fun activites, healthy food and facts, andan meet-n-greet with both basketball teams, and the cheerleaders at MU! This is going to be big! The fun is just begining and I can not wait to get this program on the road! I might be young but I have big dreams and I will make a difference!

    Tiffanie Wagner

    Miss Methodist University

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  • 1 year ago
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• Healthy Hint - Osteoporosis in

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    We Americans love a soda! And no wonder! It tastes great, gives us a boost and feels like a celebration drink. I don't want to rain on your parade, but do we know what we are drinking? Most of us are aware that there is a lot of sugar in soda (High Fructose Corn Syrup is a concentrated sugar) that's why it tastes so good, right? Sugar, among other things, lowers our immune system, making us susceptible to illnesses.
    
    The bad news is, sugar is the least of our concerns when we drink soda. Many sodas contain color dyes, which have been known to cause ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and impotence. Another common soda pop ingredient, sodium benzoate, is a chemical compound that has it's own MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) filed with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Organization). The MSDS for sodium benzoate states "Caution! Harmful if swallowed or inhaled!" The manufacturers are instructed to wear protective goggles, lab coats, gloves and use a vented hood. Now, I know we all drink sodas and feel fine right after, but what is this chemical doing to our bodies, soda after soda, year after year?
    
    The "natural and artificial flavorings" is ingredients code for MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) which has been linked to migraines, MS, IBS, fibromyalgia, anxiety, seizures and depression. If you are drinking diet soda, you are getting lots of MSG, as it is a flavor enhancer used to make foods and drinks without sugar still taste good.
    
    Of course, we all know that soda also contains carbonated water. Soda pop has been nicknamed "osteoporosis in a can" because the carbonation in the soda takes calcium out of our bones through a three stage process:
    
    1. The carbonation irritates the stomach.
    2. The stomach tries to cure the irritation by secreting the only antacid at its disposal, calcium. It gets this calcium from the blood.
    3. The blood, now low on calcium, replenishes its supply from the bones. If it did not do this, muscular and brain function would be severely impaired.
    Osteoporosis has been shown to be five times worse in kids and women who drink dark cola than in those who drink other types of soda.
    
    So next time you have the kids at a restaurant and they ask if they can order a pop, pull this article out and read it to them! Maybe they'll choose water.

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  • 1 year ago
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• Healthy Breakfast Sandwich

  • From: lildebi
  • Description:

    My version of a healthy egg mcmuffin:

    1 whole wheat english muffin

    1 egg (i use Eggland's Best)

    1 slice low fat or fat free cheese

    1 piece canadian bacon or 3 slices healthy low fat turkey or ham lunchmeat

    Toast english muffin. Brown canadian bacon or lunchmeat in non-stick skillet. Remove & crack egg. Season w/ salt & pepper if desired. Fry egg til set & flip & cook to your likeness. Assemble on english muffin & top with cheese slice.

    Great kick start your morning! Only 260-300 calories (depending on cheese & meat)

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  • 1 year ago
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• Healthy Hint - Dirty Dozen

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    The Dirty Dozen -it's not just a movie any more!To health experts, it's also a list of twelve fruits and vegetables. These fruits and vegetables have so many pesticides applied to them during the growth and care process, that we are advised not to eat them unless we canpurchase these fruits and veggies in the organic form.

    It is not unusualfor fruits and vegetables tobe sprayed10-15 times between planting and consumption. These pesticideskill bugs. If we eat enough of them everyday, on every fruit and vegetable we eat, could they do the same to us?

    If I overlap the current dirty dozen lists compliedby Consumer Reports and health expert Andrew Weil, we get a list of fifteen fruits and vegetableswhich include: stawberries, bell peppers (both green and red), spinach, cherries, peaches, Mexican cantaloupe, celery, apples, apricots, green beans, Chilean grapes and cucumbers.

    A good rule of thumb is: if I eat the skin and I eat it often,I should buy it organic!

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  • 1 year ago
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• Healthy HInt of the Week -Flax

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    Flax seed is amazing! It contains fiber, antioxidants, B vitamins and many micronutrients. It is considered by many to be nature's richest source of omega-3 fatty acids. It has been documented to fight everything from high blood pressure to rheumatoid arthritis, depression and cancer.

    Flax seed should be purchased in the full seed form and ground at home in a coffee grinder. It will stay fresh in the full seed form for up to a year if stored in a cool, dark place. After grinding it can be

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  • 1 year ago
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• Craving new, delicious snack f

  • From: karenaspros
  • Description:
    Do you ever wonder how you can get your kids to eat more fruit? It's simple... a new twist on fruit salad. It may take time, at first, to peel the fruit but it will pay off later. Make sure to choose fresh, seasonal, colorful fruits your kids love. Mine prefer strawberries, peaches, grapes, raspberries and pears. Peeland cut the fruit as desiredit and put in a covered bowl in the fridge. When it's snack time grab a dish- start with a layer of plain yogurt (the fruit sweetens it enough), top with fruit, one more layer of yogurt and sprinkle with any granola you have in the pantry. (this also works as a great dish for adults at a Sunday brunch or a light after dinner dessert. Enjoy!
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  • 1 year ago
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• Susan's Better School Food Blo

  • From: DrSusanRubin
  • Description:

    Better School Food is an organization I started 5 years ago to support parents and others who are advocating for a better food environment for our kids. It's not just K-12 public schools that we are concerned about, it's also preschools, child care centers, summer camps and after school programs. Anywhere that children meet and sometimes eat!

    While everyone is aware of the epidemic of childhood obesity in our country, I want to remind you that obesity is the tip of the iceberg. It's easy to see, but what lurks beneath the surface, not so easy to see with the naked eye is asthma, allergies, behavioral issues, digestive disorders, even cancer. All of these issues are on the rise in our kids and all of them are connected to the QUALITY of food that we are feeding them. It's not about counting calorie, fat grams and the latest greatest micronutrient! We need to re-connect to real food that nourishes our kids and that promotes health.

    I encourage you to visit the Better School Food website for more information and to consider becomming a member. www.betterschoolfood.org We've got a free email newsletter list and loads more content and teleclasses for members.

    If your'e a Rachael Ray viewer and you'd like to participate in afree teleclass on the ins and outs of School Food, send an email to info@betterschoolfood.org and I'll be happy to put you on the list!

    Also, please share with me the successes and challenges you've had in your communities when it comes to school food.

    I look forward to hearing from you!

    Susan :)

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  • 1 year ago
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• Healthy Hint - Lymph System

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    Your lymph system is amazing! It is a network of very fine vessels connected to the blood and circulatory system that helps clean up poisons, drain excess fluid and defend against viruses, bacteria, etc. You can think of it as your body's trash collector. Your body has many lymph nodes, including ones in your armpits, chest, abdomen, pelvis and groin. If they get full of toxins, your lymph nodes may become tender and swollen, like when you have tender lumps in your neck along with a sore throat.
    
    There are many ways to help your lymph system keep your body clean and most of these actually feel good! You can jump on a rebounder (small trampoline), do handstands, gently press the lymph node, get a massage or dry brush your skin. Dry brushing your skin involves getting a natural bristled brush at your local health food store and gently brushing your dry skin before you get in the shower. Brush your limbs and torso toward your heart, as that is the direction your lymph system moves toxins out of your body.
    
    And you were just starting to think that everything good for you had to taste bad or hurt, weren't you?! Now you can enjoy taking care of your lymph system so it can take good care of you!

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  • 1 year ago
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• Defeat Diabetes - Kids and Adu

  • From: finerplaces
  • Description:
    Mr. Diabetes (Andy Mandell) is a 62 year old diabetic who began his walk around the perimeter of the United States in the year 2000. He is almost at journey's end - back in Florida where he began!
    The Defeat Diabetes Foundation (DDF) www.DefeatDiabetes.org , is a nationally registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit charity dedicated to creating awareness about and preventing Type 2 diabetes. Our focus to solving the epidemic of diabetes in this country is through prevention with an emphasis on nutrition and fitness coupled with an assessment of an individual’s risk factors through early screening. In cases where diabetes can’t be prevented, early detection and proper medical monitoring can greatly reduce the costs and complications associated with this insidious disease.
    • DDF’s website provides accurate, up-to-date and practical information on the treatment and self-management of diabetes throughout the over 3,000 pages of information and a free monthly online E-Lerts™ newsletter.
    • The KIDD Project has provided 3 million Free Defeat Diabetes® Screening Test brochures to 5000 schools in all 50 states;
    • The DAN Project is a Public Service Announcement campaign about the danger of undiagnosed diabetes. It has aired on QVC reaching 186 million homes worldwide and in local communities throughout the United States on network affiliates.
    • The Mr. Diabetes ^â Wake Up and Walk ^® Tour a 10,000+ mile walk of the perimeter of the United States by DDF Executive Director, Andrew P. Mandell – Mr. Diabetes Ò to create awareness about the disease is now in its final year. Mr. Diabetes® has completed 9,600 miles of his journey to date.
    • Martial Arts Defeat Diabetes® Community Awareness Project. Working with local martial arts schools, DDF is disseminating life-saving information about diabetes and its prevention to school age children in communities all over the United States .
    On December 14, 2008, Mr. Diabetes will be the guest of honor at a very special event in Sarasota, Florida where the focus will be on healthy eating, exercise and more and he continues on the final leg of the journey - returning to Madeira Beach the end of December 2008 where it all began so many years ago!
    We would love to hear from the Rachel Ray Show about this special project. Please visit www.DefeatDiabetes.org to learn more and for updates on "The Walk". Please contact me through any of the means below for further information!
    Thanks!!!
    Judy
    Judy Dean, President - The Finer Places, Inc.
    Executive Producer - POPS Extras!
    www.thefinerplaces.com
    www.POPSExtras.org
    2680 Aspinwall Street
    Sarasota, FL 34237
    h: (941) 362-7632
    Fax: (941) 953-2503
    Email: finerplaces@comcast.net
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  • 1 year ago
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• ADHD and color dyes

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    Color dyes such as: Yellow Lake 6, Red 40 Lake, Blue 1 and many others are in most foods and personal products. Check the ingredients on your favorite cereal, candy, juice, chewable vitamin, soda, toothpaste and shampoo. You will find color dyes listed on most of these labels. If we could read the small-print ingredients on make up and lipstick, we would find color dyes among many other hazardous ingredients.
    
    Color dyes have been implicated in the rise of ADD/ADHD cases. Dr. Benjamin Feingold, author of the "Feingold Hypothesis", did research on over 1200 children with ADHD and found half of them had allergic reactions to color dyes that aggravated ADHD symptoms. We took our four kids off color dyes and found that it improved mood and behavior in everyone, particularly in our more sensitive child. Watch yourself and your kids: after eating foods with color dyes are you/they less focused and more irritable? Remember that color dyes can be absorbed through your gums and skin, so read all labels.
    
    It is tough to get kids off the candies and processed foods that have so many color dyes. To help, try this idea from a friend of mine: for small children, tell them if they choose not to eat a candy or treat given to them at school or after sports, they can put it in a jar at home. When the jar is full, they can be paid $5 or taken for a non-candy treat. It helped motivate my young kids! (We adults and grown kids will have to rely on self control and the desire to feel focused and calm!)
    
    After you get the kids off color dyes, add fish oil and excercise to their daily regime. We take our lemon-flavored fish oil with a bit of lemonade and chug it down. Fish oil provides omega 3 oils, which help calm and improve brain function, many times improving ADHD symptoms. Excercise releases endorphines, which also calms the brian.
    
    by Kathy Loidolt, Author of Shopper's Guide to Healthy Living

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  • 1 year ago
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• Healthy Hint- Soda pop

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    We Americans love a soda! And no wonder! It tastes great, gives us a boost and feels like a celebration drink. I don't want to rain on your parade, but do we know what we are drinking? Most of us are aware that there is a lot of sugar in soda (High Fructose Corn Syrup is a concentrated sugar) that's why it tastes so good, right? Sugar, among other things, lowers our immune system, making us susceptible to illnesses.
    
    The bad news is, sugar is the least of our concerns when we drink soda. Many sodas contain color dyes, which have been known to cause ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and impotence. Another common soda pop ingredient, sodium benzoate, is a chemical compound that has it's own MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) filed with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Organization). The MSDS for sodium benzoate states "Caution! Harmful if swallowed or inhaled!" The manufacturers are instructed to wear protective goggles, lab coats, gloves and use a vented hood. Now, I know we all drink sodas and feel fine right after, but what is this chemical doing to our bodies, soda after soda, year after year?
    
    The "natural and artificial flavorings" is ingredients code for MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) which has been linked to migraines, MS, IBS, fibromyalgia, anxiety, seizures and depression. If you are drinking diet soda, you are getting lots of MSG, as it is a flavor enhancer used to make foods and drinks without sugar still taste good.
    
    Of course, we all know that soda also contains carbonated water. Soda pop has been nicknamed "osteoporosis in a can" because the carbonation in the soda takes calcium out of our bones through a three stage process:
    
    1. The carbonation irritates the stomach.
    2. The stomach tries to cure the irritation by secreting the only antacid at its disposal, calcium. It gets this calcium from the blood.
    3. The blood, now low on calcium, replenishes its supply from the bones. If it did not do this, muscular and brain function would be severely impaired.
    Osteoporosis has been shown to be five times worse in kids and women who drink dark cola than in those who drink other types of soda.
    
    So next time you have the kids at a restaurant and they ask if they can order a pop, pull this article out and read it to them! Maybe they'll choose water.

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  • 1 year ago
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• Healthy Hint of the Week - Wat

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    In the dry months of winter, we all know we need water, but did you know that how much water you drink, when you drink it, what temperature and what kind of wateryou drink may affect your health?

    As we have been taught in school, our bodies are made up of 60-70% water. Yet most people are dehydrated, particularly children or adults with ADD or ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). We need water to keep our bodies in top shape. A good rule of thumb for water intake is: divide your weight in half and drink that amount in ounces every day. If you are working out, you need even more. You should be drinkingenough waterthat you "pee pale".

    It is best to drink your water 20 minutes before or after a meal. Drinking water during a meal dilutes your digestive enzymes. These enzymes are needed to process your food. I try to drink a glass of wateras soon as I get up in the morning, every time I come into the house and again before I leave.

    Room temperature water is easier for your body to process than cold water. Filtered water is best, as city/ tap water contain chlorine, flouride and many other poisons. Many people prefer RO (Reverse Osmosis) water, as it is probablythe purest water you canfind. The filtering is done so well, that some experts are concernedit may be missing minerals that we need.

    Grab a water and drink up, we need it! Kathy Loidolt - Author - Shopper's Guide to Healthy Living

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  • 1 year ago
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• Healthy Hint - Soy

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    Soy is one product we Americans do not need to seek out. We are getting soy just about everytime we reach for packaged food. Soy is in many breads, crackers, power bars, pancake and stuffing mixes, cereals, gravy mixes, cookies, salad dressings, soups, protein shake mixes, baby formula and more. Do you see what I mean? We are getting soy without trying.
    
    Although it is difficult to avoid, there are many reasons to try to stay away from soy, especially if it is not fermented. Ninety percent of the soy we eat has been genetically modified. It also has one of the highest pesticide contamination levels of any food. Soy is a phytoestrogen, which means, like the plastics we talked about last week, it too is causing our bodies to produce estrogen. An experiment at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania noted that rats on a soy diet had early onset of puberty and many new studies raise the question of a relationship between soy and breast cancer in some women. Soy contains digestive inhibitors and has been linked to thyroid problems, especially in babies (like one of mine) who received soy infant formula. It also may block the absorbtion of certain minerals like: magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc. People who live in countries where soy intake is high tend to have lower levels of these minerals.
    
    Soy has been advertised by its manufacturers as a healthy food. Some even call it a super food. At the least, we are getting plenty of it in the American diet and do not need to seek out more in the forms of soy milk and tofu. At best, we may want to start reading labels and avoiding foods with high levels of soy.
    

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• Snack Attack: Counter-Marketin

  • From: ShapingYouth
  • Description:

    For all those parents who have winced, cringed, nagged and cajoled to stop training kids like Pavlov’s dogs to salivate at sports whistles and expect a snack at every game, here’s a round-up of handy hints to rein in the junk food snack pack syndrome.

    If you’re pulling out your hair watching kids play a healthy sport while tanking up their bodies with poisons (chips before a game, Chips Ahoy after) then you need to put “THREEP” to work.

    THREEP is my ’secret decoder ring’ counter-marketing strategy that I use with parents AND kids all the time. It’s come in useful as ’shorthand’ when we hear a negative peer comment linking to media behavior, (fashion, food, stereotypes, whatever) because I can direct a volunteer by locking eyes, say “THREEP IT” and know it’ll be handled.

    THREEP stands for “Three Ps”—precedent, persuasiveness, and peer perpetuation.

    In any counter-marketing effort, you have to tap into the power base to see where the motivation is coming from, build awareness, and flip the allure to position your message persuasively in a positive way.

    Habits form early, so intervention is key. Whatever gets established as ‘acceptable’ at the onset usually develops into a pattern unless the cycle is disrupted.

    “Team snack” is an easy example. Fresh fruit is sold by the case at Costco a mere aisle away from those Oreos & Goldfish, so the premise that unhealthy choices are coming from ‘convenience’ alone is hooey. Nor is it all about media and marketing cueing kids to what’s ‘cool.’ Look deeper.

    At the very root of the behavioral pattern is an emotional triggerpoint: the need for acceptance. Complicity gets multi-leveled here, because “people-pleasing” and popularity factors tug at common sense.

    I’ve seen parents that can spout glycemic index label lingo still defer to cases of cartoon crud that have danced on TV just to make sure junior isn’t an ‘outcast’ for having the token parent with the “healthy choice.”

    Ideally, these parents would get a spine, but knowing how deeply rooted the ‘need to be liked’ is dating back to psychology 101, it’s much easier to counter-market the madness and springload the trigger point to fling back in the face with an obvious solution…

    Level the playing field. Use Precedent. Perusasion. Peer perpetuation.

    If coaches are non-plussed as pouches of high fructose corn syrup and sat fat sodium slop are passed out among the team negating every ounce of healthy energy expended, it’s no surprise that parents blindly buy over-processed pouches of drek that kids have whined for based on media and marketing or peer influence.

    Why? Acceptability becomes established as precedent.

    Shaping Youth is all about “cycle-breaking,” dedicated to reversing lousy messaging using the same techniques and tactics that instilled the behavior and pushed those ‘hot buttons’ to begin with…

    We take what gets ‘established’ in kids’ media culture and flip it on its ear!

    Here’s how ThreeP works seamlessly within the ‘team snack’ context:

    ThreeP removes socio-economic underpinnings (like those parents that turn a ‘snack’ into a catering event with affluenza in ‘can you top this’ mode)

    ThreeP precedent and perpetuation removes the emotional fuel (so that peer pressure reverses…any bozo that deviates into the junk food realm gets the sideways glance instead)

    ThreeP puts healthy messaging in a hero context, which is critical for sustainability.

    After all, kids respond to that coolness currency…To get it, go for the athlete training table correlation… Simply demo and model the truth! There’s no freakin’ way those celebrity ‘pitch pythons’ could be eating all that junk food and soda and achieve their level of fitness.

    Reinforce the positive, counter-market the negative.

    That’s our Shaping Youth media mantra!

    As for specific tips on putting ThreeP to work for you, here are some easy guidelines, examples of resources, and healthy snack alternatives to counter-act any reverb from the get-go.

    #1 Shaping Youth THREEP: Precedent…

    1. Decide if there will even BE a ‘snack’!! (games right before dinner make this a common sense option) Here’s a hilarious story called “Snack Insanity” from The Imperfect Parent that reveals the absurdity of what happens when cycle-breakers come onto the scene.
    2. Establish precedent early on via coaches, parents, or district-wide policy. It’s the quickest way to defuse the dynamic by taking decisions out of the hands of the weak, and making it a fait accompli.
    3. If you’re targeting massive scale change, here’s a simple letter template in a piece called “Bring Back the Oranges, Please” to get the ball rolling. This letter from the pbs crew at Meal Makeover Moms sparked a positive dialogue between parents and volunteer coaches, resulting in a “Fruit & Water Only” snack policy for 2,000 kids participating in their town’s recreation department and soccer club. That’s a huge impact for one letter! Way to go gang!
    4. You can initiate policy for entire orgs, (AYSO, YMCA, schools, club teams) zero in on regional enclaves, (by county, state, or locale) or loosely configure precedent for individual teams themselves.
    5. No matter what you decide, set your precedent early on, then stick with the game plan.
    6. Shaping Youth is even pursuing partnerships with some viable organic orgs to create and market some healthier choices for team snack pack grab-n-go convenience. We’re nonprofit, but we see the social entrepreneur model as key to our long term stability, so stay tuned…we’re exploring all kinds of creative pairings within our counter-marketing programs.

    #2 Shaping Youth THREEP: Persuasiveness…

    Persuasion isn’t hard to shift parents onto a healthy track, once you defuse the ‘popularity’ issue and offer common sense suggestions for follow through.

    Health and well-being ammo shouldn’t be necessary, though parents sometimes get sucked in by ‘healthy’ misinformation as much as kids do.

    There are sites out the wazoo to deconstruct the dietary misinformation being marketed as ‘healthy,’ it’s just a matter of staying alert to it. The American Dietetic Association has great nutritional links to deconstruct all those fad food trends and diets too.

    Shaping Youth is ‘on it’ being inside the advertising industry, so our goal is to “red flag” you to what’s coming down the pike before it even hits.

    Parents sometimes need a nudge if they’re creatively challenged. Give ‘em some help with scads of A-Z snack ideas to counter-market the notion that they ‘can’t find’ anything to snag for ‘snack’ that’s healthy.

    You can also download the entire USDA After School Care Snack Program Handbook which details all the ’shoulds-n-whys’ and even has recipes and activities. It’s on this ‘one-stop’ DOE site which has a nice round-up of all kinds of nutritional links and data.

    There are TONS of healthy snack resources, including the USDA’s own “healthy meals resource system” (HMRS) which no one knows about because it’s buried in a ridiculously arcane acronym.

    Check out their site! You’ll be surprised at all the helpful info and freebies avail to promote kids’ nutrition! Alas, the government doesn’t have the foggiest clue how to use media and marketing so people can actually USE their resources even if they FIND them. sigh.

    #3 Shaping Youth THREEP: Peer Perpetuation…

    Last but not least, our ThreeP counter-marketing hinges on sustainability of the messages being put out there…And that means peer perpetuation.

    Think of it as ‘peer pressure’ used in a positive way. We all know if one child or adult defaults, everyone backslides like lemmings. It’s that ‘need to be liked and accepted’ bit again.

    Don’t go there. Hold your ground.

    Our counter-marketing sessions have proven that consistency is integral to overall performance and embedding behavioral change. Nowhere is this more important than athletics and team sports.

    Cave to peer pressure, and you’re toast. Besides, what are you teaching your kids about holding healthy boundaries?

    Fergawdsakes, have some backbone and be the hero by offering nutritious nibbles that are cooler than cool. Dump an ice cream cone full of fruit chunks. Drizzle fruit with a tsp. of honey, or a sprinkle of crushed cereal.

    Do the whole “A-Z” snack list just as you’d find A-Z info on kids’ health.

    It’s not that hard, folks. One Google and you’ll find a bounty of these “a is for apples, apricots, animal crackers…z is for zesty” snack style options. You get the drift.

    Whether you go the A-Z route or the THREEP counter-marketing concept, there’s enough out there to safely say the snack scenario is in your own hands.

    Be a good existentialist and own up. The choices are yours.

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• Healthy Hint of the Week

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    A healthy hint for this week is to use garlic whenever you can. Garlic can boost your immune system, clear your sinuses, lower your cholesterol and much more. It is best for you in its raw form, but can be sauteed, roasted, made into a soup and taken in pill form. The most difficult way (and probably healthiest) to take garlic is to chew a clove raw. Ittastes nasty, but will clear up your sinuses quickly!

    If you are feeling a cold coming on, take a clove of garlic, slice off the ends, put it in the side of your cheek and suck on it. It stings a bit at first, but you'll get used to it and many times the cold never actually takes hold.

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  • 1 year ago
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• ADHD and color dyes

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    Color dyes such as: Yellow Lake 6, Red 40 Lake, Blue 1 and many others are in most foods and personal products. Check the ingredients on your favorite cereal, candy, juice, chewable vitamin, soda, toothpaste and shampoo. You will find color dyes listed on most of these labels. If we could read the small-print ingredients on make up and lipstick, we would find color dyes among many other hazardous ingredients.
    
    Color dyes have been implicated in the rise of ADD/ADHD cases. Dr. Feingold did research on over 1200 children with ADHD and found half of them had allergic reactions to color dyes that aggravated ADHD symptoms. We took our four kids off color dyes and found that it improved mood and behavior in everyone, particularly in our more sensitive child. Watch yourself and your kids: after eating foods with color dyes are you/they less focused and more irritable? Remember that color dyes can be absorbed through your gums and skin, so read all labels.
    
    It is tough to get kids off the candies and processed foods that have so many color dyes. To help, try this idea from a friend of mine: for small children, tell them if they choose not to eat a candy or treat given to them at school or after sports, they can put it in a jar at home. When the jar is full, they can be paid $5 or taken for a non-candy treat. It helped motivate my young kids! (We adults and grown kids will have to rely on self control and the desire to feel focused and calm!)
    
    After you take your ADHD prone children off color dyes, add fish and flax oil to their diet and watch things really improve!
    by Kathy Loidolt, Author, Shopper's Guide to Healthy Living

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  • 1 year ago
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• Healthy Hint - Got the blues?

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    Many Americans deal with depression today. Could it be because we do not get our daily dose of omega three oils and that the foods we eat may actually contribute to depression rather than help prevent it? It is estimated that we need 1 tablespoon of flax oil or other omega three oil each day. Do you get yours? If not, how many years behind are you? Making up for lost time by being diligent about getting your daily dose of omega three oils may help prevent depression and the need for drugs later.
    
    There are many other things you can do to help prevent depression. You can make sure you eat fiber rich foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains (however wheat gluten may add to depression, so for whole grains try spelt breads and brown rice, etc). Take a good multivitamin - nutrient deficiencies may cause depression. Make sure your daily vitamins contain: folic acid, zinc, B6 and B12, calcium, magnesium, vitamins C and E. Many multivitamins do not contain some of these extras, so you may want to purchase those separately. Reduce your sugar intake, your alcohol intake and don't smoke. I know - taking all that away seems like it might make you depressed in itself! Give it time, it will work.
    
    Some experts recommend St. John's Wort, 5-hydroxytroptophan (5-HTP) and if you are over fifty - Ginkgo Balboa. All health experts recommend reducing your stress (easier said than done), thinking positively and getting 30 minutes of exercise three times a week.
    
    Remember that you should see your doctor before making any changes to your current prescription drug intake.
    Think how good we can feel if we take care of ourselves!

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  • 1 year ago
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• Weekly Healthy Hint - Green D

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    Green drinks, they don't sound very good, they don't look very good and they don't even taste very good, but oh, they are so good for you! Green drinks are concentrated,powdered vegetables. We all know that leafy green vegetables are important for us to eat, but not many of us actually consume the recommended daily amount: one half of our food, by sight not by weight, should be vegetables. Most green drinks provide 5-10 servings ofvegetables in one serving. So in one drink, you can be assured you are getting your veggies. At our house, we try to take our green drink in the morning, chugging it down with a bit of lemonade.At first it was a little scary, mostly because it seemed unnatural to drink something that color. After a few weeks, they almost taste good. I can't eat a salad for breakfast, but I don't mind drinking one!
    
    My favorite green drinks are: Greens first, NanoGreens, Earth's Promise and Garden of Life. The first two usually need to be purchased from a chiropractoror distributor, the last two can be found at Vitamin Cottage and other local health food stores.They cost less than $10 a month for one person, except for Garden of Life, which costs a bit more.
    
    My youngest wasn't eating green vegetables, was often sick, small, and didn't have much energy. She has been taking green drinks for almost a year. In that time we have noticed that she has grown 4 or 5 inches, her hair has grown faster than ever and has gotten thicker, and her skin color, muscle mass and energy have noticeably improved. Now all my kids are on the drinks and have noticed increased energy and strength. I highly recommend them, green drinks are worth getting used to!

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  • 1 year ago
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• Healthy Hint - Diabetes

  • From: kloidolt
  • Description:

    Want to prevent your chances of getting diabetes or eat foods that may help you feel better if you already have diabetes? Try these natural foods and vitamins: aloe vera (it may take up to 9 months of drinking aloe vera to see a difference in glucose levels), beans (green beans are particularly noted as beneficial), dandelion root, garlic, olive oil, omega three oils, parsley, watercress, vitamins A, C and E, magnesium, manganese, Co Q10, calcium and cinnamon. As you have probably noticed, many of these are the same foods that help prevent high blood pressure and high cholesterol!
    
    I must emphasize that although most of these are foods or vitamins that many Americans eat already, if you have diabetes or other medical conditions, you should check with your doctor before making changes to your medical plan or prescribed diet.
    
    The list of foods to avoid in order to prevent or help diabetes are, as you have probably guessed, much like the lists to help prevent high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Foods to avoid are: sugar, refined and processed foods (particularly refined carbohydrates), sugar, trans fats, sugar, tobacco, sodas, and sugar. Natural health experts do not recommend switching from sugar to sugar substitutes, as these may be very detrimental to your health. Experts recommend eating whole grains and complex carbohydrates instead of sugar.
    
    As you check the ingredients list on your foods for sugar, keep in mind that sugar can also be called: fructose, glucose, sucrose - basically anything that rhymes with "gross"!

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  • 1 year ago
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