Archive for Nutrition
The Facts About Fats In Your Diet
Posted by: | CommentsDo you have as much difficulty as I do in keeping various information about ‘fats’ straight, like which is good and which is bad? Here’s some information to help clarify things a little. Fats in your diet are absolutely necessary, but the type and amount of fat you get is important. USDA says you should be getting about 30% of your daily calories from fats. So for a 2000 calorie a day diet you should get around 60 grams of total fat, less than 16 grams saturated fat, less than 2 grams trans-fat, and a total cholesterol intake less than 300 mg.
Four Types of Fat in Diet
- Monounsaturated Fat
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- Saturated Fat
- Trans Fat
Pesticide Exposure from Food Products
Posted by: | CommentsWe are all familiar with the saying that ‘you are what you eat’ and never has that fact been more important than today. With all the news we hear regarding global warming and the environment more and more people are aware that everyday choices can make a big difference in their lives or the lives of their children.
This is especially true in choosing the foods we eat which are greatly impacted by the farming methods used to produce them. Is it worth buying organically grown foods instead of conventionally grown ones? Foods produced from conventional farming methods usually contain numerous chemical residues from the many pesticides and herbicides such farming utilizes. Organically grown foods should be free of pesticides and herbicides in order to be ‘certified organic’. It is certainly up to you to decide but a couple things to keep in mind regarding our food products and pesticide exposure in children.
- Shoppers Guide To Pesticides indicates that 96% of some fruits and 82% of some vegetables contain pesticide residue
- According to a report in Environmental Health Perspectives , blood samples of children aged 2 to 4, concentrations of pesticide residues are six times higher in children eating conventionally farmed fruits and vegetables compared with those eating organic foods.
Additional information regarding children and health can be found at the US EPA website America’s Children and The Environment.
Still not convinced that organic may be the way to go for you and your family in order to minimize pesticide exposure from the foods you eat? Then at the very least be sure to thoroughly clean your fruits and vegetables with a non-toxic, biodegradable cleaner prior to eating. This can help to remove at least some of the pesticide residue present on nearly all conventionally produced fruits and vegetables. Be aware and be proactive in helping to protect yourself and your family from the many environmental pollutants we face each day. It can certainly make a difference in your health and longevity.
Your Health IS Your Greatest Wealth!
Swine Flu and How to Enhance Your Immune System
Posted by: | CommentsThe latest buzz in the news is all about swine flu and concerns we may be in a pandemic with this one. However, so far this doesn’t appear to be any worst than ‘the flu’ that we see every year at about this time. Unfortunately, on average over 36,000 people a year die from ‘the flu’ in the US so it is certainly something to be taken seriously.
There is lots of good information at the Center for Disease Control website that you might want to check out. Here’s an excerpt from their site:
What can I do to protect myself from getting sick?
There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu. There are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza. Take these everyday steps to protect your health:
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
- If you get sick with influenza, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
The most effective thing one can do is to stay as healthy as you possible can and to take measures to enhance your immune system. Shaklee® has a natural approach to doing that with Nutriferon™:
Enhance Immune System Naturally
Remember to always practice the basics of good health; eat nutritious meals, take supplements to ensure you have adequate nutrients, drink plenty of water, get 7 – 8 hours of sleep daily, exercise regularly, and maintain a loving and positive attitude.
Health IS Your Greatest Wealth!
Earth Day April 22 – End Toxic Cleaners
Posted by: | CommentsApril 22 is Earth Day and a great time to look in your kitchen cabinets and see how many toxic cleaners you’re using that are polluting your home and our environment. Did you know that the average home generates over 26 pounds of toxic, hazardous waste every year ? Most of that is attributed to typical household cleaning products. What’s under your sink ? See for yourself what the National Institute of Health has to say about toxic household cleaners and see if the ones you use are on their list.
Next, check out a short video from the Rachael Ray show about ‘Green Cleaners’ and see how you can help save the environment and save money too.
(You can order Shaklee non toxic cleaners here if interested)
Should You Be Eating Genetically Engineered Foods?
Posted by: | CommentsWarning!
According to Organic Consumers Association
(http://www.organicconsumers.org/) many of the large food manufacturers and distributors like Kellogg’s, Coca Cola, Kraft and others are getting their sugar from Monsanto’s genetically engineered sugar beets. Do you have any idea how many processed foods contain sugar? Thousands!
Many scientists are concerned that genetically engineered foods may affect you in many ways such as:
- Aggravate allergies
- Increase cancer risks
- Result in antibiotic resistant pathogens
- Decrease food quality
- Produce dangerous toxins
- Spread to non genetically altered plants and change them forever,
- Permanently alter the gene pool of many plants
- Increase toxic pesticide use since genetically engineered foods can withstand them
- Increase pollution
- Result in super pests and superweeds
Also, Read More→
Are Supplements The Key to Complete Nutrition?
Posted by: | CommentsThink you’re getting all the vitamins and minerals you need from the foods you’re eating? Well I used to think that too until I did some research and found out otherwise. Things are not always as they seem though. Unfortunately, no matter how conscientious we are about choosing wholesome nutritious foods we still need to augment that with high quality vitamin and mineral supplements. I’m talking about needing to take additional vitamins and minerals to supplement primarily anything grown and sold as food, including fruits, vegetables, grain products.
There are many factors that may influence the vitamin and mineral content we receive from the foods we eat daily;
SOIL
- One of the most important factors is the soil in which it is grown. That soil is probably alot more important than most people realize. Various studies by the US Department of Agriculture has shown declining nutrient content in several foods over the last 30 years because the nutrients are no longer in the soil for the plants to absorb.
- Paul Bergner shows in his book The Healing Power of Minerals …..’ that between 1963 and 1997 several fuits and vegetables studied by the USDA were found to have their calcium content down nearly 30%, iron down 32%, magnesium down 21%, phosphorus down 11%, and potassium down 6.5%.
- Similarly, a 50 year British study from the UK Ministry of Agriculture shows that from 20 different fruits and vegetables considered there was a decline in vegetables of 81% in calcium content, 65% for magnesium, and 86% for potassium, just to name a few.
- Modern farming practices use massive amounts of fertilizers (nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus) to prepare the soil for further planting but this doesn’t replace other needed nutrients. Also, phosphorus actually interacts with iron, sodium, calcium, boron, and aluminum and may keep those nutrients from being available to the plants, thus lessening their availability
- Plants take about a dozen nutrients from the soil but typical large scale farming practices only add three (nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus) ….. ever wonder why that is? Read More→
