February 24, 2010 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT
with Diana Raleva and
Dr. Rob Streisfeld, author of A Healthier Ever After

I’m excited to announce our February teleseminar with Dr. Rob Streisfeld, author of A Healthier Ever After. Read on for details but Doc Rob (as he’s known) is helping families create better health through an improved “mindset of health” through his books and speaking. His fairy tale approach to health tips for kids is fun, engaging and effective for children and caregivers alike.

We can’t reform your way out of chronic disease by changing who pays for it. And you can’t solve obesity, asthma, arthritis, diabetes or any disease by insuring all the uninsured. Join us as we learn how to take care of ourselves and our children using a totally new belief system… a new, holistic, affordable, easily implemented and FUN “natural religion.”

Read time: 4 minutes. Sunlight exposure is part of a better approach to preventing Swine Flu versus dangerous vaccines.  How so?  Sun exposure is the best, fastest way you can get enough vitamin D into your body to allow your immune system to fight disease.  What about milk?  Unfortunately, milk consumption’s association with Vitamin D is a popular myth even among doctors.  Combined with the fact that most vitamins we take orally rarely get absorbed by our bodies and… well… we have a lot of sick people despite our trying to do the right thing.  Today I’m asking you to consider “more education and less medication” as a “to-do” item.   You DO care enough about your family’s health to learn a couple of  surprising facts — and put them to use — right?  Your family deserves a life of excellent health.  Yes or yes?!

Today’s rising cost of health care and the limited time doctors are giving us means we must take care of our own health.   You DO have to work at your health.  But I, and the GreenCravers community, are here to help.   In the next few minutes you’ll learn the surprising truths about milk, Vitamn D and multi-vitamin safety… and absorption in kid’s bodies.

Doctors, milk and the truth about Vitamin D

Again, you cannot get Vitamin D from everyday foods you eat.  You cannot get enough of it from milk either (unless you’re drinking 30 glasses per DAY).  Surprised?  Most are — including many doctors.  To fight disease do you need Vitamin D?  Yes.

NOTE: If you missed my earlier tips on how to prevent Swine Flu infection TODAY please check them out here.  A few of you wrote me asking, “Ok, crazy sunlight-Vitamin D lady — what about my doctor’s advice?”  To be direct: I publish educational information for your consideration.  You should always take your doctor’s advice under consideration.  Although I’m a serious researcher, nothing I publish is to be considered medical advice.  It’s for you to consider in your decision-making.

Ok — when you visit the pediatrician he/she is likely asking, “does she/he drink her/his milk?”   Mine doctor is!  But here are the facts about milk and Vitamin D.  They’ll probably surprise you.  They surprised me AND my child’s doctor!  First…

To obtain the amount of Vitamin D that is necessary from milk a child would need to consume 10 glasses per DAY.

Yes, you read it right — 10 glasses a DAY.  With a multi-vitamin more than 5 tablets would be necessary.  Neither is advisable nor realistic.

Most doctors (yes, mine too!) are failing to tell us the simple truths about Vitamin D, milk consumption and reducing risk of flu viruses, common colds, etc.  It’s not intentional, it’s educational.  Most docs aren’t educated in nutrition and natural approaches to prevention.  Nutrition isn’t their specialty nor considered a “real” (legitimate) means to treat or prevent disease.  But this is a hot growth-area that we’ll talk about in weeks ahead.

“Part of the problem, I believe, is that people just take vitamin D for granted.  And in fact I’ve talked to many  dermatologists who blithely will say on TV that you just drink another glass of milk… or you get vitamin D from your diet.  And unfortunately it’s incorrect.  They really are ignorant that very few foods naturally contain vitamin D.”

Dr. Michael Holick

And there’s “hard data” suggesting that Vitamin D can successfully take-on (and defeat!) Swine Flu (H1N1 virus).  For those who doubt me, read what The Vitamin Council is publishing.

Most multi-vitamins aren’t designed to be absorbed

A number of you wrote to me asking about vitamins for kids — and multi-vitamin use to get some of that valuable Vitamin D.  Here’s the skinny:

Generally, kids should not be taking vitamins in order to obtain the necessary amount of Vitamin D — unless a test has been performed and there in a serious health issue that your doctor is addressing.  Without a vitamin D test we cannot know the child’s specific needs (vitamin requirements).  Overdose of Vitamin D is not good either.

Even if you were to use pills or chewable (oral) vitamins you’ll run into the absorption issue.  Marketers of most vitamins manufacture poor quality products when it comes to getting the vitamins into your bloodstream.  I’ve done the research.  They don’t care about your body’s ability to absorb what they’re selling.  Myths about taking them — and getting “so much” that you “pee away what you don’t need” are totally untrue.  The truth is we’re not peeing away what we’re not using — in most cases we’re not getting the vitamins at all! (peeing them ALL away)

Add to this that most vitamins are synthetics and you’ve got more down-sides to effectiveness of vitamins.  All synthetics contain toxins — molecular forms that are not biologically helpful.

No, this isn’t about vilifying big business or being against capitalism — I LOVE making money, personally.  This is about our health.  Right?  Yes or yes?!

Again…

WE produce Vitamin D.  It’s impossible to ‘get’ Vitamin D in any other way — including eating things.

Less medication, more education

As parents we all want the best for our children.  But often we’re not informed enough to make the best decisions.  That’s why I’m here — and others in the community.  Today, I’m asking all of you who are parents, grandparents and caregivers to learn a little bit about vitamins and how our bodies use them.

Prevention is mostly about paying attention.  That’s what I’m seeing. Vitamin D could possibly stop breast cancer and colon cancer, prevent type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis — and certainly reduces the incidence of infectious diseases.

Vitamin D’s influence on key biological functions vital to one’s health and well-being mandates that vitamin D no longer be ignored by the health care industry nor by individuals striving to achieve and maintain a greater state of health. Because of today’s rising cost of health care and the limited time doctors have allotted for office visits due to increasing demands from HMO’s, it is imperative we take care of our own health.

The Vitamin D Council

Now you know the truth.  You can protect your family naturally, affordably by adding sunlight, natural remedies (like olive leaf extract) and Superfoods (that they’ll crave!) into their daily eating routine.  Follow my lead.  Tell your friends.  STOP FEARING the Swine Flu and encourage others to stop the relatively irrelevant, distracting chatter about a dangerous vaccine.

Read time: 3.5 minutes. It’s the Swine Flu issue that nobody is discussing — but important to 58 million at-risk American kids.  “Is vaccination safe or not?” is NOT the question.   I care too much about your kids to not share the truth.  Tens of million of kids are at increased risk of catching H1N1 and other nasties due to vitamin deficiency.  Is your child one of them?  Kids cannot fight flu bugs when deficient in vitamins — and most are NOT getting essentials like Vitamin D.   Even milk drinkers are NOT able to ward off viruses — don’t be fooled.  Read on to find out what you can do to protect your family from the H1N1 virus — naturally and without braking the bank.

Not getting enough Vitamin D is making your child — right now — more vulnerable to Swine Flu.  Period.  No, fortified milk won’t fix that problem.  At the moment, Swine flu has killed 36 kids in the U.S. but the flu season hasn’t started yet.   58 million American children can immediately, safely address Swine Flu prevention (and better health in general!) yet all the news media can talk about is the safety of an obviously un-safe vaccine.  I’m dedicated to your family’s health and am publishing two stories for you this week out of my concern.

The natural, proven, cost-effective solution
(you don’t hear about)

Most of what you hear about Vitamin D, the sun (yes, the sun) and milk is not true.  Here’s what is: Vitamin D creates over 200 antimicrobial peptides in your body — that’s a fancy word for “natural antibiotics.”   Think about that for a minute.  Over 200 fighters in your body.  When your vitamin D level falls so does your natural ability to fight colds, influenza and other respiratory infections — including the H1N1 virus.  Simple.  So, gimme some Vitamin D right?!

But many pediatricians are quick to present you with the new (dangerous, barely tested on humans!) Swine Flu shot.

Hey, wait a minute.  What about the alternative, guaranteed safe answer?

Let’s start with the one we’ve always known about.  You know — vitamins.  D in particular.  No, doctors aren’t evil or bad people nor are care givers who follow their advice.  ALWAYS follow your doctor’s advice but realize docs are people too.  Get opinions (in the case of Vitamin D, talk to a dermatologist!), get educated yourself.  We’re all trying to keep kids healthy.  But many docs are overlooking natural remedies — and I’ll return to this loaded statement later this week.

Give me a D!

I wish it was as simple as saying, “go get some Vitamin D”.  Don’t let anyone tell you it’s as easy as a pill or chewable doo-dad.  Mis-information about ABSORPTION of vitamins into our bodies is everywhere.  I’ll get to that in a moment.

Big ah-HA:

You can’t get enough Vitamin D from eating or drinking stuff.

Did you know?  We actually produce it ourselves — mainly through a process starting with sun exposure.  Yes, sunlight.

Your to-do list

Here’s what you can do today to prevent Swine Flu infection:

1. Expose yourself to the sun for about 30-50 minutes per day on average — revealing as much of the skin as possible.
2. Add olive leaf extract into your foods.
3. Add fresh, organic food into your child’s meals — creatively emphasize dark green leafy vegetables.

NOTE:  Even though Vitamin D can’t be obtained from food, fresh dark green leafy veggies DO strengthen your child’s immune system.  Olive leaf extract is one of the five best anti-viral remedies that occur naturally and it’s easy to access.

NOTE: When in the sun, do not use sun block! Most do more harm than good and block needed UVB rays that are are essential for the body to create Vitamin D.  Stay tuned for more on this subject.

GUIDELINES ON SUN EXPOSURE:
The US government recommends adults get 200 IU (the unit of measure scientists use) of Vitamin D minimum per day.  But in 20-30 minutes of summer (intense) sun exposure, your skin produces approximately 10,000 IU‘s  of vitamin D.  That’s 50 times more than the daily recommendation in one sitting.  Easy!

In other words, if you want LOTS of Vitamin D (to fight off Swine Flu) you need 20-50 minutes of sun every few days depending on the time of year.

I’m worried about over-exposure to the sun

Ok.  Good point.  How can you maximize Vitamin D for kids?  Children should take in about 1,000 IU per day,  for every 25 pounds of body weight.   So a child of 30 pounds needs about 1100 or so — or about 3-5 days of sunlight exposure per week.

As you might guess, African and Hispanic people need more sun exposure due to their skin pigmentation.

So — you CAN protect your child naturally, affordably by adding sunlight, natural remedies (like olive leaf extract) and Superfoods (that they’ll crave!) into their daily eating routine.  Follow my lead.  Tell your friends.  STOP FEARING the Swine Flu and encourage others to stop the relatively irrelevant, distracting chatter about the dangerous vaccine.

Time to read: 2.5 minutes

Hate getting sick or when your kids get sick?  Have sore muscles?  Struggling with infertility and want to increase your chances of having more children — naturally?  Camu camu is for you.  Camu who?  Listen up!  It’s estimated that camu camu berries have 30 – 50 times as much vitamin C as oranges.   It also holds the #1 ranking among hundreds of medicinal herbs in the holistic, natural treatment of infertility. 

Camu camu (Myrciaria dubia) is from the South American rain forest.  The fruit contains more vitamin C than any other food on the planet.  For comparison: a fresh camu camu berry may contain up to 4% vitamin C, whereas a lemon may contain at most 0.5% vitamin C.

Vitamins that actually get into your system!

It gets better: This natural, whole food form of essential vitamins is more easily digested and utilized by the body over man-made pills and isolated forms of these nutrients. That’s great point to remember next time you’re standing in front of the Walgreens or CVS shelf browsing vitamin supplements.

How do Camu camu berries do it?  Powerful phytochemicals and amino acids. They have a surprising range of therapeutic effects.  Take a look at thier rockin’ nutritional value:

Serving Size: 5g (1 tsp),  Amount/Serving % Daily Value*

Total Fat 0g 0%
Calories 20
Calories from Fat 0
Trans Fat 0g
Sodium 0mg 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 200% Calcium 2% Iron 0%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Carbohydrate 5g 2%
Amount/Serving % Daily Value*
Sugars 0g
Protein 0g

How do they taste?

Camu camu berry powder tastes  unbelievably delicious and tangy.   This purplish-red berry becomes light beige in color when dried and powdered.

What camu camu has to offer

In addition to what I mentioned earlier (a natural means to treat infertility), camu berries assist the immune system, fight inflammation, and serve as a strong anti-viral food.  Camu camu berries also support the functions of the brain, eyes, heart, liver and skin.

How to incorporate camu camu in everyday life

I suggest using it as an alternative Vitamin C supplement — mix it in your favorite tea or drink like smoothies or yogurt. Take your pick.  Because of Camu camu’s tangy  taste it go very well with tart fruits such as raspberries, citrus fruits, plums or pineapple. Try blending it with coconut oil, pineapple, macadamia nuts, chia seeds.  Even without any experience  you can create a delicious tropical smoothie like a pro!

Camu camu powder can be purchased in health foods stores or, for your convenience, I’ve created a link.  Just click here to give camu camu a try — and invest in your health now.

Time to read: 7 minutes

Everything in the store is “low sodium” or “no transfats” or “fat free” or “low sugar “or “lite”… yet we’re all getting heavier. Fact.  Child obesity rates have more than tripled since 1980.  Fact.  Constipation in children is a growing problem.  Fact.  You can blame evil marketers and their manipulative ways or you can join me in DOING something about these trends.  Let’s “call bull” on food that isn’t food.  Ok — if you read the following weight loss tips for kids and constipation tips you’ll be more successful at raising healthier children.  I promise.  Stand with me and say, “hey, that yogurt and bread isn’t yogurt OR bread!”  Let’s quickly take a quick look at why you should — and HOW you can — help treat child obesity and constipation in children — by doing what you’ve always wanted to do.  Dump fake “food” and say yes to healthier kids. 

To keep it simple, I’m listing off my top “good foods gone bad.”  We’ll discuss how to avoid them without going totally insane.  Ready?  Go!

Open your fridge…

Open your fridge.  See that cheese that isn’t cheese?  You know, the stuff that our government reluctantly insists marketers call “cheese food.”  Toss it!  And while you’re at it take a closer look at other faux foods like most yogurts that aren’t yogurts, pizzas that aren’t pizzas, canned soups that aren’t soups, sliced breads that we all know aren’t bread and cereals that we’ve always known aren’t cereal.

Ok — I promised you that this wouldn’t make you insane and by now you might be wondering, “is she one of those organic ‘food Nazi’s?’”  I’m not asking you to “go organic.”  I’m asking you to act on what you KNOW is true.

When we indulge on foods that we willingly believe are good and healthy for us — when deep down in our hearts we know otherwise — we’re lying to ourselves.

As Dr. Phil likes to say, “and how’s that working for you?”  (lying to yourself)  For most of us, the results are ugly.

Solve the health care crisis: Stop eating junk

According to a new report adult obesity is also increasing in 23 states.  Here’s the worst part: is not decreasing ANYWHERE.  Not a single state in the past year, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009, a report by the Trust for America’s Health.  The percentage of overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states.

The report warns that half of America will be dangerously obese by next year.  Literally.  We are facing national crisis if we continuing to act on ignorance — or look the other way.  If you’re looking for an answer to the national health care crisis it’s right here.  We are what we eat.  So what do we eat?

Food that isn’t Food

There are a lot of causes of obesity — many are psychological.  Today, I’m aiming my gun at food itself.  Fish, cereal, yogurt and other basic foods can be very healthy — until they’re corrupted by mass manufacturing.

Scientific fact:

The more food is processed, the less nutritious (unhealthier) it becomes.

Fish Sticks

The name sounds patently silly doesn’t it?  Ever think about that?  Fish is considered a healthy food — and it is.  Mass produced fish sticks are usually made of pollock… rather healthy.  The “stick” part seems to be the remaining TWENTY ingredients listed on the box which typically aren’t healthy.

Solution: Fish is healthy food when the ingredients list contain mostly one ingredient: FISH

Yogurt

Where I grew up people made their own yogurt: essentially milk fermented with certain bacteria. Done! This is high in protein, calcium and vitamins.  We humans do not have the the necessary enzymes to digest the protein in milk — and yogurt’s properties make it a better choice.

Next time you find yourself in the diary section browsing packages (because that’s how most of us buy our bacteria+milk) get a grip! What’s sold in mainstream American supermarkets under the name “yogurt” is not yogurt — by definition.  It’s a dairy dessert loaded with (you’ve convinced yourself it’s ‘complimented by’) high fructose corn syrup (or sugar if you’re real lucky!) and processed fruit.  It’s labeled as a healthy food when, in fact, it’s damn un-healthy and in many cases dangerous.

Not to mention the price of the stuff!  We’re paying a premium on fake “healthy food.”  You’re welcome!

Solution: Invest in an in-expensive yogurt maker.  They exist!  It takes 5 minutes to bring the milk to a boil, mix it with yogurt starter and leave it it overnight at 90 degree temperature.  You are both in control of what’s in the yogurt and saving money.

Canned Soup

Soup is remarkably healthy, inexpensive and easy to make.  A lunch of hearty homemade soup and bread, cooked in bulk and frozen in individual containers for the week, will cost less than a dollar a day.  Nearly all canned soups, on the other hand, are un-nutritious concoctions of salt, fat, artificial additives, preservatives, water and maybe part of some vegetables (with their color so fadeed that they do not look like veggies).  One serving typically contains 1,000 milligrams of sodium — about half your daily allowance.  Makes sense right?!?!

Solution:  Invest 15 minutes of your time and make your own home made, fresh soup and be in control of all the flavors — and save money.

Sliced Bread

The most common form of bread in America is the mass-produced white, soft doughy bread in plastic bags with a shelf life of weeks.  Nutritionists agree it is often a major contributor to obesity and diabetes.

True bread is flour and water with a pinch of salt and yeast.  Yes, you need to chew it — I’m sorry.  Some people even like it that way! 

Most packaged white bread contains flour and our good friend sugar (or high froctose corn syrup) — and plenty of it.  Oh, and often a dozen other ingredients.  The processing creates a food product that, once eaten, is quickly converted to blood sugar, called glucose.  This causes the pancreas to work overtime and ultimately destroys the organ.  Even mass-produced whole wheat breads are unhealthy because they are made palatable by a rather unholy trinity of sugar, salt and softening additives.  Palatable to those of us who are trained to only eat cake — oops… I mean, processed white bread!

Solution: Buy bread.  Real bread.  The ingredients list contains the following: Wheat flower, salt, yeast, oil and water (any seeds are fine too).

Breakfast Cereal

The word “cereal” has been hijacked!  Yes, once again by food producers who make tiny, crunchy breakfast cakes out of true cereal with the addition of sugar, corn syrup, salt, food dyes and preservatives.  Because what good is cereal if it goes bad in a few months right? We apparently need more than a year to eat cereal??!!

Hey… this is probably why this “cereal” is so expensive too.  They contain all these ingredients that shouldn’t be there. Real cereals — like  wheat, barley, rice and oats, to name a few – are and have always been the most important food of the human race.

Solution: Real cereal is far healthier and far cheaper.  If you want the healthy benefits of a cereal buy the real stuff.  Just read the label.  Get ready to bypass plenty of boxes on the shelf at the store!

Pizza

I’m sad that most Americans have never eaten pizza and confuse it for the junk food advertised on television and in the frozen section.  In Italy there are laws defining pizza — which set allowances on the type of flour, tomato, mozzarella, olive oil, basil and oregano.  Kinda like Champagne.  You’d not buy fake Champagne would you?

Pizza is inherently nutritious and filling.  Street corner pizza shops in Philadelphia, New York and other large cities kept close to the original idea of simple, fresh ingredients. Then came the pizza chains which put most local shops out of business. Fresh ingredients were replaced with preservative-laden, cheap and fatty ingredients that could be mass-produced, frozen and shipped across the country. Commercial pizza is now a high-calorie, high-fat, high-sodium, low-nutrient food.  

So next time when you thing of a nutrition breakfast, lunch or dinner for your child spend 30 min. to prepare real food. And don’t look at those 30 minutes like wasted time because it’s not. You are investing time to serve your child and your family nutritional needs.  Pay with your time and save big time on your doctor’s bill.

Remember — the healthiest foods have no list of ingredients.  They are what they are.  Got questions?  Think I’m a crazy person?  Get in touch with me.

Time to read: 1.5 minutes

We often hear “you are what you eat” but it’s a poor motivator.  Who cares… really!  “Eat this and avoid Alzheimer’s disease” or “… feed this  to your child and watch his intelligence blossom” is far more meaningful and TRUE.  Research proves — one particular green leafy vegetable helps protect the brain from naturally occurring (as we age) free radical damage and slows age-related declines in brain power.  It also improves learning capacity and motor skills.

Spinach is one of THE brain foods

Researchers agree — spinach has the strongest association with slowing down the cognitive decline by 40%.   It helps slow age-related declines in brain power.  Spinach will improve learning capacity and motor skills — no matter what the age.

The Chicago Health and Aging Project, reported by World’s Healthiest Foods, suggests that eating just three servings of green leafy, yellow, and cruciferous vegetables each day could slow down cognitive decline* by 40%.  This equates to getting back around five years of youthful memory/brain power according to researchers at Rush University Medical Center.

Here’s how spinach does it

-Vitamin K – which functions in retaining calcium in the bone matrix where it promotes bone mineralization.

- Vitamin A

- manganese, copper, magnesium, zinc, iron, and phosphorus

- excellent source of Vitamin B1, B2, and B6,

- good source of B3

- decent amount of Omega – 3

- lutein ( a major fighter against eye diseases)

- good source of protein

Our brain is like  any other organ in our body. We must take good care of and exercise it every day in order to maintain its full capacities… and one the first steps is to offer it the best (most nutritious) foods possible.

Of course spinach is not the only food that supports memory. Memory is too complicated a process and requires a great variety of nutrients than any single food can provide.  (to be continued)

* cognetive decline: is a decrease in the ability of brain to perform regular functions like judgement, reasoning, memory, learning and understanding

If you or anyone in your family drinks soy milk or eats soybean products please pay attention.  Today I’m sharing trusted brands — those producers of soy products that support quality products and provide full disclosure on how they’re produced.  There are many companies that are more interested in profit rather than our health… and they love to play around with words like “natural” when they market products.   As I always strive to do, I’ll empower you with the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions in the marketplace.  Let’s get the facts on brands!

Cornucopia Institute researchers have released a new report and a system used to rate manufacturers of soy products (anything with soy beans).  The Institute uses a 5- Bean rating and studied the most popular companies producing soy milk and tofu.

What the rating means: Among other quality concerns the ratings consider:

• Where the soybeans are sourced from (many companies use questionable soybeans sourced from China)
• How the soybeans are processed
• How forthright the companies are in providing information to investigators
• Whether the company tests for and avoids genetically modified soybeans

Here is how the brand stacked up…

5- Bean Brands: Eden, Vermont Soy, Small Plant Tofu, Farmsoy, Twin Oaks, Unisoya.

The above are fully transparent in their disclosure where their ingredients are sourced.

4 – Bean Brands: Organic Valley, Grand Eastern Miso, Fresh Tofu.

They are still good choices but do not have the testing system in place to discover any contamination with genetically engineer organisms. Wildwood and Tofu Shop lose points according to the report because they are sourcing organic soybeans from China instead of domestically. Apparently China’s standards for “organic” are much different than US standards; however, it should be noted that the Institute’s agenda is anti-import (in support of family-based farming).

3- Bean Brands: Harris Teeter.

2 – Bean Brands: Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.

It was very surprising for me that Trader Joe’s is on the bottom.  Why?  Well it does not mean their sources are bad but because they refuse to share their sources that helps them to be on the bottom of the list.  Again, they are large buyers of products and this too may hurt more than help them with the Institute.

I personally urge Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s to consider sourcing from family and/or smaller farmers/growers of soy… and to provide more disclosure.

1- Bean Brands:  Silk (Dean Foods)
Silk appears to be moving away from ORGANIC soy milk. Please pay attention next time you buy their products. Does is say ORGANIC or does it say NATURAL.  Unlike “organic” claims… there is no standard for “natural” soybeans in Silk soy milk.  This means it can be produced on monoculture farms, using inputs such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that would be strictly prohibited in organic production.

Bottom line: Next time you want to pay more of your hard-earned money pay attention what are you spending  on.

Time to read: 2 minutes.

Fact: There’s an increasing LACK of evidence that multivitamins benefit our kids.  Fact: Most parents believe that it’s good practice to give children good things masquerading as bad (like vitamins).  So long as they ingest it, all is good right?  Wrong.  Consider the scientific facts and the negative habits that this charade reinforces in kids. 

The inconvenient truth:

“More than half of Americans are taking dietary supplements, the majority of which are multivitamins, and the bottom line is that we don’t know for sure that they’re benefiting from them. In fact, we’re concerned that some people may be getting too much of certain nutrients,” says J. Michael McGinnis, M.D., M.P.P., Senior Scholar with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

According to this and various other studies, few scientists believe multi-vitamins to be good at reducing disease risk.

Even the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend vitamin supplements for kids on a healthy diet.

The multibillion dollar multi-vitamin business just got some bad news, eh? A National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel also found insufficient evidence on the benefits and safety of multivitamins needed to recommend their regular consumption. So what should we do?

Well how about getting all the vitamins and mineral we and our children need from REAL FOOD?  If your child has a diet rich in calcium and fiber — and low on saturated fat — he/she doesn’t need a multi-vitamin.  Vitamin absorption is also an issue often not considered.  Real food typically provides better absorption properties.

Just think back to the last time you were standing in the store isle and staring at the dizzying variety of multi-vitamins aimed at kids.  Confused?  Why should we be confused and overwhelmed?  It’s just vitamins.  This situation is a sign… not to mention the sugary, sticky nature of these candies posing as nutrients.  A closer look reveals ingredients that aren’t vitamins at all — stuff that is difficult to pronounce.

Still not convinced?  A study conducted by University of California, Davis found astonishing results. The study involved 11,000 children from age 2 to 17 years old who took vitamin supplements.  In the end, the researchers found that the kids were eating diets rich enough in vitamins — such that they didn’t need the pills (or shall we call them gummi candies).

Bottom line: present your child with a healthy choices, healthy diet rich on dark green leafy vegetables.  Basically, let your child eats his/her colors – and that’s not M&M I’m talking about.

80 Percent of Americans Have No Idea Which Foods Contain Trans Fats

Read time: 2 minutes. As reported in NaturalNews, most people in the United States now know that they should avoid trans fats but few actually know which foods contain the dangerous ingredients.  Example: food companies selling things like potato chips and fried snack goods stop frying and slap “baked” on the label — they take frying totally out of the equation.  Bingo — their product becomes health food.  Right? Wrong! Consider the actual ingredients — not just what may be added during the cooking process. Read on and I’ll show you who to easily, quickly decide what a healthy snack looks like in the shopping isle.  Here’s how to read the label AND know what to look for. My Golden Rule:s

1. If the list of ingredients is longer than 4-5 ingredients do NOT buy it.  Don’t spend money to poison your child.
2. Watch for multiple forms of preservatives or what even sounds like a preservative (typically these are the words you’ve never heard of and cannot pronounce).
3. Look at the shelf life.  The longer the shelf life the more likely it has “hidden” trans fats or dangerous preservatives.
4. Most fried foods in restaurants contain trans fats — some are loaded

Hidden trans fat: The facts on frying

While food companies are required to list trans fats on nutritional labels, a product can be listed as trans fat free if it contains less than five grams of the fats per serving.

Any product containing “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oils contain trans fats. They are commonly used in baked and fried foods, although some manufacturers have started phasing out their use.

What’s the big deal?  Unlike natural fats trans fats have no nutritional value and drastically increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and death. Like saturated fats, they increase the body’s levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, but unlike those fats they also lower its levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

Trans fats, also known as hydrogenated oils, are artificially produced in the laboratory by adding extra hydrogen atoms to unsaturated vegetable oils. They have long been a favorite of the food industry for their increased shelf life over conventional oils.

Researchers surveyed 1,000 adult residents of the United States in 2007 about their knowledge of trans fats, and found that a full 92 percent had heard of the fats, compared with only 84 percent who had heard of them in 2006. Almost 75 percent of those who had heard of trans fats were aware that consumption of the fats raises the risk of heart disease.

The researchers next asked people to list three foods that contain trans fats, but only 21 percent were able to do so — nevertheless an improvement over 17 percent in 2006.

Laws banning the use of trans fats in restaurants have been passed in a number of cities, including New York, as well as by the state of California.

Source: NaturalNews.com

“Consuming Chlorophyll is like receiving a healthy blood transfusion,” says Dr. Ann Wigmore.

You probably think that I’m speaking some other language different than English to you or that I’m reading from my Biology 101 text book.  Guess what? I’m speaking English to you. Yes, chlorophyll.  Every parent should know about the amazing properties of chlorophyll. Given how many essential nutrients reside within it, chlorophyll is as important as sunlight. Why? For starters, did you know that the only differences between chlorophyll and our blood is a single atom? Ok, Diana, so big deal — what does this mean about my child’s health? It means our bodies can absorb and digest chlorophyll very easy. Therefore, consuming it this way is an EASY, SPEEDY path to getting vital nutrients into kids bodies.

How do we introduce chlorophyll in our child’s diet and SPEED the process of nutrient absorption?

The easiest way is by blending dark green leafy vegetables (DGLVs) in a blender and enjoy it right away or even the next day.

You may ask, “why are we blending them?  Doesn’t a salad do the job?”

By blending  our dark green leafy vegetables all the nutrients become homogenized and break the molecules into very small particles that are — that’s right — very easy to absorb by our bodies.  Cool hu?  We are literally injecting our bloodstream  with pure nutrients and the absorbtion process begins in our mouth.

And how do I get my kids to play along again?

By blending our dark green leafy vegetables we are creating a drink that tastes great and is very enjoyble. More enjoyable than how they taste by themselves?  HECK YES!

We also make it very easy for our kids digestive tract — and they are getting all the nutrients.  So if you’re convinced that your child can benefit from chlorofyll (like I am) convert your knowlege into a new habit and start introducing this powerful nutrient to your child — and you as well!  Do it TODAY!