You do not have to buy exclusively  organic.  Get smart and apply what I’m sharing with you below — tomorrow.  Next time you go to the store or local farmer’s market.

Keep The Dirty Dozen in mind when you are in the store.  I know, I know… most of the time we’re shopping with children.  And I admit it’s not easy to keep eye on them — AND to keep track of what we’re putting in our cart.

What are the Dirty Dozen?  Ok.  Here we go.  In other words these are the most dangerous items to eat and, therefore, most important to eat ORGANIC. Ranked in order of their ability to “bring harm” to you they are:

Celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, kale / collard greens, cherries, potatoes, grapes.

Tip 1: Print this list

Jot down the list above or print the complete list below.  Keep it in your wallet or purse.  Fruits/vegetables at the top of this list absorb/maintain fewer pesticides.  Those at the bottom have more.  Hence, they are the dirty dozen.

Think of it this way: Everything you’re eating that falls at toward the top of the list that is non-organic is bringing you less pesticides.  Those are fairly safe to buy just about anywhere.  Everything at the bottom that you’re eating is dangerous… and should be sourced as USDA organic.

Tip 2: A simple, cost-effective scrub

Also, you should always wash your produce by using 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide and vinegar.  It helps reduce pesticides — greatly.  Take these 2 steps today and apply them next time when you are taking care of the food for your family!

Source: Environmental Working Group

photo credit: Dain Sandoval.

Time to read: 5 minutes. You need to get nutritious foods into your child’s body — not to be educated on their benefits.  Preferably without the crying, begging or attempts to con your child.  Fail, fail, fail.  Today I’m revealing a three step process to do-away-with your veggie-refusin’ picky eater — forever.  Don’t give up yet.  Read on and join the many parents who’ve overcome picky eating to create happier, healthier kids!

First, please don’t think that you’ve heard all there is to hear — and tried everything there is to try — only to fail.   Yes, your child will give it a try.  Follow me.  Success will not happen overnight but it will happen if you are consistent yourself — and patient with your child.

Action step #1:  Make a smooth move

Got an infant?  Steam some green (this is critical) veggies for 4-5 minutes and put them in the food processor for 1 minute.  Done.  Let cool and serve or freeze for later.  Do you have minutes to make a healthy meal PACKED with nutrients?  Yes, you do, hot mama.   Plan your day otherwise the day will plan you.

Got a full-blown, militantly anti-veggie child?  Or maybe the only thing they’ll eat is “foods with colors that are a variation on beige” as my husband’s friend once said about his son.  No problem.  Make your child a healthy drink.

As an example:  A green smoothie.  How to create a green smoothie?  More importantly one that your child will honestly crave?  Here we go…

Use pure water, or coconut water, as a liquid base in the blender.  Use the fruit that your child loves.  Take your pick.  Toss in a few dark green leafy vegetables (they must be dark green, please) and a little honey to make it more sweet if needed.  Honey is an insanely-nutritious, beneficial, natural form of sugar.  Don’t go overboard but get that honey going.

The Golden Rule for picky eater success:  Start with 80% fruits and 20% greens in the beginning and, over time, slowly decrease the fruit and honey and increase the greens to maximize health benefits.

Here is a sample recipe you can start with.  Again, use your child’s favorite fruits.  Mine are just examples.

Killer green smoothie

1 cup coconut water (coconut water is full with electrolytes and is great way for re-hydration)

1 mango

1 banana

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup organic spinach 1/2 cup ice

Blend in the blender and and serve.  This way your child receives a mega-dose of vital nutrients that are necessary for the day.  If you can work 2 smoothies in per day you won’t need to wage battle over eating veggies at the dinner table.

Go crazy and toss in some chocolate.  Yes, you can say yes to chocolate but in its raw form.

Toss 1 tsp. of raw cacao powder into the above smoothie.  Raw cacao powder is the best source of magnesium on Earth.  It’s FILLED with powerful anti-oxidants that will keep your child healthy, happy and disease-free.

Brave enough?  Toss in 2 tbs. hemp seeds (a tremendous source of protein).  They don’t really taste like anything and your child gets a natural protein boost.  (essential because most artificial, man-made protein supplements don’t actually absorb into our bodies!)

Or you can use dates for sweetening up the taste.  Natural forms of sugar are MUCH more healthy and beneficial for kids.  PLUS your child gets tons of needed fiber from dates.

Action step #2:  Create desserts using tasty, nutrient-dense Superfoods

Create desserts (like cookies) out of Superfoods.  Skip the bleached flower and refined sugars.  Here’s how.  This is one of my son’s favorite recipes you can use.  Rip me off!

Goji berry cookies

1/2 cup goji berries

1   Tbs. hemp seeds

1/2 cup almonds (raw)

2   Tbs. coconut butter

1   Tbs. coconut oil

3   Dates

First put the goji berries and the Almonds in the food processor.  After they combine well add the rest:  coconut butter, coconut oil and the Dates.  Blend for another minute.  Put the dough in a bowl and add the Hemp seed.  Fold gently.  Roll as a balls or make a flat cookie shape — take your pick.  Put them in the freezer for at list 30 min.   Enjoy. This is a treat that you do not have to use restriction rules.  No, seriously.  Cookies without restriction.  They’re Superfood cookies!

Action step #3:  Create snacks using Superfoods

Create snacks from dark green leafy vegetables as an example.  No, really.  Hear me out.  I have yet to meet a child who rejected these and I meet a LOT of kids in my business.  I want to share my kale chips recipe with you.

Kale chips

1 bunch organic duno (or “elephant”) kale (this is best but any kale will do)

3 tbs. raw honey (must be raw to get the nutrients!)

1/2 organic lemon

pinch celtic salt (again, loaded with nutrients)

1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

Cut the stems from the kale leaves.  In a bowl combine the squeezed lemon juice, honey, salt.   Mix together.  Add the kale leaves and make sure every part of the leaf is coated with the mixture in the bowl.  Leave it for ah hour so — let the kale absorb the mixture.  Put the leaves in a dehydrator on 115F for 8 hours — or in your oven on the lowest setting for 2 hours.   Enjoy crispy nutritional chips with great health benefits.

Empower yourself by getting real

Be honest with yourself.  If you do this one thing you’ll multiply your chances of success — you’ll win over the picky eater.

Reality:  Our palates are “trained” the moment we start eating solid foods as kids.

Reality:  WE (parents & caregivers) are in control of what our kids eat.  If we want to, we can start serving them food — real food — rather than buying jarred baby food or other processed foods from the store that are nutritionally poor.

Reality:  You have the time.  You have nothing but time.  You simply need to adjust your priorities.  Sure, you have nothing but priorities — got it.  But if you truly care about your child’s health you will invest MINUTES per day to make better health a reality.  It will feel great to make your child’s health a priority — far better than showing them a good time at Chuck E Cheese.  Trust me.  There’s something in it for you too.

When you start is critical

The earlier you start with your child the faster and the better result you will have. But if you child is of an age where eating habits are already formed do NOT give up.

Parents and caregivers create the eating habits our children have today.  We bear this responsibility.  But it’s not a burden.  We make the food choices we make every day.  Our children don’t have any idea what is good for them and what is bad.  They do not go to the store and buy the food that is in our pantry and our fridge.  We do.

This is how, unknowingly, we create their eating habits.  This… my friends… is how we train their taste buds and develop their palate. And this process is on-going.  This is why there’s hope… opportunity.

If you start from early days to introduce conventional, nutritionally depleted foods — made with highly refined sugars and additional fillers — this is what your kid will crave throughout his/her life.  But if you start with home-made or natural, organic nutritionally-dense food (Superfood snacks, green smoothies) this is what your child will learn to crave.

So take action now and start making these delicious recipes – take the first step towards raising a healthy, happy child.  Not to mention saving yourself a lot of headaches!

photo credit: technopinoy

Being responsible for your family’s health doesn’t need to be a drag, says Dr. Rob Streisfeld.  “Believe me, you can have a lot of fun — live a cool and active lifestyle — that has health as a foundation to it.  It doesn’t have to be ‘oh I’m giving up the fun stuff and the enjoyment just so I can be a little healthier.’  That’s totally not the case.”

If you missed this week’s live teleseminar on creating wellness naturally through a fun, new approach to eating you’re in luck.  You can now listen to it on your own busy schedule.  Just click below and listen now or download it for when you have the time.

In just 40 minutes we covered how to:

• Make prevention an expression of style – making character-defining choices (just like our fashion, hair, etc.)
• Use chocolate and salt to get healthy — yes, healthy!
• Create better health by taking things ONE or TWO steps at a time — not “all or nothing” change
• Work WITH your cravings — turn them into our tools for better health!
• Improve how you look & feel by getting back to basics: Traditional fermented foods and kombucha
• Use food to boost immunity, fight depression, relieve stress and increase overall health — TODAY

Click the PLAY button below to listen or DOWNLOAD HERE.

40 MINUTES

Want to be alerted to our next teleseminar?
Just sign up below and I’ll send you an email!

Time to read: 1.5 minutes. Fact: Herbs like chamomile aren’t just  good for tea.  Chamomile can be an effective pain reducer and promote healing too.  If you’re looking for an alternative way to treat illness or pain read on.  I’m providing 3 fast tips on how to use safe, effective natural remedies to create better health — often faster than over-the-counter medications.   It’s back to basics time!

Fever, cough, stuffy head, sore throat or diarrhea?  Natural remedies are an effective alternative to synthetic pills and prescription medications.  Dr. Andrea Rentea recently tipped me off on 3 simple tips.  She was presenting to the Holistic Moms Network/Chicago.  Here are her amazingly useful and effective tips with you.   Ready?

Natural fever-reducing remedy

A lemon compress works well for fevers.  Seriously!  What’s a compress?  Essentially, it’s a cloth soaked in the natural remedy or remedies.  In this case you place lemon (available at most Asian markets) in pot of warm water to extract its beneficial qualities.  You simply soak a cloth in this water.  Then place the compress wherever the child is hot — whether it be the forehead or the feet.  This allows the lemon “to go to work.”

Where do you get the cloths?  Just about anywhere.  You can use anything — old bed sheets, tee-shirts, PJ’s or cotton.  If you’ve got medical gauze even better.  Cut the cloths in different lengths — long enough to cover things like legs, arms, your child’s head… all the different body parts.  This way you’re ready-to-go when the challenge present itself.

For best results, you’ll also need the same shapes and lengths of wool (or a thicker, absorbent wool-like) material that can be placed on the top of the cotton or cloths.  But these are small details.

Natural ear ache / infection remedy

First chop 1/4 onion into very small pieces.  Than warm the onion pieces on the stove in a dry pan for no more than a minute (you just want them warm not cooked).  Take a piece of non-furry gauze (or cloth) and place the onion pieces in it and tie it up nice and secure.   Use a safety pin.  Bingo.  Compress.

Place the onion compress around the child’s ear so it frames the ear.  Do not place the onion compress directly on the ear.   The idea is to let the warm, moist air move into the ear.  Closing off the ear won’t work.  Be sure to leave the compress around the ear for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Natural sinus infection remedy

Here’s one that I tried out on my husband who suffers sinus infections fairly frequently.  It worked!  First peel a ginger root and grate off about half a tablespoon. Wrap the contents in your cloth or gauze.  Secure the compress with a safety pin.  You can place the compress under your child’s eyes or near the cheeks.  Do it for about five to seven minutes.

You can do the same thing with about a teaspoon of shavings from a horseradish root.  But only leave the compress on your child’s skin for no more than two to three minutes.   Always stay with your child.

Your natural remedies survival kit

Be prepared.  Right?  In the spirit of doing so I’m sharing Dr. Renea’s home care essentials.  They include:

• Horseradish root
• Organic lemons
• Ginger root
• Onions
• Organic chamomile tea (or flowers/leaves)
• Olbas oil
• Two rubber water bottles
• A hand grater
• Enamel pot
• A sifter
• Collection of about 20 cloths to use as a compress

Holistic, natural remedies are safe and effective

Dr. Rentea is giving tips on holistic remedies for treating fever and many other common symptoms of cold, flus and typical ails.  What’s cool about Dr. Rentea is how she’s using her knowledge as a physician BUT she’s heavily incorporating  anthroposophical medicine.

Anthroposophical is a fancy word for a holistic approach to medicine focusing on natural healing, the psyche and the spirit.

So next time when your child is suffering from one of these symptoms stop.  Don’t rush to the closest drug store or your doctor office.  Try the holistic approach first.   It really can save you money and a sleepless night… for you and your little one.

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.”

The health care answer is in our hands: A better, more cost-effective and more accessible form of self care.  Improving the health of your children means new forms of prevention.  But that’s not all.  It’s going to take a new belief system.

Stop enabling the beliefs that aren’t serving you

As an example, if you believe that genetics (family history) is responsible for your poor health (or disease) you’re adopting a weak belief system.  You’re setting yourself up for failure.  You’re outsourcing your health — to nobody!  Just one simple change, your belief system, can empower your body’s ability to battle any disease, meet any challenge and win.

What’s your health goal?  Choose it.  Believe it.  You’ll soon be doing it without even knowing it.

Today, the patient is the healer. Moms, dads and caregivers — we have total control over our family’s mental (emotional) and physical health.  How?  Our beliefs.  Just like religion — there is no middle ground.  You either believe or you don’t.  The belief system you adopt determines your health outcome.  Period.

Just say no to what sucks

I decided to start my company based on a very personal act — rejecting today’s very popular belief system.  First, I rejected today’s “health care” system.  You know — the one that makes me wait around for others to solve MY problems.  The one that treats the symptom, not the problem of MY health.  The one that costs a lot of money.  The one that my employer can’t afford either.

The one that SUCKS.

I dumped it.  I’ve never looked back.  Call me a “health Nazi” (or food Nazi) all you want.  I’m happier and healthier. Isn’t that all that matters?  I then decided to go on a business crusade.

Here’s how I finally got the nerve to reject our “system.”   I realized that big government and big health care corporations are battling over how treatment of disease will be paid for. Duh!  I was sitting around waiting for them to fix the symptoms of the problem — not the problem!  I acted.  This was my call to action.  This is your call to action.  Let’s roll.

You and I are challenged to actually prevent illness and lower medical costs by finding a better way to take care of our families.

Garbage in, garbage out as my husband likes to say.  What we eat plays a central role in our health and happiness.

3 easy steps

Follow me and I’ll show you how to take action on creating better health — NOW!  Better mental and physical health will never be found in diets or food regimens relying on elimination or moderation of what we want. The answer involves using instinctual human cravings to our advantage. The answer is adding food in.

If you want your child to do better in school (improve mental performance) play to their instincts.  If you want to overcome any chronic disease — or prevent one — you can choose a better approach.  But it starts with what you believe in and why.

Action item: Stop paying attention to the health care screaming, yelling, and mis-informed yammering on TV and take action over your health by improving what you eat and why.   Stop misbehaving.  80% of chronic diseases are result of misbehavior.

Action item:  Improve your eating habits the new way — not by eliminating or moderating but rather by adding food in.   Surprisingly good tasting, easy to create Superfood snacks and desserts.

Action item: Sign up for my February teleseminar.  Stay tuned for the details.  I’ll have a special guest that you’re sure to enjoy and take actionable insights from.  Join us as we flip the bird to The Powers (big business and big government) and get healthier, happier — and look better too!

Take charge of your own health.  BELIEVE!  Once you become accountable for your own health you have the power to make changes.

Remember — I’m with you.  Accomplishing goals is work… I know.  But it’s critical to NOT make complicated rules for yourself.  Choose a belief system that puts you in control.  Choose a way of life that makes you healthy AND HAPPY.

You might be surprised at how smart and capable you are.  You CAN and WILL make smarter, better choices.  You will create better health and happiness for your family.

• Prevent the swine flu / H1N1 naturally
• Use Superfoods to boost immunity, fight depression, relieve stress and increase overall health
• Fall in love with kale, raw cacao and berries like acai and goji?
• Use surprisingly delicious, simple treats and desserts that appeal to your inner-most food cravings
• Quickly make ridiculously healthy desserts and smoothies — and have fun doing it
• Boost brain chemistry, increase energy, sharpen memory, fight disease, reduce child obesity
• Begin incorporating organic “living” foods and dairy-free treats into your family’s daily routine

Click the PLAY button below to listen or DOWNLOAD HERE.
50 MINUTES

Want to be alerted to our next teleseminar? Just sign up below and I’ll send you an email!

Hi, everyone.  Just a quick note to remind you that I’ll be making presentations live at Chicago’s The Kids Table — talking about how Superfoods can help prevent disease by giving you a bigger, better bodyguard.  In other words your immune system!  Register now… while there’s still space left.  We have limited seating and cost is $45.  And yes we WILL be firing up the blender making snacks, desserts and treats.

Win a free Superfoods smoothies/desserts starter kit valued at $100!
AND
Get 7 easy tips on how to start eating your way to better health.

Register below and attend my rockin’, live teleseminar this week and you’ll get the tips AND a chance at winning $100 worth of cacao, acai and other goodies.  If you’re not in Chicago (can’t make it to Wicker Park for The Kids Table) or just lazy and want to listen from home be sure to tune in.   I’ll give you 7 easy ways to start ENJOYING cold and flu season — by improving your immune system using delicious treats.  No, really!

Elena Marre, owner of Kids Table and picky eater expert, says her 7 year old son,

Aleks, “asked for a lifetime supply after tasting my dairy-free, nut-free, sugar-free and amazingly-good-for-you ‘ice cream. And this boy is not easily pleased!”

Sign up NOW

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.