On my recent trip to Canada I was reading Newsweek and came across a small article about getting kids to pick healthier foods in school cafeterias. One suggestion was to get rid of all the junk food choices available in most schools. This would be highly unlikely to happen and most kids, depending on their age may starve until they reach the 7-Eleven after school. Another suggestion in the article was to rename foods for the younger crowd. “X-ray vision carrots, bulk-up broccoli, groovy green beans…could this get kids to eat more vegetables? According to a Cornell researcher kindergarten kids ate the renamed vegetables 50% more than “plain” vegetables.

I don’t see this being as successful on the older kids.

How do we really get our kids to make better food choices, not only at school but at home? We educate them on nutrition starting at a very early age. This means nutritional education in school as well as at home. Very few schools include any kind of nutritional courses, and most that do start them at the teenage years which may be too late to teach the value of foods. Most children will mimic what they learn in the home environment. If at home you are serving mostly processed foods, high starches and sugar, that is what your kids will learn. And those are the types of foods they will choose when given the opportunity.

In most cases it is a matter of educating the parents as well.

Maybe some of you have seen a show that was running on The Learning Channel called “Honey, we’re killing the kids”. In this show the nutrition expert goes to a typical family’s home with children who may be overweight, unhealthy or just eating all kinds of junk food. Using computer images she shows the parents what their children will look like as adults if they continue the diet and lifestyle path they are currently on. She then goes through their kitchen and teaches the parents and the children about good nutritious food choices verses what they may be eating. She teaches not only about a healthy diet but about a more active lifestyle. She then challenges them within a three week course to use these changes and suggestions. The difference at the end of just three weeks in how these families feel and look are amazing. She then shows the parents again by computer imaging and statistics how their children may look as adults on this healthier, more active lifestyle.

Getting back to the point of where do we start, what do we do NOW to start helping our children eat better? Even if your children are older, it is never too late to start setting a good example. Try starting a program like my Fiber 35 healthy eating plan. The foods suggested, although healthy, are still delicious and allows the kids to have healthy tasty snacks. Although I target weight loss with my Fiber 35 Diet, it is a great, healthy way of eating for your whole family. The recipes are terrific and so are the eating-out tips.

Check out my fiber35diet.com website for more fiber recipes and snack ideas for your whole family. Do you have some tasty healthy treats? Share your ideas and thoughts here.

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I recently read in one of my natural news update reports that the Department of Health and Human Services will be awarding $100 million dollars in funding to provide meals to tens of thousands of low-income older Americans.   This will be divided out between Senior Citizen centers, community services, home delivery, and Native American nutrition programs.

The article goes on to state that it is difficult for many seniors to afford the right foods to keep themselves healthy and active.  And that without nutritious meals, the health of many older Americans declines; they become more susceptible to illness; their ability to manage their chronic diseases is reduced, and they may lose their ability to remain at home, and independent in their community.

The fact that this funding is being provided is wonderful, however, I question what most organizations who feed the elderly consider a nutritious meal.  Just in my experience with my own elderly mother, I saw the types of foods being offered, and was appalled.  The fact that the center she was frequenting was serving lots of white starches, loads of sugar and a small portion of protein was very disturbing to me.  I wonder if there is any nutritional training provided for senior centers, community organizations and other organizations, specifically to geriatric nutrition.

When my sisters and I where looking at nursing care facilities to help care for my mother, the nutrition aspect was a main focus for me.  Again, I found most facilities were severely lacking when it came to meal preparation. Pair this with the fact that a lot of elderly do not have a great appetite to start with and all they may tend to eat is the sweets.  We have recently moved my mother to a smaller intimate facility who allowed us to have some input into her nutrition.  The facility has since started making healthier changes to all their patients’ meals, which I find exciting to see.

In addition, most facilities will not let you give your loved one an omega-3, a multi-vitamin or any supplement without a doctor’s prescription.  The elderly need this even more, especially those in any type of continuous care facility.  When, as in my mothers case, she loses her appetite, I am able to make her a fiber and protein shake from the FitSmart line, adding in some of the Renew! Multi-Nutritient powder.  She loves the flavor, thinking she is drinking a milk shake, and it is actually providing her with a balanced nutritional meal replacement.

With this major funding being provided, I feel we should take this opportunity to re-evaluate the meals that the elderly are being provided, and make some positive changes to provide not only good lean proteins, but healthy complex carbohydrates, as well as adding in some healthy oils or foods to provide the omega oils needed for so many conditions.

It’s time we take better care of our elderly citizens.

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I was recently looking around the CNN.com web site and read an article by Dr. Sanjay Gupta about dealing with economic stress and the effect it has on your body.  Dr. Gupta was right on the money (no pun intended) when, in his article, he mentions that stress has a huge impact on your body.  He goes on to say how stress can cause not only headaches, but also an impaired immune system and even digestive complaints.

I fully agree with that, especially about the digestive system being affected by stress.  And when the digestive system is compromised it affects the body as a whole and can lead to many other complaints around the body. Take myself as an example — when I get stressed, I tend to get constipated.  When this happens, I find myself more susceptible to getting colds or the flu or just headaches and fatigue, not to mention that my skin tends to break out.

Dr. Gupta gives some stress busting tips like laugh more, meditate and plan a budget. What he does not mention is how very important it is, especially during these times of economic stress, to take extra prevention with your health, particularly the digestive system.

A strong digestive system is your foundation to health. That means not only try to make better food choices, but if you can afford, take a few supplements as well.  The best supplements to help keep your digestive system strong and functioning properly during stress are fiber, at 35 grams per day, digestive enzymes with every meal, 2 grams of omega-3 oils daily, and at least a 50 billion culture count of probiotics daily. See, there’s HOPE for us all! Just adding these simple items can help protect your body from the debilitating effects of these stressful times.

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