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Healthy eating can help you manage your weight and will improve your overall feeling of well-being; it can also reduce your risk of developing illness and serious disease.
Making sure that you're eating the right balance of the right foods is the key to a healthy diet. Here are a few top tips to make sure that you're having the right mix of foods:
* eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. This includes servings of fruit juice and baked beans
* base your meals on starchy foods, such as potatoes, brown rice and wholemeal bread
* if you eat meat every day of the week, try substituting it with oily fish like mackerel, salmon or tuna on a couple of days
* always go for low-fat cheese, milk and yoghurt
* watch how much salt you're eating. As most salt we eat comes from processed foods, read the label - food containing more than 1.25 grams of salt per 100g is a lot. Don't add it to food when you're cooking or at the table
*try and cut down the number high fat or high sugar snacks and drinks you have every week
Getting rid of bad habits
If you have a busy life, it's really tempting to get into the snacking habit. Grabbing a bag of crisps or a chocolate bar on the way home may give you an energy boost, but these snacks are usually the ones that are filled with bad types of fat and sugar.
It's best to try and stop snacking in between meals altogether, but if you're finding it hard, try to carry a couple of pieces of fruit or a bag of nuts around with you. These can give you the same energy boost and contain fats and sugars that are better for you.
Another bad habit is missing breakfast. Although you might prefer to spend another 15 minutes in bed or in the bathroom every morning, skipping breakfast means you're likely to be reaching for the chocolate by mid-morning. Having something like a bowl of cereal and a glass of fruit juice before you leave the house in the morning is more than enough to see you through until lunchtime.
Nutritional supplements
In addition to a balanced diet there are some nutritional supplements that may benefit children of all ages by boosting immunity and optimising health.
Multivitamin/mineral
A full-spectrum multivitamin and mineral product in a highly absorbable form is essential to ensure the foundation of health. Vitamins and minerals are necessary for proper growth, metabolism, digestion, immune system function, muscle and nerve function and detoxification processes in the liver. Scientific studies have shown that the majority of us are deficient in many essential nutrients because of poor dietary habits and other factors which may deplete nutrient levels such as caffeine, drugs, stress or pollution. A daily multivitamin can help to keep your child’s energy and concentration levels at their best.
Acidophilus
Acidophilus is the friendly bacteria that live in our digestive tract. Healthy bacterial balance in our digestive tract is easily affected by poor dietary habits and by the use of medications, such as corticosteroids and antibiotics. Everyone can benefit from the use of probiotics for healthy digestion and immunity. Acidophilus has also been found useful in the treatment and prevention of skin conditions and allergies. Children in daycare who take acidophilus supplements are found to have less frequent colds, flu and ear infections. Acidophilus supplements are designed to deliver a therapeutic level of living gut bacteria rarely achieved by ‘probiotic’ rich foodstuffs such as yoghurt.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant and a natural antihistamine and it also helps speed wound healing. Vitamin C’s immune-enhancing effect makes it essential in preventing infection as well as in shortening the duration of an illness. To maximize effectiveness vitamin C is best taken with bioflavonoids in divided dosages spaced throughout the day. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin which is safe even at high doses. It may act as a natural laxative in certain individuals, so be sure to increase the dose slowly. Try chewables—they are a great way to get your kids to take the vitamin C they need to stay healthy and free of colds!
EPA/DHA fish oils
Special oils are necessary in the formation of every cell in the body. Eicosapentaenoic acid EPA and docosahexaenoic acid DHA (the components of essential fatty acids) are natural anti-inflammatory agents. They are called essential fatty acids because they are ‘essential’ to our well-being and they are not manufactured in the body. They need to be included in our diet. Many children do not like oily fish so these essential foodstuffs are often missing from their diet. Their anti-inflammatory action makes them useful in treating and preventing heart disease and they also have beneficial effects on cholesterol, triglycerides and on the tendency of blood to clot. Essential fatty acids help to moisten the skin and improve bowel function. Symptoms of depression, ADD/ADHD, schizophrenia and memory loss may improve with essential fatty acid supplements. Finally, fish oils are also very useful for the treatment and prevention of skin conditions like dry winter itch, eczema or psoriasis.
High DHA fish oil
Much of the gray matter of the brain is made up of fat, specifically the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The essential fatty acids recommended in this plan contain higher amounts of DHA which has been found in studies to protect and maintain healthy brain cell function because of its important role in the composition of the protective covering (myelin) around nerves. Daily oral supplementing of DHA has been shown to increase blood levels of DHA, to protect myelin and to improve the signaling of chemical messages between nerve cells in the brain. This often improves the symptoms of some mental and visual disorders. Children who take fish oils are calmer and have been found to be more productive in school.
Zinc citrate
Research has found that many children and young adults with ADHD/ADD are deficient in zinc. Zinc is found in the brain's hippocampus and interacts with other chemicals to send messages to the sensory brain center, enhancing memory and thinking skills. It has a significant effect on visual memory, learning, emotional and behaviuoral state and overall cognitive function. A deficiency may result in learning impairments, poor memory and emotional and behavioural problems.
A study carried out on 135 males aged between 3 and 20 with a history of aggressive behaviour found that many of the subjects were likely to have high levels of copper and low levels of zinc compared with non-aggressive people. Zinc and copper compete for absorption. Because of this inverse relationship, zinc supplements can be effective for lowering copper levels. Proper mineral balance is essential for the production of chemical signals in the brain that influence behaviour. Both copper and zinc tend to be concentrated in the hippocampus of the brain, which is the area known to be associated with stress response.
Since it usually takes two to three months to overcome a copper-zinc imbalance, treatment with zinc supplements should be continued for a minimum of four months before determining effectiveness. Zinc deficiency can result from exposure to heavy metal toxins, such as cadmium (usually from exposure to cigarette smoke) and lead, which prevent its absorption. Poor dietary habits such as excessive consumption of sugar or carbohydrates are also known to reduce zinc absorption.
Magnesium
Magnesium is a trace mineral the body needs to function properly. A deficiency of this mineral has been linked to attention-deficit disorder and hyperactivity in children. In one study from Poland, children with ADHD were found to be more deficient than control subjects in a number of bio-elements. Of all the bio-elements, magnesium deficiencies were the most pronounced. Magnesium supplements can promote relaxation, focus, attention and restful sleep.
Quercetin
A flavonoid compound from apples and onions, quercetin has natural antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties. Quercetin is best taken with vitamin C mixed with bioflavonoids as this improves the antihistamine effect. Vitamin C alone may also have beneficial effects on histamine levels by preventing histamine release from cells and by improving the breakdown of histamine.
Echinacea
For sneezing, colds, the flu or general immunity improvement, an herbal product that contains echinacea and other immunity-boosting herbs is a great way to shorten the duration of an illness as well as prevent the development of new ones. It is always best to increase immune system function rather than treat an infection that has already appeared. Echinacea is safe for the whole family to use, so be sure to use it when there are a lot of infections at school or work to keep you and your family free from illness.
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