Our nutritional choices are influenced by our fast moving, fast-food society. With a little pre-planning and a little nutritional instruction, we can start teaching our children to make choices that will create healthy food lifestyles.
1. Creating a Healthier Food Lifestyle
The best way to influence your child's health tomorrow, is to start incorporating a healthy food lifestyles today. A few small healthy changes today, with repetition, will grow into healthy habits that will significantly impact their entire lives.
Our in house Holistic Health Practioner and teacher gives parents the tools to build a foundation for healthy living at home. Our program integrates a whole food and healthy lifestyle approach based on family needs and lifestyle, and we will create a personalized food plan that is practical and fits into your busy schedule. You will be guided, using a step-by-step approach, on starting your family on a path of long-term health.
a. Remember, you as a parent have the role of being your child's first teacher. So, be a good role model - kids are copy cats, they will mimic you - it's part of how their brains learn. If your child sees you preparing a large salad for yourself or a fruit smoothly everyday - he'll want to join you and try some.
b. Substitute predominately healthy foods and snacks in your cupboard and refrigerators -the goal is to create a household environment that encourages healthful eating with minimal effort.
Go ahead; replace the soda pop with juice pouches, bags of chips with bags of raisons, ice cream with fruit sorbets. Your imagination is the limit, because there are so many better opportunities, the bad 'junk food' influence will get drowned.
c. Be prepared when you are away from home with your arsenal of healthy foods in a zip lock bags to snack on. This helps guard against your fast food reflex when you are having a hunger melt down or when the kids need an after sports pick-me-up.
Remember, just as important in preventing disease is having healthy lifestyle practices which nourish us as well. Make an appointment with our nutritional health practioner today ~ This program is fun, inspiring, and motivating.
2. Using Phytonutrients to Keep you Healthy
Phytonutrients (pronounced “fight-o-nutrients”), also called phytochemical, are natural bioactive compounds found in fruits and vegetables that works together with vitamins, minerals, and fiber to significantly promote human health. Clinical investigations are on-going worldwide on thousands of phytochemicals with medicinal properties. There is abundant evidence from studies that the phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables can significantly reduce the risk of cancer, probably due to polyphenol antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. As well as reducing the risk of cancer, phytonutrients positively affect hormones, act as antibacterials or antiviral agents, repair DNA, detoxify carcinogens (through the activation of the cytochrome P450 and phase ll enzyme systems), improves the immune system, and enhances cell to cell communication.
Some common phytonutrients include lycopenes, carotenoids, flavonoids, indoles, lignans, isoflavones (including genistein and daidzen) organosulfurs and phytosterols. Phytonutrients research is experiencing remarkable growth. Hopefully, more specific information on phytonutrient consumption and human health will be continued and forthcoming.
So dust off and take out those juicers, blenders, sprout growers and steaming baskets and let's learn how to use them. For now, it appears that an effective strategy for reducing risk of cancer, heart disease and optimizing health is to increase consumption of phytonutrient-rich foods including fruits, vegetables, sprouts, whole grains, legumes, nuts and natural teas.
3. Breastfeeding for Ultimate Nutrition and Immunity
At Healthy Kids we help new parents understand the importance of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is considered the" Gold Standard" of infant feeding, and is the only substance that provides both complete nutrition and immunologic protection to the human infant. Human milk is a dynamic, living fluid that changes to meet the specific needs of the premature and growing newborn/infant and toddler.
New scientific research shows that immediate and additional long term health benefits are received from consuming human milk. These benefits correlate with lifelong effects on our children's lives. Reduced rates of Type 1 diabetes, adult obesity, chrones, celiac disease, lymphoma and cancer are just some of the added long-term benefits.
If you have chosen to breast feed you will find encouragement and support at Healthy Kids for all stages of breastfeeding. For those patients that need more instructional support with breast feeding - our certified breast feeding consultants can meet with you in the privacy of your own home for a one-on-one instructional teaching and consultation.
Other Key Online Resources:
- The USDA food pyramid teaches you to learn about food groups and how much physical activity you and your children should be getting. Games and animations give children fun ways to learn about nutrition.
- La Leche League International
