Sounds strange … eat to eat at parties?  Yes, that is exactly what you should do.  Both Keri Marshall, our recent Nutritionist and Doctor of Natureopath guest, and Sally Byrd, N.D., our Family Food Experts nutrition expert, recommend the following for kids and adults.  Eat before you go to a party.  Sit down and enjoy some protein such as mozzarella cheese sticks, slices of turkey, a couple of meatballs, even edamame beans - something to fill your tummy a little.  Then when you arrive at the party, you will not be starving and find yourself or you kids lunging for the nearest goodie.  In addition, this protein will hang around in your digestive system as it takes about 2-3 hours to digest.  This helps minimize any craving for sugar or resulting sugar highs from carbs that are eaten.  Also, drink some water with your pre-party protein snack and when you arrive, first ask for a glass of water (with lemon!) before you enjoy another beverage.  As a result, you will find that both your kids and you will be tamer at endulging in sweets and other white carbs. Rule of Thumb: mix protein with carbs when you eat and drink. Balance with no guilt - a great combo when you are celebrating! 

Go to www.BlogTalkRadio.com/BetterFoodChoices to hear more. Tune in for the live show on Fridays, Noon to 1pm EST.

… for the health of your family,
ellen

We interviewed Ken Gootkind, head of the natural and organic product lines for Apple and Eve.  Boy, have they got some great new products for kids!  The first to bring to your attention is FIZZ ED.  This is a genius answer to replacing soda.  It is 8.4 fluid ounces of 70% juice and 30% carbonated water.  That’s it.  No bad chemicals added.  No added sugar.  Only fruit juice and sparkling water.  A bonus is that Apple and Eve uses the better sources for both their natural and organic juices.  This product is first being introduced into vending machines at schools.  Yeah - a far better beverage choice than the junk sodas.  You will also see it in stores soon.  The four flavors are: Pomegranate Cherry, Orange Mango, Green Apple and Red Raspberry - Yum  Here’s your answer for drink treats, especially for parties!

And there is more …. FRUITABLES.  This is a great new vegetable/fruit juice drink for kids. You will find a nice flavor and nutrient balance that includes carrot (yellow, purple, orange), beet, pumpkin, tomato, and butternut squash Juices.  When was the last time you kids drank beta-caroteen-filled pumpkin and butternut squash juice?  The three flavors are: Strawberry Kiwi, Tropical Orange, and Berry Berry. Again, no added sugar, bad chemicals and unwanted ingredients. Perfect for school lunches!!!!!   Fruitables will be showing up in your stores soon.

Apple and Eve, known for quality, are ahead of the curve when it comes to creating healthier products for kids.  These new products are example of this truth.

For more about Apple and Eve, listen to Ken on our archived show by clicking on to www.BetterFoodChoices.com/BetterFoodChoices. 

… for the health of your family,

ellen

For those of you who do not listen to our Blog Talk Radio show “Better Food Choices” I will begin to pass along some of the information shared by guests that you will particularly value. 

When talking with someone this morning, I was reminded of what our Ingredients Standards Board Pediatrician said about feeding babies.  Start feeding them baby food vegetables before fruit.  You will have far better vegetables eaters as they grow up!  Sweet is an acquired taste.  It is better not to introduce this to babies first.  Go green with you babies!  

Dr. Ocampo also told us that about 80 percent of her patients do not follow through with recommended tests.  This is particularly concerning because so many are being tested for diabetes and heart diseases related to obesity.  It also follows that those not getting tested are not listening to the preventive or turnaround advice.  Yee-gads, this is health of your children we are talking about. 

Listen to this archived show by clicking on to www.blogtalkradio.com/betterfoodchoices.  It will be worth your time!

… for the health of families,
ellen

Studies show that on average, “nearly a dozen nutrients are 25% higher in organic fruit, veggies and grains than in conventially grown produce. … organic options had nearly 50% more of the antioxidants quercetin and beta-caroteen.” *  Actually this information was gathered from 100 studies, that’s a lot and quite conclusive. So not only are you getting a lot more nutrients and no damaging chemicals when you eat organic, you are also getting twice as many immune buildings antioxidants - the powerful germ fighters.  At a time when we are all watching our spending, spend wisely. Make your dollars work for you and your family. Buy organic nutrient-packed fresh produce and prevent having to fork out money for medicine and doctor’s visits.  Your kids and you will be healthier and positively productive at the same time.

* Supercharge Your Menu (For No Extra calories), Prevention Magazine, Jan. 2008, p. 114.

A study presented to the American Heart Association revealed that many obese teenagers, pre-teenagers and children have stiff and thick arteries, the same condition found in 45 year olds.  This means that these young boys and girls could suffer from serious heart disease as early as in their 20’s and 30’s.  Nope, this is not natural.  Heart attacks and strokes at this age will not only shorten their life-spans, their productivity levels as living adults will be seriously altered.  In addition, the cost of caring for this generation of cardiovascular disease candidates will be staggering.  Why not just lose the weight instead of losing your life.  

This is serious stuff.  WIth over 16 percent of kids being obese and an additional almost 16 percent overweight, we are looking at about one in five kids with old sick arteries - maybe more.

There are simple solutions, beginning with giving up the white carbs, junk foods and bad fats, and, start moving.  Please, wake up and help reverse this trend.

… for the health of families,
ellen

Most do not know that there is a bill that has been passed which contributes to why food prices are higher. This bill is not going away so you can expect that this added expense passed on to you is here to stay.  Government intervention costs money, usually.

The newly accepted Farm Bill includes specific Country of Origin labeling.  As of Sept 30th of this year, all products that are not processed have to display a label that tells you where it came from.  When you buy meat, you will know whether it came from the US or not.  When you buy fruit and vegetables, you will know where they were grown and harvested.  I am looking at an acorn squash sitting in a basket on my kitchen table.  It has a label that says, “Acorn Squash, Product of Canada.” 

The cost of labeling every product is expensive, I have heard up to a half a billion per year for retailers.  They have to pay for paper, printing and application of these labels.  Someone has to be hired to manage this process. In addition, labeling programs have to be run to maintain and report this bill’s requirements  Before the retailer receives the products, there is an additional cost to the suppliers who have to monitor and verify the country of origin for each one. Alot of extra time and paperwork is involved; each costs money.  Who do you think pays for this new requirement?  You, the consumer.  Both the supplier and the retailer pass the added expenses on to you. 

Now I know it is fun to know where you food is coming from, and, it is important to know where imported foods were grown and harvested.   However, I cannot understand why those products with a United States of America origin have to be labeled.  Why couldn’t this requirement be limited to imports and save us consumers some money? This would also encourage consumers to buy US products - good for the economy.

The reason processed foods do not fall into the labeling requirement is that is too difficult to list the country of origins for all the ingredients.  They skate.  Now you are looking at frozen entrees that may contain imported produce, meat or fish, and you won’t know it.  If the fact that it came from a country such as China is a concern for you. .. well, you lose out here. 

Some where the balance between the need to know and common sense solutions has been lost here.  Still, you get more for your money when you buy fresh produce, meat and fish!

… for the health of your family,
ellen

I know Halloween is over, thank goodness, however I still want to introduce you to the “Switch Witch.”  Keri Marshall, ND, our recent guest on the Better Food Choices blog talk radio said the “Switch Witch” comes to her house on Halloween.  “Who is the ‘Switch Witch’?”, I asked. After her kids return from trick or treating carrying bags of candy, they are asked to pick out 5 candies that they want to keep.  Then they go to bed, leaving the remainder of the candy-filled bags out in a special place.  During the night the “Switch Witch” comes in and switches the bags of candy for a present for each child.  The “Switch Witch” gets to keep the candy - it disappears into the garbage, and the kids wake up in the morning to be surprised with their new gift, usually a toy.  Everyone is happy.  This is a win/win solution.  Kids get to have fun trick or treating, they get to have a little of their favorite candy, and they get a present.  What they don’t get is a belly-ache, a giant sugar rush, some mental chaos, added cavaties and fat-producing calories.  I love this idea!  Don’t you?

… for the health of your family,
Ellen