Adequate Nutrition to prevent disease

Another way to prevent disease is by getting adequate nutrition.  This is definitely a problem for the busy American family where fast food and cold cereal are so convenient not to mention cheap.  I know lots of people that say they can't eat better because it costs too much.  I think it would shock people to discover how little I live on and yet can provide nutritious and healthy food for my family of 6.  So I think most people want to eat healthier and just don't know where to start.  Here's where I suggest to start.  Start small and take baby steps towards the following.

1. Have a hulk juice everyday! It's quick and easy and greens are packed with nutrients.  A great way to get daily nutrition into kids and yourselves. (see recipes)
2. Buy less processed foods.  The reason is simple. They are filled with chemicals and genetically modified foods that don't have adequate nutrition.
3. Make meals from scratch instead of using boxes or cans.  This will take a bit of practice but I promise the food will taste 100% better and is 100% better for you. 
4. Substitute whole grains into your baking.  Get rid of white flour.  Honestly try replacing it with brown rice flour or spelt flour or whole wheat flour or even oat flour.  This is a great way of adding fiber and nutrition into the foods you bake.
5. Take supplements.  I try to get most of my nutrition from the foods I eat because supplements are expensive.  However, I still take several vitamins daily to make up the for deficiencies in my diet.  For example, I take fish oil and Calcium and Vita D to name a few.
6. This might be hard for you but decide to not buy fast food more than once a month.  Choose something from home instead.  This is self explanatory but studies show that the liver becomes extremely toxic after consuming 1 fast food meal especially in children.   
7. Buy plenty of fruits and vegetables.  Cut up veggies and put them on the counter with a dip.  The kids and I snack on carrots, cucumbers, jicama, celery, tomatoes, peppers, etc.  Even if you think your kids won't eat it just set it out and don't say anything.  You'll be surprised how they'll walk by and grab a carrot or 2.  
8. Have dried fruit, fruit leather and nuts/seeds in your bag instead of fruit snacks. 
9. Cut out refined sugars, things with high fructose syrup. 
10. Make healthy treats (see my blog for ideas).
11. Get the family involved with the shopping and making the food and you'll have less resistance to making the change.

I think we all have ways we can improve on with our nutrition.  The food we eat should fuel an active, healthy lifestyle.  If the food you eat doesn't do that, then get rid of it. If your diet is full of processed foods, make a change.  It took me about a month to get used to not buying processed foods but after awhile you don't miss it, kids don't miss it and you get into the habit of just whipping up the food from scratch.  Set a goal and work towards that goal each day.  Take the little steps towards a healthier lifestyle.  I know you can do it!

What's missing? PART 1

Okay so I've been really posting a lot about keeping a food journal.  Hope you have been doing it.  I posed this questions to all of my fine readers... How do you know if you or your children are getting adequate nutrients if you aren't keeping track?  Hope this has inspired you to do this!  There are great resources online for those that need help with this.  The link below was the best I found.

Once you've got your food journal.  Now it's time to analyze it to see what's missing.  I have a table on my fridge that shows all the essential vitamins and minerals and what food sources they are found in.  This is super easy and helpful in determining what nutrients are missing.  The Food and Nutrition Information Center from the USDA's website was actually the MOST helpful in all my research. http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=1

For individual vitamins and minerals click here to see what food sources  http://jn.nutrition.org/nutinfo/
Also this is great to print for your notes http://www.nal.usda.gov/wicworks/Topics/FG/AppendixC_NutrientChart.pdf?debugMode=false

Studies show that in America children are deficient in Vita A, Vita E, Vita K, all the B vitamins, Magnesium, Omega Fatty Acids, and Iron and Electrolytes.  Children (and adults) needed to eat more green leafy vegetables, red and yellow vegetables to get rid of these deficits.  After journalling the first time I realized that my children, though I didn't think it was possible (haha) were no different than the typical American.  They were, in fact, deficient in the same vitamins and minerals.  

I went to work researching what foods I needed to get into their diets.  I came across lots of literature and ideas that would help me on my quest. Again I used the USDA website a TON.

This is all outlined in detail in my book.

For example, I learned about Kale and Red Chard and Swiss Chard.  These are all green leafy vegetables that are among the highest vitamin enriched foods.  They have 9 of the essential vitamins needed daily.

Of course, how on earth were my ridiculously picky eaters going to eat more of all the foods they needed especially salads with green leafy vegetables like Kale and Chard? 

Read my next post for the answer (eat it or drink it- part 2)!