I don’t know about you, but I’ve been hearing a lot about Vitamin D lately. But because I’m busy being a homemaker, working, and taking care of a 9-month-old who’s doing his best to walk before his first birthday, most of what I hear and read goes in one ear and out the other! I figured it was time to get my facts straight about Vitamin D.
I decided to find answers to a few basic questions about Vitamin D, and I’m going to share them with you today. This is your crash course in Vitamin D – the “Cliff Notes” version for busy homemakers who care about their family’s health but don’t have hours to spend reading up on everything!
What Does Vitamin D Do For Your Body?
Vitamin D helps your body to absorb minerals–such as calcium–to build strong bones and teeth.
When your bare skin is exposed to the sun’s UVB rays, it triggers a reaction that produces Vitamin D in your skin. You can also get Vitamin D through food and supplements.
How Much Vitamin D Do You Need?
To be honest, the recommendations for daily intake of Vitamin D are all over the map. After exploring many different sources, I simply don’t feel comfortable or knowledgeable enough to suggest specific amounts.
If there’s one thing most sources agree on, though, it’s that the vast majority of people are deficient in Vitamin D. Your odds of being Vitamin D deficient increase:
the farther away you live from the equator
the darker your skin
the older you are
if you live in an area with lots of air pollution
if you spend most of your time indoors
It’s also a challenge to get adequate Vitamin D during the winter, because less of the sun’s UVB rays enter Earth’s atmosphere.
What’s an Effective Way to Get More Vitamin D?
You may have read warnings about getting too much Vitamin D. It is, after all, a fat soluble vitamin, so if you consume excess Vitamin D it won’t be flushed out of your system the way that a water-soluble vitamin will, like Vitamin C. It’s a relief to know that it’s practically impossible to overdose on Vitamin D from either sunlight or food.
Does reading about Vitamin D make your head spin? Here's everything you need to know about this vital nutrient in just 600 words!
I was surprised how few foods contain Vitamin D! Thankfully, I’m a big seafood fan, which is where most dietary Vitamin D comes from! Here are foods that contain Vitamin D:
Fortified foods such as cereal, orange juice, and pasteurized milk
Salmon has about 500 IU of Vitamin D per 4-ounce serving, making it one of the richest food sources of Vitamin D. If you want to get more salmon in your diet, try these delicious Biscuits with Salmon Gravy, some easy Salmon Patties, or this Curried Salmon Pasta.
While it’s easy to get plenty of Vitamin D from the sun during summer, in the winter you get little to none. To maximize your sun exposure in the winter, spend as much time outside as possible on sunny days, especially when your shadow is the shortest, around midday. Make sure to take cod liver oil and up your intake of foods containing Vitamin D.
Since it is possible to get too much Vitamin D–or the wrong kind–from supplements, talk to your doctor about what type of supplement to take.
A few closing thoughts
The more I’m learning about vitamins and minerals, the more I realize how important they are for our bodies.
Although Vitamin D has been in the spotlight a lot lately, I don’t think it’s wise to elevate one vitamin or mineral above the others. Each serves a role, and you need them all. And usually, you need them together; they work synergistically. Even if you’re like me and don’t know all of the science behind vitamins and minerals, you can follow common sense: eat a varied, nutrient-dense diet, get outside, and exercise!
Sources and further reading:
Original article and pictures take keeperofthehome.org site
There is nothing more frustrating when you’re getting started with using essential oils with your children than all the conflicting information out there on the internet. Right? Some say not to use them at all and others are practically bathing their kids in it daily. Fortunately, there IS solid information available that will help us use essential oils safe for kids in an effective way.
We’ve talked about some basic tips for using essential oils with your children. In a few days I’ll go over some more detailed dilution and usage recommendations as well. Today, I want to talk about WHICH essential oils we should (and which oils we shouldn’t) be using on kids.
Essential Oils Safe for Kids
Again, there is a lot of conflicting information out there. When in doubt about a certain oil, I tend to err on the side of caution. My two go-to’s for information are the Aromahead Institute and Tisserand’s book Essential Oils Safety. It’s important to note that even the most highly trained and respected experts can have differing opinions on this, but these two sources are credible and conservative, so I balance my approach based on their recommendations.
With these and other resources, I look up the properties, cautions, and recommendations for each oil that I’m considering using. If you are wandering from the newbie state into an intermediate or power user status with oils, it’s worth investing some time and money into those resources. In the meantime, I’m going to share with you my own approach and a little cheat sheet on essential oils safe for kids.
Essential Oils Safe for Kids Under 2 Years Old
Generally, I don’t use many oils on kids under about two years old. If you’s like to, just remember to dilute well and use with caution. Another option for these youngest ages are hydrosols. Aromahead actually goes so far as to suggest that essential oils aren’t necessary for the highly responsive and sensitive systems of children under 5, and instead recommend hydrosols, butters, and the natural therapeutic properties of carrier oils alone for those ages.
Personally, I occasionally use some appropriately diluted oils like lavender or kid blends (1% or less) or diffuse some for my kids once they are 1 or older. We also love hydrosols of German Chamomile and Lavender hydrosols, which are particularly versatile and helpful for those ages.
Essential Oils Safe for Kids 2-10 Years Old
There are many oils that are safe to use for kids about 2-10 years old. If you are concerned about sensitivity with your child, you may want to wait until they are about 5. Some people also wait to expand to more “intense” oils than what’s on this list until about 12. This is not an exhaustive list, but it includes many common choices.
(Download the cheat sheet below!)
Black Pepper(Piper nigrum)– energizing, stimulates appetite, stomach problems, pain relief, support circulatory system
Cedarwood(Cedrus atlantica) – anxiety, sleep, uplifting, mood swings, respiratory health
Citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus)– anti-fungal, head lice, skin issues, bug repellent
“Lemongrass, Citronella, May Chang and tea-tree should not be used on children under two years old or on sensitive skin” (Tisserand)
Bergamot and other phototoxic essential oils should not be used topically before exposure to the sun
My Top Choices for Kid-Safe Oils
I used to spend a lot of time researching good oils and blends to use with my kids. When Rocky Mountain Oils came out with their Kids Line, it saved me a TON of time, money, and worry! I found that their special blends for kids were comprised only of kid-safe oils, and come pre-diluted in convenient roller bottles. SCORE! Plus, I don’t have to buy that one oil I wouldn’t likely use for anything else just to make an aweomse blend.
I now rely on the Kids Line from RMO almost exclusively for topical application use for my kids. I LOVE them! I even use them on myself right now since they WORK and are safe for pregnant and nursing moms as well.
Seriously, if you want to get started with using essential oils for your kids, or just want a fast way to use them grab some the RMO Kids Line! You can stash them in your cupboard or purse for quick use. They smell great and work so well!
Download the Essential Oils Safe for Kids Cheat Sheet!
How Much Oil to Use?
When you’re dealing with children, safety is obviously in issue. Both which oils and how much oil you use are very important factors. Generally, a 1 – 2% dilution is great for kids. In the next post in this series, we go into that in more detail, talking about how much oils to use (dilution rates) and a few tips on methods of usage for younger kids.
You Might Also Like…
Original article and pictures take www.proverbialhomemaker.com site
I’ve fairly stubbornly avoided most of the recent essential oil trend. I feel like they are over recommended, people are pressured to buy what they don’t need, can’t afford, and something less concentrated and expensive would work as well.
I didn’t want to get caught up in the hype, and the absolute last thing I want to do is be part of encouraging a family to use essential oils when what they really need is dietary change, medical attention, mainstream occupational therapy. I don’t want any child to miss out on other early intervention that is needed for a child with special needs.
However.
I also want to be transparent on here and try to help other families who are grasping at straws. When you have a child with a chronic health problem or disability, often you don’t have time to wait for randomized placebo controlled trials, you have to try things even though they haven’t been studied over hundreds of years, and sometimes even though you think something more time consuming would be more efficient, you choose to try something – anything – that might help with minimal harm but isn’t beyond your physical, financial, and time constraints (see this page, #5).
This child didn’t walk til she was over 2 years old, yet here at 7 she’s riding a two-wheel bike like a boss
Though we’re done with GAPS and my daughter has made huge improvements, she still has sensory issues, processing trouble, and a global delay.
I’m still trying different things. I share with you when they work (amino acids, homeopathics), and I don’t bother writing up anything when they don’t (other amino acids, dry brushing, flower essences, countless supplements). As a mom, I’m not sure I”ll ever stop, now it’s just part of my life. There is always some sort of work in progress here :)
I’ve previously half-heartedly tried essential oils for behavior – Lavender is supposed to be calming, I used the Mountain Rose Herb version of that without any visible success. Plant Therapy’s Calming the Child sounded good – I added it to before-bed baths and diluted it with coconut oil and applied to the kids’ skin, again without any success that I noticed.
I have used other oils for other things with what I feel like was success – tea tree (being honest, I totally used Walmart’s brand for this) for mastitis, germ fighter for keeping the sickies away, camphor very well diluted in a humidifier for coughs, eucalyptus in the shower for congestion. But I didn’t have a particular loyalty to any brand of oils, I normally chose Plant Therapy from Amazon, Mountain Rose Herbs or Tropical Traditions if I was placing an order.
Anyway. I used the blend in a roller ball applicator during an over-stimulation about-to-be-a-meltdown thing that my daughter was doing. She calmed down immediately. We had this family over, we get along great and it’s always lots of fun, but it was more stimulation than she can normally handle. Every time I saw her start to ramp up for a meltdown (ever 2 hours or so) I reapplied. I just did it on the back of her neck because it was accessible. She didn’t melt down.
This is huge for her, if it continues to work like this, this is going to greatly improve our ability to do things in the community. And because it’s a quick application (that smells good to boot!)
I don’t have to try to get an already about-to-melt-down child to take a supplement.
No, there are no placebo-controlled randomized trials. No, I don’t know that DoTerra is actually better than other brands of {admittedly less expensive} essential oils. But this was the first time I got essential oils to work for her behaviors, so I wanted to share.
This was the blend that worked for over stimulation:
Original article and pictures take healthhomeandhappiness.com site
Using essential oils to make room sprays and diffuser blends is easy, fun, and makes your home smell amazing. You can make many different fragrance combinations to suit your home and your own personal taste.
By using essential oils instead of synthetic fragrances you are keeping toxic chemicals out of your home. But where to begin? My ebook includes step-by-step instructions for making your own home fragrance products using essential oils.
Sign up to receive my email newsletter and get a FREE copy of my eBook: Essential Oils at Home: Ten Formulas to Make Your Home Smell Lovely. This easy to read PDF includes simple instructions to make oil blends, room sprays, and sachets.
When I was a little girl, my family and I would take summer vacations in this small town in Baja California called San Quentin. How they ever found this little town about 5 hours south of San Diego is beyond me, but we loved it. We would fish, eat amazing lobster burritos, go to (endless) flea markets, explore local hot springs, and play pinnacle for hours.
While I have so many positive memories of these trips with my family, one of the most powerful and sweet memories I have was parking myself below the one giant fig tree near the house, in the cool shade, and eating figs. For days. The tree literally never ran out of figs, even for a little girl to reach.
I must’ve seriously eaten hundreds of them in a weekend trip.
I knew it was great then, but I had no idea I would’t ever again enjoy such fig bliss once I grew up and my parents sold their home.
Guess you really don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
Ever since that time, as you can imagine, I have had a great fondness for figs. Not fig jam, fig pizza, fig newtons, or baked figs. Fresh, raw figs in all their sweet and textured glory.
There’s just something about biting into a fresh, sweet fig that brings me back to that innocent little girl, stuffing her face with figs.
Dustin will even buy me a carton of fresh figs when they come in season during the summer as a surprise. That man.
So, as you can imagine, I enjoy summer figs a great deal, even nowadays. While most figs don’t compare to the memories of my childhood, they’ll sure do in a pinch.
Or – say – a daily summer fig salad for days because I just can’t stop with the summer figs.
That’s why I really like adding fresh figs to this end of summer salad and then blending up a couple more in the fresh fig balsamic vinaigrette because it – yep – covers the whole salad in some sort of sweet figgy goodness.
And I’m all about that figgy goodness.
And, really, what better way to celebrate and savor the end of summer with a fresh salad, bursting with fresh figs, tomatoes, and avocado?
There’s like absolutely nothing wrong with that in my book ��
P.S. Dustin *just* told me as I finished writing this post this is the 500th post on this blog. Holy. Smokes. 500. Can you even believe it? So cool!
Print
This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.
Original article and pictures take www.asweetpeachef.com site
Encouraging Healthy Habits With Children with ibitz and Best Buy
Most posts contain affiliate links, which I earn a small commission from. These are provided for your convenience, and the price isn't increased at all.
Leading a healthy lifestyle begins as a child. Here are some tips for encouraging healthy habits with children, that may, in turn, help you lead a healthier lifestyle, too!
The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free
Something I feel very passionate about is teaching Jack healthy habits early on in life. I have struggled with my weight my entire life, especially when I was younger. I was fortunate enough to get my weight under control and learn healthy habits when I was in high school (I lost over 30 pounds without going to an extremes!), but I still struggle! For me, teaching Jack how to eat healthy, be active, and have a healthy lifestyle early on, is extremely important — I don’t want him to go through any of the struggles I have related to that!
I recently read that childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years and about 1 in 3 children in the US are over overweight or obese. Isn’t that scary/sad? While I believe in being happy with yourself, no matter what you look like or weight, I think it’s crucial to combat this, for the sake of our children’s future. I
1. Encourage Outdoor Play
With all the electronics available today, I think kids are playing less and less outside. However, I think one of the best things you can do for your kids is kick them off the couch and send them outside to play. Not only are they active while they do this, but it helps them use their imagination, and, really, just learn to appreciate the outdoors a little bit more.
Better yet, go outside with them! It’s not always possible (assuming you want a tidy house, the laundry done, and a hot dinner) but going outside with your kids is a great idea. Obviously, when they are young, it’s pretty much required that you go out with them — I mean, there’s no way I’m going to send my two-year-old outside by himself! But even if your kids are old enough to go outside, try to take some time to go with them. Even if you aren’t jumping on the tramp or throwing a frisbee with them the whole time, just being out there not only shows that you can leave the house behind, but encourages family togetherness. Which brings me to my next point . . .
2. Family Exercise/Activities
Play together! Whether it’s throwing a frisbee, shooting hoops, or just going on a walk, exercising together is an awesome family activity. Forrest comes from a very active family, and they all really enjoy playing sports together. While my family always enjoys going on walks, or playing the occasional rousing game of badminton, we’re more of a sitting around and talking type. However, I love that Forrest enjoys playing sports and being active with his family, and that’s something he’s brought to our family as well. We always take time to go outside, throw the football, and kick around balls, and Jack really enjoys it.
We also recently got a membership to our local rec center and this has helped us more consistently exercise and teach Jack how fun it can be! Sometimes we will put him in the child watch (where they are always playing games, running around, etc.) but often we will let Jack go with Forrest to play basketball or one of us will jog with him in our stroller. We always complete our gym trips at the kid’s play center, where Jack has so much fun climbing and jumping. By bringing him with us, we feel like it will teach him to enjoy exercising and being active.
In addition, we recently started using the ibitz by GeoPalz wireless pedometers. These are so neat! Forrest has one, which tracks his steps, activity, etc., and then there is one that Jack uses that is especially for kids. It’s connected to an iPad app, and the more active the child is, the more points they get on the game. Even though Jack is obviously too young to really understand what’s going on, he loves wearing his little tracker because he’s just like daddy, and it’s nice to be able to see that he is getting enough exercise throughout the day. If you have multiple family members, you can form groups so you can share your success together. Parents can set goals for themselves and for their children, such as for play time, screen time, or even going on an adventure with the parent, as well as rewards. The ibitz is also water proof, so it can be worn at all times.
3. Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
Try to always have fruits and vegetables sitting out for easy access. If you teach your children from a young age that these types of foods are a great snack idea, they will probably continue that habit throughout their lives. Of course, cookies are always delicious to have out on occasion but making fruits and vegetables more common than sweets is important.
If your child has issues eating fruits and vegetables, try a variety of fruits until you find a kind they like. Or, you can make it seem a little more enticing — perhaps freeze grapes (they seriously taste like candy!) or have some kind of yummy fruit dip sitting out with the fruit. Maybe even doing on occasional dark chocolate dipped strawberry would be a good way to ease a picky eater into eating more fruits.
4. Serve Healthy Food
When you can, serve meals that contain the following ingredients:
low-fat or nonfat dairy products
poultry without skin
lean cuts of meats
whole grain breads and cereals
In general, the less processed a food is, the better. Limiting sugar is important as well, as too much sugar is linked to a lot of different health problems. Incoporating the above foods into every day meals ensures your child is getting the best nutrition and is used to eating healthy. Of course, there’s always room for indulging…but if you do that less often, it means more when you do!
5. Limit screen time
You can find a study to support just about anything you want, but I do believe that the increased prevalence of televisions, tablets, and other hand held devices can be directly linked to the obesity rate among children. I’m not one of those people who is against using these devices (I’d be a total hypocrit!), but I feel kids are better off when they spend more time playing and less time looking at a screen.
Giving your child a time limit for using electronic devices is a smart idea. I remember growing up, we were only supposed to watch 30 minutes of television during the school week and that was only after we got our homework done. I feel like that’s a good idea with any type of screen time.
6. Involve children in food prep
I can’t remember where I read it recently, but when children are involved in meal prep, they are more likely to be adventerous with trying new foods and less likely to be picky. I would guess that would be because they will want to try the foods you are making if they were involved in the process.
Coming up with age appropriate ways for your kids to be involved with cooking. When Jack was really little, I would always have him in my Moby wrap as I cooked. Now that he’s getting older, I’m always letting him stir, put things in bowls, and just be involved in the process. I don’t know that it all can be attributed to him helping, but he is probably the least picky eater I’ve ever met. Plus, teaching your kids to cook will hopefully prevent them from eating out all the time when they live on their own, because they are able to make healthy meals for themselves!
7. Practice What you Preach
It doesn’t take a lot of effort to tell your kids to play outside and eat healthy. However, it may take a little more effort to practice what you are teaching them. I mean, if you tell your kids this, while at the same time eating a big ice cream bar and playing with your tablet, it might not be super effective. And I’m not trying to be mean or demeaning at all — I”m guilty of not always doing the healthiest or most productive things either. But it’s about balance. Your children need to see you making smart eating decisions, exercising, and just living a healthy lifestyle. If they don’t, I would be willing to bet they are less likely to do those things themselves.
All in all, do your best. There’s always going to be parents who are perfect at feeding their kids 100% organic everything and never letting them watch TV, but I promise they aren’t perfect in every other area! By trying your best to follow some of the tips above, I believe you’ll be setting your child up for a healthy life!
How do you encourage your child to be healthy?
Original article and pictures take www.clarkscondensed.com site
Encourage Kids to Make Fruits & Vegetables Center Stage
This Food Day, encourage kids to make fruits and veggies center stage on their plates by keeping it delicious and fun! Plus a review of Teddy Tries a Veggie!
Encourage kids to make fruits and veggies center stage on their plates by keeping it delicious and fun. @jlevinsonRD
I received a complimentary copy of Teddy Tries a Veggie, but was not compensated for writing about it. As always, all opinions are my own.
This Saturday, October 24th, is Food Day, a day to aspire – and inspire others – to make positive changes to our diets and food policies. This year’s focus is Toward A Greener Diet, with the primary focus on raising awareness about the importance of eating less meat and enjoying more whole plant-based foods as a way to become healthier and to help animals and the environment.
In honor of Food Day, this year I am participating in the Food Day Blogger Takeover along with many other dietitians and food bloggers. Be sure to check out the links below for the other posts!
Food Day 2015
The importance of eating a plant-based diets, and in particular fruits and vegetables, is not news to anyone (and if it’s news to you, it’s time to get your head out of the sand!). But that doesn’t mean we as a population are meeting the recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake. In fact, according to the Produce for Better Health Foundation, overall consumption of fruit and vegetables in the US has declined seven percent since 2010. Wamp, wamp. That means we need to do better job of adding produce to our plate – remember, the USDA MyPlate recommendations are for half the plate to be filled with fruits and veggies at every meal!
One of the best ways to encourage more plant-based eating is to start it at a young age. That means getting kids interested in and exposed to all different foods with an emphasis on produce. Personally, I make it a point to include a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal for my kids. Some days it’s easier than others, some days they eat it and other days they don’t. But my feeling is as long as they are exposed to it and they try it, that’s enough – at least for now. I have to say I’m pretty lucky that my almost four year old twin girls are pretty good eaters and they eat a fair amount of produce (they’re definitely not lacking in the fruit department, that’s for sure!).
I know it’s not the same for everyone (and there’s still a chance that it will change in my house), which is why I am always looking for new ways to encourage kids to eat more produce. Recently I learned about an interactive e-book, Teddy Tries a Veggie, written by registered dietitian nutritionist Jennifer Glockner for children 4 to 8 years old. The book follows Teddy, an almost-six-year-old girl who loves to garden with her father, but hates eating the vegetables she grows. That is until she stumbles upon a band of fruits and veggies rocking out in her garden!
Get the kids excited about eating their fruits and veggies with this new e-book, Teddy Tries a Veggie, by Jennifer Glockner, RDN.
The book conveys the importance of eating a variety of fruits and vegetables as part of healthy eating and familiarizes kids with terminology such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, all with pretty pictures of adorable fruit and veggie characters like Maya Papaya and Beta Carrot and unique interactive elements like pop-up fun facts! There’s even a recipe at the end for Teddy’s Broccoli Orange Crunch. Teddy Tries a Veggie is just one more way to get the kids excited about eating their fruits and veggies. (Plus, it’s the first e-book in Jennifer’s Smartee Plates series and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.)
