Fish Oil and Brain Health

Approximately 60 percent of your brain is composed of fats such as omega-3's, so it's very important to supplement them into your diet! Improve your memory and cognitive function for school and work this fall by taking 10% off Omega Fish Oil!

Overnight Refrigerator Oatmeal

Make in individual mason jars for a filling breakfast you can just grab and go.  High in protein, calcium, and fiber.

For each 1 cup mason jar use:

1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats , gluten free (not instant, quick, or steel cut).

1/3 cup almond or coconut milk

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1.5 teaspoons chia seeds

Place ingredients in mason jar, put on lid and shake to combine.  Gently stir in fruit and desired flavours.  Place in fridge overnight.  Simply grab and go in the morning.  Should keep for 2 days.

Suggested additions:

Blueberry Maple

· add 2 teaspoons grade B maple syrup and 1/4 cup of blueberries.

Apple Cinnamon

· add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon grade B maple syrup or local honey, and 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce.

Banana Cocoa

· add 1 tablespoon raw cacao powder, 1 teaspoon local honey, and 1/4 cup diced ripe banana.

Breath Counting

This simple technique can be more difficult to perform than you might think, but it is a tried and true way to anchor the mind in the present, allowing you to refocus your energy and clear your mind—something we could all benefit from as the month gets busy.  Kids can learn to do this too!

Sit in a comfortable position with the spine straight and head inclined slightly forward. Gently close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then let the breath come naturally without trying to influence it. Ideally it will be quiet and slow, but depth and rhythm may vary.

· To begin the exercise, count "one" to yourself as you exhale.

· The next time you exhale, count "two," and so on up to "five."

· Then begin a new cycle, counting "one" on the next exhalation.

Never count higher than "five," and count only when you exhale. You will know your attention has wandered when you find yourself up to "eight," "12," even "19."

Try to do this exercise for 10 minutes each day.

Children & Eating For Health by Kelly Hayford, C.N.C. provided by the ICPA

Factoid:  Researchers say that for the first time in a century, today’s children will have a shorter life expectancy that their parents.  - Texas Children’s Hospital Study

The food industry aims their heaviest marketing artillery at children, the most impressionable segment of our society, with the intention of creating lifelong consumers of their fake-food products.  And they’ve been very successful.  Diet-related health statistics that have emerged in recent decades for children are the scariest of all.

For the first time in history, conditions that were previously associated with aging are now showing up in children at younger and younger ages.  Major diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and even heart attacks have now reached unprecedented numbers among our youth.

As the stewards of this next generation we must do everything possible to turn this trend around and give our children every opportunity to live healthy lives.  We’re not only robbing them of their childhoods, but the quality of their adulthoods, and sometimes their very lives as well.

Despite the troubling predictions and burgeoning health crisis that is emerging, an abundant supply of soda and junk food continues to flow into the mouths of our youngsters.  One of the most alarming dispensaries of these anti-nutrients is in the very place children should be safest from manipulative marketing maneuvers– our public schools.

The good news is, you have complete control over what comes into your house and makes its way into your cupboards.  This is also where you have the most influence.  The more you clean up your own diet and restore your own health and energy, the more you’ll be an energetic dynamo and role model for helping your children.  You can also join with other concerned parents in speaking out at your children’s school and community activities.

Factoid:  At Texas Children’s Hospital, the percentage of children and adolescents diagnosed with type 2 diabetes increased from less than 1% twenty years ago to 27% in 2002.

Same Guidelines Apply

When considering what to feed your children, the same universal Eating-for-Health Guildeines apply (see our March newsletter).  Because their bodies are smaller and still developing you’ll want to be even more vigilant, as children are extra sensitive to low-quality anti-nutrient foods and the many noxious substances they contain, such as MSG, food colourings, and preservatives.  They’re also hypersensitive to stimulants such as sugar and caffeine.  Unfortunately the fake foods made especially for kids are loaded with all of the above.

So many children’s delicate systems aren’t able to function properly because they’re not getting the nutrients they need.  At the same time they’re consuming anti-nutrients and stimulants that further interfere with their ability to function normally.  There are millions of children today though to have a host of conditions who are in fact, merely lacking proper nutrition.

Take any child off processed, packaged fake foods, sugar, caffeine and any common food allergens to which they may be sensitive and you will see significant improvement in their behaviour and physical well-being no matter what conditions they may have.  Feed them lots of whole, fresh, natural foods and be sure they’re getting an adequate amount of essential fatty acids and green foods (the two things missing from the Standard American Diet) and the changes you’ll see will astound you.

Factoid:  A study at the ADHD Research Center in the Netherlands, found that 64% of the children diagnosed with ADHD are actually experiencing a hypersensitivity to food.

Make Nutrition a Priority

Unless your child is having an acute situation that demands urgent intervention, please explore safe, natural approaches that emphasize nutritional factors before you subject your little ones to dangerous, traumatic surgeries, procedures, and toxic drugs.

There are thousands of surgeries performed every year on children who have had recurrent ear infections, for example; surgeries that frequently could have been prevented by identifying and eliminating offending foods from the child’s diet.  Either do some research and experimenting on your own or work with a chiropractor or other holistic practitioner who is knowledgeable about food sensitivities.  Also be sure to have your child’s spine checked by a chiropractor, as nerve interference is often at the root of childhood conditions including ear infections and bed wetting.

By now  I hope you are convinced that helping your children to eat well is essential, and have a pretty good idea of what to feed them.  But I know many of you are probably thinking at this point—actually getting them to eat better is another story.  We’ll address that topic in an upcoming article, Tips for Helping Kids Eat Healthier.  So stay tuned!

September Calendar

September is an exciting month for most of us and it's important to keep your health a priority! Check out our September calendar so you can plan your check-ups!