Vitamin D -- What Parents Need To Know - A Parents Life
June 3, 2012
A Parent's Life
Last reviewed and revised on February 27, 2012
By Claire McCarthy, M.D.
Boston Children's Hospital
*What's Going On
*First Things First
*The Need for Supplements
Rickets is making a comeback. It's a sign of how our lives are changing — and not for the better.
Tagged Eating, eating habits, Food, health, Holism, whole foods
The eating well challenge
I am on a road trip, that means keeping my healthy habits is going to be a challenge. Every time I stray off my routine it is challenging to eat well and rest properly. But this time I decided that I was going to make a huge effort. I have my blender with me, all my vitamins, the protein powder, the oils, the chia seeds. All were packed and are joining me on the trip.
The hardest part is to keep the refrigerated things ok, but it is going quite well.I have a good stock with me because the next time I will find a whole foods store is probably after 5 day´s in New York.
It is really about the ME time, putting us first
I was talking to a friend about this, and recalling the oxygen-mask story. The oxygen mask theory is basically based on the things the stewardess say´s before takeoff. If the oxygen in the plane drops put the mask on you first and then assist the child.
It is pretty basic, if we do not take care of ourselves, we are in no shape to take care of others.
Posted in Children, Health, nutrition, self esteem, women's health
Tagged Eating, eating habits, Education, Food, health, Holism, nutrition, Oxygen, Oxygen mask
I was inspired by reading this post called the art of doing nothing.
I am not an official recovering workaholic, I mean I have never gone to a twelve step meeting to deal with it ,but yes I am.
I was a workaholic I just dealt with the emptiness in a different twelve step program.
I have four kids , when I was at work I worried about them. When I was at home I was thinking about work. I was in neither place. When I had the day off I had hard time relaxing without feeling shameful. When I tried to relax I found my self thinking that I should do something. At least clean the house! It is difficult to wind down when,you are like me in such a spiral that It was like I was about to get launched from the planet like a rocket.
When I collapsed I finally learned to relax. Now I sleep in couple of times a week. At least I sleep long enough to wake up by myself (no alarm). If I am tired I lay down and get some rest.I have learned to listen to my body.
I am working on saying no. I had some relapse last year when I had 130% studies, 50-70% work and was stupid enough to say yes to be a chairman of small association. The icing on the cake was investing in a company that was not exactly something I was interested in, just to add things that I did not have time for.
Time that I stole from myself and my family. It goes without saying that none of this would have been possible if I was not blessed with wonderful people around me to help me.
I finally managed to get out, and since August last year I have been working on my own things. Writing, which is my passion. And I have been studying Art history, which I find fascinating. I have been in a sort of protected environment.
Now I am moving back home and I wonder. Am I strong enough? When people ask me to do things I am not interested in. Will I be persistent enough to say no and belive in the things I am doing on my own?
Well that is my task of the day´s and weeks to come
1. Say no to things that others want me to do if I´m not interested.
2. Relax, and practice being there. To be in the now at all times Eckart Tolle style.
3.Believe in me, no matter what others say.
4. Stick to my plan, it is a good one and it will come true, if I don´t abandon it.
5.Be active in my coda program so that I won´t fall back into bad habits
cartoon, taken from Frazzled mommy blog.
Posted in Children, Health, interesting books, interesting links, self esteem, women's health
Tagged Arts, Directories, God, health, Holism, Organizations, Sleep Disorders, Stress, Twelve-Step Program, United States, Women, Yoga
Obesity,infograph
Interesting facts about obesity in America
To win, we have to lose. The four-part HBO Documentary Films series, The Weight of The Nation explores the obesity epidemic in America. This is the trailer;
Watch all four parts of The Weight of the Nation now at http://hbo.com/theweightofthenation
This is a link where it is possible to download for free the book, Solving the weight of a nation.
Did you know that today, one thousand women will die in childbirth? Over 500,000 women this year will die during pregnancy or giving birth. These numbers are conservative as many deaths are never reported. Something that we in the developed world take for granted is a healthy mother and child, a birth plan, a celebration of life, but for women in the developing world, giving birth is dangerous.
Posted in Children, Health, women's health
Tagged Education, Family, health, responibility, Women, womens health
The jungle of dietary information
I want to introduce you to KrisKris blog, I love this post on nutritionists. I was lucky when I was beginning my journey that my nutritionist was not traditional. Her advice was simple and helpful.
Do you remember Got Milk? Campaign?
The information we get from the campaign is that milk is going to cover our need of calcium. I don’t think anyone I know that is concerned about their health uses any dairy products. If they do it is in a minimal amounts.I have the bad habit of putting milk in my coffee. And I have difficulty not eating cheese. I just love the taste! But my stomach and intestines, don’t like neither of them not coffee, not milk and not cheese! If you want to know why I don´t think we need milk you can read this PDF
I came across the Save our bones program when I was looking for scholarly material on milk. Interestingly enough, when I was doing the research online it was overwritten by the Milk industry, It was obvious to me who holds the money and resources to write in favor of milk. Vivian Goldschmidt took matter in her own hands after being diagnosed with osteoporosis. I shares her opinion on milk.
What she suggests is that we rethink the whole calcium intake picture.
RESTORE stands for:
Number 1: Rethink your bone health.
Number 2: Stop the bone thieves. (including milk)
Number 3: Rebuild your bones.
The irony is that the medications prescribed for osteoporosis, actually make the bone loss worse so does milk. Why would someone who makes a living of selling you medicine for osteoporosis want you to get better?
There is a connection between firm muscles and firm bones. Here is
The best advice I got was from my dietician when my daughter could not sleep. She was irritable and restless and was all over the place. She told me to buy liquid calcium magnesium blend and give it before she went to bed. And she slept like a baby. The reason was when she was growing her legs were itchy and irritable but the calcium magnesium “boost” helped her relax. We have used calcium magnesium blend as a anti stress remedy before sleep with wonderful results.
My daughter, now nine comes when she can´t sleep and asks for the calcium magnesium blend, because she knows it works.
So there you have it I´m not a big fan of milk, except for calves. I just have to add this video that I just found on acne and skim milk.
Posted in Children, Health, interesting links, nutrition, women's health
Tagged Bone, Calcium, Dairy, Dairy product, Got Milk?, health, Milk, Osteoporosis
When I´m asked about discipline I immediately associate it with punishment.
Join the movement to end child abuse: http://www.1stand.org (© Wikipedia)
How do you discipline your child?
I was asked this odd question at the doctor’s office today, I did not know what to answer. So I wrote; I don´t understand the question. Then nothing happened. I was just supposed to fill out a form but there was no follow-up. What if I said I lock them up in a dark room, would someone have reacted?
I thought we were supposed to guide our children, not discipline them. Well for me when someone talks about disciplining their children, I would say child abuse. Both physical punishment and verbal abuse have equally damaging effect.
Many of the adults that have travelled with me on the path of recovery in coda. were “disciplined” as children. They were taught that authority over-writes feelings and you are not supposed to ask questions. Just do as you are told!
My parents generation was raised that way. It was rare in my home. We had to do something terrible to deserve spanking. I ruined my brand new corduroy pants with paint when I was six, that is the only spanking I ever got. I was painting my friend´s grandfather´s boat. I did not really understand the fuss.
But I got yelled at often, I have six siblings, try to picture the household. I sometimes wonder how my parents kept their sanity!
All the courses I have taken on bringing up a child teach the same. The message on how to tackle what the child does.
It has to be clear to the child that it is the behavior we want the child to correct. It is not the child we are focusing on, we love our child no matter what.
We are not supposed to teach shame, shame is not good. Bréne says it all, she is expert on the consequences of shame.
Well I have done multiple mistakes when bringing up my children. But I know that the things I focus on will grow. So the key is to focus on the positive aspects of our beautiful children. Yes! even when they become teenagers and turn into monsters. Our little boy or girl are inside the hormone monster , in a bedroom that looks like a bomb exploded. The little monster needs as much love and understanding as the cuddly six months old.
Posted in Children, self esteem
Tagged Child, Child abuse, Child discipline, Children Youth and Family, Parent, Physical punishment, Prevention
Embrace the variety!
What we can probably all agree on, is that it would be a sad fact if we all were the same.
Luckily we come in all sizes and shapes. But somehow a particular body type has become superior. This is an article on positive body image. It is about what the young women of Glenbard South High School, did to raise awareness. This is a group of young women that are campaigning to change the mindset on body image — an insecurity that’s plagued many teens for generations.
We can ask the question, why the skinny is considered healthier. Well there are numerous reasons for it , the first obesity is a huge problem. But the image that a skinny person is healthier than someone who has a little meat on the bones is misconception. Healthy consists of more than weight. It includes how we see our selves and how we treat ourselves. How do we talk to our body?
We should actually be thankful for being healthy every day that we are, because it is not necessary something we can take for granted. So celebrate a healthy body. In whatever size or shape it might come.
Just for fun I want to present this photo of olympic athletes; just to make sure that my message of variety comes across! The sport each one of them is competing in is listed under each athlete depicted.
Twenty something years ago my friend was participating in a beauty contest. Then she used the famous coffee and cigarette diet. Eating nothing and drinking coffee and smoking! YUK…Then we were skinny but NOT healthy.
There is a reason why skinny is not alway´s healthy and the misconception starts with our own image of ourselves.
The body is a temple, treat it that way.
Posted in Children, Health, self esteem, women's health
Tagged body, bodyimage, Eating disorder, Glenbard South High School, health, obesity, Plus-size model, Weight loss, Young Women
Killing us softly?
Jean Kilbourne´s lecture on body image in marketing. Computer retouching and Photoshop. She has worked in this field for years and is also contributing to Miss representation´s video later in the post.
In 500 years what happened to the image of women?
Video on 500 years of women in art, where did we derail? Where did we get the standards of beauty that we hold today?
Where does it all end?
Video from Miss representation, a must see for all parents. Average American teenager is exposed to media 10 hours and 45 minutes every day! Girls get the message that the most important thing is how they look. It does not matter what a woman accomplishes. It all comes down to her looks.
I have two daughters, I want them to be valued on their talents and skills not their looks. I want them to have healthy body image. I thought I had a positive body image untill, I had a terrible moment of truth when I got married. I was in a state of shock when I saw the wedding pictures. My mind had been diluted by the image of how I should look. And I was greatly disappointed with the pictures. I saw a flat chested woman with a small head and huge calf’s! It took me six months to get used to the photos, now I like them very much. But I had no idea how polluted my mind was until I had this experience.
Related articles
Posted in Children, Health, self esteem, women's health
Tagged Body image, health, Jean Kilbourne, Miss Representation, Photo manipulation, Photoshop, responibility
Where is your brain located?
Poster depicting Steve Martin in the legendary comedy the man with two brains.An old classic
Is it true that we have more than one brain? These ideas come from a pioneer in the research field Dr. Gershon. He writes about why we can feel in our stomach feelings as anxiety, fear and anger. The main reason is that serotonin ,that is like a messenger to the brain, is stored in the stomach. When we repress the feelings that our gut is trying to tell us about , we can cause ourselves to be sick. Some believe that all dis-eases come because of poor diet, lack of rest too much stress and repressed anger or repressed feelings. The whole article is linked above and it explains why we can feel in our gut. The gut feeling has logical explanation and there is no wonder why we say ; I can feel it in my gut.
The alternative
The funny thing is when I was reading about Gershon, I found another doctor a Doctor with a slightly different name Dr. Gerson. And he was remarkable character, I had already seen an interview with his daughter in the film food matters. The Gerson institute offers a alternative cancer treatment without the chemotherapy. It offers a program that is more natural, here is more about the very intriguing Dr. Gerson
Dr. Max Gerson: Healing the Hopeless discusses the development of his world-famous dietary therapy and the struggles this medical pioneer faced as he challenged orthodox medicine with his nutritional protocol. This inspiring and uplifting biography follows Dr. Gerson through Nazi persecution, then persecution in the United States from the medical establishment, the continuation of his work despite the opposition, his questionable death and finally the present, where daughter Charlotte Gerson and the Gerson Institute work to continue his legacy and vision.
This is a video on the Gerson Miracle, the beginning and the continuing work of the Gerson Institute.It explains the body´s encounter with poisons. Clearly one more mind-blowing video.
This is an almost fifty minutes long video with Charlotte Gerson who is 90 years old! She is amazing. This is fifty minutes well spent I promise!
I simply love Charlotte Gerson, she is my role model. I want to be like her when I am 90!!
The body has remarkable healing powers, we only need to unleash the power.
The power to heal.
If you don´t have anything else planned on this saturday night, This is a film by 15-year-old Garret, called the Beautiful truth. It is about the Gerson therapy and health issues like how amalgam in fillings can deprive people of their health. The issue of food additives like MSG and aspartame is touched and the issue of GMO foods and much more! It is remarkable to witness the denial in the medical profession that say Dr. Gerson therapy is a hoax. If I had to choose today I would choose Dr.Gerson´s method without hesitation!
Related articles
Posted in Children, interesting links, nutrition, women's health
Tagged Charlotte Gerson, Eating, eating habits, Food, food industry, Gerson, Gerson Institute, health, Max Gerson, Medicine, nutrition, responibility, Stomach, vitamins, whole foods
