Processed food and diseases

What is Processed food?
The nature provide vegetables, fruits, grains and other food sources. It has abundance of vitamins, antioxidants and minerals in it. Some of the food can be eaten raw and the whole nutrients can be absorbed by the body and some others need to be cooked. The cooking is to make the food more digestible by human body. However when the cooking process is long and harsh the food loses its properties and becomes the opposite. Like say a Potato has wonderful nutrients in it but when heated to temperature >120 degree Celsius and made into Potato fries a chemical called Acrylamide is formed which is carcinogenic.

Pesticides, chemical fertilizers, contaminated water source(by chemicals and radio active substances), contaminated soil(by chemicals and pollution), contaminated air(pollution), preservatives, genetically modified (GMO) are already altering the food produced by nature. Each of these have their effect on human health and are related to diseases like Autism, Asthma, tumor and cancers

On the top these food are even more modified when made into processed food. For example, to make a breakfast cereal the grains are grounded, added unnecessary vitamins and preservatives, molded into shapes and heated to temperatures that can change the property of food and put on shelf for the period of 2 years. Same is the case for a food cooked at home for long time using harsh temperature just to make it more palatable.

All these processing and chemicals has huge impact on children with Asthma, Autism and Immune system disorder and other diseases. It increases the risk several folds.

Hence provide of abundances of vitamins, antioxidants and minerals through raw food like fruits and vegetables atleast 5 servings a day. While for the other food form that requires cooking try to keep the cooking process to the right minimum. Do not encourage any processed and convenience food. This will keep any disease at check.

 

Best Diet for the first five years

The first five years of a child's life is the foundation for the physical and mental health and the diet during this period is crucial especially if your child is prone to health concerns. The child knows only what the parents shows and follows. It is good to follow certain guidelines during this period and stick to a strict discipline. Below is a guideline for a vegetarian diet. 

• 5  or more servings of Fruits and Veges. They contain lots of micronutrients and antioxidants for the body.
• 2 or more servings of Dairy. Better if vitamin D fortified. Dairy in the form of milk, yogurt/curd(homemade if possible), cheese. Vitamin D and calcium play a vital role in strengthening the bones and overall.
• 99.9% of the time go for whole grains. 
• Good Protein Sources like Lentils and Egg
• Nuts are packet with protein and nutrients and make a great snack
• Herbs and Spices. Here is a trick, the more you include a herb or spice the more your child is going to like it. It's like training the taste bud.
• Best drinks for kids are Milk and water. Homemade fresh squeezed fruit juices are good. Avoid any store brought sugary drinks, soda and juice from concentrate.
• DHA and Probiotic supplements. Vitamin D supplement for the first two years.

Please note: the above guideline is for vegetarian diet. Non vegetarian food like meat and seafood possess excellent nutrients. If you are non vegetarian please add the above guidelines to your diet to get benefit. It is all about eating natural food and avoiding artificial stuff.

How to make your child love good food.

• The key to making your child like good food is to show them only good food. "What we show is what they know".
• Simple looking food appeal kids better than the complicated ones. "Simple and less" is the magic. Offer more on demand.
• Kids with sweet tooth naturally like fruits. Fruits are nature's candies. They will appreciate natural taste unless they are exposed to man made sweet treats. It is good to stay away from chocolates, sugary drinks and other sweets as much as possible until age 5.
• Vegetable when given in simple form will be appreciated by kids. Just adding some butter, salt and pepper will add good taste to Veges like broccoli, cauliflower. Some taste good when raw nd some go well will little seasoning or dip. Do trials to test your child's likes. Please keep in mind that the more you train the taste buds the more they will get used to and like it.
• Talk to your child about food. If they love stories then tell your own stories of how Spiderman drinks two cups of milk everyday to stay strong. How fairies loves to eat fruits. How beautiful/ handsome they will become if they eat fruits, vegetables. They can become tall if they drink water. The more you talk the more they will get used to eating good food
• Involve them in picking fruits/veges from grocery store and in making some simple recipes. Get them familiarize with food and it is the natural part of everyday life.
• Avoid distraction eating like watching tv, computer or playing games while eating. Self eating is the best practices.
• Fruits like orange, lemon and Apple increases you child's appetite. Giving a cup of water 30 mins before food will also make them more hungry.
• Water guidelines. Give a cup water after wakeup, 30 mins before food, 1 hour after food throughout the day, before going to bed and finally take a bottle when going out for a walk or any physical activity and don't miss an opportunity when your child shows signs of thirst.
• Some kids love to drink water from sippy cup while others just takes few sips and stays without water for long tine. In that case use only open cup. Fill it with water and tell your child that he has to finish it fully.

To my blog readers

Please do not hesitate to provide your inputs and write some fun ways you encourage your child to eat good food that will motivate all moms.

Lets grow our own personal air purifiers

Plants are the best part of nature. They are the main food source for life and they act as air purifier taking in carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen for us to breathe. They can be grown indoors or outdoors to purify the air in and around the house. Whether it be a house with front and backyard or a small apartment on the 10th floor or a terrace garden, plants can be grown anywhere. All it takes is soil, water, light source and some love.

Grow your own herb garden to produce invaluable herbs that can prevent and cure any disease. Grow beautiful flowering plants that can give peace of mind. Grow your own organic fruits and vegetables yielding plants that might surprise you by cutting down a trip to grocery store. It fun for kids too watching every life stage like germination, every leaf coming out, flowering and yielding fruits and vegetables. You will be surprised by new visitors to your house. A Bird might tell you hello early in the morning and if you are lucky a beautiful butterfly will mesmerize you by her trip to your house every now and then.  It increases the aura of the house and fills it with life.

It purifies all the carcinogens, dangerous gases and gives the oxygen for us to breathe. So why not grow our own air purifiers.

Man made climate change

Erratic weather conditions all over the world. Forest fires, fierce tornadoes, extreme hot conditions, drought, flood, storms, variable hot and cold weather, depletion of ozone layer, melting of glaciers. Man made climate change is real. And it making the weather more fierce towards life. Humans have the power to protect himself and other life in his habitat from the fierce weather. But several lives are claimed in other habitats. Even though human realize this he still continues with the man made climate change which will eventually bring in several disease and claim human lives.

Production of plastic is one huge mistake by human. A mistake bigger than the discovery of  atom bomb. The over production and usage of plastics is done even in the most forward countries for the sake of convenience. The present convenience is what is going to destroy our future generation. Diseases like cancer are mainly due to the plastic which are claiming several lives on a day today basis.

Giant companies which manufactures soda, chips and other processed food are not only causing diseases through its junk food but also polluting the environment by the usage of plastic. Recently there was a news of a whale which died and found offshore. 800 plastic bags were present in its stomach. See what kind of disaster we are doing to the environment. Every plastic bag that we dispose in the environment is affecting some life. The world will be a better place if these companies stop the production of the food that is of no use to human life and concentrate on clearing the plastic junk they have made all over the world. It would be even more awesome if they can plant trees and produce wonderful fruits and vegetables and hence detoxify the earth and lives. All this will happen only if we all stop consuming the soda, chips, processed and junk food.

The grocery shops and shopping malls offer plastic bags in abundance for the sake of our convenience and we readily accept it without thinking about earth. If we think for a moment before accepting it and say 'No thanks' we are taking one step in saving our earth.

Same is the case with the laundry detergents, dish liquids and other cleaning supplies. All these reach the earth and come back to us through water and other food sources.

There was once a time when a radio/ tv would be used for a life time of a person. But now cell phones, tv, computers are being upgraded every few years for the sake of new features. This produces enormous electronic junk which does not get properly recycled. This is big hazard to human life.

How many of us really put the plastic, papers, cardboard in the recycle bin. All it takes is little effort to separate bits of recycle items from the non recyclables and dump it accordingly.

Let us all work in reversing the man made climate change by

• Stop using plastic bags and other unnecessary plastic items.
• Very minimum usage of cleaning supplies.
• Less usage of antibacterial soaps and sanitizer.
• Plant trees and garden.
• Less usage of electricity and water.
• Avoid unnecessary electronic upgrade/purchase.
• Recycle and Reuse

To my blog readers

This article has a connection to childhood asthma. There is a saying 'what we sow is what we reap'. What we do to our mother earth in turn affects our child and several other lives.  Hence please help in taking care of this beautiful earth for our children and generations to come. Please do not hesitate to provide your valuable inputs.

Processed food and diseases

What is Processed food?
The nature provide vegetables, fruits, grains and other food sources. It has abundance of vitamins, antioxidants and minerals in it. Some of the food can be eaten raw and the whole nutrients can be absorbed by the body and some others need to be cooked. The cooking is to make the food more digestible by human body. However when the cooking process is long and harsh the food loses its properties and becomes the opposite. Like say a Potato has wonderful nutrients in it but when heated to temperature >120 degree Celsius and made into Potato fries a chemical called Acrylamide is formed which is carcinogenic.

Pesticides, chemical fertilizers, contaminated water source(by chemicals and radio active substances), contaminated soil(by chemicals and pollution), contaminated air(pollution), preservatives, genetically modified (GMO) are already altering the food produced by nature. Each of these have their effect on human health and are related to diseases like Autism, Asthma, tumor and cancers

On the top these food are even more modified when made into processed food. For example, to make a breakfast cereal the grains are grounded, added unnecessary vitamins and preservatives, molded into shapes and heated to temperatures that can change the property of food and put on shelf for the period of 2 years. Same is the case for a food cooked at home for long time using harsh temperature just to make it more palatable.

All these processing and chemicals has huge impact on children with Asthma, Autism and Immune system disorder and other diseases. It increases the risk several folds.

Hence provide of abundances of vitamins, antioxidants and minerals through raw food like fruits and vegetables atleast 5 servings a day. While for the other food form that requires cooking try to keep the cooking process to the right minimum. Do not encourage any processed and convenience food. This will keep any disease at check.

 

The best gift I can give my child is Mother Earth(1 person less polluted)

We love our children so much we are ready to buy anything and do anything for them. We want to give the best for our child.  But are we really giving the best if we spoil the place they will live. Yes our earth.

My vows

1. No grocery plastic bags in my shopping carts.
2. Use steel water bottles instead of plastic esp for children.
3. Minimum usage of antibacterial hand soap and sanitizers and not being a germophobic.
4. Less water consumption.
5. Less dryer usage.
6. Optimal usage of detergents.
7. Less power consumption
8. Recycle

"Let everyday be an earth day"

How many of you agree to this and would like to join in taking these vows? For every person who joins we can have an earth 1 person less polluted.

Cooking time matters

Vegetables are excellent sources of nutrition. It has to be cooked in a proper way for specific amount of time to get the maximum nutrients from it. When overcooked it tends to lose its nutrients and are of no use to our body. When certain vegetables are clubbed together the nutrition can be easily absorbed by the body.

Get the maximum benefit of each vegetable by following the cooking time guideline
http://www.healwithfood.org/chart/vegetable-steaming-times.php

Go natural Breakfast

Breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day. It is eaten after several hours of fasting by the body. During sleep the body sheds its toxins and recovers from stress of the day. The body waits for the breakfast to restart the day with energy. Especially for the kids the breakfast needs to be given with great care. The kids are very active from wakeup to noon. Hence it is essential to provide good nutrition to stay physically and mentally active and grow.

But breakfast is the most neglected meal of the day due to lack of time, hurry in getting ready or just laziness. The most common mistakes are

• Skipping breakfast - because the body is deprived of nutrition and makes it hard to work effectively.
• Eating processed food like cereals etc - even though processed food makes itself sound healthy it loses all its natural nutrient while processing and add on artificial vitamin supplements are just a eye wash.
• Not eating wholesome meal - Realizing the body needs and feeding a wholesome meal makes the body function well and recover

The best breakfast should natural and packed with lots of nutrients to fulfill the body needs. Each body has different needs. Like say an asthmatic body needs certain vitamins and antioxidants to recharge the lungs and immune system. A body that is obese needs food that cuts down body fat and a thin body needs fat to build the muscles. So based on the need eating a wholesome breakfast will help to fulfill your body requirement.
Preparing a wholesome breakfast according to your tradition and place is great and demands lot of effort. But if you do not have time to do so please do not go for processed food rather follow the below tips.

• Some Vegetables and fruits provide wholesome nutrition and are filling too. Steamed sweet potatoes, potatoes make a healthy filling for kids. You can pair it with orange which helps in absorption by the body. It helps in boosting the immunity.
• Banana is filled with tons of nutrients and provides lot of energy. It helps in gaining weight when paired with full fat milk.
• Avacadoes are filled with healthy fat and vitamin E and has regenerative property on lungs. Club with citrus fruits for absorption. 
• Sprouts are high protein source. Soak the lentil the previous morning and remove the water and leave it outside overnight for the lentil to sprout. It's packet with nutrition. Top it with yogurt and spices and salt to make it filling and tasty.
• Oats porridge with fruits like blueberry, strawberry makes a great breakfast.
• Boiled eggs/ Omelette makes healthy breakfast. Club it citrus fruits like lemon juice/ orange/ grapefruit which helps with absorption.
• Millets are great way to start the day. It can be made porridge or pancakes. Any grains, Millets, nuts need to soaked overnight, sprouted(if possible) and fermented to make it easy for absorption and to get maximum benefit.
• Milk or yogurt makes a great add on to the breakfast providing calcium and vitamin D.