Can a child thrive on a vegan diet? The answer is yes! Far more studies show that a
typical ‘Western Diet’ has deleterious effects on health compared to the risks of a
vegan diet. In fact, vegetarian diets are associated with disease resistance and even
higher I.Q.’s in children. (1-5)

With proper planning and a bit of self-education, parents should feel confident in
giving their child a diet free of animal products.

Healthy food choices include the following:

Protein dense foods: beans, soy, whole grains, nuts, etc.

Calcium sources: beans, leafy greens, figs, blackstrap molasses, fortified beverages,
etc.

Iron sources: grains, dried fruit, coconut milk, blackstrap molasses, soybeans,
beans, etc.

Zinc sources: nuts, seeds, grains, chickpeas, soybeans, etc.

Avoid wheat and nuts until after one year of age, to avoid possible food sensitivities.

Supplementation may be necessary for children who are picky eaters, but most
nutritional needs can be met through diet. Vitamins D and B12 may be the
exception, and parents should ensure an optimal supply through fortified foods or
supplements.

Finding community support can be very important in helping your child maintain
healthy eating habits, as vegan diets are often misunderstood and even feared by
well-meaning family members, neighbours, and teachers. Many excellent resources
exist that can help educate those in your child’s life who have concerns, and
possibly alleviate any misconceptions they may have.

Raising a child on a vegan diet can be challenging in today’s world of hot-dogs and
ice cream, but parents should be assured that research is on their side.

The following sources are particularly supportive of vegan diets for children:

The Vegetarian Society UK vegsoc.org

The Vegetarian Resource Group vrg.org

European Vegetarian Union ivu.org

Physician’s Committee For Responsible Medicine pcrm.org

Becoming Vegan Brenda Davis, R.D., and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D.

1. O’Connell JM, Dibley MJ, Sierra J et al: Growth of vegetarian children: The Farm
Study. Pediatrics 1989;84:475-481.

2. Fisher M, Levine PH, Weiner B, et al. The effects of vegetarian diets on plasma
lipid and platelet levels. Arch Inter Med 1986;146:1193-1197.

3. Chang-Claude J, Frentzel-Beyme R, Eilber U. Mortality pattern of German
vegetarians after 11 years of follow-up. Epidemiology 1992;3:395-401.

4. Thorogood M, Mann J, Appleby P, McPherson K. Risk of death from cancer and
ischaemic heart disease in meat and non-meat eaters. Brit Med J 1994;308:1667
-1670.

5. Dwyer JT, Miller LG, Arduino NL, et al. Mental age and I.Q. of predominately
vegetarian children. J Am Dietetic Assoc 1980;76:142-147.

Stacelynn Caughlan is a Clinical Nutritionist and Certified Herbalist who specializes
in pregnancy, birth and childhood. She is currently the editor of motherandchildhealth.com motherandchildhealth.com an online resource for women looking for
information on natural health and healing for themselves and their families.

Tags: diet, Heart, vegetarians

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The Best Multivitamin

With thousands of products proliferating the market all claiming to be the best multivitamin, the process of choosing a multivitamin can seem downright daunting.
It’s only natural that every manufacturer will espouse the highest value for their own product, leading to confusion amongst consumers who just want the best multivitamin for their health.

So, let’s weigh the evidence.

It’s important to realize, first and foremost, that what may be the best womens multivitamin will differ from what is the best for men.

This is because men and women have different biological make-ups and needs.

Multivitamin Reviews

Choosing a Multivitamin

The Best MultiVitamin….

Let us first discuss the quality of the ingredients that make up a multivitamin.

Most multivitamins that claim to be the best, use cheap ingredients, fillers, and additives. The reason is simple, the cheaper the ingredients, the lesser the cost for them to produce, and the higher their profit margin.

To give an example, a trail was conducted to result the benefits of beta carotene. While natural beta carotene, which is very costly, eliminated tumors, the synthetic version of beta carotene had no effect whatsoever.

Almost all multivitamin products claiming to be the best, bought from a store, use cheap and synthetic ingredients. Therefore, when choosing a multivitamin, you need to also consider the issue of manufacturing. Most people do not understand the importance of severe manufacturing.

Both private and government bodies have shown that there is only a 20% chance that consumers have in buying a product that is not contaminated with toxins or one that actually has the ingredients stated to the label. The best multivitamin should improve your health, not possibly worsen it!

So, here is how can you ensure you’re getting a product that is manufactured to the best industry standards. Always invest your money in a product only from pharmaceutical GMP compliant manufacturers. The pharmaceutical GMP complaint facilities adhere to the highest standards of manufacturing for dietary supplements. Therefore it is necessary that you invest your money in such graded supplements. This is very crucial, because the U.S. supplement industry is unregulated.

Vitamins and supplements are not currently required to follow pharmaceutical GMP compliance and most manufacturers do not, because the tight regulations increase their operating costs.

The Importance of Nutrients in Choosing a Multivitamin

Now, consider the other nutrients. The fact is that the best multivitamin product in the market absolutely cannot have only vitamins in it. Have you ever thought of the reason behind this? It is because many vitamins and nutrients work hand-in-hand.

In simple words, this means that vitamins can work if other nutrients are also present. Consider the mineral, Calcium. It needs vitamin D in order to be absorbed. Hence it is a better idea to use a supplement product that has a combination of the two.

Additionally, many enzymes and herbs can enhance the worth of vitamins significantly. So, it is best if a multivitamin actually contains an absolutely methodically formulated balance of minerals, herbal extracts, enzymes, and other nutrients, in addition to vitamins.

It is also very important to know that common vitamins are very weak antioxidants, though are necessary. Comparatively, the nutrients are powerful antioxidants and you’ll not find them in a multivitamin product.

Just as an example, a nutrient known as alpha lipioc acid is literally 400 times more powerful, as an antioxidant, than Vitamin C. But you will not be able to find this in any regular multivitamin product.

Another example is the DMAE, a crucial nutrient for healthy brain function, and which has been shown to be depleted in those with Alzheimer’s, which is not found in the regular multivitamin products.

Another is the NADH, which allows the body to create more energy, or potent immune system enhancers like Beta Glucan and again not found in the regular multivitamin product.

Choosing a Multivitamin…the Best Multivitamin

In addition to all the above, it is also a fact that women and men have different nutrient needs. For example, certain herbal extracts such as Black Cohosh and Wild Yam can help balance female hormones. Men, on the other hand, need some nutrients that are less important for women, such as beta sitosterol and lycopene, for prostate health.

So, this point should also be considered when choosing any supplement product.

The product we personally use called Total Balance - health-product-we-use.com health-product-we-use.com is the most natural and effective supplement we have come across. We have been using this product for over 3 years with excellent health results.

We highly recommend you learn more about our

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Among practitioners of Hinduism and Buddhism, yoga is practiced as a means on enlightenment; while in the West, yoga is now practiced as both an effective physical and spiritual routine. However, contrary to popular belief, yoga is not considered a form of exercise because unlike the the speedy motion required in an workout, yoga involves very slow and steady movements. But still, regular practice of yoga provides great health benefits, as it tones the muscles as well as relieves stress, strengthens concentration, and reduces the aging process. There are prerequisites to yoga that you should follow to attain its maximum benefits. Please follow our guide to attain maximum benefits.

Practice yoga everyday – Make yoga a habit for at least 30 to 45 minutes.

Know your body limits – Try not to overextend your stretches. If you push too hard, you could hurt yourself in the process.

Consult your physician first – People with certain medical conditions should practice yoga minimally to avoid worsening of their ailments.

Yoga is best practiced during early mornings – If you have to do yoga in an afternoon or evening, remember to have an empty stomach. Consume solid foods 3 ½ hours before yoga, while liquids should be drank one hour before practicing.

Choose the right yoga space – Practice yoga on a spacious, clean, airy, and bright area, away from much disturbances. And don’t forget your yoga mat or other comfortable mat that you can use during postures that require lying down.

Wear comfortable clothing – Make sure your garments are loose and clean. Undergarments are necessary.

Pregnant or menstruating women should avoid practicing yoga – This routine involves several body bends and pressures on the back, which could affect pregnancy and menstruation.

If you can, follow a vegetarian diet – Most practitioners of yoga are also vegetarians since yoga slows down the metabolism. If you have difficulty venturing to vegetarianism, try consuming lesser foods.

Begin by breathing deeply – The yoga poses (or asanas) usually start in breathing slowly and deeply as you concentrate your mind and make yourself centered. Remember that your body movements and breathing must be coordinated until such time that they are united. Your breathing also serves as your guide on when to start or stop the yoga position.

Move gracefully – In yoga, movement flows like air. Come into a pose slowly yet gracefully, hold that pose for several minutes, and come out of it with the same graceful and continuous movement.

Visit

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It really would be close to preaching to the choir if I told a vegan that that particular diet may be the best for shedding pounds the healthy way, however to a non-vegan or a vegan-to-be, take it from me, that bit of information is so true.

Besides the ethical values (which don’t necessarily drive me to being a vegan myself), there is no question that a vegan diet may perhaps be the healthiest choice for humans.

Statistics show that vegans are less likely to have problems such as heart disease and cancer, and are more likely to keep to a healthy weight.

Nonetheless, the main thing to keep in mind when using a vegan regimen for weight loss is balance with the proper food items.

Just because there are chocolate chips, apple-pies etc that may be ‘vegan’ doesn’t mean that you should binge on these items as you most likely will see little or no results in your quest to lose weight with a vegan diet…and may actually be doing more harm than good.

Now, perhaps the most effective dietetic menu suggestion to lose weight on a vegan diet will mirror the suggestion below:

Breakfast:

A choice of the following

1. A tall glass of Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice.

2. A tall glass of Fresh squeezed lemonade flavored with genuine maple syrup (the darker the grade the better)

Lunch:

A mono-meal of an organic fruit in season for example: Apples in the fall and winter, Melons in the summer, Berries in spring.

Dinner:

Fresh, home-made salads.

A simple dressing could be

(a) Lemon juice, olive oil and un-iodized sea-salt

(b) Avocadoes or Green coconuts blended with tomatoes and some sea salt

Or

Raw and/or cooked root vegetables such as Celery, Carrots, Potatoes, Plantains, raw or slightly heated fruit veggies (these can be blended into Soups or dressings for your salads)

You will be able to see that the meal we all know as breakfast is purposely omitted, well this is based on the fact that the human body goes through a cleansing process from twelve midnight until twelve noon, and a building program from twelve noon to twelve midnight, therefore our meals during these respective periods should be harmonious with these processes of natural detoxification of the body.

Sounds intriguing eh?

Well, it shouldn’t be, it is based on scientific research on thousands of people for over two centuries on such health principles as food combination and assimilation.

In addition to this sure-to-be in fascinating discovery, other factors that must be mentioned when trying to shed pounds on a vegan regimen are to incorporate some form of vigorous exercises such as simple body-weight calisthenics, Yoga’s Sun Salutes, The Yoga derivatives (or even Yoga itself) such as Pilates & The royal court and Aerobic exercises.

However, in using exercise remember to

* Set your goals

* Set a timeframe for your goals

* Figure out how to meet your goals with an exercise program

* Structure your program

* Maintain your program

And one more thing…I say this in almost all my articles on nutrition: cease the use of microwaves starting now

Here’s to health and wellness mate.

Aje

Foras Aje is an independent researcher and co-founder of BodyHealthSoul LLC. Stop by His Fasting for Weight Loss Blog today for more information on bodyhealthsoul.com/fastingforweightloss-blog/2006/11/vegan-diet-to-lose-weight.html how to use a Vegan diet to lose weight

Tags: diet, exercises, Heart, lose weight, weight Loss

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