Nutrition
Guide
Calcium
Fiber In The Diet
Caffeine
Vitamins
Nutrition Guide
A healthy diet must provide a proper balance
of the essential nutrients, as well as
a rich supply of vitamins, minerals, and
other micronutrients.
This nutrition guide offers the following
guidelines, it must be stressed that there
is no single ideal diet that can be recommended
for everyone. The guidelines are not meant
to be a quick fix but are directions for
a lifestyle.
Balance the food you eat with physical
activity. Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits,
and grain products. About 60% of total
calories should come from carbohydrates.
For most people this means eating more
whole-grain breads, pasta, rice, and other
grains, as well as extra fruits and vegetables.
Eating a variety of these foods also supplies
the body with vitamins C, B6, and folic
acid, carotenoids and other antioxidant
nutrients; potassium, calcium and magnesium.
Try to take as low fats in diet as possible.
Eat a diet low in fat, saturated fat,
and cholesterol . High blood cholesterol
is one of several factors related to an
increased risk of heart disease. Cholesterol
should be limited to 300 milligrams a
day. And most dietitians recommend that
no more, and preferably less, than 30%
of calories come from fat.
While supplements are important for people
with special needs, it is best to get
your nutrients from a variety of foods.
Slow down on sugar. Although sugar is
the body's main source of energy, it is
too easy to eat too much. Almost all foods
have either added or naturally occurring
sugar. A diet high in sweets is linked
to tooth decay and weight gain. Like other
foods, sugar should be eaten in moderation,
mainly in the form of fruits (and not
in such items as baked goods or desserts).
Hold the salt and sodium. Nutrition experts
recommend about 2,400 milligrams a day,
about the amount in 1 teaspoon of salt.
The typical diet provides much more--3,000
to 4,000 milligrams a day. Most of this
salt comes from processed, preserved,
and prepared foods.
If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so
in moderation. As part of a healthy diet,
alcohol may provide both enjoyment and
calories. In addition, moderate amounts
may have positive effects on certain heart
diseases in some people. But too much
alcohol can be harmful. Alcohol can contribute
to weight problems and damage the liver,
brain, heart, and other organs. Pregnant
women who drink are more likely to have
babies with birth defects. Pregnant women
are advised to avoid alcoholic beverages
altogether.
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Calcium
Calcium is important for children teeth
and body growth. Calcium can be found
in milk, and leafy vegetables. Some children
cannot tolerate milk. If they eat a well-balanced
diet with plenty of leafy and other vegetables,
there should be no problem with their
getting adequate calcium for growth, teeth,
etc. Unfortunately, the number of children
eating that stuff is very small in this
day and age.
Its important to keep in mind that many
people consume much protein with lots
of milk, meat, and cheeses. This protein
intake, beyond 17% of total calories consumed,
will cause calcium to be pulled out of
the body stores and be eliminated in urine.
As a result a calcium deficiency is caused
in the body.
The average school-age child needs 800
milligrams of calcium daily. If there
is any question about your child's calcium
intake, it is best to supplement. Calcium
can be obtained from a commercial preparation
such as Neo-Cal-Glucon. Tums specifically
made for calcium intake is also fine,
and probably less expensive. It's very
important for girls to get adequate calcium
stores through their adolescence so that
later pregnancies won't overdraw their
calcium supply.
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Fiber
In The Diet
In simple language, dietary fiber is the
part of a plant that is resistant to the
body's digestive enzymes. As a result,
only a relatively small amount of fiber
is digested or metabolized in the stomach
or intestines. Instead, most of it moves
through the gastrointestinal tract and
ends up in the stool.
Although most fiber is not digested, it
delivers several important health benefits.
First, fiber retains water, resulting
in softer and bulkier stools that prevent
constipation and hemorrhoids. A high-fiber
diet also reduces the risk of colon cancer,
perhaps by speeding the rate at which
stool passes through the intestine and
by keeping the digestive tract clean.
In additional, fiber binds with certain
substances that would normally result
in the production of cholesterol, and
eliminates these substances from the body.
In this way, a high-fibre diet helps lower
blood cholesterol levels, reducing the
risk of heart disease.
Fiber
is healthful. Sufficient amounts of fiber
in the diet do much to prevent constipation,
heart disease, and intestinal and prostate
cancer. Research tells us that the dietary
fiber intake of U.S. children and adolescents
(and most adults, too) fails to meet existing
health recommendations. The foods that
include the healthful forms of fiber are
vegetables, grains and fruits.
How are parents to know how much of these
foods will supply the right amount of
fiber for their individual children? Up
until now, this determination required
some complex calculations. We now have
a simple formula to go by, plus some fiber
content averages which make this easy.
For families who want to plan meals with
an accurate fiber content, here are some
more exact fiber /food contents:
Cereals: All wheat cereals and oatmeal
have good fiber content. Corn flakes have
about half as much as the wheat cereals.
Estimate 2.5 grams fiber per 1/2 cup serving.
Fruits: (medium size) Apple 8 gm. fiber,
bananas and pears, 4 gm., oranges 2.6
gm., peaches 2 gm., blackberries (1/2
cup) 5 gm., strawberries (1/2 cup) 1.6
gm., and coconut 2x2 in., 6 gm. Three
medium apricots 2.3 gm., three medium
plums 0.6 gm., and ten cherries 1 gm.
fiber.
Vegetables: (1/2 cup portions) Cooked
spinach, 5.7 gm., kidney beans and cooked
cabbage 4.3 gm., cooked peas and navy
beans 4.2 gm., corn and white potato 3.9
gm., lentils 3.7 gm., lima beans and sweet
potato (medium) 3.5 gm., pinto beans 3.1
mg., peanuts 2.9 mg., beets and zucchini
(raw) 2 gm., green beans (raw) 1.9 gm.,
onions (cooked) 1.6 gm., asparagus (chopped)
1.2gm.,cauliflower (raw) 1 gm., and cucumber
( sliced) 0.2 gm., fiber. Broccoli (medium
stalk) 7.5 gm, carrot (raw, medium) 2.3
gm. fiber.
Bread: Whole wheat, 1 slice, 2.4 gm.,
white bread, 1 slice, 0.8 gm..
Should you come up short on fiber, you
can add Millers (wheat) Bran (4 gm./Tbsp.)
to cereal, vegetables, soups, stews. etc.,
to be sure that your family members are
getting enough fiber for their maximum
health.
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Caffeine
Caffeine is a drug that stimulates the
central nervous system, making you feel
more energetic. Coffee, tea, cola drinks,
chocolate, some pain relievers, and many
over-the-counter energy aids all contain
caffeine. As a diuretic, it increases
the blood flow through your kidneys, which
produce more urine. This is why cola drinks
are not recommended for quenching thirst.
The average cup of coffee offers about
100 milligrams of caffeine. Tea and cocoa
have much less, and cola drinks that have
more caffeine have even less. Large doses
of caffeine-1,000 milligrams or more-can
cause restlessness, sleeplessness, palpitations,
and diarrhea. There is not a lot of evidence
that caffeine causes any major long-term
health effects. Even so, it is a good
idea to keep your average intake below
three cups of coffee a day, especially
if you experience any side effects. You
can become dependent on caffeine.
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Vitamins
There is no specific need for supplementing
your dietary food with vitamins. If we
ate the way our bodies were developed
and evolved to eat, none would ever be
needed. But we don't, and our diets are
getting worse all the time.
If we grew up eating fresh, minimally
cooked or raw whole grain cereals, vegetables,
and fruits, and if those same cereals,
vegetables, and fruits had not been grown
in mineral-depleted soil, and had not
been stored and exposed to artificial
light for a long time, there would be
no need for vitamin or mineral supplements.
The human body is so adaptable that, even
with a diet marginal in the above, there
can be reasonably good health. Unfortunately,
many children today are growing up on
a diet rife with fat, sugars (120-130lbs.
per person per year), and processed foods--basically
pure junk, making it difficult to see
how they can possibly be getting all the
nutrition they need.
Children, who regularly take anticonvulsant
medicines, must also take vitamin supplements
since many of these medications can interfere
with the body's ability to utilize the
vitamins in the diet. It should also be
noted that the mineral zinc has been found
to lessen the number of convulsions experienced
by children with epilepsy.
By keeping all the above mentioned, we
may conclude that most children would
do well to take a vitamin/mineral supplement
for their "nutritional insurance."
Flintstones Chewables are great...one
tablet every other day. They're all-natural
and include minerals.
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