Raising Smarter Children

Did you know that too much sugar turns to fat in your body?

Did you know that if you learn to read food labels like a pro, you’ll find all sorts of unhealthy chemicals, hidden sugars and trans-fats which can dull your child’s brain?

If you think sugar and simple carbohydrates are somehow different once you eat them, consider this:  Read the number of carbohydrates on the label, divide by 5 and you’ll know how may teaspoons of sugar you’re eating. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a lot of controversy over whether your child needs vitamins.  Many doctors say your child gets everything they need from their food.  Yet, high quality food is hard to come by in our fast lane life.

Consider this: 

• 24 million Americans have diabetes
• there is a frightening type 2 diabetes epidemic in kids
• the processed foods your child eats comes from a factory, not nature
• young girls develop years earlier than they did 50 years ago – and that may well be due to the hormones and steroids in the meat they eat, which pass into their bodies
• check the label on packaged foods your kids eat – hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fat keeps it on the shelf for years (is this really good for your child’s health)?  (Hydrogenated fat is scientifically altered – literally blasted with hydrogen to turn the liquid fat into a solid).  It increases bad cholesterol and increases the risk of heart disease by more than 23% according to most experts.  And, oh yes, all those crackers, chips, cake mixes, and nearly every other packaged food with hydrogenated fat insures inflammation in your child’s body (and yours too by the way).  This information is via The England Journal of Medicine which says that trans fat “is more dangerous to health that any food contaminant.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, a parent sent us a letter about her son, Brendon. “He’s only in the fifth grade, yet has years of learning and health problems.  His doctor says he’s well on his way to Type II diabetes.  We think he eats well, yet he’s overweight and still suffering from learning problems.  Do you have any thoughts about this?  Could his diet be affecting his learning and his health?”

Since we don’t know precisely what his diet is, we can’t comment about Brendon individually.  However,, we can say with near certainty that not all foods are created equal.  While it may look like Brendon is eating well, his food could have hidden sugars, additives, preservatives and lack even the most basic nutrients, which pediatric allergists say can affect not only his health, but his learning ability as well.

Here’s an excerpt from What’s Food Got To Do With It? 101 Natural Remedies For Learning Disabilties that may give you some additional information to help your son, and help you raise a smarter child.

“Why Our Food Cannot Give Us What We Need…

Most doctors will tell you that your child gets all the nutrition he or she needs from the food they eat.  What you won’t hear however, is how certain food, along with all its additives, preservatives and fat content, may also have serious negative effects on your child.

Also, most medical doctors know very little about nutrition because it is not included in their curriculum.

William Crook, M.D., a long time authority on hyperactivity and learning disabilities, says, “What most doctors say about food and nutrition would be true for our ancestors who ate a variety of unrefined foods, grown in soils which had not been treated with chemicals.  But today, our children are urged by television to consume foods and beverages loaded with sugar and other ‘naked calories;’ (no vitamins and minerals).”

Many medical doctors are generally unaware that our soil is so depleted that fresh fruits and vegetables do not have the mineral content that a healthy body needs.  Basically, through poor crop rotation, loss of valuable topsoil due to flooding, and over irrigation, much of the natural trace mineral content has been lost from our food supply.

The United States Senate (in Senate Document 262, published in 1936) stated, Our physical well-being is more directly dependent upon the minerals we take into our systems than upon calories or vitamins…

It also stated that food produced on mineral deficient land was starving us of perfect health.

In tomorrow’s post, you’ll hear about the largest study ever done, which included over a million schoolchildren, who raised their test scores with simple dietary changes to the cafeteria food.

In the meantime, while Brendon’s diet may look healthy, you may want to check into the organic fruits and vegetables, grown in mineral rich soil, that may be better choice in his diet…”

Remember, every child is smart!

Pat Wyman

P.S.  If you like this post, please send along a comment, or hit the ’share this button below’.  Become part of all the social communities and for more tips on learning, visit our sister site at http://www.HowToLearn.com

Yesterday, we had our guest blogger, Best of Mother Earth, Karen Hanrahan, talk about the dangers of sugar.

The medical journal reports are coming out almost daily on how dangerous too much sugar is for your child and your family – causing a whole host of health problems, ranging from obesity, to Type II diabetes.

Today, Karen has graciously given us some tips for getting kids off the sugar by eating more vegetables.

Here’s how:  http://bestwellnessconsultant.com/2008/09/18/eat-your-vegetables-tricks-for-picky-kids-best-of-mother-earth.aspx

Remember, every child is smart.

Warmly, Pat Wyman and Erin Mavredakis M.D.

P.S. If you like this post, then be sure and leave a comment or questions (add up those two numbers so we know you’re human:):)) , and if you want to help other parents with these tips click on the “share this” button and let the social community know about tips for Raising Smarter Children blog and its tips to help your child be smart in every way.

Thank you, and when you’re looking for other resources to help your child in school, visit our other site at http://www.HowToLearn.com

Does you worry that your child, or other family members eat too much sugar?  There’s so much in the news these days about obesity and the Type II epidemic in kids, our next two posts will give you some solid information on the dangers of sugar and what to do about it from our invited guest blogger, Karen Hanrahan. 

Today she talks about the dangers of sugar – read more at…

http://bestwellnessconsultant.com/2008/10/29/dangers-of-sugar-b-complex-deficiencies-best-of-mother-earth.aspx

Warmly,

Pat Wyman and Erin Mavredakis M.D.

Visit our other site at http://www.HowToLearn.com for more resources to help your child in every way.

If you like this post, please leave a comment and we will reply, as well as click the “share this button” so you can spread the word and help other parents who are concerned that their child, or other family members may be eating too much sugar

Healthy Kid Foods

Does your child literally beg you for the latest foods and drinks featured on T.V.?  How about when you go to the grocery store – does your child run up and down the aisles insisitng you buy food and drinks that are promoted with cutsie graphics and even include prizes when you buy them? 

Well, according to a new Canadian study from the University of Calgary, researchers said that nearly three quarters of the “fun, so called, kid healthy” foods they examined, are not really as healthy as they claim.   In fact, the ingredients in some of these foods are precisely what lead to an obese, unhealthy child, who either has or is well on the way to type II diabetes.

Many ads that target your child and what he or she eats can easily lead to sickness and a shortened life span, and with all the medical research to back that up, it’s not even a stretch to believe it. 

According to an Associated Press report on MSNBC, The Federal Trade Commission said nearly $1.6 billion ad dollars target your child in every possible way to buy foods, snacks, and soads they see in movies, on T.V., in magazine ads, on cereal boxes, computers and even cell phones.

Given what the American Medical Association has said about the obesity and type II epidemic in children, it’s more important than ever to pay close attention to food labels and what you feed your child.  Fast food in general, the fries, burgers, and soda drinks will only lead to an overweight child who has the chance to get sicker faster. 

When you go to the store, be savvy.  Check the labels.  For example, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and The National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity, say to check for fat, sugar and sodium content on the labels. 

Sugar hides out as substances like corn syrup, which hits the bloodstream and causes a sharp increase in blood sugar.  Then, it is it’s harder for the body to lower that blood sugar spike.  Not to get to technical, but if your child eats too much sugar, type II diabetes and more damaging conditions are on their way.

Be sure to check the label for any fat that says hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated because these fats are long proven in every peer-reviewed major medical joural on this topic,  to be unhealthy for everyone.

Even foods that claim to be “lite”, hide artificial sweeteners in the ingredients. which can be just as unhealthy as the regular bleached white sugar you bake with or have on the table. The Food and Drug Administration has countless complaints about the effects of artifical sweetners.

Ad spending on so called “kid friendly” foods, definitely contributes to childhood obesity.  According to the research done at the University Of Calgary, 50% of the calories kids eat come from fat or added sugars.  32% of American children are overweight, which does nothing to help their health or learning abilities. 

According to the organizations above, food is deemed to be unhealthy if more than 35% of the calories come from fat, of if it contains more than 3% added sugar by weight. They go on to say that the sodium cut off for a full meal is “770 mg for main meals and 600 mg for individual servings”.

Given that you want your child to stay healthy and live and long and happy life, here are a few healthy kid tips to help your child stay brain and body smart:

1.  Check the foods your child can get at school.  Ask about the ingredients, whether are there candy and soda machines on campus, and does your school use sugary and hydrogenated goodies as fund raisers?

If the answers are not what you know is best for your child, get a group of health conscious parents together, armed with some facts from medical journals and nutritional organizations and put your concerns before the school board.

If the cafeteria food is brought in from fast food restaurants, petition for something more healthy.  Or, pack your child’s lunch with healthy foods.

2.  Take your child on a trip to fast food restaurants.  Get all the nutrition information from the manager, and take a “field trip” to the cooking area if possible.   Take a good hard look at what the food is made of, whether sugar is added to fries to brown them, what percentage of the “beef” is really pure beef, how much fat, sodium and sugar is in each item.  Look at the oil the food is cooked in.  How many grams of sugar are in a soda? 

I’ve found this to be one of the best ways to help kids understand why what they eat can really hurt them.

3.  Make a list with your child before you go to the store.  Put it in two columns.  The second column will show your child how much fat, what kind, how much sugar and what kind, how much sodium, etc. can be allowed on the label.  Also, put artificial colors, msg, and artificial sweeteners of all kinds in the second column.

Then, in the first column, put the list of foods together for the week. 

If that list includes fresh fruits, vegetables, hopefully organic meats, fish and chicken and some truly healthy snacks, let your child help you pick these things out, while paying very close attention to the information in column 2 on the list.  If it doesn’t measure up, don’t buy the food.  It’s that simple.

4.  Look at the total carbohydrate count on the label and divide it by 5 amd that will give you the metabolic equivalent of how much sugar your child is eating.  

When I wanted to show my kids how to see how much sugar was in something, we converted those grams on the label and I had them put that much white table sugar into a glass.  Then I said, how would you like to drink that?

Once I learned about how to keep my children happy, I did hundreds of hours of medical research and the result was my book called, What’s Food Got To Do With It? 101 Natural Remedies For Learning Disabilities.

If you think your child has ADD_ADHD, we put together a 3 book set, called ADD-ADHD.  It contains What’s Food Got To Do With It, Instant Learning For Amazing Grades and Success Strategies For Special Education.  Check these out too, because they contain the information you need on health, learning to get A’s, and strategies for any child diagnosed with a learning challenge.

We want to prevent and cure childhood obesity and prevent type II diabetes.  If you follow these few simple steps, you’re a parent who really cares about your child’s health, and you’ll make great strides in keeping your child as healthy as possible.

Remember, every child is smart – and you need to be smart about what you feed your child,

Warmly,

Pat Wyman and Erin Mavredakis, M.D.

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