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Yesterday, I completed the Kids Coaching Connection Program, endorsed by the International Coach Federation (ICF)! and became a life coach for children!  I cannot tell you how pleased I am to have been given the multitude of tools that I now possess to help children move through their emotional challenges.  Thank you to the many families that have allowed me to help their children, in this capacity, over the past year and a half.

One of the tools that I was reminded of in this program was “The Five Love Languages for Children,” which originated from Gary Chapman’s book of the same name.  Condensing his work, he describes the love languages as follows:

1. Words of Affirmation – These children feel appreciated and loved when they hear positive messages from others.  Examples include “I love you.”  “You did an incredible job playing defense today. Did you see how many times you prevented the other team from scoring?”

2. Quality Time – These children feel appreciated and loved when they are given undivided attention.  Examples of quality time include playing a game together, snuggling on the couch, and having a conversation on a car ride.

3. Receiving Gifts – These children feel appreciated and loved when they are given presents.  Examples include coming home from school and finding a new set of markers in their bedroom, being taken shopping or receiving a CD filled with their favourite tunes.

4. Acts of Service – These children feel appreciated and loved when things are done for them.  Examples include making their bed for them or cleaning up their room (if they don’t mind you entering their lair!) or fixing their broken bike for them.

5. Physical Touch – These children feel appreciated and loved when they are cuddled or touched in a loving manner.  Examples include hugging them when you see them first thing in the morning or before they go to sleep at night, touching them on the arm when you are speaking to them or playing wrestling games with them.

Do you know to which of the five love languages your child responds the most?  Even a child as young as two knows their love language, when asked.

You may have one child that needs words of affirmation and one that needs quality time, as I do.  Or maybe you have four children, each having a different love language; that will keep you on your toes!  And you thought having four children was challenge enough!

It is certainly sad when a parent has assumed for years that their child wanted to receive gifts when all the child really wanted was physical touch.  Or if your child’s love language is physical touch and you were never hugged or kissed as a child, this language will be a little more challenging for you to learn.  In either case, all you need to do is explain this to your child and ask them for their help in reminding you of or initiating their love language.  It may have been over the course of many years that your child has not received interaction in their love language and you may have struggled in your relationship but it is never too late to start filling your child’s love tank.

As a Kids Coaching Connection Coach, helping kids and the people they are interacting with, understand their own and each others’ “love languages,” gives them insight into ways of relating more effectively and helps to develop stronger, more trusting connections.  I look forward to writing more blog posts to help strengthen the bonds between family members and I would love your feedback! Don’t forget to leave a link back to your own blog too via the commentluv feature you will find here on the site.

“I sincerely believe that the word “relationships” is the key to the prospect of a decent world.  It seems abundantly clear that every problem you will have – in your family, in your business, in our nation, or in this world – is essentially a matter of relationships, of interdependence.” Clarence Francis  

Until next time,

Meredith

I recently returned to Beld Wellness Centre (please click here for my prior blog post on lymphatic drainage) for a tune-up of my lymphatic system.  I learned that the reason I needed a tune-up is that I had not continued to exercise on my rebounder, an optimal support mechanism for our immune system!

Our immune system is our number one defense system.  Diet, exercise, stress levels, beliefs, and emotions affect our level of defense each day.  When our immune system is weak, toxins accumulate in our body and interfere with our normal body functions.  Lethargy, foggy thinking, depression, headaches and anxiety, among other symptoms, set in.

When there is continuous flow of lymphatic fluid, there is continuous cleansing of the cells.  A common condition resulting from poor lymphatic flow is edema i.e. swelling of certain body areas, most often in the lower extremities. When there is edema, there are trapped blood proteins, which attract fluid around them and shut off nutrients and oxygen to the cells, which sets the stage for illness.  To return these blood proteins to circulation and reduce the edema, it is important to flush the lymphatic fluid throughout the body.

Regular exercise on a rebounder is the most efficient exercise for moving the lymph because of its increased pull of gravity.  And it strengthens every cell of the body equally, all at the same time, removes heavy metals and other toxins, triples white blood cells, improves circulation and digestion, increases bone density, enhances visual acuity, improves joint mobility/range of motion, reduces stress and enhances every bodily process!

With normal exercise i.e. walking, running, tennis, we oppose gravity with just one force.  With rebounding, we oppose gravity with triple force on the down bounce.  In a N.A.S.A. study comparing treadmill running to rebound running, rebound exercise is shown to be 68% more effective to the total body (Rebounding and Your Immune System by Linda Brooks).

All we need to do is gently bounce (slightly lifting our heels) with our feet on the mat, about a foot apart from each other.   It only takes 2 minutes of “health bouncing” to flush the entire lymphatic system. Ideally, we are to rebound for 2 minutes every hour of each day but I feel very sheepish telling you that – let’s be practical!  If we can rebound for 2 minutes twice a day, we are putting our bodies in good stead.  Rebounding, in this way, is more useful for the body than one long session.  Rebounding for any length of time over 5 minutes is unnecessary, unless we are rebounding for exercise.

When is the best time to rebound? First thing in the morning. The body repairs and cleanses at night, so the morning is a good time to dump the waste products that gathered during the night.

When we rebound, eat natural, alive, good quality food and there is positive communication to all the cells, the needs of our cells are met and healing can take place in our body, mind and spirit.

Testimonials: “Since I have been rebounding for three to four years, I have had no flu in that time, my allergies are gone, and if I feel like something is trying to get me, I just get on my rebounder often, and it goes away.  As an educator, I am often around people who are sick, and it doesn’t affect me, since rebounding boosts my immune system.” – Dave VanWhervin, Michigan.

“I am 82, with MS, and after I had been rebounding for just three months, my doctor told me that I was walking much better.” – Mrs. Sampson, Michigan

“I used the rebounder almost every morning for as long as I can remember.  After I quit smoking, one morning I kept on rebounding till I worked up a good sweat, and you would not believe the stench!  The whole house smelled awful from the detoxing of stored toxins from smoking.  I have rebounded on a regular basis ever since – about 25 years.” – Raymond, Ohio

“Before I started rebounding about 10 months ago, I was more than 35 pounds heavier.  Rebounding helped me drop the weight and clean out my system.  I am not sick, even when I am around sick people, and have a greater all-over feeling of well-being.” – Solomon Prior, Michigan

My girls and I set up our rebounder in the kitchen and have been rebounding each day for a couple of weeks now and we’ve all been noticing the difference.  Do any of you have testimonials for rebounding that you would like to share with the readers?  Don’t forget to leave a link back to your own blog as well via the commentluv feature here on my site.

Until next time,

Meredith

Sometimes we do obtain the solutions we need but we are simply not ready to implement them.  One mother hears that her underweight child needs to go off of gluten, questions the logic of this recommendation and struggles to imagine how she would implement such a drastic change to her way of eating.  Months go by, her daughter continues to be diagnosed with “failure to thrive” and then the mother sees another expert who tells her that her daughter needs to go off gluten entirely.  This time, the mother is stronger, her baby is older, she has started getting some sleep again and her other children are slightly less dependent on her and she feels ready to take this step.  Her baby gradually gains weight and begins to exude health.

One mother tries everything she has learned of to help her son’s eczema yet his skin will not heal.  Finally, she learns that her stress could be the biggest culprit for her son’s skin challenges.  Suppressed resentment, mental eruptions, frustration over external events and a feeling of powerlessness to do anything about them are all emotional causes behind eczema.  Her son was taking his frustration at not being cared for in the way he needed, out on himself.  As soon as his mother started taking care of herself, she was better able to give her son the love he needed and his eczema went away within weeks.

One time, I was in Mexico with my children.  We had gone horseback riding on the beach and seen a huge sea turtle lying in the sand.  Once we got off the horses, my youngest, Paige, wanted to go back to where we had seen the sea turtle, to get a closer look.  I knew it was quite a distance away but I wanted to see it again too, so off we went.  We walked a great distance with eager Paige quite a ways in front of me.  After some time, I realized that Paige had gone past the area where we had seen the turtle.  By now, she was really far way from me and out of earshot.  I continued to follow her, not wanting to lose track of her.  I was getting tired and hot, knowing that we needed to get back for dinner but I continued walking.  It seemed as though Paige would walk forever on her quest.  I knew I had to do something differently in order to make her stop.  I decided to stop walking and stand in such a way that when she looked back, she would hopefully be able to see that I had stopped following her.  Sure enough, within a minute of “surrendering”, Paige looked back, saw me standing still and began running back to me.  I was so relieved to have her back at my side and to be returning, together, to our resort – I can’t begin to tell you!  And I knew that if only I had surrendered sooner, I could have had her back in my arms so much earlier.

So it seems as though the answers come to us when we give ourselves a break from all the craziness and surrender to things not being the way we want them to be.  This is why so many are meditating.  We are so reluctant to wrench ourselves away from the battle but when we even take 5 minutes to just be, the solutions we are so desperate to obtain often come to us and our paths become clear.

What battles are you fighting?  What never-ending quest are you on?  It may seem as though you could never just ‘let it be’ and you shudder at the idea of just “giving up.”  You might be thinking. ‘If I did that, it would seem as though I don’t care’ or ‘People would surely think I am a failure if I just gave up’.

I encourage you to try it.  The answers do come when we stop to listen.  And they are usually far simpler than we could ever imagine.  Sometimes we make life more difficult than need be.  I know because I have been there.

I don’t hear from many of you when I write these blog posts.  This is such an important concept and it would mean so much to all of the readers and literally change lives, if you would take a few minutes to share your story of surrendering with all of us.  Feel free to leave a link back to your own blog via the commentluv feature here on the site.

I thank you in advance for your contribution to helping those exhausted, wonderful parents out there to understand that there is hope for their children.

Until next time,

Meredith

Doctors use the scratch test to measure IgE responses, which are allergic responses to foods.  But a child can be allergic to foods that do not show up as results on scratch tests.  This happens when a child’s response to a food occurs in the intestine or the brain, for example, rather than the skin. And if a child has food sensitivities, IgG responses, the scratch test will not measure those sensitivities.  Parents need to know about their child’s food allergies and sensitivities.

Most agree that no form of testing is 100% accurate but that the most accurate method for determining all culprits is to keep a food and symptom journal.  This involves recording the foods your child is eating and watching over the next 3 days for any reaction and recording that reaction, even if you are not entirely certain of the link between the food and the symptom; over time, the patterns will become obvious.  The main culprits to watch for are dairy, wheat, yeast, sugar, soy, corn, shellfish, nuts, and citrus but any food can be problematic for an individual.

Some want a test performed to narrow down their options and simplify their search.  Naturopaths and nutritionists offer a number of options to choose from.  Blood tests are touted to be the most accurate but the ELISA blood tests are very costly, needles are involved, it takes a couple of weeks for the results to come in and even blood tests are not 100% accurate.

The Interro biofeedback system is a computer test that monitors skin resistance; a skin measurement reading provides useful indications of stress or what is known as a “Stress Management Reading.”  Foods are measured against a client’s skin (accupuncture points) to determine which foods are providing stress in their body. The test is non-invasive and the results are immediate.  The test does tend to overdiagnose food sensitivities but it is less costly than a blood test and can at least provide a starting point for parents.

Muscle testing is another method for detecting food sensitivities.  There are a number of ways of performing muscle testing; a particular food is placed on the client’s stomach and then the amount of resistance or acceptance of the food is measured by the ease with which the client’s arm or fingers move.  Some have particular expertise in this area and others have very little.  Going to someone that is highly recommended is vital when it comes to muscle testing.

I stayed away from all the common allergens when I was breastfeeding my youngest yet she still had two nights of crying and gas pains following her feeds.  I had the Interro testing done and learned that Paige was sensitive to figs (I had eaten a whole container of wheat-free fig newtons in one sitting one night) and vinegar (I had put oil and vinegar on my salad, knowing that most salad dressings had sugar, chemicals or other common allergens).  Once I refrained from eating figs and vinegar, Paige did just fine for the duration of the time in which I breastfed her.  There is no question that learning how to detect food sensitivities can be a huge help to the health and happiness of families.

Many doctors are concerned that by identifying a list of problematic foods for a patient, the patient will avoid those foods and miss out on a range of vitamins and minerals that can be obtained from those problematic foods.  In fact, nutritionists are well versed in the healthier alternatives to foods and we believe that it is more important to remove problematic foods from the diet, while simultaneously healing the digestive system, so that all vitamins and minerals can be better absorbed by the body.

One of the most important steps you can take to improve your health and that of your family is to identify the foods that cause adverse reactions in your body (ies).  To learn more, please feel free to contact me!

I’d love your feedback! Do you have a story to share? Please don’t forget to leave a link back to your own blog when you leave your comment via the commentluv feature here on the site.

Until next time,

Meredith

1. Each whole food contains a different set of nutrients that our body needs.
2. Eating a variety of foods prevents the onset of food sensitivities and allergies and therefore paves the way for better absorption of each of the foods we consume.

Let me explain my second point.  Each type of food calls upon a particular set of digestive enzymes to digest it.  If those digestive enzymes are continually called upon and your digestive system is not strong (as is often the case these days), the particular digestive enzymes needed to digest your favourite food will wear out.  It is no coincidence that the top allergens in North America are dairy and wheat – the two foods that we consume the most.  Each time we eat wheat, in our breakfast (toast), lunch (sandwich) and dinner (pasta), we use the same digestive enzyme to break down the wheat.  If we start to experience bloating or fatigue or maybe even acquire celiac disease, these are all signs that our digestive enzymes for wheat are not working properly.  This is why digestive enzymes are being taken in supplement form, more and more often these days.

So, when you are preparing a meal for yourself or your family, you want to see a range of foods and a range of colours on the plate you prepare.  Let me give you some examples of certain coloured foods and the aspects of health to which they contribute:

Orange fruits and vegetables are great for improving eyesight – Examples include mangoes, oranges, peaches, butternut squash, carrots and sweet potatoes.

Green fruits and vegetables are important for strong bones and teeth – Examples include broccoli, green beans, kiwi, honeydew melon, cabbage, and zucchini.

Purple fruits and vegetables are good for memory function – Examples include blackberries, blueberries, eggplant, grapes, and purple endive.

Yellow and white fruits and vegetables make healthy skin – Examples include yellow apples, white potatoes, onions, corn, peaches, bananas and yellow bell peppers.

A serving size is the size and thickness of the palm of your hand (without the fingers).  So, one good-sized apple is actually closer to two serving sizes for a child.  We need 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables a day to receive the nutrients our bodies need.  I encourage you to keep all this in mind when you prepare your next meal.  And know, too, that different herbal teas, the spices that you use in your cooking, and even pure essential oils all contribute different nutrients to your family’s well-being!  When you plan meals out, keeping this in mind, eating can be simple, fun and nutrition packed.

For those of you that like using a sticker system with your child, have your son or daughter make a chart and then write in the vegetable or fruit that they have eaten that day and its colour and serving size.  If at the end of the day, they have eaten a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, you can reward your child with a sticker.  At the end of a week of 5 servings a day, you can reward them with a bigger sticker or reward.

The way our children are taught to eat usually stays with them for a lifetime.  They may digress but when they start to experience symptoms, conditions or disease and they are reminded of the power of food, we often see our children return to their original teachings.  Don’t underestimate your ability to show your child the way.  And please don’t underestimate how simple it can be!

I’d love your feedback! Here on this site, you’ll get commentluv. This is a wonderful opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog as well!

Until next time,

Meredith

Did you know that Cacao contains over 300 compounds including: protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals?

Some of the benefits include:

• Cacao is the highest dietary source of the mineral magnesium, which helps to: decrease blood pressure, support a healthy heart, relax muscles and strengthen bones.
• Cacao beans are rich in other essential minerals, including sulfur, calcium, iron, zinc, chromium, copper, potassium and manganese.
• Cacao has Vitamin C and all of the B vitamins.
• Cacao contains oleic acid, a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, also found in olive oil, that may reduce blood pressure.
• Cacao is one of the richest natural sources of antioxidants (twice as much as red wine, and three times the amount in green tea). Cacao’s antioxidants help to increase cardiovascular health by improving blood vessel dilation and lowering the bad cholesterol.
• Cacao has feel-good effects due to high levels of phenyl ethylamine (PEA) and anandamide: the result is a natural feeling of well being, decreased depression with an increase in energy and alertness (without the undesirable side-effects of caffeine).
• One to two percent of cacao is Theobromine (an anti-bacterial), which helps to stimulate the central nervous system and dilate blood vessels.

There were rave reviews for the cacao recipe below.  I thought I would include it for your enjoyment:

Ann’s Choco-Orange Balls

The dates in this recipe are a great way to get a healthy, sweet taste. These are simple to make and can be easily stored in the fridge or freezer for great protein poppers when needed.

3 cups pitted dates
1 cup orange juice
½ tsp vanilla
2 cups whole cashews or pieces
1 cup commercially-roasted hemp seeds
¾ cup cocoa
½ cup Salba whole seeds

Soak dates, juice and vanilla in a bowl for an hour. In meantime, blend cashews in a food processor until ground and place in a separate bowl. Pulse mix the date mixture in food processor until still a little chunky and not completely smooth. Add date mixture to cashews and add in all other ingredients. Chill mixture in fridge for an hour. Make into quarter size balls and keep in a sealed container in the fridge. Makes about 30 balls.

I just added Mum’s cacao nibs to Mum’s oatmeal for a great start to my family’s day today!  Good nutrition really can taste delicious!  Ann’s book Better Being, contains numerous other nutrient rich and delicious recipes, along with many ideas as to how to make health-conscious and smart decisions about food, exercise and lifestyle in general.

“There is but one temple in the universe and that is the body of man.” Novalis, German poet and philosopher (1772-1801), Better Being – Ann Barnes.

I would love your feedback on this recipe! Don’t forget to leave a link back to your own blog via the commentluv feature here on my site.

Until next time,

Meredith

I attended my first LIPS (Ladies in Philanthropy for Southlake) event at Nature’s Emporium Health Store the week before last.  I had no idea of what to expect but low and behold, the keynote speaker explained nutrition in the clearest manner I had ever experienced in all the years I have been attending nutrition seminars and classes.

Ann Barnes surrendered her legal career to start a company that is improving the health of this world at a rapid pace. It is called Mum’s Original™. Each of the women in the large audience were given a copy of Ann’s book called Better Being and a box containing samples of 8 of the different Mum’s Original™ products plus two different cookies made of two different sets of ingredients from Ann’s products.  Ann proceeded to explain the health benefits of eating hemp, chia, gogi berries, oats, cacao, coconut sugar, banana powder and quinoa while we, the audience had the opportunity to try each food.  What a delightful way to learn!  Ann’s generosity was truly unheard of but so fully appreciated by the ladies in attendance.

So, a little about Mum’s Original™….  They make some of the healthiest and best-tasting foods available to mankind.  Their “back to basics” approach to sensible food, conscientious farming and wholesome goodness embraces many of the simple principles our grandparents understood. Natural and organic ingredients are farmed the old fashioned way, combined and then sold in eco-friendly packaging.  There are no man-made toxins in the farming or production and all products are non-GMO and grown without herbicides or pesticides.

The company is conscious of the importance of the entire cycle of food: seed programs help to ensure that the best seeds are cultivated and grown; the soil quality and sustainability is always ensured; pristine growing practices exist; attention is paid to how food is processed to ensure the natural benefits are properly maintained; and quality control standards and practices are maintained from seed to shelf.

Mum’s Original™ Hemp Hearts are a delicious way to get your daily dose of whole protein, anti-oxidants, soluble fiber, minerals and essential fatty acids.  One tablespoon provides 5g of easily digestible vegetable protein and over 1.2g of Omega 3. It is also rich in chlorophyll, vitamin E, enzymes and GLA.

Mum’s Original™ Organic Chia is an excellent source of Omega 3′s, whole protein, anti-oxidants, and insoluble fiber with plenty of vitamins and minerals.

One of the most nutritionally rich foods, Goji Berries have immune boosting benefits and contain many carotenoids, numerous vitamins, over 30 essential and trace elements, antioxidants and 19 amino acids.

Mum’s Original™ oats contain less than 5ppm gluten.  Full of whole protein, dietary fiber and minerals, oats are the ideal food with which to start the day.  They offer Quick Flake Oats, Steel Cut Oats and Oat Flour.

Their Coconut Sugar is a sweet nutrient powerhouse and loaded with fiber and their Coconut Oil is rich in taste and boasts numerous health benefits.

They even have a really rare food – Vine Ripened Banana Powder.  Their bananas are grown and ripened in the full sun, then dehydrated at a low temperature.

Mum’s Original™ Heirloom Quinoa is packed with protein, good fats, nutrients and fiber.  Their quinoa requires no pre-washing or soaking.

Mum’s Original™ only uses the most nutrient dense variety of cacao (Organic Criollo Arriba Nacional Fino De Aroma). Cacao contains over 300 compounds including: protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals. For a super boost of energy and nutritional benefits, they offer Cacao Powder, Cacao Nibs, Coconut Cacao Nibs and Cacao Beans.

We didn’t sample it but the company also carries Mum’s Original™ Inner Mountain Rock Salt, which is obtained from dead lake beds that are millions of years old.  Their Inner Mountain Rock Salt offers a whopping 84 essential minerals.

In my next blog post, I will share more details about the Mum’s Original cacao productsand a wonderful recipe for Choco-Orange Balls. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I would love your feedback. Have you tried any of the Mum’s Original™ products? If so, please let me know what you think.  Here on this blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is a wonderful opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog too!

Until next time,

Meredith

Speaking from personal experience, this is one of the most distressing obstacles with which a parent has to overcome.  You know how important a baby’s milk is in the first year and so when breastfeeding is not working or you think your baby is not okay with infant formula, the challenge can seem insurmountable.

First of all, I should explain that babies never react to breast milk itself but they can react to the foods that mom is eating and are therefore going into her breast milk.  There will be people who tell you this is untrue but I am here to tell you that this is absolutely true.  I have seen this with my daughters and also, had dozens of clients over the years whose babies have reacted to the foods in the breast milk they are consuming.  When a mother feels her milk is causing pain or suffering in her child, she often decides that she had better stop breastfeeding.  More times than not, reactions to infant formula end up being even greater than the reactions to the foods in the breast milk!

So what are some of the adverse reactions baby experience when being breastfed or bottle fed?

• Rashes/eczema
• Colic/excessive gas
• Reflux/projectile vomiting
• Fussiness
• Troubles sleeping
• Constipation/diarrhea
• Ear/respiratory infections

If these symptoms are not addressed, they will grow into more symptoms and symptoms will grow into conditions and conditions will grow into more conditions and eventually disease sets in.  If your child has any of these symptoms, please know that help is here for you!

The number one food that is being consumed by mothers that is causing adverse reactions in babies is dairy.  If your child is experiencing any of these symptoms, try eliminating dairy from the mother’s diet.  You will know within 4-5 days whether this is a culprit or not.  It may be a culprit and there may be other culprits as well – I suggest looking into the common allergens and try eliminating them next.

Now, say your child is experiencing these adverse reactions from being on formula.  You can first try switching their formula to GentleEase+ (contains soy and corn which are common allergens), Alimentum (contains soy) or Nutrimagen (contains no soy but contains corn).  These formulas are hydrolyzed, which means the cow’s milk is broken down into its more easily digested components and therefore easier to digest.  If these formulas also do not agree with your child, then you can add one or all of the following ingredients to increase digestibility:

1. Breast milk – provided it does not contain the food to which your child reacts, just one ounce of breast milk increases the digestion of formula
2. Acidophilus (the most common probiotic) – up to 1 teaspoon added to a bottle improves the health of your child’s intestinal and digestive systems
3. Flax oil – up to 1 tsp of flax oil in each bottle provides essential fatty acids and increased digestion

Some parents contact me and tell me that they have changed their child’s formula and added these supplements into their bottles and their child is still suffering.  The next step is to book an appointment with a chiropractor, cranial sacral therapist or cranial osteopath to relax your child’s nervous system.  Usually, within one to two appointments with these specialists, you will see improvement in how your child handles their formula. If, however, this is still not the case, you have two choices.  If your child’s symptoms are not horrific, then you may decide to just keep things the way they are until your child turns one, at which time, they can safely come off formula.  Or you can make your own homemade baby formula.  There are all sorts of recipes being provided by naturopaths for this very purpose.  Here are two recipes that are being widely used at this time:

Rice Milk Infant Formula

Combine the below ingredients together and mix well, I prefer using the Magic Bullet for this job. Store in a glass container in the fridge for up to 48 hours, than discard. Try making a 1/4 of the batch first to see if your baby enjoys this option.

4 cups Rice milk (Earth’s Own Ryza brand Original flavor is my first choice)
1 tbsp Blackstrap molasses (iron)
1 tbsp Flax oil (essential fatty acid)
1tbsp Brown rice protein powder (heartlands organic is a good one)
1 tbsp liquid infant multi-vitamin
1 drop of D-drops 400 iu
1/4 tsp Infant probiotics (dairy free)

Genestra is the brand most often recommended for all above supplements but please consult with a Registered Holistic Nutritionist before introducing this or any other formula to your child.

Almond and Hemp Infant Formula

4 cups Almond milk
1 tbsp Blackstrap molasses
1 tbsp Hemp protein powder
1 tsp liquid vitamin C
1 tsp Genestra Pediatravite multi vitamin
2 mL’s Nordic Natural Baby’s DHA 100% Cod Livers
1/2 Capsule of Infant Probiotics (dairy free)

I do caution parents to do everything they can to mitigate their children’s adverse reactions to breast milk and/or formula before introducing solids.  And when you do introduce solids, ensure that you introduce the solids starting with the most easily digested foods first.  I have a DVD available for anyone interested in knowing how to introduce solids to maximize digestibility and avoid adverse reactions to food – it is called First Foods for Baby.

Your first days and months with your new baby can be the experience you always dreamed of when you look into proper nutrition.  Please feel free to send me your comments or questions on this topic.  I think you know by now how passionate I am on the subject of feeding children for their health and happiness!

Until next time,

Meredith

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With proper diet, nutrition, and memory use, your brain can remain sharp and active well into your nineties.  Many of you have been reading my blog for over a year now and have learned about the impact of nutrition on the body but may have wondered how much food impacts memory, speed and capacity of learning, attention, mood and behaviour.  You may be surprised to learn that keeping your body healthy is actually the best way to feed your brain and keep it healthy.

Dr. Mark Hyman, MD is the author of “The UltraMind Solution,” a book I highly recommend and from which I will draw information and share with you.  He states that a 53-year old man with lifelong bipolar disease and depression experienced relief for the first time in thirty years after tuning up his brain function with folate and vitamins B12 and B6.  He explains that a 3-year old boy with violent behaviour calmed down after balancing his blood sugar and clearing out toxic bacteria from his intestine. A 23-year old woman’s anxiety and depression lifted after she stopped eating the foods to which she was allergic. A 70-year old man, who was losing his memory and had been diagnosed with early dementia, removed the mercury from his body, and was able to work and function normally again.

Miracles happen every day in the world of natural health.

Dr. Hyman is not the only doctor to state that “mental or brain disorders” are simply the names of common responses that our bodies have to a variety of insults and deficiencies. He describes seven keys to keeping your brain in balance.  The keys are:

1. Optimize nutrition
2. Balance your hormones
3. Cool off inflammation
4. Improve your digestion
5. Enhance detoxification
6. Boost energy metabolism
7. Calm your mind

When it comes to optimizing nutrition, Mark states, “Food is the fastest-acting and most powerful medicine you can take to change your life.”

Foods that damage your brain include:

• Any form of sugar or refined carbohydrates (Get off the sugar and save your brain!)
• Dairy and wheat (Avoid for one month (minimum) to see if health of brain improves)
• Trans or hydrogenated fats (found in baked goods, processed foods, margarine, these fats damage your brain cells
• Caffeine (increases anxiety and depression)
• Alcohol (four glasses a day can double your risk of dementia and depletes the body of the mood-boosting B vitamins.  As soon as you start getting drunk, you are damaging your brain.)

Foods that feed your brain include:

• Good fats e.g., Fish or seal oil, nuts and seeds (particularly ground flax), avocados, coconut oil etc.
• Amino acids that come from healthy sources of protein e.g., organic turkey, chicken or fish, nuts and seeds, legumes, eggs, quinoa, spirulina, chlorella, hemp etc.
• Healthy sources of carbohydrates e.g., organic fruit (particularly blueberries), vegetables (particularly spinach) and low gluten or no gluten grains such as spelt, kamut, brown rice, millet etc.

 Vitamins, minerals and supplements that feed your brain include:

• Folate – Prevents and helps depression, insomnia, forgetfulness and mood disorders
• B Complex – Needed for improved memory, circulation to the brain and brain function
• Vitamin D – Prevents and helps depression and dementia
• Magnesium – The relaxation mineral which prevents and helps anxiety, insomnia, ADD and Autism
• Zinc – Binds to toxic substances in the brain and removes them
• Selenium – Critical for a happy and healthy brain
• Fish or seal oil – Low levels in the body have been associated with impaired brain function
• Acetylcholine – Most important of the neurotransmitters.  Maximizes mental ability and prevents memory loss in adults

Dr. Hyman recommends healing “a broken brain” by eating and supplementing in this way for 6 weeks and watching the dramatic improvements in memory, mood and thinking speed.  Nutritional medicine is our future.  Why not set the wheels in motion and begin paying more attention to what you put in your body now?

I’d love your comments. Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is an ideal way to leave a link back to your own blog!

Until next time,

Meredith

One might ask: What did the grade 3 student learn by being bullied so often? Maybe, it was that it was time that she minded her own business and not care so much when others were breaking the rules. What did the grade 7 student learn when he was the only student in the class to be excluded from the Halloween house party? He didn’t really want to be friends with the kids outside of school anyways, which is why he had chosen to go to the library to read each lunch hour, instead of hanging out with the others.  What did the boy learn when his parents split up this past year? That sometimes two people don’t grow at the same pace, so reach a point where they each can find greater happiness apart. What did the granddaughter learn when her grandma’s best friend would not attend her grandma’s funeral?  There was nothing wrong; it was only that the best friend could not handle the overwhelming sadness of witnessing her best friend’s funeral but was unable to admit it.

In each of these cases, it is finding and facing the truth that is key, for often the truth is not vocalized.  And it is the truth that is so beautiful. They say ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder.’ But often the eye must be trained to see the beauty or to see beyond. Each of us is inherently good at our core and every apparent problem can teach the involved parties a lesson. Our task is to feel the sadness, anger or disappointment at particular circumstances or people and then climb out of the darkness into the light. If you think about it, many of us do this time and time again. The trick is to be okay with being in the darkness and in the light and being grateful for both. For without one, we cannot appreciate the other.

So, how important is this gift of teaching our children to see the beauty?

A few weeks ago, some girlfriends came from the city to stay at my place for a night. We started talking about the fact that grade 4 seems to be the year that children’s emotions really come into play. It is in grade 4 when more fights using words break out and children’s hurt feelings can take a little longer to mend. My friend told me that when she was a child, she had a teacher that distributed circles made of white cardboard to her grade 4 students each morning. One side of the circle was a happy face and the other was a sad face. Each morning, the children were instructed to turn their card to show the face that most accurately depicted how they were feeling. If the child turned the sad face up and laid it on their desk, the others knew to tread lightly with that child and be extra kind that day. We all have good and bad days. What this teacher taught her students is that it is okay to have good and bad days and to respect and honour what we are each going through, at any particular time. What a valuable lesson to learn.

We know we cannot change the world for our children. We know we cannot keep them from the world. But if we teach them to see beyond, they learn to keep custody over their thoughts and the world remains their oyster.

How do we bestow this important gift to our children? We talk to them. We find the good in the bad and explain it to them. We go on a walk with our child and suggest they look for beauty. We discuss a scenario and ask them to find the lesson. We give them examples. It might go like this. “Why do you think Gregory was mean to you on the last day of school before the Christmas holidays?” Your child might answer by saying “I don’t know.” You might say “Did anything happen to get him worked up?”  And your child might say “No, he just snapped.” And your response might be any of the following “Well, you know how you told me that you were exhausted from school and that you were really looking forward to the break?  Gregory might have been feeling the same way. Or maybe Gregory’s body doesn’t do well with all the treats you were eating at your school party that day.” The key is to put a few scenarios into your child’s head, so that he or she looks at Gregory with compassion as opposed to disdain.

The more often that you do this in your own life, the better equipped you will be to offer this assistance in the life of your child. And the more often you train your eye to view people and situations this way, the more often you will see beyond. It takes effort to do this. “Why must I always be the bigger person?” some of you might ask. Because when you see each person and circumstance as beautiful, you experience a beautiful moment. And one beautiful moment leads to another. And before you know it, you are living a beautiful life.

And I don’t know if you have noticed, but our eyes take on a look that conforms to our outlook. Others will see the same look in your eyes that is in their eyes and recognize that you, too, are seeing the beauty. It is in this way that you become surrounded by others who see the world with different eyes.  And when you are surrounded by others with trained eyes and you are all seeing beyond and helping one another to do the same, eventually you will find that you are expending very little effort at all and living a beautiful and infinitely rewarding life.

The best thing in life is life. The child who finds fulfillment in music, reading, cooking, performing a sport, writing, drawing or some other craft does not need recognition or power or some “high” to feel worthwhile and good. The child who sees the beauty in life, well, that child has been given the greatest gift of all.

How do you see beauty in the world?  I would love your feedback. Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is a wonderful opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog when you leave a comment.

Happy New Year!

Meredith