So, what are you eating?

Everything you ever wanted to know about the things you eat (and probably a few things you didn't want to know, too). Learn how foods affect your health and the simple changes you can make to maintain a healthier diet.

NutritionData.com has everything you need to help you watch what you eat - nutrition facts for over 1000 foods and meals (including information on protein quality, nutrient balance, glycemic load, and fullness factor), sensible diet advice, tips on supplements, healthy alternatives and an e-pantry where you can store, analyze and create recipes or meal plans and track your daily consumption.

Start by completing the Daily Needs Calculator to determine your Body Mass Index and recommended minimum consumption of calories, vitamins, minerals, carbs and proteins. Then find the foods that best suite your needs by searching for items sorted by their nutritional characteristics (like the ones highest in fat, lowest in carbs, or the best choices for weight loss). To get a little more in-depth knowledge, check out the Topics section, where you'll find info on fatty acids, dieting and weight loss, food additives and plenty of delicious, wholesome recipes.

Next, stop by the Pantry and save your favorite foods to study their nutritional value and compare them to some NutritionData.com-recommended alternatives. You can also check out a pre-loaded pantry, stocked with items great for special dietary needs such as low-carb, heart healthy, and super nutritious.

So, what are you eating? Visit Nutrition Data.com

Free Children's Nutrition Website - Games, learning

Nourishinteractive.com is devoted to helping our children become nutritionally aware. Our kids are bombarded everyday with ads promoting empty calories and high sugar foods. We want to empower children to make healthier choices. Nourish Interactive is a website that provides parents and children with a variety of tools to learn the key elements of nutrition. We designed the website so that every tool and article has a parents' version and a child's version. This way parents and children can work together to make nutrition a key part of their everyday lives.

Nutrition is extremely important for our children's development and long-term health. Unfortunately, there are many indications that kids are not eating the nutritionally balanced meals their bodies need. We need to start teaching children about the importance of nutrition at a young age before they have formed their habits. We can't rely on the schools because they are too busy with reading, writing and math. We know the internet is a growing part of everyone's lives, so why not take advantage of some of that time and have children learning about nutrition.

Nourish Interactive.com offers two key areas:

1. Free features:

• A valuable resource for children's nutrition
  
• Free interactive Tools that parents can use to assess their child's current nutritional status and take steps to improve it
  
• Free games for children to play that help promote positive messages about nutrition and drive healthier choices
  
• New topics monthly for both parents and kids

2. Free Sign Up for the Online Nutrition Game:

• In order to access the complete game, you will need to create a free account. This account is required so that we can track the child's test scores and send parent/teachers progress reports.
  
• The online game, "Chef Solus and the Food Pyramid Adventure" game is available both in English and Spanish
  
• Progress reports are available for each level of the game that the child has completed. These progress reports provide an easy way for parents to review the key concepts their child has just learned.
  
• Progress reports are available in English and Spanish.
  
• A colorful certificate is provided for each level completed that can be to printed and posted. It is customized with the child's name.
  
• We also provide activity suggestions that are simple and fun for the whole family.

With Nourish Interactive and the main character, Chef Solus, children will get the idea that nutrition is fun.

Join Chef Solus and Nourish Interactive on a fun nutritional adventure as we work together to build a new generation of nutritionally-minded children.

Visit Nourish Interactive

Messages we send to children

In my house watching TV is a privilege that must be earned with good behavior and completion of all school work and chores. The reward is 1 hr of “screen” time. Our child can choose between computer, TV, game system, or supervised Internet play. Very rarely is TV chosen and as parents, we are elated that this is “given up.”

Pre-teen programming has many issues that send our child into rages. Violence, disrespect for adults, picking on other children, and the list continues. This is just speaking of the programming and not the commercials. The commercials promote a “want” atmosphere with a sedentary life of playing games via “screens”, eating and drinking unhealthy products filled with high fructose corn syrup, dyes, and other substances that a growing mind and body can do without.

Britain is taking a step in the right direction by discontinuing all commercial that promote Junk foods with high fat, sugar and salt. Below are a two UK links on this topic:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=JZGLP4G0WRRVJQFIQMFSFFWAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2006/05/18/nbeans118.xml

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1951310,00.html

What lead up to this ban? Who is responsible? We need to bring those people into the US and strive for the same outcome. We would still have to deal with many other issues surrounding poor children’s programming and commercials, but promoting healthy eating for this young generation may enable these young people to live a longer and healthier life.

Many schools are stepping in the right direction by banning junk on campus. Again, Britain is taking the lead and banning all junk foods in all schools across the country.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4287712.stm

Students are still able to bring junk food to school with them. In reality, this problem needs to be more closely monitored by concerned parents who are striving to raise emotionally and physically healthy children.

Deflated

I was elated
Now I’m deflated

Deceived by a tag
Sewn into a rag

One pair fit
The rest would not pass my hip

All that weight I lost
Surly, I paid the cost

I will have to loose more
To wear those pants I adore

Omega-3’s are they really important to your diet?

Having enough Omega-3’s in your diet, can make a difference to your mental and physical health and help you loose weight!

The hormones controlled by diet are far more powerful than any drug you’ll ever take. Maintaining hormonal equilibrium within a therapeutic range is essential for controlling inflammation and maximizing cellular rejuvenation by turning “on” and “off’ the flow of genetic information. This is the biochemical key for establishing a life-long strategy for weight control and risk-management of chronic disease.

Decreasing Inflammation
Excess weight gain is caused by inflammation within the fat cell. Left uncontrolled, this inflammation makes it increasingly difficult to stop the accumulation of body fat and reduce excess weight. When fat “goes bad” (becomes inflamed) powerful inflammatory hormones called eicosanoids trigger systemic inflammation throughout the body increasing numerous health risks related to heart, brain and immune function, just like a viral infection. This type of systemic inflammation “Silent Inflammation” because you cannot see it or feel it. Despite our inability to sense its presence, Silent Inflammation significantly increases the risk of chronic health disorders like problems with the heart and blood sugar levels. This explains why cutting calories and increasing exercise alone are not enough. First and foremost, you must control inflammation within the fat cells.

While there isn’t a single drug that can decrease inflammation within the fat cells, the foods you eat can! The reason fat cells become inflamed in the first place is caused by the accumulation of arachadonic acid (AA) as a result of diet especially one rich in refined carbohydrates that stimulate insulin production. Uncontrolled inflammation in the fat cells causes insulin resistance thus making you fatter while increasing inflammation levels throughout the body. Left unchecked, systemic inflammation compromises heart, brain, and immune function plus accelerates pre-mature aging.

Controlling Insulin
By eating the right combination of foods to reduce insulin coupled with adequate levels of Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) that the body cannot make and are seldom found in the average diet, you can better control insulin levels and in turn reduce Silent Inflammation both within fat cells and systemically. EPA decreases the levels of AA that generate the chronic pro-inflammatory responses while DHA stimulates certain genes useful in burning stored body fat at a faster rate. By controlling Silent Inflammation within the fat cells and throughout the body, you can achieve successful weight loss and simultaneously optimize heart, brain and immune function.

The orchestration of the above is essential for weight loss, and the foods you eat are critical to your success for controlling the ideal hormonal balance necessary to decrease inflammation and stabilize insulin. Inflammatory eicosanoids and elevated insulin levels increase as you age and must be normalized to help control this delicate hormonal balance. Every meal and snack determines this balance, good or bad, for the next 4-6 hours each and every day.

Want to learn More?
You can learn even more about Omega-3’s and their importance to your health in the previously published article: “Are you Omega-3 deficient?”http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976879333

Are you Omega-3 deficient?

The LCP Solution by B. Jacqueline Story, Ph.D. and Malcolm J. Nicholl

This is one book where I have truly learned how nutritionally deficient in a particular nutrient a person can become. Before reading this book, I had not even thought of whether my children were consuming enough Omega-3’s in their daily diet.

The LCP Solution gives an excellent history of how as humans we have deviated from the normal staple of food our species once had consumed. Past humans depended on the intake of fish, but today with fast food and so many other options, fish is not normally put on the dinner table daily. In my house, we are lucky if we have fish every other week.

Further chapters delve into the details of exactly why Omega-3 is necessary for our bodies and more specifically our mind. Deficiencies can not only produce skin disorders but also mind disorders, which are manageable through the supplementation of Omega-3’s back into our daily diet.

Real-life stores are included as well as relevant studies and research. The medical and homeopathic communities are beginning to fully embrace the topic. In fact, my son’s ADHD Pediatrician, as well as his regular Pediatrician both recommend Omega-3 supplementation.

Omega-3 supplementation has become a nutritional priority in my house because of The LCP Solution. And I am very happy to report that my 11 year old’s eczema has completely resolved, his language arts and reading skills have increased, and his ADHD has become manageable. I am not professing that you will have such miraculous results, but this book is definitely worth a read.

Visit Dr. Stordy’s website which includes new research, resources, book reviews, stories, and you can subscribe to her newsletter. http://www.drstordy.com/