Are you ever confused about nutrition?
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Are you ever confused about nutrition?
I am and it seems the more I read and research the more confused I get.
I try to be very conscious of what we eat but it’s so hard sometimes to know just what is good and what is not.
I recently went to see a naturopath as I have had some health issues over the past 6 months and I felt that I would not get the kind of nutritional/diet information I was looking for from my doctor.
After reviewing my diet she said that I was toxic and that I ate way too much diary and carbs and did not eat enough protein. She put me on a protein powder for my morning meal which initially I was opposed to but agreed to try it for a week. I didn’t really want to drink a meal; I felt it was not good modeling for my children and not a long term solution. Upon further discussion she suggested that I could give my children a small amount of the drink as they would benefit from it as well and if I felt that it was important to eat with them that I should just have less protein powder and have a piece of toast with the kids in the morning.
She also wanted me to stop all coffee (I only drink one cup in the morning with a little sugar and 5% cream). When I asked about decaf she said she would rather I didn’t but not to rush things as Rome was not built in a day. She also wants me to stop dairy. This is a tough one I know.
Funny thing happened, I actually like the protein powder and so do my kids and I mix it with Rice Milk, Strawberries, Bananas, Fish oil, a liquid multi-vitamin and Acidophilus. And I have lost my craving for coffee! Although I still have one cup as I don’t want to get a headache, so I’ll probably start to wean myself off. I also increased my water intake and my excema (sp?) disappeared in one week after starting.
So my naturopathic doctor is trying to help us eat a simple more natural diet.
My neighbor who is registered dietitian doesn’t think our diet is all that bad, neither does our other neighbor who is a nurse practioner. We were discussing whether or not peanut butter was a healthy food choice. While I don’t believe that commercial peanut butter is a good food choice as it contains a lot of preservatives and some have added fat and icing sugar added she felt that there was nothing wrong with that. Even natural peanut butter is a source of protein it is also very high in fat.
And I won’t even touch the milk issue; just for the record my kids drink milk. 
Then there is the juice and snack issue. I struggle with this. Many of my friends don’t give their kids juice, it’s milk or water. I give my kids about 2 oz of juice and then fill the rest of the glass with water so they really don’t drink a lot. Some of friends don’t do snacks with their kids either but we do.
I have a hard time coming up with healthy snack ideas. I really don’t want to load my kids up on carbs or sweets. Today my oldest had for a snack some marbled cheese, milk, 2 whole wheat crackers, and quarter of an apple. Good choice or not? You decide.
Like I said I’m worried about loading them up on carbs, breakfast is a tough meal for me. Today they had yogurt, I mix plain Balkan yogurt with Vanilla yogurt (I find the flavored yogurts have way too much sugar), strawberries, bananas and pineapple and they both had 1 piece of raisin bread with just a dribble of honey. They had whole milk and a little bit of my protein powder. Usually I would have given them Cheerios, Life or old fashioned Oatmeal for breakfast but I’m trying to incorporate more food groups in each meal.
For lunch we had Italian Wedding Soup and Chicken Sandwiches on whole wheat. Tonight we are having baked chicken with rice and veggies.
I want to use my crock-pot but everything just seems to be to saucy so I was thinking that maybe I should buy an indoor grill and use that instead. So as you can see I’m confused.
Anyway this food thing is something I obsess about, am I the only one?!
You could always throw a roast in the crock pot with some beef broth. Just a thought. There are lots of crock pot/slow cooker recipes on the internet.
And I think that kids actually need carbs for growth. Nut everything else you are doing sounds good.
The only thing I would be wary of would be not allowing any sweets whatsoever in their diet. Then all that they will have to do is go to a friend's house and eat candy and cookies and twinkies and it will be like they have discovered a new world of food. The more you forbid it, the more appealing it may become.
Oh I agree that we need carbs in our diet, I just think that we eat too many. I've bought a few kids cook books that are supposed have healthy recipes but a lot of what is in the recipes either has cheese (which can be high in fat and salt) and carbs. We try to eat whole wheat, but for example we had soup with whole wheat crackers, bread with our sandwiches, crackers for the snack and cornflakes on our chicken, plus rice. This morning we went to a friends and we had cookies, pretezels and little fish crackers. So while this may not be excessive it's easy to eat a lot of carbs without even putting much thought into it. I'm just trying to make sure we don't eat too much.
My kids get sweets at home, but when you really start to look at ingredients you realize that almost everything has sugar in it. I thought yogurt was a good wholesome food but it's loaded with sugar, so while I didn't cut it out completely I'm just know more conscious of how much my kids eat.
Chocolate milk is a good example, where I live we have a low fat option but it has a lot of sugar. The nurse I know suggested as an alternative to juice but I just find it way too sweet so I use our regular milk and I just add a small amount of chocolate syrup.
Well this is my opinion, and I don't know how much it is worth(LOL)... I think any diet, or should I say, way of eating, that cuts out a food group is not healthy. Everyone needs dairy. We eat low fat dairy. My dks(who are 7 and 9) drink 1% milk, eat low fat cheese, etc.
Yes, we do need carbs, but I agree that most people eat way to many. The rule of thumb that I try to follow is to eat a balanced meal....carb(mainly, complex carbs), protein, and either a fruit or veggie. My dks, especially now that they are in school again, eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. When they eat snacks, they are usually healthier snacks... low fat cheese and crackers, fruit, veggies with low fat dip, pretzels, etc. I try and make it so that most snacks have a little protein, and aren't just carbs. I do not forbid sweets, I just don't buy a whole lot of them. Now, my youngest is not a big sweet eater, except for ice cream, and doesn't eat a lot of sweets. My oldest is a different story, so we just have to limit him. I also try and eat true whole grain, instead of white....we eat whole grain breads, crackers, pasta, etc. I also try and stay away from trans fats.
And, I totally agree that if you forbid sweets, you will come to crave them. My neighbor cut out flour, sugar, dairy, etc from her families diet. When her dks come to my house, they are begging me for sweets. I know she is doing it because she was having major allergy problems, but I think it is unfair to do it to her dks. My dh also never had junk food as a kid, and now he is the junk food king. Moderation is the key.
People have different opinions concerning dairy. I happen to think it's a good source of calcium and protein. I could go on, but I'll leave it at that.
I'm a firm believer that eating in moderation and exercise is the key to a healthy weight and good health. I always serve a protein, a carb and one or two veggies or fruit for each meal.
I'm not going to debate dairy but I push it here. We are all huge milk drinkers. When the kids were younger they drank whole then I slowly introduced 2%, 1%, now we only drink skim. Sometimes I will buy 2% because one of my dd's loves the the taste of "hotel milk" as it is referred to here because that's what they got when we ordered room service lol
I'm also not going to debate supplemental drinks instead of meals. I feel if you can chew and swallow, eating whole foods is a more natural way of fueling your body. Of course, I am not talking about natural smoothies or shakes, just the powdered form instead of a meal.
I do serve white bread, white rice, butter, white pasta but I balance it out with a larger portion of protein, veggies and fruits. I also serve the whole grain breads, brown rice, green pastas but I mix it up.
I also believe that snacking throughout the day increases your body's metabolism. If your body is constantly digesting something, it's always working. Debbie has some great choices of healthy snacks.
Chips and cookies are away in the pantry but bananas, grapes, apples, carrots, cheese, etc are right on the counter or at the kids' eye level in the refridgerator. The kids are old enough to help themselves to snacks at my house now. One rule that I have, if they have chips, doritoes, etc, they have to put some in a bowl, no eating out of the bag. That limits their portions and it rules out mindless eating while they watch tv, do homework, game, etc.
Crockpot cooking is healthy cooking. It uses the natural juices from the meat. It's not all casserole meals. I bake chicken, roasts, ribs, steak. Checkout Allrecipes.com. There are some tasty, healthy meals online there.
Also learning your families weaknesses is key. My 16 year old dd loves bread. She would devour a loaf of Walmart's fresh baked french bread in two days. Slowly, over time but nonetheless. So, now I don't buy it anymore.
I hope this helps. I know I rambled a bit.
What I find difficult is that there is usually a whole Oprah show dedicated to "what NOT to eat" when really, I want ideas on *WHAT I CAN EAT*.
I feel like what every diet boils down to is salmon and green beans, LOL!
As a couple, exluding Connor, we exclude most carbs after 5pm. Last night, we had chicken breasts and green beans. The night before we had salmon and broccoli/cauliflower. I love the new "steam in a bag" vegetables that you can just stick in the microwave.
Thanks for all your responses and ideas!
I get the basics of nutrition; I've read a ton of literature and books.
I think maybe I've just read too much and just when I think I'm on to a newer fresher approach another study comes along that says this or that.
I've really tried to limit a lot of the "white" stuff from our diet, white bread, rice, pasta etc. It's funny this is really a new concept but actually it's a throw back to a long time ago before we knew how to makes things white.
I was considering adding Tofu to our diet as a healthy source of protein but when I started doing a little research I found that a lot people believe that it can cause Cancer.
So when I said I was confused, I guess what I meant was I was overwhelmed by all the choices and decisions that I have to make concerning the dietary needs of my family.
Some people don't believe we should drink milk and you have all been really good about not starting a debate - thank you! Most people believe it is a healthy option. I don't know what to think. If you follow mainstream thinking it is, if you follow a more alternative approach to diet then it isn't. My kids drink milk, but I think about.
There is also controversy over butter versus margarine. It is mainstream belief that that margarine is better for your heart, but when my friend's mom had Cancer they told her to eat butter instead of margarine and I won't even go into the reasons why because I can't find any info on it but something I had never heard about.
So these are the things I get confused about. Milk, butter, margarine, tofu, white versus brown, too many carbs, not enough. Soup is a good example, we eat a lot of soup but most canned foods contain a lot of sodium so I usually dilute them, I should probably make my own.
A friend of mine lives on a farm and she cans a lot of fruit, tomatoes, freezers her own corn and makes her own bread and soups. She has 4 children ranging in ages from 2-7 and a husband who is a farmer so he is never home. I have no idea how she does it.
Heidi makes a very good point, we hear a lot about what we are not supposed to eat, which makes it difficult sometimes to figure out what we should eat. Heidi you mentioned microwave veggies which sounds like a great idea on one hand but I was actually considering getting rid of my microwave. Sigh, maybe I should just shut my brain down on this for a while.
Anyway I'm rambling, thanks for listening.
I think Annie and I have the exact same nutrition philosophy. I grew up with NO sweets in the house and very little snacking. You ate what was served at meals (although we didn't have to clear our plates) and waited until the next one to eat again. I have switched over to whole grain bread and pasta because we do eat a lot of them. The kids love the occasional treat of white french bread or getting regular spaghetti when we go out for dinner. Otherwise, my kids have to eat something healthy (fruit, veggie or dairy) for a snack before having something junky and they only get one junky item each day. I'd love to go to mostly home-cooked or baked items but we do eat boxed side dishes or snacks several times per week.
I think over-educating yourself on nutrition can be very confusing. I've tried to research the major debates and then make the right decision for our family. We only drink hormone free milk but I don't go for the organic milk because I'm not sure the benefits outweigh the cost. Obviously, we drink milk because I don't trust the faux-estrogen effect of too much soy. We use butter because it's more natural but we use VERY little on anything. These are just the decisions I've made for my family, based on the research I've done.
Another one with Annie's POV, I don't make anything a "forbidden", but my kids RARELY get soda, and then it's caf free, because I am a major soda addict, and I don't want them to grow up to be the same. We push healthy snacks instead of sugary foods, and they get 2 glasses of 2% milk, and maybe 4 oz of juice daily, the rest is water.
I can't imagine a dairy-free diet, we are mammals, and babies and children need milk to develop. Adults don't need as much, but we still needs calcium for our bones and teeth.
We eat WAY too many carbs in my house, but I do try to serve healthy foods, low fats, etc. Honestly, there isn't a whole foods store around here, and there are few things I can find in stores that AREN'T majorly processed, Americanized foods. I would love to eat a more healthy diet, but it's much more expensive and difficult to find in my area. It seems that every day there is something that used to be good, is now bad, and vice versa. I figure if we stick to everything in moderation, we'll be fine.
I figure if we stick to everything in moderation, we'll be fine.
I agree with this 100%. You can find conflicting information about everything these days. One study says it is good for you, another says it is bad. It is good now, but in 2 years it will be bad. You could drive yourself crazy!!
Ditto Vicki and Crystal, too!
Ditto Annie, Vicki, Crystal and Tink (especially on the issue of over-educating on nutrition and safe/unsafe foods). And definitely, definitely, definitely children need milk AND infants and young children need a certain amount of fat in their diet (including milk fat) to promote proper development of the neural paths in the brain.
The reason you should eat butter instead of margarine is because margarine is synthetic, and your body can't metabolize it. Butter is a whole food, and can be metabolized. That doesn't mean it's good for you, just a better choice ... in small amounts.
Ditto Ginny! And ditto Marcia!
Boy oh boy am I ever confused about nutrition. There are so many conflicting theories of how to eat and how to charge the metabolism that I'm not sure anything really works.
Moderation is the key for sure.
Butter, while being natural is also said to have some anti-inflammatory properties.
Milk or dairy (like yogurt) is important for kids. My kids have a cup of yogurt every night for a bedtime snack (Yo-baby - which does not have all the sugary stuff on the bottom).
Another important dietary supplement is Omega fatty acids (found in fish and flax). I take a supplement, because I know I don't get enough in my diet. When I remember to take it, I really feel better (elevated mood). I used to take it religiously when I was pregnant because it was supposed to help in developing brain function. I do have two very smart (not a brag) children and I wonder if the fish oil had something to do with it.
I also give it to the kids along with a super multi-vitamin (Green's Superfood for Children).
Who can really say what's best? It think we all have to just plan our diets and eat what we feel is sensibly.
But, I do understand, and I share your anxiety to a point. I finally just stopped obsessing over food and started eating sensibly, in moderation.
Ame
I'm confused. Honestly, I didn't think about nutrition in the somewhat obsessive manner I do now until this past spring. I've mentioned this on here before, but I eliminated gluten from my diet and it has greatly alleviated my symptoms of depression. I mean this has been a life changing thing for me. I mostly eat foods that aren't processed, but now I have been experimenting with gluten free versions of some of my favorites. I haven't had fast food in months and I can honestly say I don't miss it. My big bad thing I was addicted to before was snickers. I had one about 3 months after my dietary changes and it tasted so disgusting, as though I could taste every artificial thing in it. I've been buying more organic foods and limiting the junk. I agree if you ban them all together, they'll just go crazy every chance they get! My sister took them to burger king last night and it seemed so weird, we used to go at least 1 time a week and it's been a long time!
I find it confusing what I hear about restaurants. They say some things that sound like they would be a healthier option, like a chicken dish can still be laden with fat and calories.
Rayelle, I would say if your health improved by removing gluten from your diet, then you are doing the right thing. I know there is a wide range of opinion about organic foods, but I personally don't think there is much difference between organic and non-organic foods by the time they reach the store (except for the price). Certainly sugar/sweets can become addictive - that is, your body is so used to having that sugar surge you really do miss it at first when you stop, but many people have had your experience of stopping something and then finding it distasteful when they try it a few months later. I know I almost completely cut salt out of cooking and at the table and I can taste when vegetables and other foods are salted and don't like the taste. I do, however, put salt on eggs, potatoes, and steaks, because I want the salt taste - go figure.
Sure, a chicken dish can be fat-laden, depending on the sauce. For example, I am guessing an Alfredo sauce or other sauce made with milk or cream and butter, or with cheese, would have more calories and more fat than a tomato-based sauce or a sauce based simply on chicken broth.
I tend to agree with Ame - eat sensibly and in moderation. I would also say cut out as much salt as you possibly can, cut back on sugars as much as you can (especially for your children), and cut out transfats. I would give babies and young children whole milk until the pediatrician says it is OK to cut back to 2%, 1% or skim milk, because they need things from whole milk that adults don't need - certainly they need calcium while they are growing (as do we adults, but not in the same way or as much, I am guessing). A vitamin supplement, if it is a standard multi-vitamin, can't hurt and may help.
As for naturopathy, I am somewhat sceptical. Properly practiced, it is a form of wholistic medicine, which is not bad, because most illnesses don't occur in a vaccum (there are, however, illnesses that cannot be cured by diet alone). But I do think that anyone who is seeing a naturopath should occasionally consult an M.D. who is sympathetic to wholistic medicine - if for no other reason, to get a general checkup, blood tests, etc., to be sure everything *is* in tune. If you and your kids are doing well on this diet, Chai-latte, then by all means keep it up, but do make sure the kids' pediatrician knows what their diet is. But don't cut out dairy for the kids. The breakfast and lunch you describe sound fine to me, as does the snack you describe. Do remember, your kids are going to be exposed to other families' food choices (including snacks) at school, and you will have to deal with their not wanting to feel too different or wanting what their friends eat.
I am more than a bit skeptical about "alternative" medicines: first, because a chiropractor told my fil he could cure my fil's diabetes without medication - my fil wound up having to have his left leg amputated at the knee because of an untreated sore that became gangrenous; an acupuncturist said she could cure my son's severe depression - fortunately, after a couple of months he no longer trusted her and went back to his medications, but it was a rough couple of months. He still sees an acupuncturist (a different one) for muscle kinds of things and it seems to work for him, though it wouldn't be my choice. I know many people swear by and do well with alternative medicine, but I remain sceptical.
I think, on the whole, if someone tells you to entirely change your life pattern, you need to stop and think about what that person is saying, what your life pattern is, and whether it needs changing. Most of us would benefit from at least some changes (speaking as someone who is more-or-less addicted to chocolate), but drastic changes need to be considered very thoroughly and researched before undertaking them.
I had cookies at Subway yesterday and almost couldn't eat them, because they were so sweet. They never used to bother me before! Guess I will mark those off my list.
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