Food For Health Blog

What To Feed Active Teenagers

Food For Health — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:12:16 +0000

Teenagers often need more energy than adults, especially if your teenager is an active teenager, playing sport.

Between learning at school, socialising with friends, growing and playing sports, it’s no wonder your teenager can empty the contents of the fridge or pantry. As teenagers mature, they make more food choices on their own and nutrients your teenager might be missing out on are carbohydrates, protein, calcium, iron and essential fatty acids.

I have listed below some tips on how to ensure your active teenager is meeting their daily energy and nutrient requirements:

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and vital in helping you get the most out of life. A filling bowl of Food for Health Muesli topped with a low-fat yogurt or milk is a great way to start the day for active teenagers.
A healthy snack like The Gluten Free Bar or Food for Kids bar is an option to include in the lunch box, especially if they need a snack before or after sport. Teenagers playing sport can have a snack with a little natural sugar or unsaturated fats in their diets, for example dried fruit or nuts.
Lunch and Dinner meals need to include a protein source, carbohydrate source and at least two serves of vegetables or fruit.

Food for Health has many different options for teenagers for a breakfast cereal and a healthy snacks, including: The Gluten Free Muesli, The Fruit Free Clusters, The Liver Cleansing Muesli, The Fibre Cleanse Muesli, The Gluten Free Bars and Food for Kids bars. To find out more information on each product, please refer to our website: www.foodforhealth.com.au.

Remember that without our health we have nothing so always use your food to nourish your active body so you get more out of life

Love life; enjoy life food

Narelle xxx

Breakfast Helps With Kids At School

Food For Health — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:45:22 +0000

Breakfast is important in re-fuelling the body with energy and nutrients to kick start the day. A good breakfast fuels you up and gets you ready for the day. Breakfast for children is one of the most important things a child does all day, as people who eat breakfast are healthier and have more energetic throughout the day.

Kids who eat breakfast generally meet their vitamin and mineral requirements, consuming more fibre, vitamin C, calcium and folic acid. Unfortunately, children who miss breakfast do not make up for lost nutrients later in the day.

Kids who eat breakfast do better in school, are more likely to participate in physical activities and tend to eat healthier overall. So tomorrow morning, don’t run out the door on an empty stomach. Fuel up with a healthy breakfast!

Breakfast helps kids in many different way in the school environment, including concentration, thinking, behaviour and learning.

Improves children’s classroom performance, including better test scores and grades
Increases children’s ability to focus and concentrate on school work and have a longer attention span helping them to learn and study better
Helps students achieve the classroom goals set out by the teacher
Decreases behaviour problems, tardiness and visits to the school sick bay
Increases attendance rates

Skipping breakfast can leave you feeling lethargic, tired, irritable, and restless and can lead to difficulty concentrating and behaviour difficulties in the school environment. These symptoms can lead to aggressive behaviour that causes children to get in trouble in school. Children who regularly eat breakfast have more energy, are less likely to exhibit aggressive behaviour, and have a better attitude toward school.

Eating breakfast can also help reduce the risk of obesity in children, as breakfast is often replaced by mid morning snacks that tend to be high in fat, sugar and salt. A good alternative is the Food for Health Food for Kids NUT FREE Snack Bar as it is a healthy snack which can be given to children as a breakfast on the run!

Healthy tips for ensuring kids eat breakfast before school in the morning:

Prepare for school the night before by preparing the next day’s clothes, lunch and backpack.
Set the alarm 15 mins earlier
Say no to TV, games and computers in the morning
Choose a Food for Health Muesli which is easy to prepare
Many kids skip breakfast because they sleep too late.

If kids eat breakfast for a particular reason, running late or slept in, another option is to have Breakfast on the run. Although I do not recommend breakfast on the run, a healthy alternative is the Food for Health Gluten Free Bar or Food for Kids NUT FREE snack bar.

Set a good example to your children and eat breakfast yourself. Children imitate the behaviour of adults, so if they see their parents eating breakfast, they are more likely to eat breakfast also. Students also learn habits that carry over to their teen and adult years.

Below are the healthy Muesli’s from Food for Health:

The Fibre Cleanse Muesli
The Liver Cleansing Muesli
The Gluten Free Muesli
The Fruit Free Clusters with Chia

I start each day with the Food for Health The Gluten Free Muesli… I am addicted!!

Remember that without our health we have nothing so always use your food to nourish your active body so you get more out of life

Love life; enjoy life food

Narelle xxx

Obesity in Children

Food For Health — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:18:56 +0000

Obesity in children in Australia is increasing at an alarming rate. There has been a big focus on children’s health and childhood obesity recently. The number of overweight children in Australia has doubled in recent years, with a quarter of children considered overweight or obese.

An estimated 1.5 million people under the age of 18 are considered overweight or obese. This means about 20-25% of Australian children are overweight or obese. 1 in 4 children in Australia have a weight issue.

There are many issues which impact on the health and wellbeing of young children.

Unhealthy food choices
Poor eating habits
Family eating habits
Lack of understanding of or access to food/nutrition information
Lack of fitness and physical exercise

The rise in the number of overweight children is disturbing, as not only can cause health problems, it can also lead to social problems. Studies have shown overweight children are more likely to be teased by their peers, develop low self-esteem or body image problems.

50% of obese adolescents continue to be obese as adults. Once a child or adolescent is obese or overweight, they are not likely to reduce it as an adult.

Parent can help with childhood obesity with encouraging kids to enjoy physical activities, healthy eating and including more fibre in their diet.

The NEW Food for Kids Bars are a great healthy snack that meet children’s needs for general health and well-being and for children to enjoy. The bars come in 2 popular flavours: Apple and Banana Custard.

Gluten Free
Sulphur Free
Nut Free – ideal for children’s lunch boxes
High in Fibre – keeping the digestive system healthy and regular

Food for Health are committed to producing products that taste great and are great for you and your children. We hope you enjoy the Food for Kids snack bars as much as we do in the office…. They are not just for children, Adults love them too!!

Love life; enjoy life food

Narelle xxx

The Benefits of Omega 3

Food For Health — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 05:47:20 +0000

Omega-3s are a type of polyunsaturated fat. They are fatty acids essential to human health and play an important role throughout the life cycle. Omega-3 can come from marine, animal and plant sources.

Foods rich in omega-3s are:

Fish
Seeds (particularly Chia & Flaxseeds)
Canola oil & margarines
Nuts (particularly walnuts)
Hemp oil
Soybeans
Dark green vegetables
Eggs

Although people are becoming more aware that eating foods with Omega-3s are beneficial for optimal health, health experts are still concerned people are not consuming nearly enough and that people still do not understand the health benefits.

Omega-3s play a big role in growth and development, cardiovascular disease, mental and behavioural health, diabetes, inflammatory diseases and strokes. Increasing evidence indicates that a deficiency in omega-3s in early childhood may contribute to behaviour and learning difficulties in children.

The recommended daily consumption of Omega-3 is 500mgs to reduce the risk of heart disease. If you have heart disease the recommended daily consumption increases to 1000 mg.

Chia is the highest plant based source of Omega-3, dietary fibre and protein. Chia is Nature’s complete superfood!!

Chia is known as nature’s multivitamin, the seeds (per gram) has:

Twice the amount of protein than wheat, barley and rice, boosting immunity
Five times the calcium of milk, for stronger bones
Twice the amount of potassium as bananas, for digestion
Three times more iron than spinach, increasing oxygen to the body
Seven times more vitamin C than oranges

Food for Health have 3 products that currently include the Chia superfood for adults and children to enjoy:

The Fruit Free Clusters with Chia
Food for Kids Apple Filled Bar
Food for Kids Banana Custard Filled Bar

Food for Health are committed to producing products that taste great and are great for you. We hope you enjoy the Food for Health products as much as we do!!

Remember that without our health we have nothing so always use your food to nourish your active body so you get more out of life

Love life; enjoy life food

Narelle xxx

Food Allergies in Children

Food For Health — Tue, 24 May 2011 04:10:59 +0000

Food allergy is an immune system response to a food protein that the body mistakenly believes is harmful. When a child eats or comes into contact with foods containing the protein, the immune system releases chemicals, causing symptoms including hives, swelling, vomiting, diarrhoea or respiratory distress. Currently there is no cure for food allergies. Avoiding certain foods is the only way to prevent a reaction.

The statistics are growing at an alarming rate with 1 in 20 children suffering from food allergies, with some of them experiencing a life-threatening reaction. Approximately 10 people die from anaphylactic reactions each year in Australia.

There are 9 foods that account for the majority of food allergies, including:

• Peanuts
• Tree Nuts (Walnuts, Almonds, Cashews, Pistachios, Pecans, etc)
• Crustacea (prawns, lobster, crab, etc)
• Fish
• Milk
• Eggs
• Sesame
• Soy
• Wheat

If I can touch a little on the Peanut allergy, peanut allergy effects 1 in 50 children and in most cases is a lifelong allergy. Peanuts and Tree Nuts can be found in a variety of products in your supermarket, if products do not contain peanuts or tree nuts in the product, the products still may have traces of the nuts as the product is made in the same factory as another product with nuts.

Parents can find it difficult to find snacks for their children to eat in supermarkets due to this problem. Food for Health have now designed a healthy snack bar for children to enjoy which is NUT FREE, GLUTEN FREE, SULPHUR FREE and also have a GOOD SOURCE OF FIBRE. Giving ease of mind to parents, when giving their children with these allergies a healthy snack to enjoy! These bars are not only enjoyable for kids, enjoyable for parents too!! Have a look at our new Food For Kids bars!

Narelle xxx

GO BULLEEN BOOMERS!

Food For Health — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 04:52:12 +0000

A big congrats to the Bulleen Boomers! My team won their first Women’s NBL grand final on Sunday 13th March with a 103-78 triumph. GO GIRLS!

Muesli for breakfast

Food For Health — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 05:08:03 +0000

The old saying “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”……is fact! We need to replenish after hours of sleeping, so we have more energy throughout the day and also to maintain our weight. So many cereals are loaded with sugar, so your best bet is a muesli for breaky. Especially a Food for Health muesli!!! In saying that, do not be fooled by the word muesli……there are plenty of muesli’s that are full of cane sugar, and no nutrition at all. But generally, a muesli has an oat base, with nuts and seeds added, so you should be safe.

So why eat a muesli instead of a normal cereal? Normal cereals are normally high in sodium, have little fibre and no essential fatty acids. A raw muesli, is firstly a base of oats, which are great for health and digestive health. It is also has nuts and seeds added and depending on which ones, can be extremely beneficial to your health. Linseeds and chia (which can be found in Food for Health muesli’s) are a must for omega 3 source and help with digestion, skin and bowel health. Nuts are high in both good and bad fat, but also magnesium, fibre and other great nutrients. Seeds, like pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, commonly found in Muesli’s are high in zinc, great for skin, and iron, important for energy and cardiovascular system.

Food for health muesli’s are full of good stuff for you, like psyllium, seeds, linseeds, lecithin, barley, millet, rice bran and with no added cane sugar at all are a perfect way to start the day!! Dried fruit can be high in sugar, so we offer 2 muesli’s that are completely fruit free so even healthier!! Our one muesli that does have dried fruit…..all the fruit is sulphur free!!! So if you are always tired, are overweight, have digestive issues or just need to be a little healthier…..try Food for health Muesli’s.

What is fructose mal-absorption?

Food For Health — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:29:00 +0000

So what is a fructose? It is a sugar found naturally in certain foods like wheat, honey, onions, and apples; just to name a few.

So therefore Fructose mal-absorption is a digestive disorder in which sufferers are lacking the appropriate, let’s call them “fructose taxis”. These little guys are responsible for moving fructose through our intestines and when they are “on strike”, fructose concentration increases causing inflammation and deterioration.

Symptoms of Fructose mal-absorption are not that dissimilar to IBS (irritable bowel syndrome); bloating, intermittent constipation and diarrhoea, nausea, cramps and stomach pain.
Diagnosis of Fructose mal-absorption can be done via a test called “hydrogen breath test”. The general outcome of the test is to locate unabsorbed fructose in the intestinal tract. The procedure for the breath test in simple steps is: blow into the breathalyser device (just like being tested for blood alcohol reading by police), after that first reading, you drink a high sugar drink and about 15 minutes after consumption you do another breath test to see if your reading has changed. You do this same procedure for a couple of hours.

If your practitioner finds a change in your reading, they will advise you to avoid certain foods to decrease symptoms and hopefully to make you feel on top of the world again!

Foods to avoid:

Apple 
Pear 
Mango 
Watermelons 
Prunes 
Figs 
All Dried Fruit (dried fruit has higher sugars than fresh fruit) 
Honey 
Any fruit based products including drinks
Coconut products
Wheat products including pasta, bread, biscuits and sauces.

The Gluten Free diet

Food For Health — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:45:00 +0000

The hard part about having Coeliac disease is knowing what you can and cannot eat. Reading the labels at the supermarket can be a big chore and sometimes the labels do not tell all. Eating out can be a HUGE problem since sauces are sometimes filled with gluten and you don’t know.

Here is a list of foods to avoid if you have Coeliac disease:

Prepared meals 
Breads 
Oats 
Wheat  
Barley  
Rye 
Soya sauce 
Tomato sauce
 Cereals (unless labelled gluten free) 
Flour (unless labelled gluten free)
 Cake mixes and fresh cakes/slices 
Pizza bases
 Pastas 
Packet sauces 
Wheat biscuits 
Chocolates
 Malt 
Custard powder 
Crumpets and muffins

Foods to include:

Food for Health Gluten Free Muesli and Muesli Bars (sorry couldn’t help myself!)
 Flours: besan, buckwheat, brown rice flour, quinoa flour, soy flour. 
Grains: sorghum, rice, millet, popcorn, amaranth. 
All fruits and vegetables
 Gluten free bread (Bodhi’s Bakehouse, Country Life) 
Pulses, legumes and corn
 Gluten free soya milk  
Rice noodles

The Gluten Free diet dilemma; what is it? And how do you know if it is it?

Food For Health — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:03:00 +0000

I will take a guess, but I bet you know someone, or know someone who knows someone that has Coeliac disease? It affects 1 in 100 people in Australia… so maybe I am presuming you have 100 friends! Lucky you, I certainly don’t! But I do know people with Coeliac disease.

 So what is it? Coeliac disease is a medically diagnosed condition of an intolerance to gluten, which is a protein found in certain grains. These grains are: oats, wheat, barley, rye and triticale.

 If someone has gluten intolerance and consumes gluten, the initial reaction is the inflammation of the gastro intestinal tract. The small intestinal lining called villi become inflamed causes all sorts of issues. Common symptoms are bloating, flatulence, severe abdominal pain and nausea. Some sufferers can even experience intermittent constipation and diarrohea, so all in all it is not a great thing to have, but luckily there are a lot more gluten free options available now.

 If you have experienced any of the above symptoms you may or may not have Coeliac disease and there are a couple of ways to detect it. You can have a blood test that tests for IgA activity, but this is often not accurate. The best diagnostic procedure is a bowel biopsy. Small samples of the lining of the bowel (villi) are taken and investigated. If history of flattening of the lining, then it confirms Coeliac disease.