Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category

Dr. Mercola talks about multi-vitamins. For parents with children suffering from symptoms of ADD and ADHD, this is double important. Pay attention, and evaluate the vitamins you are using. One thing he mentions, and which you might overhear, is the decreased amount of vitamins and minerals that your vegetables and fruits contain, as compared to 50 years ago. Thanks to chemical fertilizers, greenhouses, herbicides, fungicides etc, our food is just a diluted version of what it was in the time of our grandparents… Isn’t that sad.

Which brings me to the thought that IF we would live like our grandparents did, we would probably not have so many children with symptoms of ADD and ADHD. Life was so much different back then! But, I am also pleased to have discovered, that it is still possibe to live life much more similar to our grandparents than I thought would be possible – only the good aspects of course!

Buy organic fruit and vegetables, read the labels of EVERYTHING you buy, be aware and praise yourself that you have this knowledge! Share it with others: your neighbours, family, friends, parents at school. It is shocking how many people are still stumbling in the dark when they try to give their children the best they can…

And now: Dr. Mercola.

There is a lot of polemic about children with symptoms of ADD and ADHD and candies. Whilst I normally do not recommend any sugar for children with hyperactivity, they do normally get one day per week when they can eat some sweet stuff. It is important that it’s just sugar, and no chemical additives, as these tend to upset the system for a couple of days at least – Sugar only gives effects for 24 hours.

Dr. Mercola writes about healthy choices in chocolate:

Few snack foods evoke as much passion and desire as chocolate.

And if you have children, Halloween provides you with a wide assortment of sugary chocolate temptations — all part of this family fun event.

Regardless of whether or not it’s Halloween… if you’re a chocolate lover, the idea of giving it up even for health reasons is often not an option you consider.

As far as your kids go… well, most kids love chocolate. Asking them not to eat any from their Halloween trick-or-treat stashes is pretty much wishful thinking.

Believe it or not, this is one instance when you can have your chocolate and eat it too… more and more studies confirm some types of chocolate are actually very good for you.

Since I realize many people simply refuse to give up their chocolate, and there are actually healthy versions of chocolate, I put my team to task to create guidelines to help you select and eat chocolate at a healthy level.

Especially at Halloween time, this could help give you some direction for the healthiest chocolate for you and your kids.

I do feel it’s important to remind you about wholesome foods like organic vegetables and fruits that provide you with healthy nutrients — without the sugar content of most chocolates.

With Halloween just around the corner, the potential for you and your family to consume even more chocolate is simply a reality that you will have to contend with. However, if you follow the guidelines my staff and I created for you, you can now enjoy one of your passions, and boost your health at the same time.

If you’re a chocolate lover, or even occasionally indulge, I strongly recommend you follow these guidelines… which will allow you to enjoy your chocolate and help you protect your health at the same time.

• Find chocolate made from the least destructive processing techniques — Organic is always best as over-processing reduces your healthy nutrients and can introduce lead contamination.
• Restrict your intake to dark, organic chocolate — Consuming chocolate as close to its original raw state (unprocessed cacao) provides you the best health benefits.
• Avoid chocolate made from milk or milk byproducts — Adding milk to the chocolate process can diminish your antioxidant benefits.
• Select chocolate with low sugar content — Sugar can seriously impact your immune system
• Consume chocolate in moderation — When you eat too much chocolate, you potentially diminish and defeat any health benefits due to the sugar.
• Avoid chocolate if you’re struggling with a health challenge — Sugar can suppress your immune system.
• Choose a chocolate made to the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility — Fair Trade certification should be part of your selection process.

I’ll get into more details on each of these selection and consumption criteria in just a minute…

But first do this — very thoroughly…

In addition to the above guidelines, there are certain “spooky” ingredients you should stay far away from when choosing your chocolate.

If you have kids, you might want to take a closer look at the chocolate they bring home from Halloween trick-or-treating. Not an easy task, I realize… but these ingredients are just plain bad for you.

Even many so-called “natural” chocolates may contain some of these unhealthy ingredients — avoid them at all costs…

• Trans fat — An artery-clogging type of fat that forms when vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening.
• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) — Contains no enzymes, vitamins or minerals, and leeches micronutrients from your body. Raises your blood sugar levels beyond acceptability, and leads to insulin resistance and weight gain. It really is a metabolic poison and, in many ways, acts identical to alcohol with chronic exposure when eaten in high amounts.
• Artificial sweeteners — Never allow anything “artificial” in your chocolate.
• Soy proteins — Unfermented soy can cause digestive distress and a weakened immune system.
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) — An excitotoxin, which over-excites your cells to the point of damage or total destruction. Can potentially cause brain damage and other disabilities to varying degrees.
• Preservatives and stabilizers — Avoid anything artificial and look for only organic ingredients.
• Milk or milk byproducts — Could impact how well you absorb the healthy antioxidants in the chocolate.

The bottom line — you need to carefully read the label on chocolate packages. By ‘reading’ the label, I mean, ‘thoroughly scrutinize the nutrition facts and ingredients’. Not just a cursory glance.

To enjoy the healthiest chocolate possible, always look for selections with wholesome, organic ingredients — artificial ingredients are just too risky. (…)

Source: http://products.mercola.com/organic-dark-chocolate/

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Omega 3 fatty acids are a vital building blocks for our brain, and many children suffering from symptoms of ADD and ADHD actually have a shortage of essential building blocks in their body.

Why does the ADD/ADHD brain have an extra need for Omega-3 fatty acids?
The brain has the most active metabolism of all the organs in the body, and it uses enormous amounts of energy; it never is completely at rest. The more active the metabolism, the more free radicals, and the brain thus has one of the highest rates of free radical production. These free radicals destroy the connections between the cells, the cells themselves and the structure of the brain. The brain starts to function less and less effectively, if it has not enough resources to repair itself.

If you are deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids, your brain changes it’s structure already within 2 weeks.

The role of sugar in Omega-3 deficiency
Apart from the role sugar plays in the blood sugar level, it also increases free radical generation. Sugar produces cross linking of the proteins in all cells, which means that the free radicals can do much more damage in a much bigger group of cells. Through the influence of free radicals, your cells age faster; and your braincells are even more prone to this process. Research at the University of Connecticut in 1986 by Dr. Jane Goldman showed that sugar, equal to one Coke, produces a significant decline in mental performance. (Students were making twice as many mistakes on tests.)

Other vitamins and minerals also play a role in the health of our brain, and particularly in children with symptoms of ADD and ADHD, one can often find shortages of essential micro-elements and vitamins. On the other hand, ADHD and ADD symptoms have been linked to an overload of toxic substances suchs as lead in the blood of the affected children. Apart from lead, also aspartame, MSG, pesticides, herbicides in food, aluminum in deodorants, fluoride in the water and mercury in vaccines have been proven to have a major role in brain toxicity and brain function decline.

What does this mean in everyday life?
Make sure your child does not eat refined sugar is the obvious step one, because it is easy to do. Avoid aspartame and other additives, buy and eat organic fruit and vegetables, be very cautious with vaccines and get yourself very well informed about the risks and the benefits of every single vaccination.
Give your kid a healthy balanced diet, and give additional nutrients as needed, but be very aware of food colorings and other additives that hide in vitamin pills and other supplements! They will probably increase the symptoms of ADD and ADHD: the detrimental effect of these substances is manyfold bigger than the beneficial effects of the essential nutrients your child is probably lacking.

If you like this article, please share it on one or more of the social bookmarking sites below; that way you help other parents with children suffering from symptoms of ADD and ADHD, to find this information!
I look forward to read your comments, experiences and questions!

Image by Kriss Szkurlatowski

Jonathan’s mother talked to me on chat yesterday – through the Messenger of our daughters.
“I have to talk to you urgently” she said, and I have to admit that I had a bit of a fright.
Jonathan is a boy who had severe ADD symptoms, and he has been going really well since starting the treatment; His mother is really strict with the energy toxins like sugar and additives, and EFT really helps him to focus.

 

 

“It’s about my husband, Vincent” she wrote, and I wondered what had happened. “Since Jonathan is really becoming a different child, it seems that my husband is getting worse. He is aggressive when he drinks, and Jonathan does not accept that anymore. Earlier Jonathan’s ADD symptoms would make him shout back, but now Jonathan stays calm and tells his father that he is behaving like a stupid drunk. And that makes Vincent even more mad.”

 

I told her that I would come today and talk to her. “You really have to help me” she typed. “It is really getting difficult”.

 

I do realise that the whole family system changes when one member changes. In this case probably two members are growing out of their old role: Jonathan’s Mom and Jonathan himself. Jonathan is suddenly growing up since we cleaned his energy system with EFT and the adapted nutrition. He is 9 years old and has suffered a lot from his ADD symptoms. He was on Ritalin for a year (which turned him into a “Zombie”, his Mom said), he is having consultations with a psychiatrist and with 2 different psychologists: one via school and one via the family doctor.

 

His father is a builder, and although he seems a very enjoyable, amicable man, he has his bad spells when he drinks too much – which happens almost on a weekly basis. The children have been used to this since they were small, and the mother seemed not to be bothered too much. But now the cards are turning.

 

Jonathan is being kept responsible for his behaviour much more than he was before, and he feels that his father should be kept resonsible as well. If Jonathan accepts an icecream from one of his uncles, even though he knows he is not supposed to, his mother is quite clear that that is not an excuse to misbehave! So, in Jonathan’s view, being drunk is not an excuse to misbehave either.

 

Vincent will have to reconsider his behaviour, and Jonathan and his mother and sister will have to decide to change what they can change, to accept what they cannot change, and to be wise in knowing the difference between the two.

 

It reminds me of a quote of Abraham from their new book that I got in my e-mail this morning:

 

Our Varied Behavior Adds to the Planet’s Well-Being…

 

When you remember that nothing can come into your experience without your Vibrational invitation of it, then you do the simple work of paying attention to your own Vibrational offering, and you save yourself the enormous and impossible task of controlling the behavior of others.

 

When you remember that the varied behavior of others adds to the balance and the Well-Being of your planet even if they offer behavior that you do not approve of; and that you do not have to participate in the unwanted behavior, and will not – unless you give your attention to it – you become more willing to allow others to live as they choose.

 

— Abraham

 

Excerpted from Abraham’s newest book, The Vortex, Where the Law of Attraction Assembles All Cooperative Relationships

 

And I agree that it is not easy in a situation like this…

 

I will probably work with the whole family on three levels:

Taking your own responsibility

Respecting boundaries

Cleaning your own energy system

 

Tapping will certainly help with the latter, and boundaries and responsibility are a definite outcome of a cleaner energy system. It is about the first step of awakening: From victimhood into empowerment. Jonathan took that step already, because he now knows that he himself controls his ADHD / ADD symptoms and the related moods: Through what he eats and how often he taps.

 

His mother is also discovering the benefits of EFT, she started using it to overcome her chocolate cravings and to loose weight.

 

It seems that Vincent is the next one who cannot escape growth, unless he chooses to stay where he is and take the risk of a broken marriage and trouble with his children.

 

I will keep you posted!

 

Charlotte

 

 

Update Sep 9, 2009 
The session went very well. Jonathan talked to Joel the Tappy Bear, and we tapped on the fear and the anger. Joel happened to have a mother who drinks too much , and he asked Jonathan to help him. He decided that the next time his father drinks too much, he just goes away from the home, to play with a friend in the village. 
I then talked to his father. The first question I asked him, was “Do you want your daughter to marry a man with the same behaviour?”, saying that even though he himself was not hitting his wife, other men probably would do when they are in that state. “Daughters find a husband which has the behaviour they know, and that is very often just like their father did. Imagine your grandchildren coming here, crying, and saying that Daddy is hitting Mommy. Just imagine how that will feel.”That was enough to get him in tears. I told him that by that time he would not be able to change it anymore, but that he can change his kids future NOW, by stopping his behaviour. He said he would try to drink less often, and that he would certainly go and sleep under a tree if he would have been drinking too much, instead of going home and creating trouble.

 

I think that that is not a bad first step. I plan on working with him on his drinking pattern, he said he wanted that. And I will certainly send the mother to the Al-Anon for help and advice. She was happy with the outcome, I talked to her today, and she does think that it did shift her husband’s way of looking at the situation.

 

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