Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Do I need vitamin supplements?

So many ask the question, "If I am eating 'well', do I still need vitamins?"
Here are some interesting statistics:
  • On any one day, an estimated 45% of people don't consume any fruit or juice and 22% don't eat any vegetables.
  • Less than 10% consume the recommended 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables.
  • Only a third of the population consumes foods from all the food groups on a typical day, with less than 3% consuming foods from all the food groups in at least the recommended amount.
  • Many diets contain half the recommended amount of magnesium and folic acid; as many as 80% of women who exercise may be iron-deficient; and their average calcium intake is 636 mg per day (2/3 the RDA).
  • 71% of males and 90% of females consume less than the 1980 recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamin B6.
  • The average calcium intake of teenage girls resembles that necessary for 3-5 year olds.

So where do you fit into this equation? Are you eating even close to the RDA standards? If not, do you need supplementation? What are the best supplements? What happens when you are deficient? Those are questions we answer next time....

Thursday, May 01, 2008

How to change cravings and begin to eat healthy!

So many of you are trying to eat a healthier diet but I hear in the background about so many cravings. If you cleanse the pallet and change your insulin output for a short concentrated period of time you can reverse the pattern in your life of cravings and sugar highs and lows.

Doing the lemonade diet is one way to help this process. If you can do it for 3 to 5 days those processed foods and diet sodas will no longer be appealing to the taste buds. Respond to that and do not force it until it does taste good again out of habit. Beginning to eliminate those things from your diet will now be easier.

Our bodies are so smart, they will tell us what is good for us and what is not. We we simply must take time to listen. It is the same with the Holy Spirit: respond when you are prompted in your heart and mind. Habits that have gripped us for years will fall to the wayside. There is great freedom in living this disciplined life.