It is rare for great nutritional advice to be provided to women considering becoming pregnant; since our western lifestyle typically leads to unhealthy and out of balance choices. Your Family Wellness Chiropractor can often provide nutritional and healthy lifestyle information to his or her patients and if you’re considering becoming pregnant, you’re an ideal candidate for such advice.

The first question to ask your Chiropractor is: what does the body require to have a healthy pregnancy? The answer would be: the whole food concept. To eat a balanced diet you need to understand that living a “whole foods” rather than “processed foods” lifestyle is best for you and your future baby.

Balanced Whole Food Diet

Living a “whole food” lifestyle isn’t as difficult as it may sound. The most important thing to remember is that living food is healthy food. Some areas to focus on would be the following:

• Proteins and Iron – These can be found in organic, grass fed or hormone and antibiotic free beef, lamb and poultry. Eggs will give additional Vitamin A. Additional sources of Iron can be found in wheat germ, bran, nuts, parsley and molasses

• Essential Fatty Acids and Protein – These can be found in fatty fish (salmon, black cod, etc.), and fish oil supplements should be a part of any health conscious woman’s diet
• Dairy Products – These are a great source of calcium and protein, however, your diet should be balanced with other healthy calcium sources, such as: soy products, nuts, seaweed products, wheat germ or wheat bran
• Beans, Legumes and Green Leafy Vegetables – These will provide you with fiber, protein and other essential vitamins for a healthy balanced diet
• Folic Acid and Vitamin B – These are found in a diet containing whole grains, nuts and dairy products; and mono-unsaturated fats can also be found in nuts and avocados. Berries will provide you with valuable antioxidants as well as additional vitamins and phytonutrients.

When considering dietary changes for your health and the health of your unborn child, remember that living foods do not come in boxes or packages. They will not be found in the aisles of your grocery store, but in the meat, dairy and produce section.Pre-Conception Lifestyle Changes

A wellness pregnancy doesn’t start while you’re pregnant, but four to twelve months prior to conceiving. One of the first things you should do, after deciding to have a baby, is speak with your Family Wellness Chiropractor about healthy nutritional advice. The vital first step in having this discussion will be to provide your Chiropractor with a nutritional journal for one week so that he or she can review your lifestyle of eating and drinking. Often it’s not how much you’re consuming that will concern your doctor, but rather what you’re eating.

When reviewing your diet journal, your Doctor of Chiropractic is going to be looking for the following specific areas of concern:

• Missed meals (usually breakfast)
• High carbohydrates
• Low proteins
• Unhealthy fats
• Processed foods
• High caffeine
• Other chemicals

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Perhaps you remember your parents telling you to sit up straight and now you’ve found yourself telling your children the same thing. Is this just a right of passage from childhood to adulthood, or is there something more to this thing called posture?

What is Posture?

Posture is defined as the position of the body or the position of several parts of the body with respect to each other for a particular purpose. Posture is not, regardless of what we have been led to believe, simply a matter of sitting or standing up straight. Instead, it is the actual and proper alignment of the parts of the body in relation to the spine, and the proper use of the body at all times.

Posture and the Young Child

As soon as a child begins to stand upright, you can begin to look for signs of improper posture. Signs of head, shoulder or hip tilt can be seen as soon as a child is weight bearing.

Although this may seem early for a child to have misalignments to their spine, birth injuries and falls taken when learning to walk can already begin to affect their posture.

Posture and the Pre-Adolescent

With a child that is between the ages of seven and ten, misalignments to the spine are more than likely due to minor falls and injuries associated with certain activities. These typically include soccer or other sports, as well as injuries sustained on playground equipment or trampolines.

It is also with this age group that we begin to see a lot of time spent watching TV, and in many instances, the child will be lying on their stomach; another habit that can cause postural issues. Children in this age group are frequently seen playing video games and, with both handheld games and console games with a controller, the child will be sitting in a head down position or with their shoulders hunched which is equally troublesome to a developing spine.

In response to these causalities, the body will typically begin to adapt to the improper alignment and cause postural deviations that you can see. These can include a tilting of the head, which may reflect a misalignment in the neck. A shoulder tilt might indicate a mid-back issue, and a tilted hip can mean a misalignment of the hip, sacrum or lower back. If a child’s foot is turned out or in, this can indicate a problem in the pelvic area.

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Many parents have a daily challenge with their families: “my kids are picky eaters and won’t eat what’s good for them”. This problem is seen with children of all ages; and it’s a very frustrating daily battle, that it seems your child is winning. As a parent you feel you’ve lost before you start.

So what is the solution? There really isn’t one answer. Much of this challenge stems from your own adult relationship with food, meaning that many of your childhood habits are now being passed to the next generation, both the good and the bad.

The Family’s Nutritional Lifestyle

Starting nutrition right for your children actually should begin prior to conception as future parents. Take the time, sit down and review your attitudes and beliefs about what it takes to raise your future family. This may include the family’s moral compass, discipline, education and a daily snap shot of your family. Ask yourself what in your childhood background with food may create a food problem for your kids. Then consider the nutritional lifestyle most suited to grow and fuel your child’s development.

When parents struggle with their picky-eater(s) the first response should not be, “What’s wrong with my child.” Rather, remember your child enters this world not knowing what he or she hates or loves about food; for the most part kids learn this relationship from the example a parent sets.

If dad hates vegetables and doesn’t eat them, or as parents you don’t expand the taste palate of your children by “trying something new,” this often creates the picky-eater in the home.

Food Relationships

So where do you begin? Before you become a parent. Start by reviewing your personal relationship with food. For example, which parent has the bad eating habits and what are they? Consider how the two of you will blend or create new food relationships and expand your knowledge or cooking base with research. There are many books and websites available that take a wellness approach to raising healthier children.

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With time, research is revealing that nuts and seeds do not deserve their bad reputation. Absolutely, they are high in fat. But it’s the good fat, not the bad, and when eaten in moderation, their health benefits far outweigh the dangers of their fat content. The fact is, the more we learn about nuts and seeds, the more we realize that they’re one of our best snack food options.

Isn’t Fat Bad?

We know that nuts and seeds are high in fat. An ounce of almonds and sunflower seeds both have 14 grams, cashews have 13 and pecans have a total fat count of 20 grams. It’s when we consider what kind of fat they contain that we see the difference between these and other foods with a high total fat count.

Saturated fats are those that raise our bad cholesterol levels and increase our risk of heart disease and strokes. These are the fats that are high in most snack items and put our health at risk. An ounce of almonds contain 1 gram of saturated fats, and cashews and pecans have 3 and 2 grams respectively.

Where nuts and seeds are high in fat is in the mono and polyunsaturated fats, but these are good for us, raising our “good cholesterol” levels and typically containing essential vitamins like A, D, E and K.

The Facts

In 1996, the Iowa Women’s Health Study found that women who ate nuts 4 or more times a week were 40% less likely to die of heart disease. Since then similar studies performed by the Harvard School of Public Health and Loma Linda University in California have found the same. The Physician’s Health Study in 2002 found that men who consumed nuts 2 or more times per week had a reduced risk of sudden cardiac death.

A study at the University of Toronto found that nuts, almonds in particular, reduced risk factors that are typically associated with heart disease, specifically LDL count or bad cholesterol levels, and Richard Mattes, PhD, professor of foods and nutrition at Purdue University in Indiana found that when people added 1 to 2 ounces of nuts a day to their diets they did not gain weight, contrary to popular belief.

Studies performed at several North American universities revealed that three times as many people trying to lose weight were able to stick to a diet that included moderate fat content in the form of nuts and seeds. They suggested that the fat, protein and fiber in nuts helped the dieter feel full longer, so many felt less deprived and ate less during the day.

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A medical error is defined by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) as “the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended, or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim.” A rather benign definition for what is a leading cause of death in the United States; with numbers far greater than fatalities attributed to automobile accidents (43,458), breast cancer (42,497) and AIDS (15,516).

The term “medical error” has become an umbrella to cover a multitude of mistakes in the health care system including mishandled surgeries, diagnostic errors, equipment failure and medication errors.

The Facts

A report from the IOM in 1999 has been the standard of statistics for medical errors for over ten years, with many quoting their estimate of 95,000 American deaths per year. The United Kingdom has reported a substantially lower number of 40,000, Canadians are lower still with 24,000, but Australia reports the lowest with just 18,000 per year.

The IOM’s report estimated that medical errors cost somewhere between $17 and $29 billion dollars. It called for sweeping improvements in patient safety and went on the record as stating that it would be “irresponsible to expect anything less than a 50% reduction in errors over five years.” This report resulted in seven high-profile hearings in Congress and the introduction of five medical error bills; but none were adopted and eventually the flurry died down.

A study performed in 2004 by HealthGrades found that the numbers hadn’t dropped by 50% but were in fact twice what was reported by the IOM. Using Medicare hospital records from 2000 to 2002 they determined that the actual number of deaths attributed to medical errors averaged 195,000 per year.

Dr. Samantha Collier, HealthGrades’ vice president of medical affairs, likens this to 390 jumbo jets full of people crashing each year, making it one of the leading causes of death in the United States; and these are “preventable, in-hospital medical errors”.

“If the Center for Disease Control’s annual list of leading causes of death included medical errors, it would show up as number six, ahead of diabetes pneumonia, Alzheimer’s disease and renal disease,” stated Dr. Collier.

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No one likes getting sick and we like it even less when it’s our children. The question is, how do we avoid getting sick? How can we be sure that the latest “bug” going around isn’t going to hit every member of our family? The answer is a healthy immune system.

What is the Immune System?

The immune system is the body’s natural defense against germs, bacteria or other illness causing foreign invaders. When an antigen or infecting organism enters the body the immune system begins to create antibodies to fight off the illness or disease.

Once this antibody has been created a person is typically immune from further infection, because a strong immune system has a capacity to remember the antibody and reproduce it rapidly to overcome the beginning stages of the illness.

What are the dangers of a weak immunity?

Clearly the first and most obvious danger is that we are more susceptible to illness once we’ve been exposed. However, there is the additional concern that once we have succumbed, we will find it more difficult to fight off the infection and will remain sick longer.

A typical cold shouldn’t last more than 3 or 4 days, but someone who is not living a wellness lifestyle and suffers from a weakened immune system could be ill for up to a week.

Does my diet affect my immunity?

The fact is that many of our daily choices can weaken our immune system, and the most critical is our diet. Research has proven that a diet high in bleached flour, salt and sugar can weaken our immune system leaving us susceptible to infecting organisms.

Perhaps most surprising is the negative effect that dairy can have on our immunity. While milk contains calcium and magnesium, which are vital nutrients for our body, and dairy products tend to be rich in Zinc, the extra work required by our body to digest these complicated proteins and milk-sugars wear out the body.

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We don’t typically associate childhood with stress. Children don’t have bills to pay, demanding jobs or kids of their own to worry over, so why would children possibly be stressed?

This may be how we think, but the sad fact is that children today are being diagnosed with high-anxiety, depression and a myriad of other psychological disorders resulting in more children being on psychosomatic drugs now than ever.

Bullying

There was a time when playground bullying was probably the worst source of stress that we could imagine for our children. Someone at school was making their little lives miserable and it was usually a child who was bigger, meaner, tougher, etc. Today we have a whole new arena for bullying. With internet social networking sites so popular, they have opened a door for children to be bullied 24/7, instead of just the seven or eight hours a day that they’re at school.

Recent studies have reported that bullying is affecting more than 1/3 of all school-age children and that more than 160,000 children will miss at least one day of school because of this. Most children reported a fear of speaking to an adult about the bullying out of fear of repercussions or the abuse escalating, so the cycle of stress is never broken.

Hyper-Parenting

Unfortunately another cause of stress for children comes from a surprising source: the parent. We all want what’s best for our kids, like a bright and successful future, but sometimes in our zeal we forget to allow time for them to be children.

If we over-schedule them with organized sports, dance classes, music lessons and self-improvement programs we don’t leave them time to be children. We convince ourselves that it’s best to keep kids busy but we forget that boredom is a catalyst for creativity.

Many children who have been over-scheduled grow to resent the attention placed on their lives and begin to wonder what’s wrong with them. They question why they need so much improvement and refinement, then retreat into a shell of insecurity, finding escape in video games and internet surfing. We lose the child in the pursuit of perfection.

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What was once considered a problem only suffered by adults has become a new concern for children. With the noticeable increase in childhood obesity the medical profession is claiming that there has been a dangerous rise in cardiovascular disease, especially among those children who have obese parents diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease.

What is Cholesterol?

A lipid, or fat, in the blood stream, cholesterol is a waxy substance produced by the liver and used by the body to make hormones and cell membranes. This means that cholesterol is naturally in the body regardless of what you eat, as your body produces about 1,000 milligrams of cholesterol each day.

All other cholesterol in our system comes from the foods we eat, such as egg yolks, meat, poultry, seafood and dairy products (i.e. milk, cheese and ice cream).

Good Cholesterol vs Bad Cholesterol

There are two kinds of lipoproteins – low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or “bad cholesterol” and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or “good cholesterol”. LDL are the primary cholesterol carriers, but if there’s too much in the blood stream they begin to clump and build up on the walls of the arteries that lead to the heart and the brain.

HDL carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it’s processed and sent out of the body. While high levels of bad cholesterol increase the risk for serious health complications the good cholesterol counteracts that risk by helping protect the circulatory system.

According to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NECP) the following are the typical guidelines for children and adolescents:

• LDL less than 110 mg/dL

• Total cholesterol level of less than 170 mg/dL

• LDL over 130 mg/dL or greater is high and a major concern

These children are typically placed on dietary and exercise regimens, but if this does not make a change within 3 to 6 months then the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children as young as 8 be placed on statins or cholesterol lowering medications.

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It’s six o’clock and you just picked up the kids from soccer practice, or perhaps you just got off work and picked up your children from day care; regardless, you’re running late and you know that there’s nothing prepared for dinner. The kids are asking for McDonald’s again and perhaps you’re thinking, “What’s the harm? It’s so much easier than going home and cooking. At this rate, we won’t eat until seven. Yes, I think McDonald’s is the answer.” McDonald’s is never the answer.

What’s the Harm?

The American Psychological Association has recognized that there is more to our obesity problem than just genes or lack of exercise. In a recent article, Dr. Kelly Brownell said that the problem isn’t so much a lack of self control as it is a “toxic food environment”. Every street corner has an option for fast food and none of them are healthy. Obviously, we know this, but the convenience outweighs a critical concern for our daily dietary needs being met.

Of course, Brownell acknowledges that genes and self- control play a role in obesity, diabetes and the myriad of other health problems that result from unhealthy eating habits; but, in his view, both face a losing battle against the overabundance and availability of bad or unhealthy food choices.

Brownell is particularly concerned about the advertising allowed for fast food restaurants. Joe Camel has been taken off billboards because of his obvious negative influence on our children and yet Ronald McDonald and his friends are considered cute so they take a starring role in commercials broadcast when children are most likely to be watching TV. “How different are they in their impact,” Brownell challenges, “In what they’re trying to get kids to do?”

High-fat, high-sugar and high-calorie abound, serving sizes keep increasing and, thanks to the drive-thru, the exercise we might have gotten by getting out of our cars and walking into the eating establishment has even been eliminated. In this western culture of convenience, it’s become too easy to give up on being healthy and just eat whatever we can get our hands on the fastest with no regard for the future health problems that will arise. Of course, diabetes and high blood pressure have become the least of our concerns.

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