Baby Eating Habits ? Which Approach Do You Take-Toddler
Baby Eating Habits ? Which Approach Do You Take
One of the first decisions we make is if we breast feed or bottle feed our baby. This will be an emotional topic which ever option you choose. Nutrition is not just about preparing and serving food its much more complex and our own childhood experiences will have a great influence on this. Most parents will feel that the more their child eats the better. They feel that this is a reflection on their parenting and the more the child eats the more successful the parent. A child whose diet consists of dry cereal and juice will leave their parent feeling frustrated and embaressed, these emotions will not go unnoticed by the child and will have a knock on effect. In the case of a faddy eater this may cause the situation to get worse.Faddy eating is a normal stage in your childs development. A basic fact is that most children will go through a stage of faddy eating. This usually occurs during the toddler years when they go through a stage of being a bit obsessive about most things in their life. Most children go through an obsessive stage when they will only wear clothes of a ertain color or they will only eat one type of food. This is a very normal stage and will soon pass as long as the parent does not fall into the trap of focusing too much on the problem.The best approach to faddy eating is to stay calm, the chances of your child starving to death is very slim. As long as the child is drinking a lot of fluids and eating some food during the day he should be okay. Make sure that your child is getting the appropriate amount of vitamins and minerals, you can do this by putting a vitamin and mineral supplement into his drink, your local pharmasist can recommed one to suit your child. Most children will grow out of this phase, and for those who continue the high stress level of a parent will not help with the situation.All experts advise to keep all stress and arguments over food to a minimum. The more you focus on this the more you are aggravating the problem. Keep calm and tackle the situation clearly. Some practical tips to help you through this phase are:It is advisable for toddlers to drink one pint of milk per day. Measure up a pint glass of milk and leave this in the refriderator to be drawn from through out the day. A child should not drink more than this as they will fill up on milk leaving no room in the tummy for solid foods through out the day.At meal times don't give your child a drink until they are finished their meal as the fluids will give the sensation of being full and they will eat less food. This should encourage them to eat whats on their plate.The changing of a childs eating pattern will not happen over night. This will take some time and patents. Expect to make gradual progress with this phase.Your child doesn't have to get all its necessary food requirements at meal times. If your child refuses to sit down to a plate of food don't worry too much. A child can get all his food requirements from small nutritious snacks at regular intervals throughout the day. If your child accepts healthy snacks then these will help provide the range of nutrients they need.Don't take your childs eating habits personally. Sometimes a parent will get upset if their child is eating at cr
Hypertension, An Alternative Approach
Hypertension, An Alternative Approach
For many years high blood pressure has been defined based upon actuarial
tables prepared by life insurance companies. By that definition, blood pressure
of 140/90 is borderline hypertension in a person 40 years of age. The
suppressed fact is that blood pressure should rise by 5 points for every decade
of life. Therefore, 145/95 is borderline hypertension in a person of 50 years
old; 150/100, in a person 60 years of age, etc. However, that standard is
almost never applied in prescribing high blood pressure medications.Recently, a new standard is being applied: 120/80 (for years the gold standard
in blood pressure) has been redefined as "pre-hypertension," with the
recommendation that medication be prescribed. And, there is no allowance for
increasing age. So, we see headlines such as "Hypertension - An Emerging
Epidemic" on WebMD.Another very important fact is that most primary hypertension is diagnosed as
"idiopathic," which basically means the doctors do not know what's causing it.
We've had a variety of medical recommendations for years, but the overall
impact has been minimal (as evidenced by the statistic in paragraph 1, above).
These recommendations include: 1) drug therapy, 2) exercise, 3) dietary
restrictions on salt and fat, 4) weight loss, and 5)avoidance of drugs, including
tobacco and caffeine. The medical point of view is that lifestyle changes are
inadequate.2I would like to share with you the basic mechanism of "essential" or "idiopathic"
hypertension. These terms are applied to primary hypertension unrelated to an
underlying disease of the kidney or diabetes. Essential hypertension is the
body's physiologic response to insuring an adequate blood supply to the brain.For a moment, we need to digress so that you have a picture of how the
circulatory system for the brain works. Inside the cranial vault, the blood
reaches the brain through the carotid and vertebral arteries. It is drained out
into the jugular vein through a system of sinuses which are actually formed by
the meningeal membranes. The meningeal membranes (or dura) are the
fibrous structures which separate the lobes of the brain and actually give the
brain its shape. They include the falx cerebri (which divides the two cerebral
hemispheres), the tentorium cerebelli (which separates the cerebellum from the
occipital lobe of the cerebral hemispheres), the falx cerebelli (which divides the
cerebellar hemispheres) and the diaphragma sellae (which covers the
depression in the skull in which the pituitary resides).3 {You may visit my
website RichardsFamilyHealth.com and view the articles on "Cranial" to view a
cross section of these structures.}Being membranous, the dura is affected by distortions in the cranial vault,
resulting in twisting of the sinuses and restriction of the outflow of blood from
the brain. Therefore, to bring in more fresh blood and oxygen, higher
peripheral pressure is required to force through the blockage. While in school,
I was privileged to see a dissection of an unpreserved cadaver, demonstrating
the lines of stress in the dura due to cranial distortions. Strokes may occur
when the cranium shifts, suddenly allowing a surge of high pressure through
the fragile capillaries in the brain.Interesting confirmation of this mechanism comes from veterinary medicine. A
giraffe has a peripheral blood pressure of about 350/300 in order to get blood
to the brain. Yet, their intracranial pressure is very similar to humans. They
also have a specialized vascular structure at the base of their brain to
compensate for changes in pressure as they raise and lower their heads while
feeding and drinking. The critical point is that the higher pressure is necessary
to pump the blood up into the brain.So, the question becomes: What can be done about essential hypertension?
Probably the most effective way to control it is through cranial adjusting,
restoring normal motion to the cranial vault and removing the restrictions
which cause the pressure to rise. I have spoken to many alternative health
practitioners, and the consensus of opinion is that the effect of herbal
interventions is minimal, compared to the benefits of cranial adjusting. As an
added benefit, cranial therapy is completely free of side effects! {See my article
on the side effects of high blood pressure medications at
www.richardsfamilyhealth.com).}Of course, if there is underlying pathology, either diabetes or renal disease,
that process needs to be addressed as well. In many instances, that means
herbal therapy or nutritional supplements.References1 The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention,
Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure, JAMA 2003:289-
2560-712 www.healthybp.com, sponsored by Novartis, a major manufacturer of
blood pressure medications3 Goss, C.M., MD, Gray's Anatomy, 29th Ed., 1973, p 880Dr. Richards is a Diplomate of the American Board of Chiropractic Internists, a
certified herbalist, and a Fellow of the International Academy of Clinical
Acupuncture. She was recently awarded the distinction of being invited to
become a Fellow in the International College of Chiropractors. Dr. Richards has
been in practice for over eighteen years, teaches professionals, lectures, and is
currently working on several books. Her website is http://
http://www.richardsfamilyhealth.comDr. Richards can be reached at Richards Family Health Center (626) 963-1678.
A Lifestyle Approach to Remedy Snoring
A Lifestyle Approach to Remedy Snoring
If you want to remedy snoring, you have to find the underlying cause. Snoring is not an affliction like the common cold, where you wake up one morning and you've just got it. It is something that normally arrives slowly over time. Most people can't remember the day and date that their snoring started. It was sometime in my mid 30's or some such vague description is the normal response to a question on its arrival.The lifestyle approach to remedy your snoring, doesn't treat it as a condition or a disease. But rather treats snoring as a symptom, or a warning, that the body is out of balance.I like to think of snoring like the ground proximity alarm in a modern jet aircraft. (The one that goes "WOOP! WOOP! PULL UP! PULL UP!", if the aircraft gets too close to the ground when it's not supposed to). If you are a pilot, you'd prefer not to hear it. But if you did, you would be grateful for the warning before dire consequences arrived. I'm sure the warning siren must be very annoying when it is activated but a lot less painful than the alternative. Likewise snoring is annoying, but not responding to the warning may have more serious consequences.The above example may seem extreme but the reality is there has been an enormous amount of research in recent years linking snoring to a range of serious conditions such as hypertension and coronary disease.The human body is a truly amazing machine. It has the ability to self regulate a complex array of interacting chemical and electrical processes within fine tolerances. This ability of homeostasis means the body can keep the internal systems (e.g. blood pressure, body temperature, acid-base balance) in equilibrium despite changes in the external environment.However if the body is subjected to persistent extreme conditions outside the normal bounds of function then it may not be able to rectify the situation without help. For instance if your body gets cold, it starts to shiver to maintain its core body temperature. But if your body is subjected to sub zero temperatures without any external heating then shivering alone will not be able to stop the inevitable deadly conclusion. But the act of shivering is, in itself, a warning for you to take some action; put some warmer clothes on for example.Snoring can be set off by a number of different balance upsets such as your diet, your breathing, your stress levels, and your physical environment. If you systematically work through these factors two important things are going to happen. You're eventually going to stop snoring and you'll end up with a healthier body.Once you start you may be pleasantly surprised, as often, a snoring solution doesn't always require a big change in your lifestyle.About The AuthorCopyright