The past few weeks have been interesting, to say the least. Woke up at 3am one morning with excruciating pain down my right side. After I came to the realization that the pain was NOT going away, I drove myself to Urgent Care to see what was up. To make a long story short the diagnosis was 1) kidney infection and 2) 1.2cm kidney stone which was blocking the opening to my ureter. Lethal combination! The Dr. put in a ureter stent (Thank God I was under General Anesthesia!) and then I went back in a week later for lithotripsy. Hopefully, Dr. will give me a clean bill of health this week, the stent will be removed, and I will celebrate putting this all behind me!
Well…maybe not totally behind me. I am now following a very strict nutrition plan and putting my health first. There is nothing worse than getting sick when you have 2 little ones at home and a full time job, among other things. The good news is that kidney stone prevention primarily comes down to 1 thing: Water. Since my health issues can be traced to a period of dehydration from a bout of food poisoning, it is very very clear how important staying hydrated is! There are some other nutritional remedies as well: ex: minimize animal protein and oxalates, but water remains the critical element to staying healthy. Add fresh lemons to the water and you have a natural way to keep stones and other health issues at bay! I am drinking at least 10-12 glasses of water per day and already seeing positive results.
One troubling thing my Dr. told me is that since I am prone to kidney stones, my daughters may be too. The other troubling fact I have learned over these past weeks is that more and more children, men and women are suffering from kidney stones these days. Research is showing that this may be due to poor eating and drinking habits. All the more reason to jump on the nutrition and fitness bandwagon!
I have always encouraged the kids to drink water and have even purchased fun, Sigg water bottles they like to carry around with them. Now I am even more persistent about increasing their water intake, especially since we are in the summer months. They have come to enjoy the “lemonade” I have been making every morning, which basically consists of fresh lemon juice, water and ice (no sugar). I keep a glass water pitcher filled and on the counter every day.
I guess life did hand me lemons both literally and figuratively! The best thing I can do now is make lemonade. Lots of it.
Ahhhh…..anything with the term “Bliss” in it should be fabulous, right? Well, I am blissfully happy to provide this first review in the Kidtrition.org product review series on one of my favorite non-dairy treats: Coconut Bliss. Disclaimer: this is an unsolicited product review, i.e. I have no affiliation with the company (Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss) that makes this product.
Over the past few months, I have been trying to decrease the amount of dairy in our diets…cheese, ice cream, milk, etc. This is primarily for health reasons: lowering cholesterol, bad fats, processed sugar. So I have been subtly swapping out regular milk for almond milk, cheese for hummus/bean spreads. My older daughter is doing fine with the substitution…my 5 year old is still not too keen on almond milk. But I will still experiment until I find healthy substitutes the kids love. On a recent trip to Whole Foods, they were giving out samples of Coconut Bliss ice cream. It was love at first taste! The kids went crazy over it and I immediately found my guilty pleasure, Dark Chocolate Coconut Bliss. It has a wonderful creamy texture and fantastic dark chocolate taste. I have eaten it plain, put it in smoothies and we have yet to get tired of it. We have tried Dark Chocolate, Cherry Amaretto, Cappuccino and Naked Coconut. The kids love the Dark Chocolate and Cherry Amaretto, were neutral on Capuccino and did not like Naked Coconut (something about coconut flakes in the ice cream was a major turnoff for them).
The best thing about Coconut Bliss is that they use high quality, certified, fair trade ingredients. Instead of processed sugar, they add a natural agave sweetener. That is a huge plus for me. Coconut milk alone is quite healthy in moderation…much better than regular ice cream and you don’t get that sick, bloated feeling after eating it.
Overall, Coconut Bliss gets 4.5 out of 5 Kidtrition “apples”. The only reason it did not get 5 out of 5 is the cost. $5.95 per pint is a bit expensive, but you get what you pay for!
With the warmer months on the horizon, fruit and veggie season will be in full swing! My kids can eat fruit all day long, which is why I have become more cognizant of pesticide counts. The statistics on pesticide counts are quite horrific. Scrubbing/washing fruits and veggies does not decrease the pesticides either (something I just learned recently!). I am now very careful about buying organic when the food in question is on the “Dirty Dozen” list. Here is an excellent guide you can print out and take with you the next time you are at the grocery store or farmer’s market.
April 19, 2010 – 11:04 pm
I recently completed Michael Pollan’s book, Food Rules. It was a quick read and a book that will be well worn and tattered as it is intended to be referred to over and over again. The book brings back very simple principles that many of our parents and grandparents were raised on, yet somehow got lost over the years as processed food has taken over our grocery stores, menus and cabinets. The practical and simple advice this book provides is priceless. Pollan shows us that eating should not be as complicated as our Western Society has made it, and should not require a personal chef and/or large bank account to master.
Although the book is not intended as a child nutrition/eating manual, the principles can certainly be applied. ”Eat Food” is the very first principle and perhaps the most obvious. Eat food, not processed “concoctions”, as Pollan calls them. Get back to the basics of fruit, vegetables, real dairy, real meat. Now this is the type of advice a working mom like myself can follow in the grocery aisles. It will certainly save me time by cutting out the middle aisles of the grocery store! The challenge will be getting the kids to stop begging for Goldfish crackers and start desiring the real stuff that actually comes from a plant.
I plan to put Michael Pollan’s principles into practice. Not only do I think we will be healthier, but richer as well, as I do believe most of our grocery bill tends to go towards to the processed stuff vs. real food. So hopefully, more money in our pockets, to buy more real food!
March 23, 2010 – 10:46 pm
I have been very excited to see the increased focus on child nutrition and health over the past month. Jamie Oliver has taken this issue to a whole new level with his new reality show Food Revolution, which will premiere this Friday, March 26th. Check out Jamie’s excellent talk at TED2010. It really drives home the reality of childhood obesity and its devastating effects. Some of the footage is heartbreaking to watch. An obese 4 year old. A morbidly obese 16 year old who has 6 years to live. An obese mom who does not know how to provide healthy meals to her two obese children.
Like Jamie, I am passionate about this topic. Although I am not a chef (or a doctor or nutritionist), I am a mom of 2 young girls who will be exposed to all the unhealthy choices that are constantly put in front of them each day. Although I can control what is fed to them at home, once they are out the door, it is in the hands of their schools, after-school care providers and the multitude of bad eating establishments that encourage fast, unhealthy eating. So, what is a parent to do in this environment? First step is educating ourselves so that we can educate others, including our children to make the right choice. I launched kidtrition.org to provide best practices and interesting content to help with this first step and encourage all of you to join kidtrition.org to help pass on the message that yes, Health Matters.
January 6, 2010 – 1:56 am
We are getting very close to launching our site and hope you will add Kidtrition.org to your list of 2010 New Year’s Resolutions! Check back here in January for engaging content, insights and recipes that promote children’s health.
The Kidtrition Team
Welcome to Kidtrition.org – we’re glad you’ve found us – as you can see, we’re in the early stages of development, so to speak…
Please be patient as we build out and start to publish the content for our site.
Thanks so much!
Kidtrition.org Read More »
