Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category
Detox: What Is It and Who Needs It?
Posted by admin in Lifestyle, Nutrition, Recipes, balance your body on April 9th, 2010
Just as many people spring clean their homes, spring is a natural time to detox your body.
Caveat: Over the years I have noticed that patients who are really run down and exhausted or have trouble with thyroid hormone production/uptake tend not to benefit as much (in general) as others. With these patients I usually focus on regulating thyroid hormones production/uptake or generally strengthening their system before we get to detox.
Am I a good candidate for detox right now?
To get the most out of detox it’s important that you are:
1) Eating a clean, detox friendly diet. Food and beverages such as sugar, caffeine, most dairy, alcohol, fatty meats, processed meats, fried foods and processed foods/junk will all work against your detox efforts. Lean meats, fresh fruits and veggies, legumes, whole grains and water are where’s it’s at food-wise when it comes to detox.
2) Are not currently experiencing a high level of anxiety or stress or tension. While detox can help patients feel less stressed and tense, the hormones your body pumps out in times of increased anxiety, stress and tension are viewed as toxins by your body and will usually interfere with your results.
3) Are not smoking. Cigarrette smoke is nothing if not toxic. With such a large quantity of toxins going into your system, detox will probably only make you nauseated or feel sick at best.
4) Are having daily bowel movements that are not too small. Detox can help with bowel function, but it’s also important to have some measure of a good bowel movement every day before you detox. As stool sits in your colon, toxins get reabsorbed. Some patients tell me that having bowel movements every 2-3 days is just the way their body is. Sorry, but no. As I tell them, “If you are eating every day, you need to be having bowel movements every day.”
Here are two former blog posts that explain everything else:
What is Detox??
TC
Oh, Those Wintertime Blues
Posted by admin in Exercise, Lifestyle, Nutrition, balance your body on January 13th, 2010
Just because it’s cold and gray outside, it doesn’t mean you have to feel blue. Or depressed. Or blah.
Many people do feel blah or blue or depressed throughout the winter, however. Fortunately, there are lots of reasons for this — and if you can find the reason(s), you can find the solution.
Read more…
Where, oh where, has my vitamin D gone?
Many people are vitamin D deficient all year round, but when the sun goes away during the winter, this gets worse.
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with depression. Many people feel an emotional lift when they bring their vitamin D levels up to normal. I know I did.
Click here for the vitamin D test to ask your doctor or naturopath for.
Winter couch potato syndrome
For some people, any excuse not to exercise is a good excuse.
Whether you go outside for a walk, a run, join a gym, play sports or use a DVD and workout in your TV room exercising is key.
It helps to boost your mood and your self-esteem. Don’t think too much about it — just go for it.
I like to workout as soon as I get up. Before I leave my bedroom, I put my workout clothes on, I go to the kitchen for a quick protein shake and then start exercising. Since there’s no time to think about it, there’s no time to come up with any excuses.
I have other patients who like to go straight to the gym after work. When you make it your routine to go straight from the office to the gym, it’s much easier. If you go home first, the chances that you won’t go back out are pretty high.
Lonliness will not make you happy
When it’s cold and dark or maybe drizzling icy-cold rain, it can be very tempting to just stay in by yourself.
Resist the urge and go outside. Plan a get-together with friends, drop by a friend’s house for a short chat, or visit family. Worse case-scenario, go hang out in a coffee shop or bookstore.
Make sure to plan regular get-togethers with friends in advance.
At the end of that get-together, suggest scheduling the next one so you always have something coming up. I do this with a couple of my friends and it works great — we’ve always got something with each other on the calendar and since it’s the last thing we did at our previous get-together, making plans is almost effortless.
Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun
If you can, go south. Soak up some sun and you’ll feel better for a while for it. It will give you something to look forward to and you’ll feel great while you’re there.
A nice, sunny locale in the middle of three months of gray and brown is just what your naturopath ordered.
Take a bunch of pictures, put them on your screensaver and let yourself remember how great it felt to be there.
Grief, grieving, grieved
Unresolved grief is aggravated by the above factors. Unresolved grief is grief from your past that has not been properly worked through.
Grief can easily get stuffed into our body and stay there, until we process it in a healthy way.
This is a huge topic and one that I will cover in another newsletter. But know that if you never cry or easily cry (movies, commercials, sad stories etc.), you’ve probably got unresolved grief that needs to be dealt with.
TC
Recipe: Mexican Sweet Potato and Chicken
Posted by admin in Nutrition, Recipes, balance your body on January 12th, 2010
Wintertime is a great time of year to use sweet potatoes — they have a wonderful warmth and comfort to them.
If you are trying to lose weight or tend to gain weight easily, it’s important to remember that starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes are just that — starchy. At a meal with 1/2 to 1 sweet potato per person, you don’t need more carbohydrates such as pasta, rice or bread.
If you are used to eating pasta/rice/bread with each meal, this might sound startling. Almost every woman I see in my office who wants to lose weight is eating too many carbohydrates throughout the day. Carbs are not bad for you, but too many will definitely lead to weight gain.
Too few carbs (eg. Atkins diet) may help you lose weight quickly, but it will (a) cause other imbalances in your system and (b) be temporary because low-carb is extremely difficult, as well as unhealthy, to maintain long-term.
Here’s a simple recipe that I conjured up one day with what I had in my fridge and it turned out delicious. As always, there are no measurements. Don’t forget to cook a non-starchy vegetable on the side!
Ingredients:
Sweet potato - 1/2 to 1 per person; chopped into small cubes
Chicken breast - 3-4 oz per person; cooked without oil or with minimal oil (roasted, steamed, poached, stir-fried) and sliced
Fresh cilantro - chopped
Garlic - minced or organic garlic powder
Cherry tomatoes - halved
Extra virgin olive oil - 2 teaspoons per person.
Salt - Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt - to taste
Organic salsa — I especially like Banditos Medium and Neal Brothers Medium. (I buy at Highland Farms.)
Instructions:
1. Steam the sweet potato cubes.
2. Mix steamed cubes with cherry tomatoes, cilantro, garlic and salt to taste.
3. Add salsa to taste and mix.
4. Top with sliced chicken breast (cooked any way you like from the above options) and drizzle with 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Enjoy!
TC
A Better Sweetener
Stevia is your best bet as a sweetener.
Stevia is my first choice
Stevia is a no-calorie sweetener made from a plant in South America. This plant has some bitterness to it and some companies do a better job of removing the bitterness than others.
Some people taste the bitterness more than others as well. I personally don’t taste this bitterness at all and so I love using stevia.
I have some patients who can really taste this bitterness and they absolutely hate it.
There is only one way to know — try it for yourself!
TC
Canned Salmon and Sardines
Eating out of a can isn’t something you should do frequently, but when you do, eat the bones.
I saw an ad yesterday for a new canned salmon product — no skin, no bones.
No skin is fine.
But no bones? You’re better off with bones. It makes that little can of salmon packed wih calcium. This is the same reason why sardines have so much calcium.
And calcium is best absorbed in a meal with fat, so they make a great pair.
While we’re on the subject of canned foods, read this.
How much calcium? Just read the side of whatever can you buy and it will be listed.
TC
Food Sensitivities and the Holidays
Posted by admin in Lifestyle, Nutrition, balance your body on December 2nd, 2009
Caveat: Only for the serious
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Important Information: This newsletter isn’t for those who have a history of, or currently have anorexia, bulimia or any kind of issue where you tend to starve yourself or obsess over food in an unhealthy way. If you restrict yourself to less than 1000 calories per day (which is less calories than any healthy adult needs), this is not for you. If you are currently in treatment for any kind for food-related issue, the suggestions below are not for you. Many of the word-pictures in this newsletter are written to get across a point and because I like to use my brand of humour in my writing.
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I decided to turn my weight loss post/newsletter into a post about minimizing food sensitivity exposure over the holidays. If you’ve read both, you’ll notice lots of similarities.
This is a straight-to-the-point newsletter and is for people who are serious about minimizing their exposure to their food sensitivities and intolerances over the holidays.
Some people have very mild food reactions and others have more pronounced reactions that really interfere with their quality of life.
If you are determined to minimize your exposure and keep feeling good all through the holiday season, then read on.
Still with me? Great! Read this today. Then print it off and read it a few times per week throughout December. Look out for your fellow food-sensitive person and pass it along.
Now, let’s get started.
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Avoiding your sensitivities can be tough for many people, what with all the holiday parties and holiday treats lurking around the office.
It’s all about your price: Is the price you pay for eating the foods you are sensitive and/or intolerant to not so bad, or way too great? The only who knows this is you.
Keep your eyes on the prize:
Feeling good physically throughout the holidays and into January.
Action Steps
1) Write it down. Go to Staples or Indigo and buy a little book with a little pen/penci and carry it around with you. Write down everything you eat all day long
Keeping a food log in this way keeps you honest and brings your attention back to the present and to what you are doing. This also forces you to pause for a few moments so you can really decide if this is the indulgence you want.
2) Keep your exercise/gym routine. Why? You’ll feel better about yourself and people who feel better about themselves make healthier food choices.
3) Go to parties on a stomach full of protein and vegetables and healthy carbohydrates. Eat your healthy dinner before you go. This will help keep those cravings and party binges to a minimum.
And make sure you eat your regular meals throughout the day as well. Starving yourself all day will make you binge in the evening. You’ll be so hungry, you’ll forget all about what you wanted to avoid until it’s too late.
4) Pick your parties. Let’s just be frank about it party-goers — some parties have better food than others. Decide beforehand at which parties you will indulge.
If you are too much of a free spirit for that, then when you are about to indulge (before you pick something up and put it on your plate) think to yourself, “If I indulge here, I will only have one other indulgence left for the week (see below). Is this worth it?”
Sometimes the answer will be a resounding, “Yes!” and other times, you may even shock yourself, it will be a “No, actually this isn’t really worth it.”
If you indulge everyday, you will have many food reactions. Two snack-sized indulgences per week most likely will not set you off course as long as you don’t binge. Which, if you are following #2 above, shouldn’t be a problem.
5) The Office Conundrum. Always have healthy snacks on you at the office, especially those that contain protein. Realize that the flood of office treats will make you react/flare-up before the holidays have even started.
If will-power is not your strong suit, don’t let anyone put any treat on your desk that you would not give your right arm to eat. If they do, physically remove it immediately.
Nine times out of ten the office treats aren’t that great — save your indulgences for later ( two per week max as per #3). If someone brings in their homemade treat baked with the help of the gods, go ahead and indulge but make sure to write it down as per #1.
And make sure to sit back and s-a-v-o-u-r your indulgence. Turn your computer screen off and sit back in your chair. Since you are going to pay for this with a physical reaction, you might as well have maximum enjoyment.
5) Make it a 10. How many times have you eaten something at a party and then thought, “Why did I eat that whole thing? It wasn’t even that good!” Take a bite or a small piece of something and if it’s not a 10 out of 10, don’t eat anymore. Find something that’s a 10 and make that your indulgence. Or defer your indulgence to your next party.
And what if everything at the party is a 10?
There are two options here:
Option No. 1: Take a very small piece of 4 or 5 different treats. Enough for a small mouthful of each. Then, as you indulge in each one, remember to s-a-v-o-u-r. Maximum flavour is obtained in that first bite and whether it’s a small bite or a large bit doesn’t make any difference to the taste.
Option No. 2: You’ll need to exercise some self-discipline, which shouldn’t be too hard if you (a) have a stomach full of veggies and protein and (b) keep your focus on what you want more: this umpteenth dessert, the enjoyment of which will quickly become just a vague blur on the sea of food reactions that was also known as “December” or to feel comfortable in your body — no achy joints, miserable digestive systems or angry skin.
Remember: Eyes. Prize.
TC
Holidays and Your Weight: The Contingency Plan
Posted by admin in Exercise, Lifestyle, Nutrition, balance your body on November 26th, 2009
Caveat: Only for the serious
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Important Information: This newsletter isn’t for those who have a history of, or currently have anorexia, bulimia or any kind of issue where you tend to starve yourself or obsess over food in an unhealthy way. If you restrict yourself to less than 1000 calories per day (which is less calories than any healthy adult needs), this is not for you. If you are currently in treatment for any kind for food-related issue, the suggestions below are not for you. Many of the word-pictures in this newsletter are written to get across a point and because I like to use my brand of humour in my writing. If you feel hatred or disgust because of the size or shape of your body, counselling and/or psychotherapy would be of greater benefit than my suggestions.
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This is a straight-to-the-point newsletter and is only for people who are serious about controlling their weight over the holiday season. If gaining 5 or 10 pounds or so over the holidays is no big deal to you, then this isn’t for you.
If you are determined to stay the course and keep on track with your weight loss (and not be forced to wear only skirts in January), then read on.
Still with me? Great! Read this today. Then print it off and read it a few times per week throughout December. Look out for your fellow women and send it to your friends as well.
Now, let’s get started.
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As I often tell my patients, “If weight loss was easy, everyone would be a healthy weight.”
Not gaining weight during the holiday season can be tough for many people, what with all the holiday parties and holiday treats lurking around the office.
But if you have currently been working with a goal of losing or maintaining your current weight, keep your eyes on the prize. When January comes around, you will still have great memories of times spent with friends and family but what you won’t have is more weight to lose.
The same memories with none of the extra weight.
It is entirely possible to indulge over the holiday season and still not gain weight.
And no, I’m not talking about using diet pills, carb blockers or anything else that comes in the form of a pill.
It’s not about a pill.
What I’m talking about it continuing to take good care of yourself, make smart food choices and continuing to make time for yourself in the midst of the busy Christmas season. Just think of how proud you will be in January — and you’ll still fit into your pants!
If you are currently seeing me as a patient for weight loss, chances are very good that I have you on the FLT (First Line Therapy) Plan. If you stick to this food plan, with the exception of your indulgences and action steps as outlined below and you should be fine.
Action Steps
1) Write it down. Go to Staples and buy a little book with a little pen and carry it around with you. Write down everything you eat all day long. Don`t leave anything out.
People who write down what they eat throughout the day (write it down just before you eat it) lose weight just from that.
Keeping a food log in this way keeps you honest and brings your attention back to the present and to what you are doing. If it wasn’t scientifically proven to work, I’d say it was magic.
2) Keep your exercise/gym routine. I know it is a very busy time of year for many people, but when it comes to exercise you’ll need to pay now or pay double later.
Pay now with gym time to maintain your current weight / keep up with your weight loss or pay double in January when it’s cold and grey and you are doing your best to motivate yourself to work out extra hard to shed those holiday pounds.
3) Go to parties on a stomach full of protein and vegetables. Skip the carbohydrates at home at the last meal you eat immediately pre-party. You’ll be eating more than enough carbs at the party, so skip the starchy vegetables or grains at home. Eat your protein and non-starchy vegetables before you go. This will help keep those cravings and party binges to a minimum.
But please be aware that a low-carb diet is not the answer and is not healthy for you. Eat your carbs throughout the day, but at that last meal before you go to the party, just have protein and non-starchy veggies.
And make sure you eat your regular meals throughout the day as well. Starving yourself all day will make you binge in the evening and your body will hoard fat and calories.
4) Pick your parties. Let’s just be frank about it party-goers — some parties have better food than others. Decide beforehand at which parties you will indulge.
If you are too much of a free spirit for that, then when you are about to indulge (before you pick something up and put it on your plate) think to yourself, “If I indulge here, I will only have one other indulgence left for the week (see below). Is this worth it?”
Sometimes the answer will be a resounding, “Yes!” and other times, you may even shock yourself, it will be a “No, actually this isn’t really worth it.”
If you indulge everyday, you will gain weight. Two meals OR snacks as indulgences per week most likely will not set you off course as long as you don’t binge. Which, if you are following #2 above, shouldn’t be a problem.
5) The Office Conundrum. Always have healthy snacks on you at the office, especially those that contain protein. Realize that the flood of office treats will make you gain weight before the holidays have even started.
If will-power is not your strong suit, don’t let anyone put any treat on your desk that you would not give your right arm to eat. If they do, physically remove it immediately.
Start a pact with some of the other girls (or guys) at the office, that you will not sabotage each other with treats.
Nine times out of ten the office treats aren’t that great — save your indulgences for later ( two per week max as per #3). If someone brings in their homemade treat baked with the help of the gods, go ahead and indulge but make sure to write it down as per #1.
And make sure to sit back and s-a-v-o-u-r your indulgence. Turn your computer screen off and sit back in your chair.
5) Make it a 10. How many times have you eaten something at a party and then thought, “Why did I eat that whole thing? It wasn’t even that good!” Take a bite or a small piece of something and if it’s not a 10 out of 10, don’t eat anymore. Find something that’s a 10 and make that your indulgence. Or defer your indulgence to your next party.
And what if everything at the party is a 10?
There are two options here:
Option No. 1: Take a very small piece of 4 or 5 different treats. Enough for a small mouthful of each. Then, as you indulge in each one, remember to s-a-v-o-u-r. Maximum flavour is obtained in that first bite and whether it’s a small bite or a large bit doesn’t make any difference to the taste.
Option No. 2: You’ll need to exercise some self-discipline, which shouldn’t be too hard if you (b) have a stomach full of veggies and protein and (2) keep your focus on what you want more: this umpteenth dessert, the enjoyment of which will quickly become just a vague blur on the sea of sugar, flour and butter that was also known as “December” or to have your clothes fit on New Year’s Eve or in January.
Remember: Eyes. Prize.
TC
What is detox??
Posted by admin in Lifestyle, Nutrition, balance your body on September 29th, 2009
Does anyone know what detox is?
Some people do, but there are a lot of misconceptions out there.
This is my (second, I believe) attempt to dispel some of those.
Just because things are coming out of your body, doesn’t mean you are detoxing
So many so-called detox products have laxatives in them. Taking laxatives, having more bowel movements, having diarrhea and getting `cleaned out` is not detoxing anymore than vomiting or hemorrhaging is detoxing. (Sorry to be so blatant, but I want you to understand this.)
Detoxing bars of soap, face washes etc., etc.
Marketing gimicks. That`s all.
Detoxing shampoos.
There are shampoos that completely strip your hair of product build-up, remove chlorine from swimmer`s hair and so on. Kind of like floor stripper. Taking product build-up and the like off your hair is good. But you are not detoxing anything. You don`t need to detox your hair; hair is dead tissue once it leaves your scalp.
Detox is slang
The word detox is short for detoxification. Our body has naturally occuring pathways of detoxification. To detox or to detoxify is the verb that comes from this.
Wherefore art thou detox pathways?
In the liver. Our body`s natural pathways of detoxification are located in the liver.
This is not an alternative health concept; look up p450 system in any physiology book (or on Wikipedia for that matter) and it will be there.
These pathways function 24 hours per day, 7 days per week in everyone, except in cases of genetic abnormalities and some liver disease, to put it very simply.
Where the alternative health industry steps in and confuses everyone
The idea of detoxing came from this:
Our liver`s pathways of detoxification can only do so much — they are chemical pathways and like any chemical pathways they have a limit on how much they can do.
Many people have more toxins coming into their system than their liver can handle. Over the last few hundred years there has been a huge increase in pollution, chemicals on and in our food, pharmaceutical drug use and stress levels (a high stress level also causes our body to produce toxins).
Since this increase has been fairly rapid (in terms of evolution a few hundred years is practically nothing), our system has not correspondingly evolved.
That is, the amount of toxins coming into our body has drastically increased, but our capacity to detoxify them has not correspondingly increased.
So things get backed up. (I`m not taking about constipation here.) Think of it as a line up of toxins, waiting to get into the liver to be processed. Waiting and waiting.
Are toxins impatient? Is waiting a problem?
Yes they are and yes it is.
As they wait, they cause damage to tissues and cells.
They create free radicals that speed up aging and wrinkles.
They often get deposited in our tissues — organs, glands, muscles, fat cells. As they sit in our tissues, things in general just don`t work as well.
All things being equal, all livers are not so equal
Some people have a liver that detoxifies much more effectively than others. This is just genetics.
Some things slow the liver detox pathways down
Eg. Sugar, alcohol, junk food, skipping meals, fasting (yes, fasting), stress, not enough vitamins and minerals.
Some things speed the liver detox pathways up and/or let them function properly
Eg. Fruits, vegetables, exercise, relaxation techniques, certain herbs, certain supplements.
At some point are you going to tell me what detoxing is?
Yes; here you go:
Detoxing, in the alternative medicine sense of the word, is using any combination of herbs, supplements, dietary and lifestyle changes to maximize the efficiency of the liver`s natural detoxification pathways in order to
(1) Get the backlog of toxins processed.
(2) Allow the body to take some of the toxins from the tissues and process those as well.
Once processed, the toxins can be safely eliminated through the kidneys and bowels.
That`s all for now; stay tuned for more detoxing info.
TC
Don’t worry — we promise these chemicals are nice and safe.
Posted by admin in Lifestyle, Nutrition, balance your body on September 29th, 2009
We are exposed to so many chemicals everyday that we really have no idea just how much.
Some chemicals are unavoidable and there is no sense worrying about these.
But there are a lot of chemicals that are easily avoidable and it is in your best interest to avoid these chemicals as often as possible.
Here’s the thing with the mountain of chemicals we are exposed to everyday:
There is a TON that we don’t know about what they are doing to our body.
Don’t be mislead because some person with a chemistry degree tells you it’s fine. I have a chemistry degree too (well, a minor in chemistry — same ballpark) and I whole-heartedly disagree.
There is sooooo much that we don’t know, it is so much better to err on the side of less chemicals rather than chemicals currently presumed to be safe.
For water bottles, get Kleen Kanteen or use glass. Pistachio at Yonge and Eglinton carries a great, light glass water bottle that is getting very good feedback. They are nice looking too!
The good thing about the Kleen Kanteen is that they are super sturdy and will not break if you drop them. They will also not leak in your bag — I carry mine in my purse all the time. And with a nice wide neck, the 500ml Kleen Kanteen washes nicely in the dishwasher.
I would advise against putting protein shakes or green food powders in there though; more than once I had to use some elbow grease and a bottle brush to get it clean. Stick to water.
No Wonder There is so Much Confusion!
Posted by admin in Nutrition, balance your body on September 29th, 2009
There is so many mixed messages out in the media about what is healthy and what is not healthy. No wonder so many people are confused about what food is and is not healthy.
Why, why, why?
One of the most common questions I get from patients is, “If it’s not good for you, why are they allowed to say it’s good for you?”
Marketing. Sales. Profits.
Health? No, no….that’s not the point. Sales and profits are the point.
I just caught a few minutes of a morning show…
…and on this show they were talking about saving money at the grocery store. I didn’t catch the whole thing, but what I did catch fired me up enough to open up my blog and write this post.
TV Tip: Instead of buying frozen/refrigerated pasta, buy old-fashioned pasta in cans. The pasta is already cooked and in sauce, so you don’t even have to boil water! And it`s non-fat, whereas the other pasta has lots of fat.
Me: Are you kidding me?? First of all, the frozen/refrigerated pasta had cheese (and probably cream and/or vegetable oil in it). So of course there is going to be lots of fat - that’s the jist of high-fat dairy.
So they suggested the old-fashioned canned pasta in sauce. Canned foods, as a general rule, are not good for you. There are some foods that are okay to use canned sometimes (sardines, legumes) but that`s about it. Having meals that come out of a can is not a good idea.
And while I`m on it, let me say that although I`m all for old-fashioned, just because something is the way ”it always was when I was a kid”, it doesn`t mean it’s good for you.
About 50 or so years ago, the pesticide truck used to drive down residential streets and spray lawns with chemicals. People would take lawn chairs and sit on their front lawns while they were being sprayed as a form of entertainment. I guess there wasn’t much going on in many suburban neighbourhoods and this was exciting. (I’m not kidding.) But now we know better and some communities are banning pesticides on lawns altogether.
But I digress…
A healthy alternative would be to buy dried and/or fresh plain pasta, a healthy jar of sauce and add a bunch of vegetables and sauteed/stir-fried meat/chicken/fish.
TV tip: Since most orange juice is just reconstituted orange juice concentrate anyways, you might as well save some money and just buy the concentrate and add the water yourself. There is a huge savings of about $5 with this one.
Me: Ah, the illusion of choice. Would you like this one or that one? Maybe I would like neither.
If you are going to buy orange juice (or any juice) make sure it’s not from concentrate at all.
But something important to know is this: juice isn’t good for you. You read that right. Juice isn’t good for you.
Juice is processed by your body the exact same way as if it were sugar-water. By the time you buy orange juice in the store, the vitamin C is long gone and all you have is a liquid with a ton of sugar in it.
Eat the fruit. Fruit is full of fiber and it slows down how quickly the sugar enters your bloodstream. Eat the fruit instead of drinking the juice.
And no, kids don’t need juice. Of course they like it, but this is for the same reason they like cake and cookies: they are full of sugar. Teach them to eat fruit and you’ll be planting some very good ideas in your child about healthy food choices.
Save on juice by not buying it at all! (Now there’s a tip!)
TC