1 November 21, 2008

Food Sources of Calcium and Vitamin D

Calcium and vitamin D are essential in our diet and not so easy to get unless you eat and drink a lot of dairy products.  So have a look at the information provided by the source below, and re-think your shopping list.  If you have difficulties getting enough vitamin D and calcium via foods, especially in the winter time, you might want to consider Nature Made Calcium Tablets with Vitamin D, 500 mg, 300-Count Bottles (Pack of 2) as a supplement to your diet.

Via: BC HealthFile

What is calcium and vitamin D?

Calcium is one of the many minerals that you need to be healthy. Calcium is very important to ensure strong, healthy bones and teeth. It also helps muscles and nerves to work properly. In addition, calcium may help you to manage your weight and blood pressure, and play a role in preventing colon cancer. Vitamin D helps you to absorb and use calcium and has other health benefits.

How much calcium and vitamin D do I need?

Recommended Calcium Intake
Age (Male and Female)
0-6 months 210 mg/day
7-12 months 270 mg/day
1-3 years 500 mg/day
4-8 years 800 mg/day
9-18 years 1300 mg/day
19-50 years 1000 mg/day
Over 50 years 1200 mg/day

Recommended Vitamin D Intake

Age (Male and Female)
0-1 year 400 IU/day
1-50 years 200 IU/day
51-70 years 400 IU/day
Over 70 years 600 IU/day

People with osteoporosis may need more calcium and vitamin D. Check with your doctor.

What foods contain calcium?

Breastfeeding is the best way to meet your baby’s calcium needs. Infant formula provides calcium for babies who cannot be breastfed.

Dairy foods are very high in calcium, especially milk, yogurt and cheese. Other good sources include calcium-enriched orange juice, rice beverages, and soy beverages. For more information, see Food Sources of Calcium below.

What foods contain vitamin D?

There are only a few food sources of vitamin D. Good sources of vitamin D are fortified foods and beverages like milk, soy drinks, and margarine. Check the labels on these foods. Fish, liver, and egg yolk are the only foods that naturally contain vitamin D.

If you do not eat vitamin D rich foods often, you may want to consider taking a vitamin D supplement. Most multiple vitamin supplements contain vitamin D. Breastfed babies under 1 year of age need 400 IU of vitamin D from a supplement each day. People over 50 need extra vitamin D and should take 400 IU from a supplement each day.

More Information and Lists of Calcium and Vitamin D Sources

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November 20, 2008 | Filed Under health news | Leave a Comment 

Raw Food for Your Feline Friend

Via: NaturalNews

If you are a cat owner, more than likely you understand the importance of providing your feline friend with optimal nutrition. Your cat’s nutrition can be a very confusing topic if you are like a lot of pet owners out there. Nutrition is not a simple topic to cover; the amount of contradictory information available is enough to make a professional animal caregiver cringe. When you take your cat to the vet for a routine checkup you are told she’s overweight and given a wet food to try. The wet food is important because cats don’t drink enough water to stay fully hydrated on a dry commercial food diet. The first three ingredients on the can read: water, liver and beef. Those ingredients don’t look so bad. Since canned food is predominantly water, why wouldn’t the first ingredient be water? Notice how general the ingredients are though. Liver, well there aren’t many mammals that don’t have one of those. Beef is a little more specific but then you are left wondering about the quality; Was it a downer cow? The list of ingredients on this particular food is well over 20, many just as vague as the first few. As you move through the ingredients list you come across quite a few ingredients that you can’t pronounce and don’t know what are. Would you eat something with an ingredients list like this? Would you eat it every day of your life? Do you feel like this would promote a happy and healthy life? If these questions resonate with you, raw food may be a good option.

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November 19, 2008 | Filed Under health news | Leave a Comment 

Headaches 2

chives, ginger, peppermint, pumpkin, squash, watermelon

  • If your headaches are due to sinus congestion when you have a cold or flu, a tea made of ginger and chives may give you relief within 20 minutes or less:  chop 1-1/2 tbsps of chives and shred 1/2 tsp of ginger root finely, and add to 1 cup of boiling water.  Cover with a flat plate and let steep for 30 minutes, then strain.  Drink while still lukewarm.
  • Likewise, peppermint tea will relieve the pressure of migraines and headaches.  Bring to a boil 1 pint of water, remove from heat,  Then add 2 tbsps of mint, fresh or dried, and let steep for 50 minutes, covered.  Strain and drink cool.  In addition, relief can be achieved by rubbing a little bit of Peppermint Oil - 4 oz. - EssOil on either side of the temples and towards the back of the neck.
  • Freshly scraped pulp of pumpkin or yellow or orange squash can be applied to forehead and temples.  Its cooling effect will relieve splitting headaches.  The same pulp can be applied to the side of the face, neck and throat to relive neuralgia.
  • If you have a watermelon handy, tie the thick rind around your forehead and temples to relive severe headaches and migraines.

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November 19, 2008 | Filed Under health news | Leave a Comment 

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