Should You Avoid Food Additives and Coloring?
Apr 25, 2009 Eco Friendly Home, Eco Friendly Parenting, Green Health
As a rule, I like to cook from scratch. Mostly because I enjoy it, but also because I like knowing what goes into the foods I feed my family. That’s not to say I don’t allow any packaged foods at all; my husband remains hooked on boxed mac n’ cheese, and so the kids love it too. We also enjoy boxed cereals. But I do what I can to avoid convenience foods and prepared foods.
Frankly, I find obvious food coloring to be pretty gross and unnecessary. We eat so many things that are a very different color from what they would be naturally and have been trained to think that that is how they are supposed to look. Kind of ridiculous when you think about it.
There’s a lot to be said for trying to get away from food coloring. There’s some evidence, after all, that getting certain types of food additives and coloring out of a child’s diet may help with ADHD. Not in all cases, but sometimes there appears to be a connection. If I had a child with ADHD, that is certainly one possibility I would test before using medications.
ADHD isn’t the only problem. As noted in Healthy Child Healthy World
I do notice that I feel better when I eat food I made from scratch, and I don’t think that’s just due to liking my own style of cooking. No doubt that’s a part of it, but I firmly believe that there is also something to do with the freshness of the ingredients and lack of preservatives, food colorings and other additives.
I don’t even like to use premade spice blends. Too many of those have too much salt or other ingredients I don’t want.
It doesn’t matter to me that my kids don’t have ADD or ADHD or any other conditions that might be made better by getting additives out of their diets. I don’t need most additives in my food. My kids don’t need them. Neither does my husband, but it doesn’t bother him like it does me. Can’t win all the battles, know what I mean?
Tags: additives, cooking, food, food coloring, healthy foods, junk food, organic foods
Figuring Out Personal Care Products
Mar 11, 2009 Environmentally Friendly, Green Health
I came across a very interesting article over on WebMD about the toxins in consumer products. Many people use products that have these in them every day.
Some are pointless at best, such as your typical antibacterial soaps. According to the article, the amount of antibacterial products in household soaps and such are not strong enough to kill the bacteria. Instead, they may only be helping create stronger bacteria.
Regular soaps do the job just as well in most cases. You’re better off avoiding products with triclosan in them. It’s really not helping you, and may be causing environmental damage.
Parabens and phthalates are also all too common. These two act like hormones in your body. Phthalates are hard to spot, as they hide under the name “fragrance”. Parabens are easier to spot as “paraben” will be a part of the word in the ingredient list.
When in doubt, the Skin Deep website is a huge help. It will help you to figure out which products are safer for you. You’ll be able to make more educated purchases for all sorts of personal care products for yourself and your family.
Tags: parabens, personal care products, phthalates, triclosan
Finding Your Kids’ Favorite Healthy Foods
Jan 9, 2009 Eco Friendly Parenting, Gardening, Green Health
My kids have some interesting favorite foods. Sugar snap peas probably lead the pack. They are perhaps not the greenest thing to buy, as I have no doubt that we’re getting them out of season, etc., but it’s hard to complain when your children are begging for something so good for them.
I’ve met a lot of parents who are quite envious that my kids like such things. Here’s some of how I figure out which healthy foods make great snacks.
1. Start early.
The sooner, the better. Pediatricians debate whether it works or not, but we started our kids on vegetables before fruits when they were babies. All I know is that we started on pureed green beans, and they’re also still a favorite. Grow them in the garden, and my kids will react as though we’re growing candy.
But even if they don’t like such snacks right away, you can work toward the goal of your kids preferring healthy snacks.
2. Stop keeping junk food around the house.
It may take time to cut things down. Good eating habits take time to develop. But it’s absolutely worth it.
Some unhealthy snacks can be switched out for healthy ones very easily. Make smoothies instead of serving fruit juice or sodas, and pour any excess into popsicle molds. There are tons of smoothie recipes out there, from ones that only use fruit to green smoothies.
Others are more challenging. We haven’t entirely given up candy in our household, although it’s mostly bought for holidays now, and eaten at the rate of 1-2 small pieces a day. It takes forever to get rid of even a small quantity that way, but also satisfies the urges.
3. Start a garden.
Kids generally love eating the foods they have harvested themselves from the garden. We teach our kids which plants they can snack freely from, and which they have to ask permission. Cherry tomatoes and other small varieties are a big hit around here. Sugar snap peas are also popular. Green beans fresh off the vine can be another amazing treat.
Our garden has always had a few simple rules. We point out which plants the kids can eat from freely. Others they have to ask, mostly to make sure that the plants aren’t damaged by overenthusiastic harvesting or to be sure everything can ripen before being eaten.
My kids and most of their friends get pretty much hooked on sweet basil most summers. Always good to be sure they know which leaves can be eaten safely. They’re taught down to the specific plant, so that anything that looks similar elsewhere is still off limits.
4. Buy healthy foods.
You would not believe how furious my kids were when apple prices went up too high for me to buy them apples for a time. It was great. Frustrating, but great.
It’s not easy keeping all the healthy foods local or in season, but do what you can. If you slip on this, at least the foods are better for your kids and quite possibly the environment than any processed snack could be.
5. Don’t give up.
It’s frustrating trying to change anyone’s eating habits. It is not going to happen after a single shopping trip. Take it a day at a time and even a food at a time as needed. Try foods raw as well as cooked in different ways. If something isn’t appealing, put it to the side for a time. Something else may work better.
Forcing a change of habit doesn’t generally work nearly as well as steadily making a change. Keep it up and things will work out.
Tags: eating, Gardening, healthy foods, junk food
Grocery Stores and Organic Food
Nov 12, 2008 Eco Friendly Home, Green Health
CNN has an interesting story up right now on America’s healthiest grocery stores. As they say, some stores on the list you’d expect to see, but others are quite surprising.
Whole Foods is #1 one on the list, which should surprise no one. They’re not a store I go to often, as they are about a half hour to 45 minute drive away. However, Henry’s is local to me and now owned by Whole Foods. They’re a lot smaller at each location, but a similar kind of store with local, organic and conventionally grown produce.
Many of the stores are relatively regional, so you won’t find the entire list in your area. Others are ones you wouldn’t expect to find on this kind of list, such as Safeway. They’re a big company, and may have different names in other areas. I don’t know how the different names impact what they do with organic and other healthy produce.
This list really shows just how mainstream the availability of organic produce has become. You’ll still pay a premium for organic produce, as a rule, but you can find it just about anywhere.
You have a lot of options beyond grocery stores in many areas. Local Harvest is a great place to look for food coops and CSAs in your area.
Tags: grocery shopping, organic produce
Where Can You Walk To?
Oct 23, 2008 Budget Environmentalism, Green Health
Despite that we will soon be getting another car, I do like being able to walk a lot of places in my neighborhood. Mostly to my daughter’s school, but once in a while my husband and I walk on a date, since it’s only 1-2 miles to a variety of restaurants.
So I found Walk Score to be a very interesting website. They didn’t rate my neighborhood as terribly walkable; just 32 out of 100. That doesn’t surprise me since for most people a mile is pretty far to walk, and it’s more than that to the nearest real grocery store.
I say real grocery store because they counted places such as 7-11 as a grocery store. I would have said convenience store for that sort.
I don’t walk to our local grocery store because a mile isn’t so far on the way out, but it’s pretty far when you’re on the way back with a load of groceries, some of which are heavy and need to be refrigerated soon.
The site also pointed out to me some businesses I hadn’t noticed yet. The categorization was pretty interesting… I didn’t know that a self storage place and U-Haul should be filed under Clothes and Music!
Having kids of course limits my interest in walking long distances. Mine do enjoy long walks, but have more patience for nature walks than anything on a sidewalk. Not that I mind.
Overall, it’s a nice reminder that there are many places in a lot of neighborhoods that you can walk to. Some of it is a matter of personal perception, but the reminder that you can walk in your neighborhood isn’t a bad one at all.
Tags: walking
