Teaching kids healthy eating habits should start young. The most important years of a child’s life are the foundations for their future. However, many parents say that their kids can be difficult to feed.

While most children are fussy, it’s important to remember that you are the parent. Your kids might like unhealthy foods like fast food, pop and other junk food, but who supplies it? It’s important to remember that good food can be good fun. Get creative at meal times. No one’s asking you to go crazy with vegetable sculptures, but most kids are happy with the simple things, like their own personal dipping sauce. Another suggestion is to arrange shapes on the plate, like happy faces made out of carrots, for example.

Also, try cooking with your kids. They obviously can’t haul pots of boiling water, or be left unsupervised at the stove, but involve them in the meal time process. Let them help with shopping, or plan dinner together.

It’s got a great effect on parents too, with many parents reporting that since they’ve got little eyes watching them [literally], they are inspired to eat healthier.

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 Researchers in a recent study say that eating whole grains can cut the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Analysis of data from 39,765 men and 157,463 women found an 11% reduction in the development of Type 2 diabetes among people who ate two or more servings of brown rice per week compared with people who ate less than one serving a month.  

After adjusting for a number of dietary and lifestyle risk factors, the researchers found that people who ate five or more servings per week of white rice were 17 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who ate less than one serving of white rice per month. In contrast, people who ate two or more servings of brown rice per week were 11 per cent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who ate less than one serving of brown rice per month, the study authors reported.

Well, folks, we knew it all along. Whole grains are delicious! We’ve got a family of Nutribar whole grain meal replacement bars for you to choose from, everything from Cinnamon Bun to Cranberry Crunch.

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The best thing you can do for your weight is to gain a few pounds—of muscle! Muscle burns more energy than fat, even when resting. Five extra pounds of muscle lets you eat 375 more calories in a day and not gain weight. If you maintain your calorie intake, energy for new muscle will come from fat stores, so you will actually lose weight.

Don’t be fooled by what the scales say. When clothes start fitting better but the scales show you weigh more, you’ll know the fat that was formerly there has been replaced by muscle elsewhere. Muscle-strengthening exercises include weightlifting, leg-lifts and standard pushups. If you have the space, invest in home exercise equipment.

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So. You’ve turned over a new leaf in your life. You’re eating healthy, and using some meal replacement products, like Nutribar’s bars, powders and shakes. What about the health of the rest of your family? Kids can sometimes be fussy eaters, and thinking of menus can be a hassle when your 2-year-old only wants blue foods.

Wondering what some great foods are for kids? Here’s a list of suggestions:

• Apples
• Yogurt
• Tuna fish
• Eggs

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It’s time to get healthy! Exercise vigorously three to five times a week for at least 30 minutes. Aerobic exercise burns fat, speeds up your metabolism, strengthens the heart and is a good stress-buster. Take a hike, go ballroom dancing, play racquet sports, swim or ride a bike. If you have already been exercising, increase the amount and the intensity. Burning more calories allows you to eat more.

Some of the best aerobic activities don’t require a membership in a health club! Everyday activities such as walking and climbing stairs are equally as effective over the long term at lowering body fat and boosting cardiovascular health. Walking is one of the easiest exercises to work into your day. It requires no special equipment beyond good walking shoes, and you can refer to the many books available at libraries and bookstores that will explain in detail the mechanics of the “power” walk. Weight-bearing exercises like walking increase bone density, which helps stave off the bone-thinning disease, osteoporosis. Add a slow trot of 15 to 20 seconds to your fitness walk every 15 minutes or so and you’ll work your thigh and buttock muscles, forcing them to burn more calories.

Start slowly, and pick up the pace gradually. If you have been ignoring fitness, you may feel a need to go to bed an hour or two earlier. Be patient. With regular exercise, your body will increase its number of fat-burning “power plants”. It may take one to two months before increased stamina is just part of your life.

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Rogers TV aired a TV spot involving Nadeen Boman recently. Nadeen Boman, you may recall, is from Slice Television’s “The Last 10 Pounds Bootcamp” and “Bulging Brides” and was a spokesperson for Nutribar last year. It’s a great video, so check it out and let us know what you think of it.

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Well, we’ve known this for a while, haven’t we, folks? The news that chocolate is good for you is no surprise to us! Here’s an article on the The Heart and Stroke Foundation site, by Marlowe Hood.  

Heart attack survivors who eat chocolate two or more times per week cut their risk of dying from heart disease about threefold compared to those who never touch the stuff, scientists have reported. Smaller quantities confer less protection, but are still better than none, according to the study, which appears in the September issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Earlier research had established a strong link between cocoa-based confections and lowered blood pressure or improvement in blood flow. It had also shown that chocolate cuts the rate of heart-related mortality in healthy older men, along with post-menopausal women. But the new study, led by Imre Janszky of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, is the first to demonstrate that consuming chocolate can help ward off the grim reaper if one has suffered acute myocardial infarction — otherwise known as a heart attack.

“It was specific to chocolate — we found no benefit to sweets in general,” said Kenneth Mukamal, a researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a co-author of the study.

“It seems that antioxidants in cocoa are a likely candidate” for explaining the live-saving properties, he told AFP in an exchange of e-mails. Antioxidants are compounds that protect against so-called free radicals, molecules which accumulate in the body over time that can damage cells and are thought to play a role in heart disease, cancer and the aging process.

In the study, Janszky and colleagues tracked 1,169 non-diabetic men and women, 45-to-70 years old, in Stockholm County during the early 1990s from the time they were hospitalised with their first-ever heart attack.

The participants were queried before leaving hospital on their food consumption habits over the previous year, including how much chocolate they ate on a regular basis. They underwent a health examination three months after discharge, and were monitored for eight years after that. The incidence of fatal heart attacks correlated inversely with the amount of chocolate consumed.

“Our findings support increasing evidence that chocolate is a rich source of beneficial bioactive compounds,” the researchers concluded. The results held true for men and women, and across all the age groups included in the study.

Other factors that might have affected the outcome — alcohol consumption, obesity, smoking — were also taken into account. So should we all be loading up on cocoa-rich sweets?

“To be frank, I’m pretty cautious about chocolate because we’re working on weight problems with so many individuals,” said Mukamal, who is also a practising physician. “However, I do encourage those who are looking for healthier desserts to consider chocolate in small quantities,” he said. “For individuals with no weight issues who have been able to eat chocolate in moderation and remain slim, I do not limit it,” he added. The researchers caution that clinical trials are needed to back up the findings of their study. In the meantime, however, a bit of chocolate may not be amiss, they suggest.Good news, in any case. Check out The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s statistics for some more interesting reading.

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Fooled you! Well, not really. Nutribar has a YouTube channel now, and we’ve got some videos in there for you to watch. Check out that link, and give us some love in the comments section below.

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Hi everyone! Tried out this recipe last night – it’s fantastic. Check it out, let me know what you think. 

• 1 lb. (500 g) boneless, skinless chicken (or turkey) breast, cut into thin strips
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 cups sliced vegetables (carrots, celery; tomato; sweet red, orange or green bell peppers)
• 1 large onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger (optional)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tsp. teriyaki sauce
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• Freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in large pan or wok over medium-high heat; stir-fry chicken (or turkey) until the pink colour disappears. Add half the garlic and half the optional ginger root to the pan, along with black pepper as desired. Remove from pan, then add vegetables one at a time in order of hardness. Some may need longer cooking times for example, carrots, peppers, celery, then onions. Add tomatoes last, along with remaining garlic and ginger.

Return chicken or turkey to pan and toss with vegetables. Combine chicken stock, teriyaki sauce and cornstarch in bowl; mix and pour over stir-fry mixture.
Cook until heated through and sauce reaches desired thickness.

Serves: 4
Calories per serving: 220
Carbohydrates: 10 g
Protein: 30 g
Fat: 6 g

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Hi all! We came across this site, and thought it might be useful. While most food products are required under Canadian law to provide nutritional information, some food items obviously can’t include them. The Calorie Counter has the nutritional information on anything you can imagine, from fruit to beer and covering every food group in between. Check it out, and please give us some feedback in the comment section.

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