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Camping and Outdoor Activities: Get Involved with Nature
Camping mixed with outdoor activity is a great way to get ourselves involved with nature. National Parks can provide an excellent backdrop for some of your outdoor activities. Activities such as hiking, fishing, cycling, horseback riding, white...
Climbing And Fear
Climbing is no different from any other activity to the extent that fear can be a huge barrier or, if used properly, a significant ledge upon which we can launch our favorite outdoor activity.
Fear can play a significant part in our...
Exercise, fitness and improving your metabolism to lose weight
Losing weight can sometimes seem like a daunting task. It’s so easy to think “I can’t do it”. But you can. But in order to lose weight you need to increase your metabolism.
So just how can you boost your metabolism? It is relatively simple...
Go Carts - A Thrilling Experience For All Ages
The thrill of sharply skidding around a blind corner in your go cart is an experience that is hard to surpass. Racing down the track in one of your speedy go carts, maneuvering around curves and slower gocart drivers, is fun at its best. Pressing...
Tom Sawyer Day
There were four of us on that first Tom Sawyer Day. I promised my friends an adventure-disaster, sure to get them wet and cold. Three of them took the bait. In a small daypack, we took snacks, water, a hatchet, a small saw, and whatever scraps of...
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Is Technology Robbing our Kids of Good Health?
Is Technology Robbing our Kids of Good Health?
Today's kids are technologically smarter than we were at their
age, but in some homes technology seems to have taken control of
our children's lives. Many parents don't realize the underlying
effect it's having on their children's health.
Hardly a day goes by that we don't hear a news report on
childhood obesity. With our children coming home from school,
sitting in front of the computer or spending time playing
video games it's no wonder obesity is on the rise. This being
said, there is another problem that many parents may be
overlooking.
Each year, reports pertaining to the number of bone fractures in
children are made public. Each year, those numbers rise. Some
reports attribute the increase in broken bones to an overload of
sugar from too much soda. This may indeed be a contributing
factor, but I believe improper calcium balance may be the real
cause.
Calcium balance is particularly important in our childhood years
when we are growing. Over 98% of the calcium is found in our
bones and teeth. Our bodies rely on vitamin D and weight bearing
exercise to help keep calcium levels intact. Weight bearing exercise
includes any activity in which your feet and legs carry your own
weight. Some good examples include:
* Walking
* Running
* Jumping Rope
* Dancing
* Climbing Stairs
* Jogging
* Aerobic Dancing
* Hiking
* Inline Skating/ice skating
* Racquet sports
* Team Sports such as soccer, Basketball,
field hockey, volleyball and softball or baseball.
These are a few of the exercises that can help to build strong bones.
Staying in the house and playing video baseball, instead of
hitting a real Little League home run, is robbing our children of sunlight.
Remember that vitamin D is manufactured in the body as a result
of sunlight on the skin. It is the messenger molecule that is
responsible for getting calcium to the parts of the body where it
is most needed. Without proper weight bearing exercise and
Vitamin D, the calcium
balance is seriously disrupted. You may
think that your children get plenty of vitamin D and calcium from
the milk they drink, but did you know that the human body absorbs
only 20-30% of the calcium in cow's milk. The American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition found that the body absorbs calcium from kale
easier than the calcium in cow's milk.
In addition, many studies have linked the consumption of cow's
milk to multiple health problems, but that's a story for a later
time.
Should you feed your child kale instead of milk? Maybe, but it's
time for us as parents to insist that our kids get outside and
play again. There simply is no better way to get the proper
amount of vitamin D than to be in sunlight.
If you are afraid to pull the video game plug and are considering
giving Junior a vitamin D supplement instead, you should know
that of all vitamins, vitamin D has the highest level of
potential toxicity. Some of the better D supplement choices would
be Cholecalciferol (Animal origin) and Ergocalciferol (yeast
origin.)
I'm not saying the kids should never be on the computer, but I am
strongly suggesting you consider limiting their time.
When children spend time outside, they get the chance to soak up
the sunlight thus enabling the skin to produce vitamin D -
naturally. More than likely, their outdoor activities will
include some good weight bearing exercise, which will allow even
more vitamin D to be produced. The increased activity may also
lead to weight loss and better overall health.
Vitamin-D:
Helpers- Sufficient exposure to sunlight
Robbers- Lack of sunshine and Fried foods.
Larry M. Glicken
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Larry Glicken is a Nutritional Consultant and owner of
Complete Life Nutrition.com. Dedicated to helping
people stay healthy. Visit www.completelifenutrition.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Author
Larry M. Glicken is a nutritional consultant and owner of complete life nutrition .com.
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