We all know that we should ‘eat our greens’, but if you find it hard to stay healthy and eat enough veg then maybe you need a little inspiration in the form of the scientific facts about the natural health nutrition that broccoli gives us.

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Healthy eating for children comes with a number of challenges, especially when you consider the fact that it can sometimes be hard to tell just what the ingredients are in their food. Back in 2008 there was a big scare regarding candy coins at Halloween, after they were tainted with a carcinogenic substance melamine. Several children had become ill after ingesting the substance, and parents become worried around the world.

One thing that the even did make clearer is that healthy eating for children means that careful monitoring needs to be done – you should know exactly what candy they are eating as well as any chemicals that it may contain.

More About Melamine

Melamine is known to cause kidney and bladder complications, particularly when it is combined with other chemicals, and it has been associated with causing cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Melamine is a synthetic chemical with a variety of industrial uses including the production of resins and foams, cleaning products, fertilizers and pesticides. It does not occur naturally in food.”

After the malamine candy recalls, other manufacturers were also affected, and parents had to watch exactly what their children were eating. Many candy wrappers also contain PFCs in their materials – though to be carcinogens.

In Addition to Melamine and PFCs

There are also a few more facts you should know when trying to strive for healthy eating for children and their candy habits:

• Chewing gum often contains additives such as Propyl Gallate, Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), which have been shown to cause cancer in some studies,
• Many candies also contain an ingredient known as Aspartame, especially sugar free candies, which have been shown to have effects such as tumors, leukemia and more,
• Candies also contain food colouring, some of which (Blue 1 and 2, Red 3 and Yellow 6) have been shown to have serious health side effects.

Alternatives to These Candies

The good news is that not all candy is toxic, and healthy eating for children is not as impossible as it may seem. Choosing organic candies is always a good idea, as well as those that don’t contain colourings, preservatives and food additives that have been listed above.

When it comes to natural health tips, one of the best things you can do is try to get your whole family involved. However, this can sometimes be easier said than done. There are ways to make sure that your family diet stays healthy and that everyone stays happy! Here are a few tips:

1) Replace White With Brown

This is quite a simple step, but is one of the best natural health tips for your family’s diet. Remember, you can do this gradually. Some examples of the changes you can make include:

- White rice / Whole grain brown rice
- White flour / Whole wheat flour
- White sugar / Sucanat or raw, unfiltered honey (Sucanat is an unrefined, granulated form of sugar that still contains the micronutrients and minerals found in whole sugar cane)
- White bread / Whole grain bread

2) Try Fresh, Organic and Whole Rather Than Processed Foods

Fresh, organic and whole foods are far better for you and your family than processed and pre-packaged alternatives that are often high in salt and sugar. You’ll even find that this is cheaper, and that it even tastes better!

3) Eat In Season

One of the other great natural health tips is to eat food in season, and you can really save money – and you can even stock up and freeze what you don’t eat.

4) Don’t Make Meat the Centre of Your Meal

Many of us make meals that are centred around the meat – but try to stop meat being the feature of your meal and you will all benefit. Eating less meat is shown to have a number of green health benefits – as well as helping to minimise the effect is has on the environment.

5) Get the Kids Involved

Lastly, you should try to get the kids involved. They can have fun by choosing favourite meals, helping you to cook, and giving their opinions on how it tastes!

Remember, all of these natural health tips can be incorporated gradually into your routine. Your family will barely even notice a difference!

Eco friendly tips can be applied to all areas of your life, including the way you setup your kids’ lunchboxes.  Many of us may simply use a brown bag with a napkin and a plastic bag to store the sandwich. The problem with this is that much of the lunch materials end up in the landfill. The good news is that there are many things we can do to help solve the problem.

1) Use A Box Instead of a Bag

A reusable lunch box will not be wasted each time, and it’s also very convenient for other items such as reusable forks and spoons.

2) Other Reusable Containers

Try filling a thermos with a cold drink, as this is a lot less wasteful than using juice boxes or bottles of water. Try to get a reusable container made of stainless steel or glass for the healthiest and most environmentally friendly option. This is one of the eco friendly tips that can also extend to your own lunch!

3) Stop Using Plastic Straws

You don’t really need to use straws, especially if you start making use of a refillable container for drinks. And when it comes to forks, avoid plastic and simply pack your regular cutlery and wash it when your kids get home.

4) Use Cloth Napkins

There are a cloth napkins available from a number of stores, and your children can even personalize their napkins. This is a far more eco friendly option than paper napkins, as they can be washed and reused.

5) Home Made

When you buy ready-made food it tends to come in a lot more packaging than simply buying the whole ingredients and making it yourself from scratch. Not only this, but this is one of the best eco friendly tips as home-made is far better for your children.

All of these eco friendly tips really aren’t that difficult to start incorporating into your life, but there’ll greatly reduce the amount of waste that your kids’ lunches produce.

When it comes to eating healthy foods, meat can become a real issue. The majority of Americans eat meat each and every day, and this has a number of implications for the environment, for your health, and for the lives of the animals that this meat comes from. Here is a quick guide to the ways in which meat affects the environment.

1) Feeding the Animals

When animals are raised for meat, they are generally kept in crowded conditions and are fed grains, corn and soy. This takes up a lot of space in order to grow the ingredients to feed the animals, often destroying areas such as woodland. This also means there is less space for grain to be grown for consumption by humans.

These animals also tend to develop a number of health problems, which is why antibiotics are routinely administered. However, this is what works towards producing ’super bugs’ that can affect humans. Instead, try eating healthy foods that don’t involve meat and you’ll avoid these implications.

2) Transportation of Animals

The animals will also need to be transported, as well as their feed and the resulting meat. Before it’s sold to you, the meat will have travelled many miles and created a large number of emissions.

3) Methane and Nitrous Oxide

These two greenhouse gases are emitted by the animals as they eat their unnatural grain diets.

Conclusion

Eating healthy foods should mean eating less meat. You don’t need to give up completely, but making changes to your diet can make a huge difference to the carbon footprint as well as the health implications of meat-eating.