Homemade Baby Food & Nutrition

Homemade Baby Food & Nutrition

When babies are born they are given the best nutrition for their bodies….a mother’s milk. What happens when they are able to now eat solid food? There are many brands that sell themselves as organic, but can we really trust them? Well there is an alternative. If we are already practicing a clean diet there is a way to make sure our young ones are benefiting in the same way. If you have heard of the Nutri-bullet than you know there is one for babies also. (https://www.babybullet.com) This allows parents to make sure their children are getting all of the needed vitamins without the extra chemicals that extend shelf life.

Benefits of making your own baby food

You know exactly what you’re feeding your baby.

It’s more economical than buying pre-packaged foods (although some parents note that this is not always the case).

They can choose their own fruits, vegetables, and other foods for purees, instead of relying on the flavors chosen by manufacturers. You’re not going to find melons or avocados in the baby food section of the supermarket.

It gets the baby used to eating the same food as the rest of the family — just in puree form.

Jarred food is cooked at extremely high temperatures to kill bacteria for longer storage, at the same time taking out many of the foods vitamins and nutrients and taste. You can roast, steam, boil veggies or fruit on the weekends and puree in a mini food processor as mentioned above. This also paves the way for a healthier future as your child gets older! Yes it is more work and less convenient but even as adults it is easier to stop past Mcdonald’s vs cooking a healthy home meal. Which is better for our bodies in the long run? A great book for reference is “100 top baby purees”

A step-by-step guide to making and storing food for your baby.

Healthy Homemade: How to Make Baby Food in 6 Easy Steps

• Wash and rinse your hands and equipment.
• Scrub and peel fruits and vegetables.
• Bake, steam, roast, or microwave until tender (steaming and microwaving preserve the most nutrients).
• Puree in a food processor with a little liquid (water,breast milk, or formula), or mash if your baby can handle more texture.
• Store in the refrigerator or freezer, in airtight containers. (Packaged baby foods can be stored in the cupboard until they’re opened; because they’re fresh, homemade baby foods can’t.)
• Rewarm when it’s time to eat and allow to cool.

There are a number of storage containers sold specifically for refrigerating and freezing small serving-sized amounts of baby food; you can also just use an ice cube tray.

In addition to fruits and vegetables, you can puree foods such as cooked meats (fully cooked, with no pink, and remove fat, skin, and connective tissue), beans, and cooked eggs.

Leave comments below if you have tried this! Or let us know if you do!

Source: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/baby-food-nutrition-9/making-baby-food?page=3

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Holistic Medicine: Frequently Asked Questions

While speaking to the public we realized not everyone knows what holistic medicine is. Some have never heard of it. Let’s answer some common questions first about alternative methods of healing.

What is Holistic Medicine?

The basis of Holistic Medical practice is a belief in the intimate links between the brain, the body, and behavior. It takes into account not just your physical health, but how emotional, spiritual, social, and behavioral factors in your life can affect your body. Holistic Medicine also works in a preventative way. Mind-body interventions include yoga, relaxation response therapy, hypnosis, visual imagery, meditation,, tai chi, behavioral therapy, and prayer.

Does the mind control the body or does body control the mind?

Have you ever wondered why it seems as though those who WANT to get pregnant have a hard time conceiving and those who could care less have a houseful? The mind is a powerful thing and stress levels can cause adverse effects on our fertility. Also take into account “Pseudocyesis” better known as “False Pregnancies”. This is the belief that you are expecting when you are not really carrying a child. People with Pseudocyesis have many, if not all, symptoms of pregnancy — with the exception of an actual fetus. When a woman feels an intense desire to get pregnant, which may be because of infertility, repeat miscarriages, impending menopause, or a desire to get married, her body may produce some pregnancy signs (such as a swollen belly, enlarged breasts, and even the sensation of fetal movement). The woman’s brain then misinterprets those signals as pregnancy, and triggers the release of hormones (such as estrogen and prolactin) that lead to actual pregnancy symptoms. It has even been shown that men can develop false pregnancies when their significant other is expecting! Some men adopt back pain, nausea and other mild symptoms of pregnancy.

We say all of this to bring out how POWERFUL the mind is! The mind can be a healing tool, you just need to learn how to make it work in your favor in a positive way.

What about RAW diets for healing?

What if your doctor told you your blood pressure is too high so here take this medicine? In some cases it would be advantageous for one to do so. In MOST cases simply changing your diet and exercising can help greatly.

Are diets and exercise the only things we should be worried about in terms of our health and wellness?

A healthy diet and daily exercise are core components of an optimal health program. Other areas that should be attended to include appropriate stress management, getting adequate sleep, maintaining a strong social network of family and friends, and limiting exposure to environmental toxins, including cigarette smoke. Read More..

What are some of the least healthy or damaging habits Americans have?

The worst habit Americans have is eating too much highly processed, manufactured food (including fast food). People in this country are also too often sedentary and, as mentioned earlier, spend too much time on the Internet. Read More..

I hope you have a better understanding of Alternative Medicine/Holistic Medicine. The research is endless! So feel free to dive in and research for yourself. So people relax, eat clean, and lower your stress levels. Until next time!

Antibiotic Resistance,

Science has taught us in the past that if something is subjected to an environment long enough, it WILL adapt. Maybe not today or tomorrow but eventually it will become accustomed to it’s current situation. Let’s take our bodies for example, our bodies can hit something called a plateau (and forgive me if this is a horrible example), but it’s my daytime job to put things in laymen’s terms so forgive me I actually enjoy this *smile*. So! have you ever gone so hard in the gym and lost an amazing amount of weight? What happens the next month still going strong, maybe not as many pounds lost as the first month but it’s something. Well, the third month crawls around and you could have sworn the scale said 130 lbs last month also! Why are you still the same weight? This is because your body has become accustomed to the vigorous workout you have put it through. You are doing the same exact exercise, at the same pace. Your body is no longer affected. This is in a sense what has been happening with the three leading farms feeding our chicken, pork, and other meats human antibiotics. Antibiotics are meant for sick humans, and when we take this medicine the bacteria in our system should never see what’s coming and be quickly done away with. Instead they are multiplying! Our body can’t react to something it’s already used to! Our food has already been given and raised on mass amounts of what is supposed to help us in our time of need. If our bodies are already accustomed to these antibiotics and our bodies won’t budge then it causes death. The bacteria that is supposed to scatter has already figured out a way to fight these antibiotics before it even it our plates.  It has had time to adjust during the lifetime of the livestock for generations.

So what’s my point?

Antibiotic resistance in the population is costing the health care system $20 billion and leading to 23,000 deaths annually. So who are the top three culprits?

• Tyson
• Pilgrim’s Pride
• Perdue

With these companies being so big they’re all moving forward to an antibiotic free future. What other choice do you have when you’re in the limelight? So there is some good news. Unfortunately there are a mass amount of smaller companies that have no plans to stop feeding their livestock antibiotics for growth promotion.

*Note: Tyson is also putting resources toward researching alternatives to antibiotics*

 Research has shown that probiotics, including the strains of bacteria found in yogurt, and antimicrobial plants like oregano can be highly effective in controlling salmonella and campylobacter infections in poultry. Read More 

So while the problem is being semi fixed what can we do in the meantime to protect ourselves? We can support local markets and farms that produce humanly raised and untreated animals. I’ve came up with a list of farms in the local area. Some actually have open markets on some days. I’ve listed my favorites in blue. 🙂

Farmers Markets: farm@Petersburg Farmers Market, 7am–12 noon, Saturdays, May thru October, and 9am–noon Saturdays, November thru April.

Dolce Vita Farm, Kerry Giannotti, PO Box 43, Sutherland VA 23885. (804) 721-3256

::Another great store that I have mentioned before is Ellwood Thompson::

Deciding against the minimum standard of a 400 mile radius to be considered locally grown, they only use farms within a 100 mile radius. How awesome is that! Ellwood Thompson is located on Cary Street right in the heart of RVA! Here is a listing of their farms.

Click Here