From www.mercola.com:

Give your child a head start in life. Supplement with Krill oil before and during pregnancy, and while breast-feeding. The DHA and choline are critical to your child’s brain development and IQ. Your child is wholly dependent upon you to provide those nutrients through at least the first three months of life. Incidentally, this also supports your overall health and positive mental outlook both during and just after pregnancy.

Breast-feed your child if at all possible, for as long as possible. Infants receive vital DHA through your breast milk. Longer is better, in this case. If you can continue breast-feeding through the first year, you will give your child an even greater head start for success in life.

Provide structure for your child’s life. Children like a dependable schedule — regular times for meals, bedtimes, getting up times, and more. It helps them understand time, routines, and gives them a sense of security.

Be sure your child eats a diet strong with high-quality (organic if possible) meats and veggies. Early influence in training your child’s taste buds to like veggies will make it easier for them to resist the peer pressure of junk food throughout childhood. Avoid sweets, and every food with artificial colorings, preservatives, and high fructose corn syrup, at all cost.

Encourage your child from a young age to get daily exercise. Make it a part of your special time with them. Go for walks and bike rides, play badminton, take your dog for a run, jump rope, shoot baskets… and make it fun!

Provide clean inside air by not smoking, and by limiting toxins from cleaning products. If your home was built before 1978, test for lead paint hazards.

Strengthen your child’s immune system by giving them a probiotic daily. When everyone else’s kid is struggling with the latest bug to hit their school, you’ll be glad yours has a strong immune system.

Replace detergents, soaps, and shampoos containing risky ingredients, like parabens, mineral oil, paraffin, petrolatum, Sodium laurel or lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), Acrylamide, Propylene glycol. The potential problems may not be worth the risk.

Just say “no” to immunizations vaccinations. They provide more health risks than benefits. You can read more about this elsewhere on this website (www.nvic.org), and an entire chapter is devoted to it in Take Control of Your Health.

Get your child outside in the sunshine for at least 15 minutes per day, preferably in mid-day, to optimize his or her vitamin D levels and thereby his/her immune and overall health.

- I would add one more: Get your kids checked for spinal subluxation!

Dr. CHRIS

Here is the recording of last week’s Osteoporosis and Vitamin D workshop at Chiropractic Life Centre. All notes and resource materials can be found by clicking here.

Advanced Workshop – Osteoporosis and Vitamin D from Chris Chatzoglou on Vimeo.

When the Halloween decorations come down, the holiday decorations go up. The festive spirit is in the air as malls prepare for the rush of shoppers, students enthusiastically rehearse school plays, relatives finalize their vacation plans and office parties get into full swing.

This can be an exciting time for families and at the same time, they can be one of the most stressful times of the year. This is typically the time of year when healthy activities are put on the back burner, gym memberships are conveniently misplaced and parents and children alike start consuming a diet composed mainly of sugar and gingerbread.

Is it any wonder that families typically feel run down and ill during this time of year? I believe it has a lot to do with this extra holiday stress.

Of course, who wants to be a health nut during the holidays? Personally, I have had more than my fair share of dirty looks from grandma when I’ve skipped the mashed potatoes and dessert. Because of this, I’m okay with cheating a bit over the holidays so long as extra precautions are taken to reduce the effects of this holiday stress.

Here are some simple tips to keep you family healthy and happy during the holidays:

1. Get outside! Taking the family pet for a walk together or simply taking the kids for a stroll around the block is a good opportunity to get some much needed fresh air and exercise.

2. Supplement! Omega 3 fatty acids (also known as fish oils) are a great way to replenish some much needed vitamin D that we would otherwise obtain from the sun. Vitamin D is a powerful immune booster and will add some support to an already stressed out immune system.

3. Visit you chiropractor! Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to boost the immune system and can be a great stress buster. Don’t forget the kids too. Extra adjustments for everyone with visiting relatives!

These simple steps can help eliminate some of the effects of holiday stress this winter.

Optimum levels are between 50ng/mL and 65ng/mL.