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Can supplements boost academic performance?
Academic performance is an area of child health where nutrition has a major role. A study of primary school children has confirmed that supplements of the Omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish and flax seed oils) could take them from bottom of the class to the top in just two school terms.
The results of The Durham Trial state that more than 40% of children could benefit from essential fatty acid (EFA) supplements. The study, which involved a dozen primary schools, concludes that children given these ‘brain food’ supplements register dramatic improvements in reading age and numeracy.
Omega-3 fatty acids are crucial for normal brain development, but these EFAs are seriously lacking in modern diets and deficiencies are thought to be common.
Dr Madeleine Portwood, a psychologist with Durham education authority who led the research told the Sunday Times newspaper that: “We had nine-year olds go from a reading age of eight up to 13.”
The Food Standards Agency recommends salmon, trout and mackerel for people looking to increase their intake of fish oils. It warned recently, however, that some fish can contain high levels of toxic chemicals such as mercury and dioxin. Omega-3s can also be obtained from Flax Seed Oil, which children may find more palatable.
Viridian Nutrition has developed a pleasant-tasting 100% organic Omega-3 oil from pressed seeds, viridiKid Organic Omega-3 Oil is additive-free and naturally flavoured with organic vanilla and orange.
HEALTHY CHILDREN = HAPPY MUMS!
Breathing easier with Pycnogenol
Just a few months ago, nine-year-old Jenny Grant was using steroid inhalers to control her asthma. Diagnosed asthmatic when she was a toddler, Jenny had used inhalers regularly day and night. “I just don’t like giving her these chemicals,” explains mum, Sarah. “But she was really very poorly.”
Sarah is delighted with Jenny’s new asthma remedy, a simple extract of pine bark from France called Pycnogenol, as recommended by her local health food shop, after Sarah had read a review of scientific research in the newspaper. Published in the Journal of Asthma in early 2005, the researchers found that two thirds of asthmatic children managed to come off inhalers after three-month’s supplementation with Pycnogenol. The dosage used in the study was 1mg for every 1 lb of body weight. Jenny has been taking one capsule of Pycnogenol 50mg daily and has noticed immediate results. As Jenny is just 9, she finds it difficult to swallow capsules and so her mum breaks it open and mixes the powder with yoghurt.
“Within a week, Jenny was saying how much better she felt. After a month, she was completely off the inhalers and her breathing much improved,” explains Sarah. “I have noticed that she is breathing through her nose as well as her mouth now. She enjoys swimming so much more too, since she is no longer struggling to breathe.”
The study discovered that cloves have high levels of phenolic compounds, that have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-clotting qualities. This was a main factor in labelling cloves the best all-natural antioxidant, but the study found that cloves also have some other helpful properties.
“Out of the five anti-oxidant qualities tested, cloves had the greatest ability to give off hydrogen, reduced lipid peroxidation well, and was the most effective iron reducer,” says Juana Fernandez-Lopez, one of the writers of the research and a researcher at the UMH.
Lipid peroxidation is actually the method in which free radicals acquire electrons from the lipids in cell walls. The end outcome of this progression is usually cellular deterioration. The fact that cloves assist to stop this destructive cycle is one that helped drive them to first position. Furthermore, the capability to reduce iron is yet another profound attribute of cloves.
Iron deficiencies are quite simple to treat with adequate supplementation or nutritional changes, but too much iron within the body can be very challenging to handle. Many people have problems with too much iron in the blood stream, and many of which suffer from hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is actually a serious condition that is a result of untreated iron overload. Hemochromatosis can lead to rheumatoid arthritis, abnormal liver function, diabetes, or even heart failure and is a serious issue for people with Sickle cell.
Another goal of the research is to convince big companies to start introducing cloves to their food products. Cloves are very inexpensive and have been a key part of the Mediterranean eating habits for hundreds of years.
“The final results show that use of the natural anti-oxidants found in spices used in the Mediterranean diet, or their extracts, is a workable option for the food industry, as long as the organoleptic characteristics of the food item are not affected”, adds Juana.
Cloves may be what people are looking for when it comes to getting an inexpensive and useful spice.
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago. 1 comment
The research was conducted by researchers from Auckland University in New Zealand and published in the magazine Intelligence.
Scientists analyzed the nutritional consumption and intelligence results of kids born in the mid-1990s.
“We discovered a number of dietary factors to be considerably associated with intelligence measures, the particular scientists said. “The connection between margarine intake and IQ scores was the most consistent and novel finding.
After adjusting with regard to other reasons which might influence IQ, such as socio-economic level, the researchers discovered that children who ate margarine daily obtained three points lower on IQ assessments by the age of three-and-a-half compared to kids with reduced margarine consumption.
By the age of seven, the typical IQ scores of some margarine eaters were six points below those of their peers. This happened only in children who had been born underweight, suggesting that disadvantaged brains may be far more vulnerable to diet-induced problems.
Because the study was correlational, scientists have been unable to determine what precisely triggered the IQ difference between the two groupings of children. They suspect, however, that the reason may be transfats, also known as partially hydrogenated fats.
Created by introducing hydrogen atoms to unsaturated vegetable fats, transfats have a lengthier shelf life and are more solid at room temperatures compared to natural vegetable oils. In the mid-1990s, margarines had been produced with up to 17 percent transfats. In recent years, however, researchers discovered that not only do transfats have no dietary value, they additionally significantly boost the danger of coronary heart attack and death in individuals who consume them.
The majority of margarines now comprise around 1 percent transfats.
Sian Porter associated with the British Dietetic Association noted that whilst margarine appears to be more healthy compared to butter, dietary consumption of both should be minimised.
Sources for this story include: www.dailymail.co.uk.
There is a whole load of controversy around giving children a multi vitamin and mineral supplement. I remember as a child being given a small orange coloured and orange flavour tablet – haliborange from memory (it is a very different product today and not one we’d recommend) because that’s what my parents chose for us.
Today (50 years later) the world we live in and the food we eat is very different. We didn’t have supermarkets and we bought our fruit and vegetables from a green grocer who probably sourced produce from a local wholesale market – the food we ate was way better then than now. So good supplementation is even more critical.
We hope to provide some guidance on what to look for and we will make a couple of suggestions based upon our own research into the best products for your children. So what should you look for:
- the best multi vitamin products don’t come from high street stores
- mail order companies like Solgar and Viridian have a range of well formulated children’s products.
- a one a day tablet is unlikely to make the grade as the necessary components at the levels required mean that a one a day tablet is too big to swallow.
- a chewable form is often available – but taste is critical
- don’t expect them to be cheap – £7/months supply for a 3 year old is about the minimum we would suggest as a cut off.
- the larger the child the more they will need – for example a 5 year old will probably need double the amount a 3 year old will.
About RDA
The RDA is a bit of a misnomer. Required Daily Allowance suggests that that’s all you need to take. The RDA levels are based upon the amount of a particular vitamin to prevent vitamin deficiency disease. For example Scurvy is a disease of Vitamin C deficiency – the RDA for vitamin C is based upon the amount needed to ward off scurvy. To be truly healthy much higher levels are often (not always beneficial) helpful. We would always suggest that you follow the instructions on the bottles and if you wish to increase beyond that level either see a qualified specialist who can advise or do your own research.
Are Supplements really needed
This is a good question and one that often comes up.
- The old mantra ‘you can get all you need from a varied diet’ is not strictly true any longer. If you look at the nutritional content of a peach 30 years ago you’d need to eat 3 peaches a day to get the Vitamin C you’d need. Taking the same fruit today you’d need to eat roughly 50 a day to get the same amount of vitamin C. So while the purists are correct in one way it is actually impractical in most cases.
- the UK’s pesticide and residue committee has concluded that most fruits and vegetables should be thoroughly washed before being eaten. Thorough washing means soaking broccoli florets for at least an hour before eating to reduce the chemicals ingested. Most people I know don’t have the time to wash every bit of fruit and vegetable they eat. As we eat fruit and vegetables we actually are consuming more and more chemicals. That’s not good.
- Organic fruit and vegetables is OK isn’t it. Yes and no. Yes organic fruit and vegetables are going to contain fewer chemicals but they are still sprayed its just controlled more closely and they use safer chemicals. Even if they used no chemicals at all the rain still washes chemical pollutants out of the air and the plants end up absorbing them – just not quite as much as when they spray them. For more reading around this subject I suggest Dr Steve Nugent’s book – how to survive on a toxic planet?
What we recommend:
| Viridian ViridiKid Multi mini capsules – 90 Veg Caps |
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Posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago. Add a comment
Much of the talk in the last few months has been about a swine flu vaccines and the after effects and side effects. An area that has been ignored is the long feared possible mutation of H1N1 with another virus leading to a nightmare scenario. Just this week I’ve become aware of a potential problem in the Ukraine.
The hitherto mild symptoms associated with H1N1 may have been replaced by what appears to be a mutated virus that actually seems to be killing many people. The virus is still under examination here in the UK and I’m hopeful that the results will be made public later this week.
The sad thing is that none of the treatments currently being purchased by governments at a cost of billions of dollars are either appropriate or effective. TamiFlu and other post infection treatments are seemingly ineffective and because this may be mutated virus it is highly likely that the vaccine that has been purchased will be completely ineffective.
There are however some very simple things that we can do to improve the performance of our immune system:
- increase vitamin D. intake to something in the regional 5000
- increase the amount of biologically active sugars we are consuming
- Add foods that are named to support the immune system i.e. garlic, only leaf extract, echinacea,
Prevention must be our first port of call but when this virus hits we need to have a well regulated immune system.
http://ukraineplague.blogspot.com
Posted 9 months, 3 weeks ago. 2 comments
herbal-children-questions
Generally speaking, herbal remedies should not be used by children under 12 years old unless under physician guidance (or children’s dose stated clearly on herbal product).
For mild ailments such as colds and infections – echinacea may be used (follow dose directions). Use should be restricted to several weeks.
In all cases the family physician should be notified of any herbals being used by child.
Considering the safety and toxicity issues around herbal remedies as relevant to children, it is clear that recent UK research reveals that herbal treatment for children has dramatically increased.
Continue Reading…
Posted 10 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
