2 mins read

Safe Teen Diets

Your teenager is still growing and needs to tread cautiously if she wants to lose weight. The first step when considering a diet for your teen is to take her to the doctor to determine if she actually needs to lose weight. If she is overweight, she should avoid diet pills and fad diets, according to KidsHealth.org. There are other alternatives to safe dieting for teens.

2 mins read

Alternative Trick-or-Treat Activities

Halloween is a great holiday for children. The excitement of dressing up for the holiday, going to school and being around friends and family is overshadowed by just one thing: candy. Most children love it, and there’s no better time to stockpile a good supply of the stuff than on Halloween night with a few hours of trick-or-treating. But stories in the news about people placing harmful substances in the candy have put a damper on the fun of trick-or-treating, and many people have found other ways to enjoy the holiday without it.

3 mins read

Foods High in Iron for Pregnant Women

Getting sufficient iron in your diet when you’re pregnant helps prevent iron-deficiency anemia. Pregnant women use up all the nutrients from the foods that they eat very efficiently to provide nutrition to their babies, and iron is no exception. Iron helps carry oxygen throughout your body and to your baby. If you are taking a prenatal vitamin, it probably contains at least 27 mg of iron, which is the daily amount recommended by the National Institutes of Health for pregnant women. It’s also important to eat foods high in iron, since the mineral is more easily absorbed from food. Eat your iron-rich foods with a food source of vitamin C, such as citrus juices, broccoli, bell peppers and cabbage. Several studies, including “The Role of Vitamin C in Iron Absorption” by Hallberg et al. in the “Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research,” have shown that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) helps you absorb iron. And when you eat foods high in iron, avoid eating coffee, tea, dairy or soy products at the same time, as these foods are high in minerals and other substances that block the absorption of iron. Also talk to your doctor about the upper and lower limits of iron intake from food and supplement sources that are best for you.

3 mins read

Foods High in Vitamin A During Pregnancy

Vitamin A, which aids the body’s immune system, eyes, mucus membranes and cell reproduction, is really two kinds of vitamins: retinol and the provitamin-A carotenoids. Natural retinol comes from animals, while the carotenoids, of which the most well-known is beta carotene, come from vegetable sources. When you eat the animal sources of retinol vitamin A, you absorb the retinol the most directly and efficiently, while the vegetable carotenoids get converted into retinol inside the body less efficiently. The hype you might have heard about beta carotene, which is present in many vividly colored vegetables and fruits, is well-deserved and stems from the fact that it’s the most efficiently absorbed of all the carotenoids. How much vitamin A should you take during pregnancy? In supplement form, take no more than the right amount of vitamin-A retinol for your age—to be safe, consult the chart from the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine and speak with your physician. As for foods to take or not take that are high in vitamin A during pregnancy, see the recommendations below.