Homemade Vitamin Water

Did you know that Vitamin Water has 13 grams of sugar in one serving? That makes 32.5 grams in just one bottle of supposed- to- b-e good- for- you Vitamin Water.

I happen to like flavored still water. Not flavored sparkling water. Sparkling water reminds me of Alka Seltzer.

I've had Vitamin Water many times. I like the taste, it's convenient, and it looks healthy. Sigh. Fooled by labels again!

On a search for a healthier alternative, I found a recipe for homemade vitamin water using some of our wonderful natural products.

It's been tasted and husband and kid approved and it's super easy! Added bonus, the Defend and Resist has been proven to help your body respond to seasonal challenges (preschool boogies anyone?) by upping your immune system! And we all need a little extra Vitamin C and D in our diets too!

So mix it up and drink daily as a preventative to all the junk that's sure to be coming your way with the cooler seasons. Or if you're already feeling a little puny, drink it twice a day.

3 T of Performance Orange or Lemon Lime (I prefer Orange myself)
10 Chewable Vitamin C
4 Defend and Resist
1 Vitamin D
2-3 C ice
8-12 oz water

Mix in a large pitcher and enjoy!

I would love to help you order your supplements today so you have them in stock for the upcoming cold and flu season! Contact me through this blog, via Facebook, or through my Shaklee site!

Food Dyes are EVERYWHERE

So after my post about being fooled by labels, I've been scouring the house looking for other items that contain dyes. Holy moly, they are everywhere. And I mean everywhere.

I continue to be shocked and annoyed at all the things dyes are in. Did you know that there is dye in your pre-made pie crusts in the grocery store? Yep, of all places. I guess it's to make it that pretty 'crust' color? Whatever.

You know what else? I'm starting to wonder if our oldest boy is sensitive to these dyes. (I can just see the group sigh and eye roll by certain members of my family.)

I'm not a doctor, and I'm not trying to diagnose him with any type of disorder/issue/problem. I'm also certainly not trying to get out of parenting him because sometimes it's really hard and I want to categorize him and excuse his behavior. Nope, not at all.

Our oldest is active, active, active. He's resistant to sleep. He can be whiny. He can be mean. He can drive me nuts.

Now, let me say this. He's an almost four year old boy. I fully understand that those traits are normal for a child this young. And if he didn't display those behaviors at times, I'd be worried.

However, we've noticed that after he eats certain things, like processed foods, or a lot of sugar, these 'traits' seem to come out more.

For example, recently after he had a smoothie made from yogurt with Red 40 and 15g of sugar he was off the wall. I know my child. It wasn't late in the day. He was rested. He just started acting like a crazy person. Hitting his brother (unprovoked), slamming toys into the wall, cabinets, floor. Jumping off his bookshelves. Not his normal active behavior.

So we are embarking on a mission to get rid of the dyes in their foods. Because, why not? We are really just concerned for the health and well-being of our kids. We don't see any reason for giving them food, drinks, or anything else that has unnecessary ingredients in them. Because, besides color, what is the point? Our food and baby wash really just doesn't need to be fun, exciting, and colorful all the time, does it?


Check out this interesting chart from the Feingold Association.  For me personally, it's gross to see all the additive, preservatives, and dyes that are added to our foods.

What the child growing up in the U.S. in the 1940's got:	What the child growing up in the U.S. today gets:
White toothpaste	Multi-colored toothpaste, perhaps with sparkles
Oatmeal	Sea Treasures Instant Oatmeal (turns milk blue)
Corn flakes	Fruity Pebbles
Toast & butter, jam	Pop Tarts
Cocoa made with natural ingredients	Cocoa made with artificial flavoring, & some with dyes.
Whipped cream	Cool Whip
No vitamins (or perhaps cod liver oil)	Flintstone vitamins with coloring & flavoring
White powder or bad-tasting liquid medicine	Bright pink, bubble-gum flavored chewable or liquid medicine
Sample school lunch: Meat loaf, freshly made mashed potatoes, vegetable. Milk, cupcake made from scratch.	Sample school lunch: Highly processed foods loaded with synthetic additives, no vegetable. Chocolate milk with artificial flavor.
Sample school beverage: Water from the drinking fountain	Sample school beverage: Soft drink with artificial color, flavor, caffeine, aspartame, etc.
Candy in the classroom a few times a year at class parties.	Candy (with synthetic additives) given frequently.

Let me say this: I grew up on a lot of these foods. Heck, sometimes we even buy them. I do love some Fruity Pebbles every now and then. But I know that if I eat too much of those kinds of foods, I feel gross. I feel bloated, my stomach hurts, I get a little cranky. I'm not talking about gorging myself on them. But if I have Fruity Pebbles for breakfast, a soda at lunch, and then maybe a processed dessert in the evening, then I go to bed miserable.

So why wouldn't if affect my kids, too?

Here's another very interesting article from Allergy Kids about one mom's experience with food dyes.

What do you think about all this? Do you think sensitivity/allergies to food dyes is a bunch of junk? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

What is UP??

OK, so I know that, according to extreme health fanatics, high-fructose corn syrup should be avoided. Of course the corn industry would like everyone to think differently. What is their tagline? Something like, "Your body can't tell the diffrence between regular sugar and HFCS?"  Whatever.

In our home, we've made the decision that we don't want to consume foods that contain HFCS. There are tons of sites out there that claim that HFCS' are basically the devil in disguise and do a good job of putting the fear in you. Ugh, it just gets so confusing sometimes! For our family, we just want to limit the amounts of chemically processed foods that we ingest. Common sense says processed foods and ingredients are just that...processed! They are not natural, or real.

That said, it seems like every single food label I've read in our pantry or fridge has HFCS listed. What is UP??? Just this evening, I about flipped a lid because HFCS is in our KETCHUP. Really??? So that's one more item I'm going to have to be careful about when grocery shopping. Sigh. 

I did find a helpful site that has a (hopefully updated) list of foods and beverages that don't contain HFCS. I'll probably be printing this list out for my grocery trips! HFCS Free Food List

Are you interested in understanding the differences between sugar and HFCS? Read on...(source)

SUGAR FACTS

1. FACT: The sugar that we use in our homes comes naturally from sugarcane and sugar beets, and has been consumed for over two thousand years.
2. FACT: Every country in the world uses sugar that comes from sugarcane or sugar beets.
3. FACT: Sugar can be purchased in grocery stores.
4. FACT: The word “Sugar” has been used for centuries to refer to the product that comes from sugarcane or sugar beets.
5. FACT: There’s already a food product recognized by the FDA with the name “corn sugar.” (It’s NOT High Fructose Corn Syrup.) It’s a corn by-product that is used in some foods and in natural beer making.

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP FACTS:

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup does not occur naturally—it’s man-made, created in a lab and not extracted from corn.
2. FACT: Corn is a starch that’s not very sweet. It’s impossible to get sugar from corn or any other plant besides beets or sugarcane.
3. FACT: High Fructose Corn Syrup is an industrial food product that requires an enzyme process to bond fructose molecules to corn starch.
4. FACT: High Fructose Corn Syrup cannot be purchased in grocery stores.
5. FACT: The U.S. is the only country that uses a significant amount of High Fructose Corn Syrup in its food products.
6. FACT: High Fructose Corn Syrup, while disliked by many consumers, is popular with food and beverage manufacturers because it’s much cheaper than sugar.
7. FACT: High Fructose Corn Syrup is used in hundreds of grocery store products including breakfast cereals, granola bars, salad dressings, mayonnaise, pancake syrups, jelly, ice cream and popsicles, crackers, tomato sauce, energy drinks, yogurt, soda pop, breads, hamburger buns, juice drinks, and many more.
8. FACT: In the wake of widespread consumer concerns, demand for High Fructose Corn Syrup has hit a 20-year low.
9. FACT: The makers of High Fructose Corn Syrup chose the name “High Fructose Corn Syrup” when it was introduced in the 1970’s.
10. FACT: Now the makers of High Fructose Corn Syrup want to change its name on food package labels.

As a result, millions of Americans are against any name change that would allow High Fructose Corn Syrup to call itself “corn sugar” and maybe just “sugar” on food package labels.