Healthy Kids Expo

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You know the moment when you feel a subtle shift in your body that tells you you’ve been invaded? That moment when you know it’s not just a little cold? There’s just that little letdown in your energy level with no apparent cause. But somehow, it feels BIG. It’s the dreaded flu.

This past spring, during late March / early April, I faced the worst case of flu I’d had in years. I’ll never know if it didn’t also include a mild case of pneumonia; there were times when my lungs were so congested I couldn’t get enough oxygen and panic arose. It was with a mixture of embarrassment, elation, and trepidation that I contemplated the flu virus’ relentless rampage through my shocked body.

Embarrassment because I had just taught my special seminar, ‘Do-It-Yourself Detox for Health, Beauty, and Vitality’ and here I was sick. One of my Rolfing clients who took the seminar couldn’t understand why I was sick; that was not allowed – only an impostor would teach such a class then become ill. I neglected to tell her that though my fever averaged 103 degrees, I was able to do all my physical conditioning exercises for an hour each day, then hike in the mountainous woods behind my house for another hour (slept and drank liquids the rest of the time). It was partly due to the wonderful celery drink I had every morning while I was sick that I was able to remain active. It gave me a lift that made me feel able to do some exercise. By the way, it is a great drink to have on a regular basis. My husband and I drink it most mornings before having anything to eat.

The elation stemmed from the fact that due to some immune challenges over the previous years, my body hadn’t had the capacity to spike a really good fever. The precipitous rise in temperature was a welcome sign that my body was gearing up for a knock-down-drag-out fight with a flu virus that was replicating at warp speed.

The trepidation was because I was scheduled to give a presentation at the Northampton Whole Health Expo. Though I could work out and hike, my lungs and bronchi were so congested I could barely talk above a whisper, and if I did, was likely to end up hacking and wheezing. The day of my Expo talk, I was still not sure I could talk very well. I still had a fever, but was on the way to recovery, and figured my flu was no longer contagious.

Though I had a voice that sounded like a distant foghorn, I gave the presentation with great gusto. Within reach at all times was my ‘Magic Celery Drink.’ Every so often, I took a swig. That elixir saved the day. My lecture attendees enjoyed the presentation. Among their gifts for attending was the ‘Magic Celery Drink’ recipe.

Here it is:

‘Magic Celery Drink’

*This enzyme and mineral-rich drink is a great immune system booster, and a fabulous way to start your day with a shot of vibrant energy. It should be used immediately after preparing for greatest benefit. (However, the lemon and ginger seem to help it maintain its integrity longer than other fresh juice cocktails, as my Expo experience proved)It is ideal to drink ‘Magic Celery Drink’ on an empty stomach in the morning, though it can be enjoyed almost any time.

*If you are new to juicing and detoxing, you might want to go easy on the garlic, ginger, and cayenne at first. Since the garlic and ginger are excellent herbs for the immune system and circulation, they contribute greatly to the effectiveness of this drink, but use discretion when deciding how much to use.

*Please use organic ingredients – toxins contained in non-organic fruits and vegetables can become more concentrated when you juice them.

- juice of large slice of lemon OR juice of 1/4 lime
- pinch of Celtic sea salt
- fresh ginger to taste (1/2 “x 1/2″ chunk is good)
- med clove garlic
- 3-6 large stalks celery
- 1/4 – 1/2 of a sweet, flavorful variety of apple, such as Honeycrisp, Empire or Braeburn, cut to fit in juicer
- pinch of stevia extract to taste, if desired. *The best-tasting stevia extract I’ve ever tasted is made by KAL. You can find it at Whole Foods Market in Hadley.

Optional:
- To increase the immune-enhancing benefits of this powerful drink, you might want to add some Buffered C powder – 1 gram (1/4 tsp) is a good amount. I like the Buffered C made from cassava root, by Allergy Research Group.
- You can juice some fennel bulb and stalks along with the celery and apple. Fennel will add its aromatic licorice flavor, and is good for digestion.

You Can Make ‘Magic Celery Drink’ With a Juicer (ideally) or a blender.

* If you have a juicer, squeeze lemon into the container that will receive the juice, and add a bit of Celtic sea salt. Juice the rest of the ingredients into the container with the salt and lemon juice. Start by juicing the garlic and ginger, then the apple and celery.

* If you don’t have a juicer, you can use a blender. Put about 12 oz of water into the blender, and squeeze lemon into the water. Add the salt. The apple, ginger and garlic will need to be grated. Chop the celery stalks into little pieces. Add these items to the water in the blender. Add cayenne and stevia. Blend until contents are liquefied fine, then pour the blended contents through a strainer, press the rest of the liquid out of the pulp after it drains, and drink. If you are making cooked vegetable broth, toss the pulp into the pot with the other ingredients.

* CELERY contains all four electrolyte minerals – natural sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. The stress of illness, and lack of appetite when one has flu and fever can drain these essential minerals from the body. Celery juice will help maintain electrolyte levels. It also has a mild diuretic effect. Celery contains eight different families of anticancer compounds, such as pthalides and plyacetylenes, that detoxify carcinogens, especially cigarette smoke. Celery is also a traditional Vietnamese remedy for high blood pressure.

* LEMON contains Vit C and bioflavinoids that are important for healthy connective tissue

* APPLE lowers cholesterol and risk for cancer. Has mild antibacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory estrogenic activity.

* GINGER promotes good digestion, improves circulation, helps lower blood pressure, reduce blood clotting, and prevent dizziness. Also is reputed to have anti-inflammatory qualities.

* FENNEL is very high in Vit C and potassium, also has some anti-inflammatory benefits.

* GARLIC is antibacterial, anti viral, anti fungal. Beneficial for blood lipid balance, thins the blood for better circulation.

* CAYENNE PEPPER is the premier herb for normalizing blood pressure and improving circulation. It acts as a ‘lead herb,’ facilitating better absorption of other herbs and nutrients.

* STEVIA inhibits the growth of bacteria in the mouth that cause tooth decay and gum disease, helps to balance blood sugar, and has a tonic effect which increases alertness and mental acuity.

To improve your health and support your immune system, enjoy ‘Magic Celery Drink’ often!

Did Sarah Palin’s daughter Willow “cross the line” with her gay slur on Facebook and is this considered Cyber-Bullying?

Well, yes she certainly did, and yes it certainly is! No question about it. But this question is not the basis of this article either because clearly anyone who uses defamatory words against another person using a public forum like Facebook has committed an act of bullying.

Because this highly publicized incident happened to be perpetrated by the offspring of a nationally recognizable political figure, a door has been flung wide open to bring this issue into the public spotlight.

The Spirit of Competition (Really?)

Across the globe, in every country that holds elections to fill positions in public office, verbal bullying is an acceptable norm. Well, maybe not entirely acceptable but certainly tolerated and actually viewed as a “strategy.”

Regardless of the forum used, verbal bullying has become deeply ingrained in our culture as a tool of completion widely used in sports, politics, business, education and the family. We have learned that to “win” we need to bring down or belittle our competition to increase our chances and we get increasingly brutal in our tactics. Nothing seems to be “out of bounds.” If we can bash our opponent’s lifestyle, sexual orientation, marital status/stability, age, education background, Religious beliefs etc. we stand a greater chance of “winning” the game, the promotion, the political seat or the boyfriend. It has gone from using simple distraction tactics like yelling “hey batter, batter” at a baseball game to “you should vote for me because my opponent sucks.”

If you, or your kids, have a television on during election time you are inundated with verbal bullying at all times of the day and night, so I don’t even need to expand on that, except that a question needs to be asked about this entirely acceptable means of completion:

How does this culture of acceptable “social bullying” in politics affect our children?

I think the answer to this question is as obvious as darkness coming when the sun goes down, and the recent Willow Palin incident is clearly an answer! NOT WELL!!

Parenting experts across the board will tell you that we model for our children the behavior we see in them. In this recent case involving Sarah Palin’s daughter, was Willow simply modeling a behavior she has observed and deemed acceptable?

But this isn’t just a Sarah and Willow Palin issue. This is an extremely prevalent and wide-spread social issue that touches every level of our society from Main Street to Wall Street, the Back-Woods to Hollywood and high society to the inner city.

Social bullying can have disastrous effects on one’s psychological wellbeing and can last a lifetime. Regardless of where or when it occurs, in the school playground, on social media or on television or radio, the epidemic levels of child, adolescent and teen depression and suicides is clearly an extremely loud alarm sounding.

This recent case of Willow Palin using homo-phobic gay slurs using Facebook will hopefully open some ears to hear the alarm and actually ask,

“WHAT ARE WE DOING TO OUR CHILDREN, AND OUR FUTURE?”

Our kids are seeing it and hearing it from the grown-ups in their life from their parents at home and from their teachers and coaches at school. On television and the internet they hear and see brutal verbal and physical attacks and even in the make-believe world of video games our children are being taught to hurt others.
What Can We Do?

I recently had the honor of interviewing Izzy Kalman, the creator of a remarkable program called Bullies to Buddies in an on-line expo for parents and teachers called Happier Kids Now, where he shared his program in depth and he asked me to take part in a role play that was brutally real and confrontational, yet hit on a message that directly addresses the issue of children choosing to use words to hurt others and how to teach them to resolve conflict and engage in healthy competition.

But ultimately these lessons need to be taught at home first by parents by showing their children the right way to compete, how to stand up for themselves and others and how to engage in peaceful conflict resolution.

We need to teach our children that the way to the top is not through stepping on others or making our competitors flaws work in our favor by pointing them out publicly.

In fact, I just had a very small yet significant opportunity in my own home to give this lesson to my kids over a simple issue of who gets the last cinnamon swirl oatmeal for breakfast. At first I wanted to see how they would deal with this issue on their own, and that turned into a mini war of words between them.

I ask my youngest first why he feels he should have the oatmeal, but I made a rule that his reason cannot include his brother’s name. Meaning you can’t give me a reason you should have it by telling me why your brother shouldn’t have it.

The result was truly remarkable because he told me that if he really wanted he could be equally as satisfied with the maple brown sugar oatmeal, so that’s what he chose and gave the cinnamon swirl to his big brother. His big brother agreed and suggested we combine both cereals and they would both get what they wanted.

It really comes down to what Izzy Kalman from Bullies to Buddies suggests, that we take a closer look at the Golden Rule and teach our children that conflict and negativity is not resolved through conflict and negativity.

In my opinion, regarding the Willow Palin incident, given her mother’s public status as a civil servant Willow should be made to do a nationally televised public service announcement about the social and personal harmful effects of social bullying and homo-phobia.

Izzy Kalman also spoke about “accountability” and this is a case where the bully needs to be held publicly accountable for her actions by making a public apology to the person to whom she bullied on Facebook. This would send a clear message that regardless of WHO you are, bullying IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!

Snack food marketers such as PepsiCo, Kraft, Kellogg, General Mills, and McDonald’s see offering healthier foods as good business strategy.

In their effort to capitalize on and direct the growing trend towards healthier foods, food makers are increasing their offering of natural and healthier products, and a lot of these new offerings are targeting kids.

Avoiding increased government regulations and law suits is also smart business strategy, and food makers are demonstrating that they can drive change in the industry without costly government interference.

According to Mintel’s Global New Products Database, 2006 product launches in the ‘food minus’ category which includes low or no trans-fat and gluten-free products showed “major increases” with low or no trans-fat product growing by nearly 120 percent.

While the better-for-you food category grew by double-digits, Nielsen LabelTrends reported that sales of snack foods rose only 3.4 percent, with sales of reduced fat, low fat and fat-free snacks falling 2.6 percent in the past year. This decrease could be due to snack makers’ failure to balance healthier ingredients and consumer taste. Alternatively, it could be attributed to the fact that, in general, adult consumers are snacking less, and when they do snack, they tend to choose their favorite snacks, but reduce their portions.

Most snack foods are consumed by children aged three to eleven, a 35.8 million demographic that makes up the market for kids’ foods and beverages in the United States. This share, which exceeded $15.1 billion in 2006, experienced a growth of 8.5 percent over 2005. Unfortunately, conventional snack foods are some of the least nutritious products on the market. Many parents, having given up control over what their children consume to television commercials; blame food marketers, and are apparently waiting for the government to punish food makers. As a result, government and non-profit groups are targeting makers and producers of children’s foods and marketing.

Food makers and marketers are demonstrating that they hear what consumers are saying and companies such as General Mills, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft, Kellogg and McDonald’s are among 11 companies that are working together to make it easier for consumers to choose healthier snacks and on-the-go foods and assist parents in regulating their children’s diet by offering healthier kids foods and beverages and carefully editing their advertising.

For example, at the 27th Natural Products Expo West, food makers introduced many new foods and beverages that are healthier and natural, and many are targeted at children. Most of these new products have lower sugar content than most traditional kids’ drinks, eliminated high fructose corn syrup and trans-fats, and are now fortified with nutrients identified by the USDA as deficient in children’s diets.

Disney and Nickelodeon instituted licensing initiatives that promoted a healthier diet for kids and challenged makers of kids’ foods to meet their nutritional guidelines, another great illustration of the private sector driving change without increased government regulations. The guidelines emphasized limits on calories, fat, saturated fat, and sugar, and inclusion of fruits and vegetables in child-size packaging.

Companies like Kellogg, Kraft and PepsiCo, who are offering healthier product lines, and designing programs and guidelines for marketing to children, are not driven by fear of law suits and increased regulations, but by business interests. As the Center for Science in the Public Interest, liberal nutritionists, the American media, and parents find that corporations are not doing enough to make it easy for consumers and parents to abdicate their responsibility they will demand that the government increase regulation. What they ignore is that greater government interference often results in higher production costs and price points.

The popular idea that snack food makers are trying to seduce parents with promises that they are doing better is ludicrous. Soft drink makers operate profit-making businesses and spend time and money to obtain market intelligence that drives what they develop and bring to market. Offering low-, no-calorie beverages, teas, energy drinks, flavored and fortified water, vegetable and fruit juices are all business decisions.

The key to capitalizing on the $10.39 billion-a-year snack foods industry is to continuously develop new products with the right mix of healthier ingredients that meet parental (and governmental) approval – foods that are high in nutrition, convenient and easy to consume, while appealing to children.

Consumers, including children who control their parents, will decide if the food maker achieved the right balance or not, because consumers will choose to buy what they like, regardless of what the health industry and watchdog groups say or do.