Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Nutrition, Digestion and Ayurveda
Hi,
I have been thinking more and more about nutrition and trying to educate myself about what things are best to eat.
It becomes quite frustrating because there is so much conflicting information, but what seems to be agreed upon is whole foods, local or organic, avoid sugar and processed foods. I have also been avoiding use of the microwave.
Processed foods are so changed and have so many chemicals, that our bodies do not even recognize it as food, so although we eat plenty- we are undernourished. The book that opened my eyes to all of this is a cookbook Nourishing Traditions. It is not so much the recipes as the sidebars in the book which talk about big food companies and the government. This was the first step for me, in really seeing and listening to: whole foods, slow foods, eat locally grown and organic was all about
As I've been researching, I've also come across the statement that our digestive processes are weak and that even if we eat the best possible foods, if we cannot digest them, we are not getting the benefits of them.
So this led me to wanting to learn more about digestion :-) It's like an onion, just more and more layers.I have also worked with young children for nearly 25 years now, and it is alarming to me how constipation has become an issue for so many of them, and my own kids have friends who have developed Diabetes. I really feel this is due to our diets~ that it really matters what we eat and that our standard food choices are unhealthy- and it is showing up in the children.
I came across Ayurveda recently, which is a medical science began in India 5000 years ago, and still in continuous use to this day.
This appealed to me because of all the conflicting viewpoints nowadays- so let's go to what's been working for several thousand years.
Now Ayurveda is very in-depth and I have not even scratched the surface on it, but what appeals to me is that it is not one size fits all- there are 3 different body types in fact, Vata, Pitta and Kapha and from there you are a combo of them with one dominating. This life science also takes into consideration seasons and diet and environment~ it is truly holistic.
In my Ayurvedic reading I have also come across Agni- which is the digestive fire. It is the heat which digests our food and turns it into the building blocks of our body- blood, muscle, tissues etc
When we drink ice cold beverages with meals we are in effect putting this digestive fire out, so it is recommended to drink warm/hot water or teas.
Fresh fruit is easiest for our systems to digest, so it is suggested to eat fruit alone~ an exception to this is if the fruit is cooked, then it can be eaten with other foods.
An example given was yogurt with fruit which is very common, but in fact, yogurt is hard to digest and takes longer. Because our stomachs hold all the food in until everything is digested before moving on to the intestines, the fruit actually ferments! This type of thing is called Ama, and is the toxins that build up in our bodies from undigested food.
So I have given you some vocabulary to listen to this radio podcast on this link (99.9% is regular English)
http://wildopenheart.com/living-ayurveda/
It was broadcast last month but I just found it.
I found it very interesting, and it just makes me want to learn more- and so I wanted to share.
Lanie
I have been thinking more and more about nutrition and trying to educate myself about what things are best to eat.
It becomes quite frustrating because there is so much conflicting information, but what seems to be agreed upon is whole foods, local or organic, avoid sugar and processed foods. I have also been avoiding use of the microwave.
Processed foods are so changed and have so many chemicals, that our bodies do not even recognize it as food, so although we eat plenty- we are undernourished. The book that opened my eyes to all of this is a cookbook Nourishing Traditions. It is not so much the recipes as the sidebars in the book which talk about big food companies and the government. This was the first step for me, in really seeing and listening to: whole foods, slow foods, eat locally grown and organic was all about
As I've been researching, I've also come across the statement that our digestive processes are weak and that even if we eat the best possible foods, if we cannot digest them, we are not getting the benefits of them.
So this led me to wanting to learn more about digestion :-) It's like an onion, just more and more layers.I have also worked with young children for nearly 25 years now, and it is alarming to me how constipation has become an issue for so many of them, and my own kids have friends who have developed Diabetes. I really feel this is due to our diets~ that it really matters what we eat and that our standard food choices are unhealthy- and it is showing up in the children.
I came across Ayurveda recently, which is a medical science began in India 5000 years ago, and still in continuous use to this day.
This appealed to me because of all the conflicting viewpoints nowadays- so let's go to what's been working for several thousand years.
Now Ayurveda is very in-depth and I have not even scratched the surface on it, but what appeals to me is that it is not one size fits all- there are 3 different body types in fact, Vata, Pitta and Kapha and from there you are a combo of them with one dominating. This life science also takes into consideration seasons and diet and environment~ it is truly holistic.
In my Ayurvedic reading I have also come across Agni- which is the digestive fire. It is the heat which digests our food and turns it into the building blocks of our body- blood, muscle, tissues etc
When we drink ice cold beverages with meals we are in effect putting this digestive fire out, so it is recommended to drink warm/hot water or teas.
Fresh fruit is easiest for our systems to digest, so it is suggested to eat fruit alone~ an exception to this is if the fruit is cooked, then it can be eaten with other foods.
An example given was yogurt with fruit which is very common, but in fact, yogurt is hard to digest and takes longer. Because our stomachs hold all the food in until everything is digested before moving on to the intestines, the fruit actually ferments! This type of thing is called Ama, and is the toxins that build up in our bodies from undigested food.
So I have given you some vocabulary to listen to this radio podcast on this link (99.9% is regular English)
http://wildopenheart.com/living-ayurveda/
It was broadcast last month but I just found it.
I found it very interesting, and it just makes me want to learn more- and so I wanted to share.
Lanie
Photosynthesis
We were at the bus stop this morning and Phaedra asked about photosynthesis. I have not had to explain this in quite a while :-) so I told her we'd check my accuracy on the computer. My explanation was correct - phew!
But we found this cute song and I have to share it with you...careful it is one of those songs that stay with you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj8TGhcCnxs
If you want to know
how a plant grows
It takes water, air and sunlight
and makes cellulose.
Every plant can do this
fundamental process
and we can call this
photosynthesis
Unlike me and you
plants need CO-2
And they make oxygen
that stops us turning blue
Every plant can do this
fundamental process
and we can call this
photosynthesis
It's a miracle
how all the chlorophyll
captures sunlight in the leaves
of the plants and the trees
A plant of any size
can do it if it tries
But we're not green~
so we can't photosynthesize
Every plant can do this
fundamental process
and we can call this
photosynthesis
It's a miracle
how all the chlorophyll
captures sunlight in the leaves
of the plants and the trees
Every plant can do this
fundamental process
and we can call this
photosynthesis
Every plant can do this
fundamental process
and we can call this
photosynthesis
Pho-to-syn-the-sis!
But we found this cute song and I have to share it with you...careful it is one of those songs that stay with you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj8TGhcCnxs
If you want to know
how a plant grows
It takes water, air and sunlight
and makes cellulose.
Every plant can do this
fundamental process
and we can call this
photosynthesis
Unlike me and you
plants need CO-2
And they make oxygen
that stops us turning blue
Every plant can do this
fundamental process
and we can call this
photosynthesis
It's a miracle
how all the chlorophyll
captures sunlight in the leaves
of the plants and the trees
A plant of any size
can do it if it tries
But we're not green~
so we can't photosynthesize
Every plant can do this
fundamental process
and we can call this
photosynthesis
It's a miracle
how all the chlorophyll
captures sunlight in the leaves
of the plants and the trees
Every plant can do this
fundamental process
and we can call this
photosynthesis
Every plant can do this
fundamental process
and we can call this
photosynthesis
Pho-to-syn-the-sis!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Tuesday April 24, 2012
Yesterday afternoon Alanah lost her 2nd tooth!
Today we did watercolor painting and balloon play!
Today we did watercolor painting and balloon play!
 |
| Alanah lost another tooth- this one took longer to come out |
 |
| Here it is! It fell under the file cabinet before the picture- thank goodness Brian got it out of there! |
 |
| Alanah brought a beautiful music box to polish |
 |
| It came out bright and shiny! |
 |
| Charli in Phaedra's sunglasses |
 |
| Addison building at the kitchen table- out of Charli's reach! |
 |
| Brendan with some houses I built |
 |
| Lelia and Phaedra |
 |
| Charli looking on |
 |
| Water colors |
 |
| Balloons! Phaedra's is stuck to the ceiling but even with a chair she can't reach it! |
 |
| 1,2,3 ... |
 |
| Throw! |
 |
| Charli liked walking around with her balloon |
 |
| 1,2,3... Throw!! |
 |
| 1,2,3, Throw!! |
 |
| Lelia retrieves her balloon |
Monday, April 23, 2012
Monday April 23 2012
Today....
 |
| Charli contemplates a tower I built for her |
 |
| Alanah deciding what to write on the yellow heart she cut out |
 |
| Phaedra writing on the heart she cut out |
 |
| Lelia did lots of cutting. |
 |
| Addison tried out the scalloped scissors |
 |
| AJ with a 1-20 number puzzle |
 |
| Charli fills the bucket |
 |
| Brendan with the farm puzzle |
 |
| Charli puts her blocks down and pulls to a stand |
 |
| Phaedra |
 |
| Charli with a pad of paper |
 |
| Addison wanted to use the sprayer to wash windows |
 | |
| It was raining so hard outside that the windows fogged up! They are nice and shiny though! |
 |
| Lelia and Phaedra with the magnetic dress-up dolls |
 |
| Brendan with the alphabet and number stamps |
 |
| Montessori materials. Phaedra stacks the red knobless cylinders |
 |
| Brendan works with the knobbed cylinders |
 |
| He was very focused on finding the right hole for each cylinder. One did not fit and he tried turning it upside down, when that did not fit either. He moved onto a different cylinder and came back to that one later. It is interesting to watch them figure it out :-) |
 |
| Phaedra's tower is complete |
 |
| Addison works with the blue knobless cylinders |
 |
| Brendan chooses the yellow knobless cylinders |
 |
| Lelia still busy with the dressing dolls |
 |
| Addison's tower is complete. After this we used the color boxes. We played a bunch of matching and name the color games, and then we played the "what's missing game?" by removing a color. They were so good at it that it evolved into using 6 colors and Phaedra could even name 3 that were removed :-) |
 |
| Playdough time |
 |
| We read Who Am I? Animal Riddles, and The Napping House afterward Charli walked all the way from the playroom |
 |
| Charli made the corner |
 |
| Charli walked into the bathroom where the kids were waiting to brush their teeth :-) |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)