Why we have a world breastfeeding week

So, breastfeeding… why should we have a world breastfeeding week? How does that concern me if I don’t have a kid am breastfeeding? Why should I even read this post if a man? As in why should I care about boobs I can’t even play with? The answer is simple; it is because breastfeeding is the best thing mothers can ever do to their children and as a society, it is our job to support these mothers as they do so. It is up to us be nice and not sneer when they have to feed their babies in the matatus or when they need to express milk at the office because they can’t be home to feed the baby all the time. 

The World Breastfeeding Week 2016 theme is on raising awareness of the links between breastfeeding and the Sustainable Development Goals. By recognizing that breastfeeding is a key to sustainable development, we will value our wellbeing from the start of life, respect each other and care for the world we share. (http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org)

Breast milk is kind of magical. Imagine one liquid having all the nutrients a baby needs for the first six months of life? How awesome is that? You don’t even need to give your child water because breast milk covers the baby’s water needs too! If breast milk was to be bought in a store most children would go hungry because it is too precious to go at an affordable price. God, in all His wisdom, gave mothers the ability to make this liquid gold and it is our job to support all breastfeeding mothers if we want a healthy future.

Benefits of breastfeeding for the baby

·         Breast milk provides all the nutrients a baby needs in the right proportions and the right temperature.

·         Breast milk protects your baby from both short term and long term diseases. This is because breast milk contains antibodies that help fight viruses and bacteria. This means that your baby will suffer from diseases like stomach viruses, meningitis, ear infections and lower respiratory illnesses less often and if they get the infections, they will be less severe because the baby will have a high immunity. Breast milk also reduces the risk of your child developing chronic diseases e.g. diabetes type 1, celiac disease, asthma and allergies.

·         Children who are exclusively breast fed have a lower risk of becoming obese.

·         Breast fed children have a high IQ. If you want to brag of how your child scoops all the academic awards in the future, you have to make sure that your baby has the best food from the very start which is nothing other than breast milk.

·         Ever heard of babies who just die suddenly for no particular reason? The risk of this condition known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is reduced by about half when a baby is breast fed.

·         Stronger bones. Calcium in breast milk is easily absorbed by the baby which helps your baby build strong bones.

·         Breast feeding helps the baby to bond with the mother. Thanks to oxytocin (a hormone released during breastfeeding) a baby forms a bond with his/her mother which makes the baby feel safe and babies who get this feeling are healthier babies.

·         The one thing that I love most about breast milk is that it is always ready to drink. No need to prepare or warm it. The fact that it comes in attractive containers is also a plus #wink.

Magical liquid in your kitchen you need to use more

Why is honey superior to sugar? I mean, they are both natural! Sugar cane is natural and as organic as anything can be so why are they not equal? How can they be the same when it takes around 60,000 bees and 2 million flowers to make a half kilogram of honey! It doesn’t stop there, when the nectar collected gets to the hive, it is mixed with enzymes and then stuff I don’t completely understand (because I am not a bee) happens. Point is, making of honey is a complicated process and thankfully, bees don’t cut corners so what we get is pure liquid gold. The health benefits associated with honey include;

Honey makes really good homemade cough medication

Honey is a demulcent (soothing medication used to relieve pain in inflamed tissues). It relieves irritation in your throat and mouth by forming a protective film. It is also good at suppressing coughs and when taken 30 minutes to bed time it prevents night coughs.

Treatment of wounds

Before penicillin, people used honey to treat wounds. This is because honey has anti-fungal, antibacterial and antioxidant properties. The sugar in honey helps wounds heal faster by helping them dry out a well as preventing growth of harmful bacteria that would make your wound worse. Honey is good at healing wounds that are resistant to the medication in the market. The research done on honey and wound healing shows that manuka honey (honey made from manuka bush pollen) is the best honey for treatment of wounds.

Relieves seasonal allergies

Allergies are reactions to substances not harmful to most humans. One of the symptoms of allergies is inflammation (redness, swelling, hotness and pain of a body part) Honey has anti-inflammatory properties meaning that honey can relieve allergies. When bees are collecting nectar to make honey, they collect some pollen with it. If you get pollen allergies, the small amounts of pollen in the honey can help your immune system build up natural immunity.

Excellent source of energy and blood sugar regulation

Even though honey contains simple sugars, the simple sugars in honey are better at regulating blood glucose than the simple sugars in common white sugar. This means that honey will give you energy and sustain the energy better than sugar will.

Increases athletic performance

When performing any kind of exercise or during an athletic event, you need a constant supply of energy from your body. Because of its blood sugar regulation properties, honey is a good source of energy for athletes.

Good for the skin

Honey is used in many beauty products and face masks. The antibacterial properties of honey have something to do with that. When used with other ingredients like milk, it can be used as a moisturiser and it can make your skin smooth and vibrant looking.

Source of vitamins and minerals

The vitamins and minerals in honey depend on the flowers used to make the honey. Honey may not be the best source of vitamins and minerals but sugar has zero vitamins and minerals so it is still a superior sweetener.

Treats dandruff

Applying honey mixed with a little warm water on the scalp and leaving it for three hours helps reduce the itching that comes with having dandruff. It also heals the wounds that come with scratching the head when someone has dandruff. Two weeks of honey therapy is sufficient to get rid of dandruff and heal scalp wounds.

PS, it is not safe to give honey to children under one year. Bacteria spores can be found in small percentage in honey. Adults and children over the age of one are safe but children under the age of one need time to build their immunity first.

Simple ways to survive the cold season

It’s that time of the year again when everyone has a cold and that includes me. I find it strange when I cough and my friends ask me “hata wewe hupata homa!!!” (you also get colds!) Yes I do! And I get those that come with cold sores and blood shot eyes. Nutritionists get colds too, so do doctors. Good thing is we have tricks to get better quickly. In addition to medicine (hopefully prescribed by a doctor), keeping warm and rest, eating foods that boost your immunity helps fight the cold faster.

Good foods for boosting immunity include;

Foods rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin E

The two vitamins are really good for boosting immunity. They are abundant in green, yellow and red foods. Green leafy vegetables are readily available and very affordable. Carrots, capsicum (hoho), papayas, mangoes, sunflower seeds, avocados, fish, liver, and fruits are good sources. When trying to get the vitamins from vegetables, cook them shortly and if making salads, use a salad dressing with healthy oils. Vitamin A and Vitamin E are fat soluble vitamins meaning that they need to be accompanied by fat to be absorbed in the body. Slightly cooking them or using a salad dressing with healthy fats, helps you get the fat that aids absorption.

Vitamin C

The most known source for vitamin C is oranges and citrus fruits. There are other sources too, some better than oranges. They include; papayas, bell peppers (also hoho), broccoli, pineapples, sukuma wiki, cabbage, tomatoes, spinach, water melons etc.

Onions

Onions have chemicals that help fight infections and keep you healthy. To get the medicinal benefits, you shouldn’t fry them till they are golden brown. The chemicals are volatile and frying them would make you lose all that. Garlic is a super food but all onions have those properties.

Chicken soup

Chicken has an amino acid (building block of proteins) known as cysteine which has anti-inflammatory properties. This basically means that it lessens the sickness symptoms and you get better faster. The salt in the soup helps thin mucous which is a plus. For better results, add a good amount of onions and garlic to your chicken soup.

Herbs and spices

Natural herbs and spices have medicinal properties. For best results, buy them in their most natural states. You can use them to make tea or add them to your food. Good examples include; turmeric, garlic, ginger etc.

Honey

Honey especially combined with ginger and lemons helps soothe your throat an reduces the severity of colds.

Moderate amounts of healthy oils

Fish oil is a good way to go when you are fighting colds.

Avoid foods that cause creation and accumulation of mucus 

Whole milk, milk products, sugar, and deep fried foods are examples of foods that cause your body to produce more mucous which in turn makes it hard to breath.

Lastly, dress warmly and get quality rest.

What you need to know if you drink lemon water

Lemon water is trending right now. We are all doing it and we are spreading the lemon water thing like the gospel. Lemon water has its benefits some of which include;

ü  Lemons are a good source of Vitamin C and drinking lemon water helps you get this vitamin that is so good at fighting infections and keeping you healthy

ü  Lemon water is easy to drink. People who find water bland and boring say they can easily drink lemon water because it has a nice flavor

ü  It is a good replacement for high calorie unnatural juices

ü  It makes your skin look good. Water and vitamin C is a good combination for beautiful skin

There is one thing that lemon water does not do though; it does not burn fat! Most of the people who drink lemon water do it for weight loss and get very disappointed when they don’t see the results. Other people will tell you that drinking hot lemon water will melt the fat off your body. I am sorry but if it was that easy we would all be models. A good weight loss program includes eating well and working out.

Is there a thing like too much lemon water? Can there be adverse effects of drinking lemon water? Yes there can be. Too much lemon water can cause;

Heartburn. If you are prone to heartburns, lemon water will leave your chest on fire because lemons are very acidic.

Damaged enamel. Sipping on lemon water the whole day means that the acid sits on your teeth the whole day. This makes it easy for the acid to erode the protective enamel on teeth which can lead to tooth sensitivity.

Remedies for people already hooked on lemon water.

Slowly cut back on lemon water and replace it with plain water. You can continue to enjoy lemon water but don’t make it a daily thing.

Take sips of plain water in between drinking lemon water to avoid accumulation of acids on your teeth. You can also use a straw to drink lemon water if you want to protect your teeth. I have to warn you though, using a straw makes you swallow lots of air which can leave you bloated. Maybe don’t use a straw when u are wearing a tight dress.

                                                               

Are you being tricked into buying unhealthy food?

Many consumers are now looking into what they are eating and buying and as a result, reading food labels more. Food labels can be very helpful except when they are not. It is like some of the information on the food labels is put there to give you a headache.  Some food production companies will say things that don’t make sense to confuse you and make you buy their products. Don’t worry though, we got you. What should you look for in a food label?

The information in food labels vary depending on the food product and the laws of the country the food was made at. But for a typical food label, this is what you should expect;

1. The Serving Size

Not all the food labels you come across will look like the one above. This is Kenya; some of them will be black and white and some will have so little information you might think it was made by the secret service.

All in all, the first thing you should look for in a food label is the first thing on the food label which is the serving size

The serving size is not the amount you put in your bowl, plate or cup. Foods vary when it comes to serving sizes so always check the food label. Most foods will have one serving as 100g or 1 cup. Just to be clear, one cup is not equivalent to the biggest cup you have in the house. One cup is something between 200 and 240g. Sometimes the food label will also have total number of servings in that one container.

Calories per serving

This is the amount of calories you will get from eating one serving size of a food product. If you are watching your weight, remember, the more servings you take, the more calories you eat. If for example the serving size of biscuits is 2 biscuits and that gives you 80 calories, eating 4 biscuits will give you 80×2=160 calories. The calories per serving section can also help you judge if a food is healthy or not. If the food has too many calories, it could mean that it is high in fat and sugar. Compare the total calories to the calories from fat or sugar. If a food product has 250alories per serving and 110 of those calories are from fat, it would mean that almost half of the calories from that food are from fat which is very unhealthy.

General Guide to Calories

• 40 Calories is low
• 100 Calories is moderate
• 400 Calories or more is high

The General Guide to Calories provides a general reference for calories when you look at a Nutrition Facts label. This guide is based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Amount of nutrients

If the nutrition label is color coded, you will have two parts. One will be yellow and the other part will be blue. The yellow colored nutrients are the nutrients you should limit and the blue ones you should get enough of.

Limit These Nutrients

Notice that the yellow color nutrients are fat and sodium.  From high school chemistry, we know that salt is composed of sodium and chloride. The sodium part is the part that is of interest when it comes to health. PS, food can have little salt and still be high in sodium. This is because some foods are high in sodium even in their natural state e.g. one large egg will have 170 milligrams of sodium. This is kinda high seeing as you need to keep your sodium intake at 2400mg for healthy individuals and 1500 for people with hypertension.

Remember, for good health, you have to keep your consumption of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol as low as you possibly can.

The nutrients in blue are the nutrients you should take enough of.

As a rule of thumb, buy food products with more blue box nutrients and less yellow box nutrients.

Percentage Daily Values

At the bottom of the food label, there is normally a foot note and it mostly reads, “Percentage daily values are based on a 2000 calories diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.”

Depending on our height, weight, sex, and age, we all have different calorie and nutrient needs. To calculate the calories you need in a day check out http://kabubaaa.blogspot.co.ke/2015/01/how-to-lose-weight-fast.html

Percentage daily value is a scale that helps you know what percentage of a nutrient you are getting from the food product as compared to what you should get in a day for good health. For example, the recommended dietary intake of vitamin C is 60mg. if a food has 30 mg of vitamin C per serving, then it is providing 50% of the daily value and it will show 50%DV and if another food product gives you 80 mg of vitamin C per serving, then it is providing 133% DV. Use this scale to compare the nutrient content in different products.

Quick guide to %DV

• 5% DV or less is a little
• 15% DV or more is a lot

How about nutrition claims?

On a food product, the front labels are as attractive as a politician’s speech just before an election. They will have all this claims and promises. While some are actually true, some of them are just there to make you think the food product is healthier than it actually is.   Research shows that consumers will buy a food product more if it has nutritional claims and manufacturers are using this to their advantage. So which claims are true and which are there just for sales? 

ü        When making a food label, manufactures are required to list the ingredients from the one that is most abundant to the least abundant in the food product.  This means that the top three ingredients are what the manufacturer used most of. If the first three ingredients are whole and healthy, the food product has a high likelihood of being healthy. If the first three ingredients are refined grain, sugar, and hydrogenated oils, then the food product is likely unhealthy.

ü  Another thing to check is the number of ingredients. The higher the number of ingredients, the more processed the food is which means it has little health and nutritional benefits. As a rule of thumb, is if the ingredients list is longer than 2–3 lines, you can assume that the product is highly processed.

ü  If a product claims to be multigrain it is easy to assume that it is high in fiber. This is not always true. If on the back of the pack you check the fiber content and its low, the food product is made from more than one grain but it is is very processed. Keep in mind that you need around 30grams of fiber a day.

Quick guide to fiber

·         Source of fiber means the food contains at least 2 grams of fiber in a serving

·         High source of fiber means at least 4 grams of fiber

·         Very high source of fiber is at least 6 grams of fiber.

ü  For a food to be considered "Low fat" it should contain no more than 3 grams of fat a serving.

ü  The claim "Cholesterol-free" means that the product has a very small amount (less than 2 mg of cholesterol per serving) and it is also low in saturated fat and trans fat.

ü  A food claiming to be sodium free should contain less than 5 mg of sodium per serving

WHY YOU SHOULD BE EATING BACTERIA

Don’t roll your eyes yet; I still recommend hand washing and other sanitary practices. There are good bacteria though and for optimum health we need to include them in our diet. The best way to include these microorganisms in our body is fermentation.

Fermentation is a metabolic process that converts sugar to acids, gases, or alcohol. Examples of readily available fermented foods include; yoghurt, butter milk (mala), porridge, mursik, cheese and pickled vegetables. There are more products of fermentation but for the purpose of this post we will concentrate on the above food products.

Benefits of fermentation

ü  Probiotics. These are bacteria for therapeutic purposes. To prevent bad bacteria from growing in your gut/intestines, you have to eat good bacteria. In the absence of good bacteria, bad bacteria flourishes which is not good for your health. Yoghurt and mala are very good sources of probiotics. Yoghurt makes a very healthy and tasty snack too.

ü  Increases micronutrients in food. Some bacteria can increase levels of vitamins in food, especially B vitamins.

ü  Makes food more digestible. If you are lactose intolerant, fermented milk is a good way to get all the health benefits of milk. This is because lactose (form of sugar in milk) is broken down during fermentation. Also, fermentation microbes produce enzymes that break down cellulose in plant foods, which humans can't digest, into sugars which are well tolerated by the human digestive system.

ü  Prolongs the shelf life of food. Fresh milk has a shorter shelf life than fermented milk. Sometimes when milk threatens to go bad you can just ferment it. One thing though, pasteurized milk (milk you buy in packets) will not have the desired outcome. If you want to make mala at home, use milk that has not been pasteurized. Different types of bacteria have different preferences and the kind of bacteria we are after does well in unpasteurized milk.

ü  Gives food aroma and flavor. Don’t you like it when mala, yogurt and cheese taste like they were not made from milk? This gives milk products variety. You can have fresh milk and cereal in the morning; have ugali and mala for lunch and not feel like you are sick and tired of milk.

NB; when buying fermented food, make sure it is good quality food. Not all yoghurt will be a result of fermentation. Some people are out to make quick money so make sure you choose products from brands you trust. Most pickles sold in supermarkets will not have probiotic effects because the product is pasteurized for canning or bottling.

Eat anything you want and lose 12 kilos a week!!!

Did anyone believe the claim above?

Why do we believe in fad diets so much?

A fad diet is a diet that promises quick weight loss through what is usually an unhealthy and unbalanced diet. Fad diets are targeted at people who want to lose weight quickly without exercise. Our need for quick fixes makes us vulnerable to anyone who claims to have a solution for weight loss.

It’s sad when we start seeing food as a cause for being fat and disfiguring. Food should be seen as a source of energy for our bodies. Food should bring joy and not sadness.

Characteristics of fad diets

Calorie restriction

These are diets that ask you to take fewer calories than your body needs in a day. Our bodies require energy for our daily activities, protein to build &repair the body, vitamins and minerals to boost our immunity and keep us healthy. All this comes in the form of food and when you restrict the amount of food you take in, you are also restricting the amount of nutrients your body gets in a day. Calorie restricted diets work for a while, you will lose weight quickly as you lose water weight but it will all come back the moment you start eating again. Restricting calories also lowers your metabolism meaning that you burn fewer calories and store most which then leads to weight gain.

They promise rapid weight loss

These diets promise and sometimes deliver rapid weight loss. This sounds very good but the happiness is short lived because all you lose is water weight which comes back leaving you feeling sadder. Safe and permanent weight loss is slow, and it takes work but once you lose the weight you can keep it off.

They eliminate whole food groups

To help us consume foods in the right proportions, food is put into five groups depending on the nutrients they provide. These groups are;

Ø  Grains and cereals,

Ø  Vegetables legumes and beans

Ø  Fruits

Ø  Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts

Ø  Milk and dairy products

If a diet asks you to eliminate any of the food groups, it means that there are nutrients you do not get and it could cause deficiencies.

They include super pills

These pills will claim to block the absorption of fats, calories or carbohydrates and suppress appetite; which is a waste of money. If you do not want your body to absorb a lot of fat, just don’t eat food high in fat. You don’t need a pill for that. Fat is essential to the body. It helps absorb fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E, and K). Simply chose healthy fats and use them in moderation.

The diet requires you to only eat specific foods or foods in certain combinations

Although some nutrients are best absorbed in combinations e.g. iron and vitamin C, fad diets ask you to eat very specific foods and not to mix them with other foods. The human digestive system is very capable of digesting different foods at the same time. Don’t be duped into eating cabbage soup and avoid other foods when there is no scientific evidence to support that.

They do not include exercise

To lose weight you simply have to spend more calories than you take in. in addition to weight loss, exercise improves your overall health and helps to keep the lost weight away. Exercise is a very important part of good health and any diet claiming that you do not need exercise is not  a healthy one.

So how do I choose healthy diet?

A healthy diet is a diet that includes healthy foods, in the right proportions combined with adequate physical activity. An ideal diet is long term and it changes person’s eating habits and lifestyle. While a fad diet will make you lose weight fast, it won’t help you keep the weight away.

Guidelines for a healthy diet include;

·         Consume a variety of cereals and grains preferably whole

·         Choose lean meat (with fat trimmed) and include fish and poultry in your diet.

·         Eat plenty of vegetables, legumes and fruits

·         Include milk and milk products in your diet

·         Choose healthy fats and use them in moderation

·         Consume moderate amounts of sugar

·         Drink plenty of water.

·         Choose foods low in salt

·         Get enough exercise