First Step Nutrition

Easy Homemade Trail Mix

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:52:49 +0000

Parents are always looking for healthy, portable snacks. Trail mix is a very nutritious snack, but can be pricey in the grocery stores. Yet it’s so easy to make your own, custom trail mix! Prepare a big batch and or portion into small to-go containers to keep in your diaper bag or car.

Mix together any of:
1) Nuts (peanuts, walnuts, almonds – as long as your child is over 4 to avoid choking hazards. Or chop up finely).
2) Seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds).
3) Dried fruit (chopped apricots, dates, prunes, cranberries, cherries).
4) Dehydrated fruit (good if your child is younger, as they are not choking hazard. Can find in the baby food section at the grocery store.
5) Dried cereal (Cheerios, Shreddies, Nutrios)
6) Pretzels

No need to add sugar or oils, or to bake. Just mix together!

Banning Junk Food in Schools

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:26:40 +0000

Calgary schools have a new policy that bans junk food in the schools. I was interviewed by Global National about this issue, you can watch here.

At first glance, this sound like a fabulous idea. I wouldn’t want my children exposed to french fries, chips and pop day after day at school. It undermines the mostly healthy choices we make at home. And doesn’t promote a healthy body or mind. I think that the best part of this “ban” is that it will occur in conjunction with increased nutrition education in the schools. So children can hopefully learn to make their own healthy choices!

While my clip on the news (also featuring my daughter Norah!) of course didn’t include our full discussion, it does bring up some questions. I think the ban can be a good thing for younger children, not yet able to make their own decisions well. However, for older students (specifically High School), there are a few concerns. For one, the school will likely lose funds, as students will go to McDs next door. I also wonder about the taste and quality of the newer healthy foods. We certainly don’t want the kids to think the healthy food is all “gross”. I love what Jamie Oliver has done with his school Food Revolution, as well as celebrity chef Paul Finkelstein’s Screaming Avocado cafe at a high school in Ontario. Healthy food can = yummy food!

Another question is how do you define “junk food”? Chocolate milk is in debate. And in the US schools, pizza passes as a vegetable due to the small amounts of tomato sauce!!

What do you think about the ban?

Agave Nectar & “Natural” Sugars

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:09:04 +0000

For some reason, agave nectar still seems to have a health halo around it. My healthiest clients and friends that strive to eat whole and healthy foods often use agave instead of sugar. Yes, it sounds fancy and perhaps you have heard it has a lower glycemic index than sugar. That’s true. Even though it has the same amount of calories as sugar, it is 1.5 x sweeter than sugar, so you shouldn’t need to use as much. Which is great. But I still do not like agave. I bought some before doing any research a while back, and ended up giving it away.

Why? Yes, it is processed and it does not contain vitamins, minerals or antioxidants. And it contains more fructose that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Sources vary, but agave can be up to 90% fructose, where as HFCS is 55%. What’s wrong with fructose? Fructose can cause decreased glucose tolerance, high triglycerides and metabolic syndrome (which can lead to heart disease, stroke and diabetes). Considering that, if you eat a little bit of agave here or there it likely won’t harm you! But if you substitute all sugar for agave, I do not think this is a healthy change. At least to your pocketbook ☺

In fact, a lot of “natural”sugars have a health halo. Read a box of organic cookies that claim to be healthy, and you may see: enriched flour (white flour), brown rice syrup (sugar), honey (sugar) etc etc. No better for you than: enriched flour, sugar, sugar. This video compares the nutritional value of sweeteners like brown rice syrup (at the very bottom of the pile) with honey, brown sugar (white sugar with molasses), white sugar, maple syrup and agave. The only two sweeteners with nutritional value are date sugar (ground up dates ) and molasses (this is nigh in minerals like iron). I am going to try date sugar in baking. What about you?

Managing Food Allergies

admin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:13:10 +0000

What is food allergy?
Food allergies result when our immune system mistakenly thinks that a protein is an “invader” and launches an attack. Reactions can occur within minutes up to two days after eating the food. They can be mild (rash, runny or stuffy nose) to more extreme (vomiting, diarrhea). The most extreme allergic reaction is anaphylaxis, where the throat starts to close and there is difficulty breathing. If this happens, call 911 immediately or administer an epi-pen injection.

What are the most common food allergens?
The “Big Eight” most common food allergns include peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, almonds etc), sesame seeds, eggs, dairy, soy, fish and wheat. If your child has a food allergy to dairy, soy or eggs, they are more likely to outgrow them.

How common are food allergies
About 6% of children under three years old are affected by food allergies. Some children will outgrow their allergies as their immune system matures. Food intolerances may be more common, but are not caused by an immune system reaction, but from inadequate digestion. This leads to unwanted build up of some food material, like lactose in lactose intolerance.

What causes food allergies?
We don’t know! One popular hypothesis is the “Hygiene Hypothesis.” This is the belief that our society is now too clean. Kids aren’t in contact with enough viruses and bacteria due to vaccines, cleaners, etc, so their immune system is not worked as hard as it should be!
Also, new research points to vitamin d deficient children as having more allergies. So another reason to make sure your child gets 600IU of vitamin D a day!

How to determine if your child has a food allergy.
If you think your child may be suffering from a food allergy, the best thing to do is to keep a food and symptoms record. If you notice any foods that seem to be linked to reaction, you can take them out of your child’s diet (making sure they still have a balanced diet). If symptoms disappear, you can try adding the food in to see if symptoms re-appear and you may have your answer. Or if you go for a lab test, you then can do an elimination and challenge diet with the foods that show as positive. The lab tests can show up to 50% false positives (they say you have an allergy to a food, when you really don’t), so that is why the elimination and challenge diet can still be important. Janice Joneja has some excellent books that can help you through this.

Is it possible to prevent allergies?
During breastfeeding and pregnancy, you don’t need to avoid potential allergens. You can eat peanuts when you are pregnant! This will not likely decrease your baby’s chance of having an allergy to these foods. Breastfeeding itself maybe protective against food allergies.
When starting solids for a low risk baby (no parent or sibling with allergies), there is also no benefit to delaying common food allergens past 6 months like health professionals used to recommend. For high risk babies (parent or sibling with allergies), it may still be best to delay and give their immune systems more time to develop. When you do introduce solid to a high risk baby, you will do so in small amounts and can even try rubbing some of the food on their cheek and then lip to see if it produces a rash, before feeding that food. Also, you can introduce all foods cooked before raw, as they are less allergenic (ie usually you would offer banana raw, but cook it the first time). Always wait at least 3 days before introducing a new food to any baby, so you can see if they react.
As noted above, making sure your child has adequate vitamin D intake may possibly be linked preventing allergies as well.

What do you do if your child has food allergies?
If it is serious, carry an epi pen. Make sure your child is on a balanced diet, if it is quite restricted (I can help with this!). And you will need to become and expert food label reader, searching for all of the various names for the food you are avoiding.
If the allergies are not serious, you can always try re-introducing the food after a few months. Again, rubbing it on the cheek or lip first can give you some idea if your child is still allergic to that food.
Where do we go from here?
There is still a lot to learn about food allergies! There is a large study with over 600 children going on right now in Europe. It is called the LEAP (Learning Early About Peanut Allergy) study. The scientists are looking at if repeated exposure to peanuts at a young age leads to tolerance of peanut protein and less allergy. This will be compared to avoiding peanuts until age three. The results will be interesting, and hopefully a more consistent message about introducing allergic foods to babies will be developed as a result.

Happy Halloween!!

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:09:33 +0000

I don’t want to reign on anybody’s Halloween candy parade, including your child’s. But since most of us probably aren’t too excited about letting our kids eat a pillowcase full of sugar and food coloring, here are some ides to make Halloween healthier.

1. Have a good dinner (including some protein and veggies) before going out trick of treating, so your child has some healthy food filling their tummy in preparation for sugar overload! If you’re in Calgary, check out Kulinary Kid’s Healthy Halloween Family Cooking Class

2. If you do go trick or treating, buy your child a small plastic pumpkin to fill, as opposed to a large bag. Once it’s full, you’re done trick or treating!

3. Trade the candy for money! There are some dental offices that do a candy “buy back” and exchange your candy for money. Try Evans Centre for Dental Health & Wellness in the NW on Nov 1 from 4:30-7:30pm or Dr Kerri Stein’s office in Midnapore on November 7th from 1-6pm.

4. Have a visit from the “Switch Witch” or “Candy Fairy” – similar to the tooth fairy. My son loved this last year at 3 years old! We put his candy out on Halloween night and the switch witch came and left him a toy in exchange. He may not be so thrilled with the option this year, as evidenced in our snack video below ☺

5. If you are preparing treats for a Halloween party, they can still be fun and healthy! Check out my video making Apple Bites and Cheese Finger Food from this great website: www.familyfun.go.com

6. Do NOT buy your give-away candy early or it won’t last until Halloween! Or give out an alternative: temporary tattoos crayons, small bouncy balls or playdough. My favorite house to visit when I was a kid was the dentist’s house. He would hand out toothbrushes!!

As for how to dole out the treats if you do collect a bunch and don’t want to buy back or switch witch…..that’s up to you. I think it’s best to let your kid choose how much to eat (which yes, will probably be a lot!). If you follow Ellyn Satter’s advice, she suggests letting your child gorge on Halloween night and then offer the candy at a meal or snack. At that designated time, they can have as much as they like. You can also choose to dole out small portions at once. Depending on your kid’s personality, they might not have a problem with this. But when it is offered in limited portions, you might find your child coveting the candy and searching for your hiding spot!

Why make your own babyfood?

admin — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:17:29 +0000

There are many benefits to making your own baby food:

To start teaching your baby that homemade foods are enjoyable, and the easiest choice.

To save money. If a jar of baby food is $1.50, and you go through even 1 per day from ages 6 months – 12 months, that’s $270.

Allow your baby to eat a greater variety of food. Do you see baby avocado or baby buffalo on the shelf? Thought not!

Avoid additives and preservatives. Some of the store-bought babyfood no longer contains these (Baby Gourmet is my favorite), but you still have to read the labels. I recently accidentally purchased 6mo+ “Organic Blueberry Dessert” thinking it was prunes. It contained many ingredients that I would not want a 6 month old to eat, including added sugars & dairy!

Help make the change from pureed to mashed foods easier. Even higher “stages” of baby food are quite mushy and pureed. It is far easier to add texture to your own babyfood. Simply blend less and add less fluid. Soon you won’t need the blender at all, and can just use a fork (ie. to mash beans, canned salmon etc).

You can mix homemade baby food with breast milk or formula, instead of water. This adds extra nutrition as well as giving baby a taste they are familiar with.

If you have a baby that will soon be starting solids, and want to give babyfood making a try, join my Babyfood Making 101 Class on Sept 22^nd at 7pm at Kulinary Kids. I will teach you how introduce foods, to give your baby the best nutritional start possible. You will make 5 recipes and come home with food to feed your baby, or pop in the freezer until they are ready! The class will be held on Thursday September 22^nd from 7-8:30pm at Kulinary Kids. Participants will receive:

-       A Wean green cube

-       Baby food to take home: whole grain cereal, baby buffalo, legume, organic seasonal veggie & fruit

-       Handouts and a chance to ask the dietitian your questions

Spaces are limited! Contact Jen at jen@firststepnutrition.com or 403-608-3240 to register.

Stop Trying to Control HOW MUCH Your Child Eats

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:46:37 +0000

This is the biggest hurdle that I see for parents to get over. And often the cause of picky eaters. We just want to control our kids. Including how much they eat. WHY can’t we control our kids?! And what happens when we try our darndest to get this control? Power struggles & fight back. How do you feel when someone tells you that you need to do something? It probably gives you even less motivation do that that exact thing.

Regardless of if we think our child is eating too much or not enough, we really need to let it go. This is taking a leap of faith, but trust that your child will eat the amount he/she needs. The vast majority of children are good at this – if you are concerned or your child is not growing well, check with your doctor.

So offer a variety of healthy foods, at the family table, during regular snack and meal times. If your child doesn’t want to eat, fine. If they want more, fine too! Why do we need to let this go? Not only will it decrease stress of everyone around the table, but it will help your child to grow up having a healthy relationship with food. The problem with forcing children to eat is that they aren’t able to listen to their appetite and will have negative views of some foods. And this will carry with them throughout adulthood. For example, who was forced to clean their plates as a child, and now still clears their plate regardless of satiety? Continue to offer them (no pressure!) again and again, and be a good role model by eating a balanced diet yourself.

What is your experience with this?

When is a Safe Age to Introduce Peanuts to your Baby?

admin — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:13:03 +0000

Are you wondering if it is safe to introduce peanuts to your baby or toddler? In the past, I have recommended that parents wait until a year of age to introduce peanuts to their baby. This is a common recommendation, and different health regions and countries seem to vary somewhere between six months to three years of age for introducing peanuts. But my baby is 9 months old now, and I recently decided to look into this issue a more.

Peanut allergy is the most common allergy among children, with 1.68% of Canadians affected But Canada, there are no current provincial or federal recommended age to introduce peanuts to infants. Some countries (like Britain and Australia) suggest waiting until age three. I think this would be very difficult to do in today’s food system, and it will not prevent the allergy. But it is true that a three year old is more likely to be able to tell you that they are having an allergic reaction, than an 8 month old.

In the United States, the American Academy of Pediatrics used to recommend that babies at risk of developing allergy avoid eggs until two years of age and avoid peanuts, tree nuts, and fish until three years. These guidelines were based on a few limited studies. However, as of 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics reversed its stance on delaying the introduction of dairy, eggs and nuts, as there is “no current convincing evidence that delaying their introduction has significant protective effect on the development of atopic disease” (Greer, F et al. Pediatrics. 2008 Jan;121(1):183-91).

Researchers are now thinking avoiding allergic foods to prevent allergy may actually be counterproductive! Some countries where children are introduced to peanut products much earlier, have a much lower rate of peanut allergy. Perhaps earlier introduction of the potential allergic protein can actually create tolerance, and prevent an allergy! The Learning Early About Peanuts (LEAP) study is a randomized control trial currently underway to explore this. Results will be ready in 2013, after following high-risk babies for five years. Researchers will compare allergy rates in the early peanut exposure group to the delayed peanut exposure group.

Until then, I would stick with AAP recommendations. A few years ago I waited until my son was a year to introduce peanuts, but I first fed my daughter peanut butter at age 8 months. While I wouldn’t introduce peanuts as your baby’s first food (more on first food here!), peanut butter can be introduced within the first year for most babies. If you have a high-risk baby (a sibling or parent has food allergies), you may feel more comfortable waiting to introduce peanuts, although the age is up to you. And you may want to do a few trials of rubbing peanut butter on your baby’s cheek before introducing it as a food, to watch for rash. Peanuts are such an easy, inexpensive, nutritious & delicious food, so I wish you luck!

Dietitian vs Nutritionist

admin — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:37:32 +0000

A Registered Dietitian is a health professional who has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition from a University, completed a year-long dietetic internship, and written a registration exam. Dietitians are also required to be a member of their provincial College of Dietitians and complete yearly competencies.

The titles “Dietitian, Registered Dietitian and Registered Nutritionist” are protected in Alberta. Be sure to check for these titles when you are looking for reliable nutrition information. However, the term “Nutritionist” is not protected. Nutritionists may have varying levels of training and formal nutrition education, or none at all. For example, the title “Holistic Nutritionist” is becoming popular. Most holistic nutritionists have a 1 year diploma. I have been asked if my practice is “holistic”. While I do take into account other areas of your life that affect your health and nutrition, I also make sure that my recommendations are evidence-based.

Here’s a great article that explains it more.

4 Reasons to Meal Plan

admin — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:19:12 +0000

I highly encourage all of my clients to meal plan & here is why:

1) Saves Money. You’re not throwing out rotten food you didn’t use during the week. Having a meal plan prevents daily trips to the grocery store. And we all know that you go in for one item and end out coming out with a dozen! Also, your meal plan should save you those costly last minute take-out and delivery meals.
2) Saves Time. Again, the meal plan should save trips to the store, as well as wandering around aimlessly when you are shopping, because you don’t have your meal plan and list. You can also put an end to daily rooting around the fridge/freezer trying to figure out what’s for dinner, because you already know!
3) Saves Stress. That daily 5pm “what’s for dinner” stress is a big one for most moms, but is easily prevented.
4) Improves Nutrition. Planning your dinners for the week allows you to create a good nutritional balance. For example: a fish meal, 2 vegetarian meals, 2 chicken, 1 red meat, and 1 leftover/eat out day.

So take that 1 hour on the day before you go grocery shopping to pick out a few recipes for dinner, and make your grocery list accordingly. Make sure you plan your meals around your schedule for the week, so you can have quick meals (ie slow cooker or leftovers) on nights you will not have time to cook. And if you need help, I can get you started with a week or two.