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Juice - How much juice should my children have? To answer this question, we rely on The American Academy of Pediatrics, which has issued recommendations to guide parents and care-givers of infants and children. Too much juice in an infant or child’s diet can lead to bad dental health, contribute to obesity and take up too much space in the child’s tummy.
Start juice only when a child can sip from a cup (approximately 6 months of age), and limit the daily amount to no more than 4-6 ounces from age 1 to age 6 years. Allowing a child to carry and sip from a bottle or a cup of juice all day is a key factor in tooth decay. Never put a child to bed with a bottle or sippy cup of juice. The carbohydrate in the juice feeds bacteria in the mouth which cause tooth decay while the child sleeps. For ages 7-18 years of age, juice intake should be limited to 8-12 ounces. There is no nutritional advantage to drinking juice rather than eating a piece of fresh fruit. On the contrary, whole fruit provides needed fiber and other nutrients not found in juice. Juice - What should I look for on the label when I buy juice?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandates that for a product to be labeled as "juice” it must contain 100% fruit juice. Check the beverage label for descriptive words such as "drink", "beverage," or "cocktail." If you find those descriptors, you will know the product contains between 10% and 99% juice and added sweeteners, and flavors. Fruit drinks are NOT a nutritional equivalent to fruit juice. Sometimes the front label panel will showcase added fortifiers, such as vitamin C or calcium. These ingredients must be listed on the label, according to FDA regulations. A functional food is an ordinary food that is spiked with an additional amount of a nutrient that has specific health properties. Some people think of these foods as a combination of foods and pharmaceuticals. In essence, the additions are actually present in whole foods, but not in amounts sufficient to cause the desired health effect. Examples of functional foods are: Yogurt with added probiotics (friendly bacteria already present in our bodies) with the possible benefit of improving gastrointestinal health, margarine laced with plant sterol and stanol esters with the possible effect of lowering LDL and total blood cholesterol levels. The Food and Drug Administration has relaxed standards for health claims on labels. Even if the benefit does not have significant scientific agreement, the nutrition claim can be made if there is some weight to the scientific evidence as long as there is a statement on the label to disclaim total cause and effect. The best bet for all-around good nutrition is to make sure your diet is rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains – all of which are loaded with naturally occurring essential nutrients. Plant Sterols - Can plant sterols reduce my risk of heart disease? Plant sterols can play a role in cholesterol management. The Food and Drug administration considers research on plant sterols strong enough to authorize a health claim on labels. When 2 grams of plant sterols are consumed in a day, there can be an estimated 10% reduction in LDL cholesterol. This 10% reduction of LDL cholesterol translates into a decrease in a reduction in the risk of heart disease by up to 10%.
Plant sterols are found naturally in some vegetable oils, nuts, grain products, fruits and vegetables. However, the amount present in these foods is very small, so it is not practical to meet the 2 gram a day recommendation through consuming these foods alone. (It would take 7,000 calories worth of almonds to meet the 2 gram plant sterol recommendation.) Plant sterols have been extracted and concentrated from natural sources, and have been added to some commonly consumed foods. Check out the labels on some margarines, mayonnaise, orange juice and, more recently, yogurt "shots,” if you are in search of plant sterols. Plant sterols are chemically close to cholesterol. The difference is how your body uses them. Plant sterols compete for binding sites, so that you actually absorb less cholesterol. Remember that to effectively lower your LDL cholesterol, you must also: ♥ Limit your total calories from saturated fat to 7% of your total calories, and watch the label for sources of trans fat (your heart’s enemy). For more information: http://eatright.org/ada/files/The_Plant_Sterol_Story.pdf Butter - Which is better, butter or margarine? The one you choose can influence heart health by impacting your dietary cholesterol level. Butter is high in both saturated fat and cholesterol. Both have been shown to raise total blood cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the one that gunks up the arteries and can lead to an increased risk of heart attack or stroke). Keeping saturated fat to less than 10 percent of total calories and trans fats as low as possible are part of translating the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Replacing butter, lard, solid shortening and hard stick margarine with unsaturated fats of vegetable origin will help. If it comes in a tub, it is likely to be less saturated than a stick. Read the ingredient list and look for oils like olive, canola, sunflower and soy. For more information, check out: http://eatright.org/ada/files/DIETARY_FATS.pdf
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