Kids Nutrition and Vitamins IDLife Review

Should you give your children vitamins? If they have a healthy balanced diet, they are likely getting all of their needed vitamins. Primarily milk, fresh fruits, leafy greens, vegetables, protein from chicken, fish, or eggs, and whole grains.

However... how many busy parents provide this every day? Do your kids eat a lot of processed foods or fast foods? Do they drink sodas (which has been shown to pull out minerals and vitamins from their bodies). Or are your kids finicky/picky eaters? Do they refuse to eat what you put in front of them? Are they athletic? Are they playing physically demanding sports?

It can be difficult to determine if they are getting their required essential nutrients. It's more difficult to find a high quality product that doesn't contain artificial ingredients (colors, preservatives, additive, sweeteners).

Natural | Non-GMO | Casein Free | Soy Free | Gluten Free

Click here for an in-depth IDLife Kids Nutrition Review

Keep in mind, if you are feeding your kids a healthy balanced diet they may not have a nutritional deficiency.  Many foods, such as milk and cereal, are fortified with vitamins. Do not give your child more vitamins than necessary as megadoses can be toxic. If you want to supplement but do not want to give a full dose, try cutting vitamins in half. 


IDLife's Kids Vitamins have been designed to fill the nutritional gaps in their diets.

Keep vitamins out of the way, do not let your kids treat them like candy. Also vitamins should typically be taken with meals as it increases your body's ability to absorb many nutrients

References:

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/vitamins-for-kids-do-healthy-kids-need-vitamins
http://myidlife.net/kids

What are free radicals or oxidants?

Cell Oxidation

To understand free radicals (oxidants) you'll need a basic understanding of how your genetic expression is changed through methyl tags (I cover the basics on epigenetics in a previous post). In simplistic terms, in DNA methylation, proteins attach tags to your DNA in specific places. These tags are known as methyl groups. DNA methylation can supress your genes (turn them off). There is another part to this called histone acetylation, which basically, comes down to activating genes (turning them on).

Free Radicals (or oxidants) can come from our environment or be created in our bodies. Some environmental sources for free radials are: sunlight, fried food, poor diet, pollution, cigarette smoke, drugs, illness, stress. Smoking, diet, disease can change the chemical responses in your body and thereby lead changes to your epigenome. Your body can produce free radicals as well, such as burning fat. That fat molecule can be converted into energy which also creates free electrons.

"A free radical is a molecule with an unpaired electron. The molecule is reactive and seeks another electron to pair. Free radicals are involved in the mechanisms of damage associated with disease development"- wikipedia

So that free radical that is floating around doesn't have anything to attach to... That's where antioxidants come into play. They'll attach to that free radical and neutralize them. Otherwise, it could try to attach to other molecules, like DNA. These free radicals can be damaging and cause faulty methylation.This can form cancer cells, cause DNA mutations, and all sorts of bad mojo.


What does this mean for the cells in your body?

 “About a trillion molecules of oxygen go through each cell every day, inflicting about 100,000 free radicals hits or wounds on your cells genes or DNA, estimate geneticist, Bruce Aimes, of the University of California at Berkley.’’

According to Dr. Aimes, by the time we are old, each cell will have "a few million oxygen lesions"! For example, cancer, can be caused by changed in the epigenome.

"Cancers are caused by changes in the genome, the epigenome, or both. Changes in the epigenome can switch on or off genes involved in cell growth or the immune response. These changes can lead to uncontrolled growth, a hallmark of cancer, or to a failure of the immune system to destroy tumors." - Genome.gov

How can I prevent free radials?

Antioxidants can neutralize free radicals. These antioxidants can come from us (our bodies can create them) or from external; nutritional foods like vegetables, and supplements like vitamin C and spirulina. Spirulina has been found to have high concentrations of antioxidants. The issue is quality control, so make sure you have a high quality product.

"Quality control in the growth and process of Spirulina to avoid contamination is mandatory to guarantee the safety of Spirulina products." - cbi.nlm.nih.gov

The need for antioxidants in our daily life is becoming more critical with increased exposure to free radicals.

Before you jump on the bandwagon for antioxidants and overdose on Vitamin A, C or E, be aware that antioxidants can be harmful if not taken in moderation. Getting what you need, or knowing the amount needed, is something that is being debated by the health industry. There is a lack of evidence on how much they help (at least in human studies), but more research and studies are coming out frequently.

What can you do?

• First steps, check your diet. Diets rich in vegetables (antioxidants) have been shown to be 'good for you'. But, are you getting enough? If you are on a restrictive diet (Atkins or Low-Carb) you may not be getting the proper nutrition. Or for medical reasons, such as Gastroparesis (inability to empty your stomach), thereby limiting foods you can eat. This could possibly lead to getting a nutritional deficiency.

• Next, limit toxic environmental factors (such as exposure to smoking, stress, pollution, sunlight, etc). Stress is a huge one... work, family, lack of sleep, relationships, finding time to do just about anything.. you need to balance your life. It's not easy.
• Exercise daily. Note that exercising can increase free radicals! However, regular exercise can also protect against free radical damage by enhancing your antioxidant defense system. But, if you only exercise excessively once or twice a week... it can generate more free radicals. So for you "weekend-warriors", it may be doing more harm than good due to the increased oxygen utilization. 30 minutes a day keeps the fee radicals at bay (I just made that up).
• Limit over supplementation. Figure out what your body needs based on your lifestyle habits, allergies, dietary habits, medical conditions, prescriptions, and goals. You can do so through the free assessment link located at the bottom of this page.

Summary/TLDR!

Free Radicals can lead to epigenome changes that can lead to human disease, such as cancer. How do you prevent them? Eat right (fruits and veggies), limit toxins (smoking, pollution, fried food, STRESS), daily exercise regime, supplement if you can't eat right, and limit over supplementation (figure out what you need using the health assessment below). You are unique; your environment, diet, DNA, everything. Your nutrition should be too.

>> Click here to take your free assessment. <<

References:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20633020
https://www.genome.gov/27532724
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_radical
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antioxidant
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249911/
https://nccih.nih.gov/health/antioxidants/introduction.htm
http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/antiox.html
http://thenationonlineng.net/anti-aging-tips-for-buhari-in-change-era-3/

Low Carb Cauliflower Rice

This recipe comes in part from another blogger called Kalyn's Kitchen.  I eat Cauliflower Rice on almost a daily basis with my Low Carb P90x Diet.

Cauliflower is a great vegetable in the broccoli family with similar nutrition properties: high in fiber, vitamin C, sulforaphane (an anti-cancer compound), indole-3-carbinol (an anti-estrogen, which appears to slow or prevent the growth of breast and prostate tumors).

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Chopped Onion (I like red onions myself)
• Half-a-head of Cauliflower
• Spices to taste (salt, pepper). Kayln recommends sumac. I prefer paprika with garlic powder and some Cayenne Pepper (Capsicum) for extra spicy goodness.

Instructions

1. Chop/Dice onions into small pieces.
2. Brown the onions over medium-to-high heat in a non-stick pan with the olive oil. This will take about 10 minutes.
3. Shred the Cauliflower with a grater.
4. Brown the Cauliflower with the onions and mix well. 
5. Add spices about half way through.

Serves: 2 (about 2 Cups worth)

There are about 2.5g net carbs (with 2.5g fiber) per cup. Compare that to whole grain rice of about 37g net carbs!!


Pictures

Grated Cauliflower above

Cooked Onions above

Cauliflower Rice above

P90x Low carb Diet

I'm starting a low carb diet in conjunction with P90x. If you have never completed P90x before, please see here about purchasing P90x. Otherwise, follow the nutrition guide the first round and see how you do after 90 days. I am going to try cutting during P90x to gain that six pack. My body loves to send carbs to my fat tissues, I think I am genetically predisposed to getting fat. I'll be posting recipes that are low-carb, so keep an eye out.

If you are looking for a low carb insanity mean plan, I have not tried it, nor recommend it. My Insanity Meal Plan worked fantastic for Insanity but not so much for P90x.

1. First calculate your calories required with P90x. You can do this from beachbody's website. Sign up here for a free account. 

2. Next determine how many carbs you require. I keep my carbs fairly low, around 30g a day (30x4 = 120 calories). I have tried higher amounts in the past but I never seem to get into ketosis when I'm above 30. I suggest starting around 85g a day and working your way down.

3. Figure out how much protein you need. Take your lean body mass (in kg) and multiple by 2.75.You can calculate your lean body mass by multiplying your weight by your fat percetage. See below for a 180 lb man at 20% body fat:

• 180 x 0.20 = 36 lbs of fat (remember you will have 10% fat for a 6-pack, so this is not the total amount of fat you have to lose). 
• 180-36 = 144 lean body mass which is 65.5 kg (divide lbs/2.2 for kg).
• 65.5kg x 2.75 = 180g of protein per day. Remember, this will always stay the same as you are calculating from your lean body mass. To calculate calories multiple by 4 (4 cals per g of protein), which is 180 x 4 = 720 calories.

4. The rest comes from fat, which I find the hardest to get. When you low-carb your energy will come from FAT. You'll need to make sure you get enough fat or you'll crash. There are 9 cals per fat gram.The first few weeks will be rough for some and you will feel tired. This tiredness passes. I still highly recommend you complete 90 days first following the P90x nutrition plan. This low-carb is a last resort if you've found nothing else has worked before. If you reduce fat (because of lack of weight loss) increase protein for the lack of calories lost from reducing fat.

Don't worry if you are off slightly. Error on the side of protein/fat. But try to keep close to your own figures.


On another note, have one day a week be a carb day, aprox the same number of calories, but 70% should be from carbs and only 18% from protein. The rest is fat. Get in your sweet potatoes, whole grain rice, fruits, a cheat meal perhaps (you didn't hear me say that!), and other goodies you want. Try to keep it clean and it should be a workout day, Legs & Back would be a good day to do this on.  This will replenish your energy stores.

Also, take a good multi-vitamin like the P90x Peak Health Formula or a customized nutrition program from ID Life (built around your lifestyle, workout program, medical conditions and medications). This will help with nutrients as you are cutting out a lot of fruits. Get it shipped home direct for Beachbody or Scheduled for ID Life and it'll save you some cash. Also being a coach helps with the discount you'll receive (see more about Bechbody's Coaching Opportunity) or 30% off over at ID Life. 

Shakeology is another option if your carb content can be higher or ID Life's Shake.

Drink a gallon of water a day.

If you have any questions, give me a shout. And keep pushing play!