Salubrious Life

Calcium Supplements that Taste Like a Treat

Adora will change the way you think about calcium supplements. For women who have been attempting to boost their calcium intake by taking pills, powders or chewy, synthetic chocolate calcium products, Adora provides a highly-effective calcium supplement and equally important, a luxurious taste that will make you forget you are taking a supplement.

For women who have not been actively seeking a calcium supplement, Adora provides an opportunity to receive the much needed calcium that most women are lacking in their typical diet, as well as important vitamins such as D2 and K1. Now it’s easy and delicious to improve your bone health.

The D2 and K1 vitamins play an important role in the body’s ability to absorb and utilize calcium. Adora’s unique formulation with these vitamins assures optimal benefit from the 500mg of elemental calcium uniquely integrated into the gourmet chocolate.

Bone health is an essential component of overall wellness and vitality for women of all ages, Adora provides both a practical benefit and a decadent taste. Adora, calcium the gourmet way.

Meet the Greens.........

Bad news, folks. The smug greens - you know, those people you meet at a dinner party who've just come back from an "amazing" trip to a tropical eco-lodge where they helped replant an entire forest - have even more reason to be smug. It turns out that while they are single-handedly improving the lot of far-flung communities through their altruistic holidaying, the majority of us couldn't give a stuff. We may have embraced recycling, but when it comes to going green abroad, we're not so keen. At least according to the latest survey on the subject by tour operator First Choice, which found that only 26% of us are concerned about the impact our holiday might have on the environment. The rest of us, it seems, don't care what impact we have, so long as we come back with a nice tan. Happily, a little dig around shows there are reasons to be optimistic. The number of people who expressed concern may be low, but at least it's higher than it was two years ago. Mintel asked the same question in 2003, and found that 21% of respondents were concerned about the impact of their holiday - not a huge leap but proof that things are improving, slowly. Secondly, part of the problem has been lack of information and choice. It hasn't always been easy for those interested in eco-friendly hotels and holidays to find them. But that's changing, too. Over 500 properties in the UK alone have now been graded for their environmental and social performance and, worldwide, even the most stylish places are greening up their businesses. I recently visited The Park Hotel in Alta, Norway, which at first glance has all the trappings of a typical city centre hotel, yet every aspect of its management has been designed to reduce its environmental impact, from allergy-free mattresses to recycling bins in the rooms (£85 a night half-board, parkhotell.no). In Ecuador, high in the Andes, the award-winning 10-room Black Sheep Inn features an eco-friendly sauna and is aiming to be entirely self-sufficient in its use of water, energy and food. A double room including dinner and breakfast costs US$24pp half-board (blacksheepinn.com). The new editions of Alastair Sawday's guides to British Bed And Breakfast and British Hotels, Inns And Other Places give added profile to those places that have gone out of their way to be environmentally friendly. And pick up any adventure travel brochure and you're almost certain to find pages devoted to how particular holidays help benefit the environment and the local community. Activity holiday operator Neilson (neilson.co.uk) identifies hotels in its ski brochure that are more environmentally friendly, such as the Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel, in its Canada ski programme. Next summer, Neilson plans to introduce the same kind of environmental logo for hotels in its sailing, surfing and mountain biking brochure. On the web, more and more accommodation sites are flagging up environmentally friendly places. A search for "eco/nature" places on i-escape.com throws up some fabulous eco-hideaways, such as the Tree Tops Jungle Lodge in Sri Lanka, where a three-night stay costs £65pp full-board. And online travel agency responsibletravel.com offers thousands of holidays from over 150 tour operators, from cycling in Sardinia to diving in the Red Sea. According to its managing director Justin Francis, it's a case of supply meeting future demand: "Responsible tourism is a sleeping giant. There's a latent awareness of the issues and just as the organic food movement took off, responsible tourism will become a recognised consumer brand." The travel industry knows this and is one step ahead of the average consumer. Which is good news. Those who are concerned about the impact of their holiday now have more choice; those who haven't given it much thought may find that the gorgeous tropical retreat they've been saving up for all year, just happens to be a shining example of eco-tourism, too. From LOHAS

Train your kids early to request healthful drinks

The study quoted below underscores what most of us already know.  If left to a marketer's influence, our kids will always choose the least healthful option.  Why?  It's cool, inviting and nobody spends millions of dollars on ad campaigns not to sell...right?

So why do we leave these choices up to our kids?  I don't know that many parents who take their hands off the wheel and allow their kids to drive eating choices.  That said - here's an interesting piece on some new research done on kids aged 12 and under and negative influences of f&b marketing:

Food and beverage marketing targeted to children ages 12 and under leads them to request and consume high-calorie, low-nutrient products, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The report offers the most comprehensive review to date of the scientific evidence on the influence of food marketing on diets of children and youth. Companies spent an estimated $10 billion to market food to U.S. children and youth in 2004, and four of the top 10 items that children ages 8 to 12 say they can buy without parental permission are either foods or beverages. "Current food and beverage marketing practices put kid's long-term health at risk," said J. Michael McGinnis, a senior scholar at the Institute of Medicine. Manufacturers and restaurants should direct more of their resources to developing and marketing child- and youth-oriented foods, drinks, and meals that are higher in nutrients and lower in calories, fat, salt, and added sugars, the report concluded.

I trained my kids early to love water.   To this day, I can't stand it.....and I know this is because it was not offered as a regular drink to me as a kid.  The sweeter the drink offered, the more our taste buds require that level of stimulation.

Cheers.......

Six Nutrition Tips To Survive Holiday Stress

     Stress can cause havoc on your energy level, your adrenal glands, as well as how you look.  A little stress can be a good motivator to help meet your goals.  But, stress overload is a serious health problem, especially around this time of year.  When it is on a continuing basis, it can be disastrous to your health.  The more "stressed out" you become, the more vulnerable you are to ulcers, colds, flu, allergies, high blood pressure, and even heart attacks. Stress can also show up in how you look.  You can see the effects of stress as blemishes appearing around the chin, peeling skin, brittle nails, and dull hair. 

     Listed below are six nutrition tips to help you survive holiday stress.

     1.  Potassium-rich foods.  Add potassium-rich foods like salmon, avocados, and seafood to your diet.  Potassium helps reduce stress-related high blood pressure and regulates blood sugar.

     2.  Nutritional Yeast and Wheat Germ:  Take 2 teaspoons each of nutritional yeast and wheat germ daily in your juice or water.  They are natural adrenal boosters and will fight stress at the deepest body level for long term results.

     3.  Sea Greens:  Add sea greens like nori, kelp, or dulse to your diet.  Sea greens are a rich source of fat-soluble vitamins D and K that assist in the production of steroidal hormones in the adrenal glands.  Sea greens are also loaded with minerals and essential fatty acids that improve skin texture and tone, and strengthen nails and hair.

     4.  Fennel:  When you have overeaten at a holiday party, chew on a few fennel, anise, or cardamon seeds.  These seeds aid in digestion and will help break up gas bubbles.  They also freshen your breath as well.

     5.  Protein:  Chronic stress increases the body's protein needs.  Keep high protein nut butters like peanut butter or almond butter on hand.  Dab a teaspoonful on carrots, celery, or apple slices during the day as a snack.

      6.  Green Superfood Powder:  Try a teaspoon of green superfood powder like chorella, green kamut or barley grass in fruit juice to fight mid-afternoon energy slumps with super green nutrition.  This also works well to prevent binging on sugary snack foods. 

Coke That Tastes Like Coffee - Now You Can Have Your Cake & Eat It Too

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co.  the world's No. 1 soft drink company, on Wednesday said it will launch a coffee-infused soft drink called Coca-Cola Blak in various markets around the world in 2006.

The new drink, a combination of Coca-Cola Classic and coffee extracts, will be first launched in France in January before being rolled out in the United States and other markets during 2006.

Coca-Cola Blak is not just a flavor extension," said Marc Mathieu, vice president of Global Core Brands for Coca-Cola. "It is a blend of unique Coke refreshment with the true essence of coffee and has a rich smooth texture and has a coffee-like froth when poured. We believe we have created a new category of soft drink -- an adult product in a carbonated beverage -- and a whole new drinking experience."

Coke's future lies in capturing more consumers who have moved away from sugary soft drinks to diet versions, or to healthier low- or no-calorie beverages.

I for one await anxiously 2006 for many reasons.....Blak now being added to that list. I often find myself choosing between a diet coke or coffee........now I don't have to. 

note to execs at coke:  Could you make it diet?

Consumption of Organic Foods On the Rise

The number of Americans who have tried organic food jumped to 65% in 2005 from 54% in 2003 and 2004, according to the 2005 Whole Foods Market Organic Trend Tracker. The annual survey also found a quarter of 1,000 survey respondents said they are consuming organic food more than they did a year ago, and 10% said they consume organic food several times per week, up from 7% last year. The top three reasons for buying organic food are pesticide avoidance (70.3%), freshness (68.3%), and health and nutrition (67.1%). More than half (55%) buy organic to avoid genetically modified foods. More than half of all respondents agreed that organic foods and beverages are "better for my health" (52.8%) and better for the environment (52.4%).

Natural Health Magazine

Natural Health
by Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, Friday, December 2, 2005

WINTER IS LOOMING, AND Natural Health immediately caught my eye on the supermarket magazine rack with its "Winter Wellness Guide." A smiling model in a hot pink hat and scarf jumps off the page and makes those grueling months look like a downright party. "Wellness," a holistic approach to taking care of your mind and body, used to be a style of living only found in hippie health food stores, but is now striking chords with a mainstream audience: the magazine was sitting right between an US Weekly and a Cosmo.

While I'm all for a natural health approach, a flip through the front of the book was an immediate turn-off. It opens with a cheesy photo of a winter night accompanied with the caption "Footprints in the Snow" and a hokey "deep thought" from the author of a book called Invisible Acts of Power: Personal Choices That Create Miracles. Ugh.

The magazine succeeds on a practical level, however, with an easy-to-read layout that uses lots charts. The front of the book is mostly a product play reviewing everything from types of brown rice to natural beauty treatments that use figs and olives. I was happy to see that the editors are not vegetarian snobs like so many healthy living gurus, and there is a good article called the "the eco-conscious carnivore," that explains the healthiest cuts of meats and the meaning of different meat labels like "organic," "certified humane," and "natural." The Good Medicine section offers "an integrative approach to total well-being," which combines advice on drugs, natural therapies, and lifestyle changes.

And then there is "The Winter Wellness Guide," which is what made me buy the magazine in the first place. Despite the annoyingly cheery models, which make the winter look just a bit too cozy, I like the advice and the quirky illustrations that accompany each digestible paragraph. The advice includes everything from eating more dark chocolate, (helps to lift your spirits if you have Seasonal Affective Disorder) to wearing more bright colors (no wonder the cover caught my eye) to adding more ginger root and garlic to your food in order to boost your immune system, as well as rubbing yourself down with black spruce oil after a shower in order to protect yourself from bacterial infections.

While the magazine doesn't focus a lot on new studies or in-depth reporting, the advisory board of holistic and traditional medical experts whose quotes are scattered throughout the book gives it enough credibility that you feel like you're not just being sold a trendy lifestyle, but real advice.

Rachel Lehmann-Haupt is a contributing writer to Media Post.