Thailand Detox

Healthy Power Snacks Kids Will Love

Like many kids, your child probably comes home hungry after school and wants sweets and other unhealthy snacks. Kids need snacks because they are growing so fast but they need healthy snacks, not snacks full of sugar. The snacks you give your child need to provide him with the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients his growing bodies need.

If you have healthy snacks that taste good available, your child will eat them. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Raisins - Raisins are a healthy and tasty snack that you can buy in prepackaged servings for an easy snack choice. The sweet taste of raisins will make your child want to eat them and he will get a lot of vitamins and iron from this snack.
• Apples - Apples are a popular fruit with kids of all ages. It is healthier for your child to eat the whole apple including the peel so he gets the most nutrients from the fruit. Even a peeled apple is still a good healthy power snack, though. You can always combine the apple with peanut butter, cheese or yogurt for something different.
• Yogurt, granola and fruit parfait - Yogurt itself is a good snack but adding fruit and granola makes it even more appealing to children. This is a low fat snack full of protein and vitamins.
• Trail mix - The combination of fruit and nuts is not only healthy but tastes good and is fun to eat.
• Ants on a log - You can make celery interesting by combing celery, peanut butter and raisins to make a fun and attractive snack for kids of all ages.
• Fruit and cheese - You can make a fun fruit and cheese snack by spearing grapes, pineapple and more along with different kinds of cheese on a toothpick or other type of skewer.
• Carrots - Carrots are a vegetable that most children enjoy eating. If you have baby carrots in your fridge you can give your child a quick and healthy snack especially if you have some healthy dip to go with it.
• Fruit snacks - The chewy fruit snacks they sell at the grocery store are actually a healthy power snack that kids love to eat. Just give your child the low sugar ones with a lot of vitamin C.
• Pizza bagels - This is a great snack for the bigger appetites that your child sometime has. All you need to do is cover a bagel with tomato sauce and cheese and toast in a toaster oven or microwave the bagel. You can put some veggies on there if your child will eat them.

Left to their own devices, children will often choose snacks high in fat and sugar. Healthy power snacks do not have to be a chore to make or to get your child to eat. If you keep some of these healthy power snacks in the house, you will find your child eating them without you having to tell him to. Get rid of those greasy and sugar filled snacks in your home and get some healthy power snacks instead.

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Food Allergies and Cross-Reactivity

Food allergies can be managed if you are vigilant and find out as much as you can about every food you eat and cook carefully. Something you need to watch out for, though, is cross-reactivity. If you are educated and know what to look for, you can avoid more problems.

Food allergies and other common allergies to pollen, animals and other elements have more in common than you may think. Food allergies and other allergies involve the immune system.. The two kinds of allergies are related, which can cause problems.

All allergic reactions are a result of your immune system treating a safe substance like it is a danger to your body. Some allergic reactions might produce symptoms like headaches, itchiness or runny nose. With food allergies, your body is treating a safe protein like it is a danger to your body. Allergies can be mild and even annoying, but some allergies can be so severe that they can be fatal.

The following are some allergies and foods that may cause cross-reactivity. You’ll need to know which allergens are cross- reactive and which foods you should avoid.

BIRCH

Birch allergy can get worse if you eat many common foods including some vegetables like celery, potatoes and carrots, fruits like peaches, pears, plums, nectarines, kiwis and cherries, and nuts like hazelnuts or almonds.

RAGWEED

Ragweed allergy is fairly common and can be exacerbated by eating bananas or melons.

MUGWORT

Mugwort allergy can react with fruits like banana and kiwi as well as celery, carrots, avocados and chestnuts.

GRASS

People who are allergic to a variety of grass are known to have a reaction to tomatoes.

LATEX

People who are allergic to latex need to watch out for many fruits like kiwis, bananas, peaches, figs, plums, nectarines and passion fruit as well as tomatoes, chestnuts, celery and avocados.

Cross-reactivity may only occur from time to time because both substances you are allergic to have to be in your system in order for the reaction to occur. If you eat one substance today but don’t expose yourself to the other allergens, you probably won’t experience a cross-reaction. Your immune system is only going to react when it is fighting against both substances at the same time. Because of this, allergies can be less predictable, and therefore much more difficult to diagnose.

Cross-reactivity doesn’t always involve two allergens. Surprisingly, simple things like exercise combined with a certain food that they aren’t normally allergic to may cause a reaction. The food alone and exercise alone may not cause the reaction, but together they could be dangerous. Exercising without having eating a certain food is OK. The same goes with eating a certain food and not exercising for a while. However, exercising after having eaten a certain food within a certain period can be life-threatening. With cross-reactivity situations like this, it is often hard to figure out what is actually causing you to react. This may be what is happening, though, if you can eat a certain food most of the time but occasionally have a bad reaction to it.

If allergies of any kind are affecting your life, you should talk to your doctor about how to treat your problems.

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