There is no question that stress can affect how and what you eat. Some people eat more and some people eat less. And it’s no accident that we call certain foods comfort foods — they really have that effect for some.

The fact is stress is real and there really is no diet that will make it go away. But there are some things you can do to manage your eating habits through stressful times. Here are some tips:

- Start your day with a healthy breakfast. It will set you up for the rest of the day. If you are hungry, if your blood sugar is low (after a night of fasting), if there is no fuel in your body, you will have a harder time coping with stress and may find it harder to think well and make good decisions.

- Eat slowly and eat mindfully. Eating quickly can cause stomach upset and this can be made even worse when you are under stress. If you eat mindfully, in awareness, you will also likely find it easier to make healthier food choices. And, remember that all comfort food isn’t necessarily rich and bad for you.

- Go easy on alcohol and caffeine. Caffeine and alcohol are both stimulants and can affect your mood both during consumption and after. Small amounts of caffeine, for example, can give you energy or make you feel alert but too much can make you anxious and affect sleep. Alcohol can affect your sleep and heighten feelings of depression. If you want a nice warm comforting drink, try a mug of herbal tea.

- Listen to your body and avoid foods which cause you distress.

Make mealtime a time out from the stress of the day. If you have to work through lunch and dinner, still take a few minutes as a time-out where you can relax, de-stress and have something to eat.

A positive eating strategy is to eat small meals/snacks throughout the day. It can help keep your blood sugar and your energy more even.

The best meal/snack combination is some complex carbohydrates (bread, grains, cereal, pasta) with lean protein (lean meat, fish, chicken without the skin, cheese, eggs, beans, tofu). Carbohydrates digest easily and provide fuel within the least amount of time. Eating carbohydrates raises levels of serotonin, a chemical in the brain which helps you feel calmer. Protein foods tend to make you feel a bit more alert. Yogurt with fruit and/or a handful of nuts, lower fat cheese with crackers, a small sandwich or wrap, baby carrots with hummus or another bean dip, a hearty soup with crackers, a small can of tuna or an energy bar all work.

And take time out to exercise. It’s a wonderful way to ease stress.

Lastly — don’t forget to stop and smell the roses. There’s an awful lot of truth in that old chestnut — it’s one of the best stressbusters around!

____________
Via FRAN BERKOFF, TORONTO SUN

Not only is breakfast the most important meal of the day, but it is also consumed during the time of the day when your body is most vulnerable. In the mornings as you awaken from a long night’s rest your body is essentially dehydrated, your blood sugar is low, you have little energy, and you are trying to complete a million tasks to start a new day. These tasks range from hurrying the children off to school, daily grooming, ironing, packing lunches, checking your daily schedule, or trying to complete that last minute presentation for work. To ensure that this meal is not skipped, we will introduce to you quick and simple ways to have a balanced breakfast without the time consumption.

Besides, eating breakfast actually helps you lose weight. Those who skip the meal tend to snack before lunch and throughout the day, usually on unhealthy, high-calorie foods. Breakfast eaters typically cruise until lunch, while beaming with energy.

Here are some quick, simple, and healthy breakfast ideas that you should definitely give a try.

1. Prepare a casserole the night before. Pop it in the microwave when you wake up and it will be ready to go when you are.

2. Incorporate complex carbohydrates, such as whole wheat toast and bagels. Spread peanut butter and raisins on top of either for added flavor.

3. Bake bran muffins early in the week, then grab one or two each morning. Or check out a local bakery for healthy varieties.

4. Make waffles Sunday morning and freeze the leftovers. You can pop ‘em in the toaster for a homemade breakfast. Also, grocery stores sell frozen whole grain selections.

5. Have you ever tried a tortilla for breakfast? Wrap up cold turkey and cheese, grab an apple and you’re on your way.

6. Don’t forget cold cereal. We’re not talking about those covered with sugar, but the healthy variety. Items such as Wheaties and Cheerios are always good choices.

7. Whole-egg or egg white omelets with fresh or frozen veggies (carrots, broccoli, celery, peppers, onions and even black beans make great additions).

8. Make a shake or a smoothie. Blend fruit and yogurt and then drink it in the car. A side option is a small bag of finger foods, such as a mixture of granola and grapes.

________________
Source: SparkPeople via GreenWoodToday

Contrary to the belief that all expectant moms are buoyed by their own joyous anticipation, the reality is that pregnancy offers no protection against depression. A woman’s overall risk of depression peaks during childbearing years, and “roughly 12 to 14 percent of mothers will experience depression during pregnancy,” says Cindy-Lee Dennis, researcher at the University of Toronto and associate professor of nursing with an appointment in the psychiatry department. The biggest risk factor for symptoms while pregnant, Dennis explains, is a previous history of depression.

Such depression may also be linked to a baby being born at a lower birth weight with elevated levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) and changes in attention or alterations in electroencephalography (an infant brain test), says Diana Dell, assistant professor of psychiatry and obstetrics-gynecology at Duke University Medical Center. These issues can affect health even into adulthood. “Being anxious or depressed is not [going to have] a neutral impact on a developing fetus,” says Dell.

But silence often accompanies such melancholy. Fear of being judged a less-than-capable mother or labeled mentally ill can lead to quiet suffering, says Dennis. It wasn’t until Ashley’s depression lifted that she broached the topic with her husband. To ward off postpartum depression, she’s enlisted his help, telling him, “You need to ask me [because] sometimes I can’t say it; I judge myself.” In fact, depression during pregnancy is the top risk factor for developing postpartum depression.

But treatment options exist. To alleviate prenatal depression, lifestyle elements are quite significant, experts agree, including stress reduction, eating well, drinking enough of water, consistently getting good sleep, and exercising. Depending on the depression’s severity and cause, physicians may recruit cognitive behavioral therapy, couples therapy, bright light therapy, or antidepressant medications. While some research suggests certain antidepressants may pose risks to the baby, some have been shown to be safer than others. Dell weighs such risks against the dangers of a fetus developing inside a mother who cannot function because she’s depressed and not caring for herself well. An untreated depressed or anxious pregnant woman, says Dell, “generates some pretty noxious chemicals” that are not good for a fetus.

For those who feel motivated enough to get some exercise, a known mood enhancer, doing so is plenty safe. “Anything equivalent to brisk walking is fine,” James Pivarnik, kinesiology professor at Michigan State University and coauthor of the section on activity in pregnancy and after delivery in the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines released this month by the Department of Health and Human Services. The new recommendation for pregnant women and those who recently delivered is at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week. Keeping this schedule may also reduce the risk of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Pivarnik notes that women should be careful not to overheat—like using a fan during indoor workouts—which can be problematic for the fetus.

But a woman’s mood may be too low for physical activity. This is when the support of friends and family can have a significant impact, says Dennis. It is critical, she explains, that the mother, partner, and family are all aware of the risks and symptoms of depression in pregnancy, including feelings of emptiness, sadness, hopelessness, irritability, crying excessively; trouble sleeping, or sleeping all the time. Many women assume this is all part of being pregnant, but persistent symptoms are not. Both Dennis and Dell say the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, though designed for the postpartum period, can be a helpful tool for expectant mothers, too, and is widely available online and is also available here. Dennis also recommends the Motherisk program website, affiliated with the University of Toronto and intended to provide information on drug, chemical, and disease risks in pregnant women.

Mothers need not feel guilt about depression in pregnancy or about the chosen treatment—pharmacological or otherwise, experts emphasize. “This is a brain disease, it’s not a character flaw, not a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps kind of thing,” says Dell, “You don’t have to tough it out.”

Source: US News

Every day, 14,000 people are infected with HIV, the virus that leads to AIDs. There’s no cure, but now a breakthrough — a machine that could clean blood, keeping more and more people alive longer.

“I remember lying in bed thinking, ‘I am going to die. I’m going to die. I feel so sick.’ And I remember thinking laying in that bed, ‘And I know exactly what it is,’” HIV patient John Paul Womble, told Ivanhoe. HIV could kill Womble. He watched his father die from the virus and now he is living the rest of his life with it. “I’ve got to live as healthy as I can, but this virus is not going to control me,” he says. Now, a machine could help clean Womble’s infected blood and keep him healthier, longer.

“It’s designed to mimic the natural immune response of clearing viruses and toxins before cells and organs can be infected,” Jim Joyce chairman and CEO of Aethlon Medical in San Diego, told Ivanhoe. Developed by infectious disease and biodefense experts, the hemopurifier works like a dialysis machine. Antibodies on these spaghetti-like fibers capture and remove viruses as blood filters through it.

“Your entire circulation flows through the cartridge about once every eight minutes,” Joyce explains. The entire process takes less than a few hours. It could help patients infected with HIV, hepatitis C, as well as people with the measles, mumps and the flu. “The cartridge is able to selectively capture viruses.”

A larger version of the machine would be used in a hospital, but a smaller one could be taken to emergencies. It could be a life-safer against the avian flu or bio-weapons like Ebola and small pox, giving people a chance to survive a deadly attack, whether it’s from a terrorist or a virus.

“I don’t have to be afraid,” Womble says. “I have a virus. I’ve got to do something about that virus. I’ve got to treat that virus. I’ve got to live as healthy as I can.” The hemopurifier is also a leading treatment candidate to protect United States civilian and military populations from bioterror threats and emerging pandemic threats like the bird flu and dengue fever that are untreatable with drugs and vaccines.

REMOVING VIRUSES FROM BLOOD: The hemopurifier uses antibodies to remove viruses as blood filters through it. It is designed to filter out viruses and toxins before they attack organs. The method is very similar to dialysis, and can be used to help patients with HIV, Hepatitis C, the measles, mumps, the flu, and more. It can also begin working before doctors identify the cause of the illness.

WHAT IS DIALYSIS? Hemodialysis is often used as a treatment for end stage renal disease (ESRD), or kidney failure, in which blood is removed from the body, filtered through an artificial kidney and then the cleaned blood is returned to the body. In the US, hemodialysis is the most common treatment for people who have kidney failure. However, dialysis is also a painful, expensive procedure, and while it cleans the blood well enough to maintain existence, it does little to improve a patient’s overall quality of life. Also, data shows that if patients get a transplant before they get to the point of dialysis, they do better in the longer term.

——————-
Source: ScienceDaily

People in the U.S. eat more ice cream than any other country in the world. The average American consumes about 24 quarts of ice cream a year. But, if you buy a lot of ice cream, you know that freezer burn or ice crystals can ruin the flavor and creaminess of your favorite treat.

Whichever flavor you like best, ice cream is a favorite for kids of all ages. But when it comes to ice cream, ice isn’t such a good thing, especially when it forms on the inside of the container.

“Ice crystals when they grow they change the texture of ice cream, it gives you some gritty sensation in your mouth, and that is not very desirable,” Srinivasan Damodaran, Ph.D., food scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, told Ivanhoe.

Now Dr. Damodaran and his colleagues think they’ve found a solution. It’s an odorless, tasteless natural protein called gelatin hydrolysate.

Added to ice cream, food chemists say it works like edible antifreeze. Here you see the ice crystals that normally form in ice cream … but when the protein is added, it prevents those large crystals from forming. Chemistry that could make ice cream taste better and last longer.

“You can take ice cream and store it in your freezer. You can store it for four months, don’t have to worry about ice crystal growth, don’t have to worry about throwing them out after a couple of weeks,” Dr. Damodaran said.

Dr. Damodaran says manufacturers are already taking an interest. “This is a very safe product, and it doesn’t require even the FDA’s approval to implement the technology,” Dr. Damodaran said.

And that means it could be coming soon to a cone near you.

THE SCIENCE OF ICE: Ice is the frozen form of liquid water. The same substance will behave differently at various temperatures and pressures. Water (H2O) is the most familiar example. It can be a solid (ice), a liquid (water), or a gas (steam), but it is still made up of molecules of H2O, so its chemical composition remains unchanged. At sea level, water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) and boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius), but this behavior changes at different altitudes because the atmospheric pressure changes. In fact, get the pressure low enough and water will boil at room temperature. The critical temperature/pressure point at which H2O changes from one form to another is called a phase transition.

WHAT IS GELATIN? Gelatin is a processed protein called collagen, derived from the bones, hooves and connective tissues of cows or pigs. Those parts are ground up and mixed with acid or other chemicals to break down the cellular structure, thereby releasing the collagen. Boiling it causes a layer of gelatin to form on the top, which can be skimmed off for further processing. Eventually it ends up in your local grocery store aisle in powder form, or in this case, in ice cream.

———————-
Resource: ScienceDaily

Brain areas for cognitive control

The switch in learning strategy has been demonstrated in behavioural research, which shows that eight-year-olds respond disproportionately inaccurately to negative feedback. But the switch can also be seen in the brain, as developmental psychologist Dr Eveline Crone and her colleagues from the Leiden Brain and Cognition Lab discovered using fMRI research. The difference can be observed particularly in the areas of the brain responsible for cognitive control. These areas are located in the cerebral cortex.

Opposite case

In children of eight and nine, these areas of the brain react strongly to positive feedback and scarcely respond at all to negative feedback. But in children of 12 and 13, and also in adults, the opposite is the case. Their ‘control centres’ in the brain are more strongly activated by negative feedback and much less by positive feedback.

Three-way division

Crone and her colleagues used fMRI research to compare the brains of three different age groups: children of eight to nine years, children of eleven to twelve years, and adults aged between 18 and 25 years. This three-way division had never been made before; the comparison is generally made between children and adults.

Unexpected

Crone herself was surprised at the outcome: ‘We had expected that the brains of eight-year-olds would function in exactly the same way as the brains of twelve-year-olds, but maybe not quite so well. Children learn the whole time, so this new knowledge can have major consequences for people wanting to teach children: how can you best relay instructions to eight- and twelve-year-olds?’ ’

Ticks and crosses

The researchers gave children of both age groups and adults aged 18 to 25 a computer task while they lay in the MRI scanner. The task required them to discover rules. If they did this correctly, a tick appeared on the screen, otherwise a cross appeared. MRI scans showed which parts of the brain were activated.

Learning in a different way

These surprising results set Crone thinking. ‘You start to think less in terms of ‘good’ and ‘not so good’. Children of eight may well be able to learn extremely efficiently, only they do it in a different way.’

Learning from mistakes is complicated

She is able to place her fMRI results within the existing knowledge about child development. ‘From the literature, it appears that young children respond better to reward than to punishment.’ She can also imagine how this comes about: ‘The information that you have not done something well is more complicated than the information that you have done something well. Learning from mistakes is more complex than carrying on in the same way as before. You have to ask yourself what precisely went wrong and how it was possible.’

Is it experience?

Is that difference between eight- and twelve-year-olds the result of experience, or does it have to do with the way the brain develops? As yet, nobody has the answer. ‘This kind of brain research has only been possible for the last ten years or so,’ says Crone, ‘and there are a lot more questions which have to be answered. But it is probably a combination of the brain maturing and experience.’

Brain area for positive feedback

There is also an area of the brain that responds strongly to positive feedback: the basal ganglia, just outside the cerebral cortex. The activity of this area of the brain does not change. It remains active in all age groups: in adults, but also in children, both eight-year-olds and twelve-year-olds.

=============
Journal reference:

1. Anna C. K. van Duijvenvoorde, Kiki Zanolie, Serge A. R. B. Rombouts, Maartje E. J. Raijmakers, and Eveline A. Crone. Evaluating the Negative or Valuing the Positive? Neural Mechanisms Supporting Feedback-Based Learning across Development. The Journal of Neuroscience, 17 September 2008

Adapted from materials provided by Leiden University.

Quintiles’ portion of the work will be conducted at its new 150-bed phase 1 trials unit in Overland Park, Kansas. That $48 million, 236,000-square-foot facility was dedicated in May 2007 and brought together 750 Quintiles employees previously employed at a phase 1 unit in Lenexa, Kansas, and operations related to later-phase trials at the former Marion Laboratories campus in south Kansas City.

The new facilityis one of Quintiles’ three phase 1 — or first-in-human — clinical trials units and its only one in North America. Quintiles is based in Durham.

According to the new federal contract, Quintiles and DynPort, based in Frederick, Md., will assess the safety of as many as four investigational drugs annually for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

As the prime contractor, DynPort will provide overall project management, clinical operations and management, quality assurance and co-development of protocols. DynPort is part of Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC), a $16.5 billion informational technology services company based in Falls Church, Va.

Quintiles, with annual revenue of more than $2 billion, is the world’s clinical research organization, . The Kansas City area is Quintiles’ second-largest U.S. operation, behind the Durham headquarters.

Trials conducted at Quintiles’ Overland Park facility through the new federal contract will include therapeutic candidates for a broad range of infectious diseases. Investigational products tested could include measures to protect against viral (other than HIV), bacterial, parasitic and fungal pathogens, including NIAID-priority biodefense pathogens and emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

“Quintiles is pleased to expand our existing government contracting relationship with (DynPort),” Dr. Oren Cohen, senior vice president and managing director of Quintiles’ Public Health and Government Services business, said in a release. “The (Overland Park facility) provides an ideal setting to perform multiple, concurrent clinical trials.”

Source: bizjournals.com

H. pylori has been present in the human stomach probably since humans were humans. However, the germ began disappearing over the course of the 20th century with the introduction of antibiotics and cleaner water and homes, perhaps making children more susceptible to asthma, the study authors suggested.

“In our study we asked the question, is there any relationship between having H. pylori in the stomach and having asthma and other allergic disorders,” said lead researcher Dr. Martin J. Blaser, the Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine and chairman of the department of medicine at the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City.

“We found a strong inverse association between H. pylori and childhood asthma, childhood hay fever and childhood allergies,” added Blaser, who’s also a professor of microbiology and has studied H. pylori for more than two decades.

Blaser thinks that H. pylori may protect the body against asthma. “When children have H. pylori in their stomach, their immune system is different than if they don’t have H. pylori,” he said.

H. pylori has been disappearing especially since World War II, which is when the incidence of asthma began increasing, Blaser said.

For the study, Blaser and his colleague Yu Chen, an assistant professor of epidemiology, collected data on 7,412 children who participated in the 1999 to 2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey IV, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Among children in the survey, just 5.4 percent born in the 1990s tested positive for H. pylori. In addition, 11.3 percent of the children under 10 had taken antibiotics in the month before the survey.

Blaser and Chen found that among children 3 to 13 years of age, those who carried the stomach bug were 59 percent less likely to develop asthma than children without H. pylori. These children were also 40 percent less likely to suffer from hay fever and other allergies, such as eczema or rash.

Among children aged 3 to 19, the researchers found that those who harbored H. pylori reduced their risk of asthma by 25 percent.

“This is a new way of saying who’s at risk for asthma and who’s not,” Blaser said. “You can’t mess with Mother Nature. This bacterium that has been present forever in the human stomach has been disappearing, and that has consequences.”

Some of the consequences are good, however, Blaser noted. These include the decline of ulcers and decreases in stomach cancer among adults, he said. “But these are diseases of old age,” he said. “It is possible that H. pylori may be protective of children, but bad for old people.”

The study findings were published online July 15 in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York in New York City, thinks the findings open a new window on doctors’ understanding of asthma and allergies.

“It appears this will add to our knowledge and research looking at incidence and prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases in children and adults in an increasingly sanitized world,” he said. “The relevance of H. pylori as a potential risk in asthma is quite thought-provoking by any means.”

Sanofi and the school of medicine’s Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology will work jointly to discover and develop new ways of treating respiratory disease, focusing in particular on severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the French pharmaceutical company said in a statement.

helen.beresford@thomsonreuters.com

hem/jfr

COPYRIGHT

Neither the Subscriber nor Thomson Financial News warrants the completeness or accuracy of the Service or the suitability of the Service as a trading aid and neither accepts any liability for losses howsoever incurred. The content on this site, including news, quotes, data and other information, is provided by Thomson Financial News and its third party content providers for your personal information only, and neither Thomson Financial News nor its third party content providers shall be liable for any errors, inaccuracies or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

The drug, dimebon, has so far been trialled on only 183 patients, but it led to significant improvement in the understanding and behaviour of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, according to the research published in the Lancet medical journal.

Treatments for Alzheimer’s are badly needed. Those that exist are controversial; arguments rage over whether or not Aricept and similar drugs work well enough to be worth their high cost.

The dimebon trial took place in Russia, where the drug has dropped out of use in allergy treatment as newer drugs have been discovered. The 183 patients from 11 different sites were randomly divided into two groups and given either dimebon three times a day or a placebo.

The team, led by Dr Rachelle Doody from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, found those on the drug were better aware and able to carry out tasks. The improvements were maintained and even improved over 12 months, which no Alzheimer’s drugs have succeeded in doing so far.

A bigger trial, which will establish whether the drug really is a useful treatment for most people with Alzheimer’s, has been announced.

© Guardian News

Fauci said the trial of the newer vaccine was canceled because there was no indication that it would be any more promising than the earlier version; both used a relatively innocuous cold virus to deliver the drug.

That’s because it was only a few short years ago when doctors finally learned enough about her rare, debilitating condition to name it-Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndromes, or CAPS. And earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a medication to treat it.

Like Diana, people suffering from CAPS often avoid professional, family and social events that might expose them to cooling temperatures. Any temperature change, no matter how subtle, can trigger severe rash, fever, chills, joint pain, eye redness or pain and fatigue, rendering those with the condition unable to participate in normal, daily activities.

“I kept this all secret. Only my family and closest friends knew,” said Hunt, 62, a paralegal, recalling a lifetime of coping with a hereditary disease that was so elusive and unknown that it had no name. Diana would react to even a slight drop in temperature by breaking out in head-to-toe hives and experiencing pain in her joints so severe that she was unable to walk. Fever and chills would often follow. The only relief was to go to bed, under many blankets, often early in the afternoon, until symptoms started to resolve the next day.

There were lost school days as a child. Teachers even sent her home thinking she had the measles. She wore long-sleeved jackets while other teens wore strapless gowns. There were even awkward moments in the swimsuit competition at the Miss Indiana beauty pageant, where Diana wore her mother’s fur coat, until the moment she stepped on stage, hoping beyond hope that her skin would not break out immediately. Instead of celebrating her runner-up status at the conclusion of the contest, Diana had to retreat to bed under many blankets to warm up until her symptoms subsided.

Then, as a young mother in Detroit, she was trapped in an ice storm for five hours with a symptom-wrought, crying infant son who had inherited the condition. That was the final straw-she vowed to move to Florida, where she thought that life would surely be much easier for a family tortured by the cold.

“It turned out the air-conditioning was just as brutal for us,” said Hunt.

Her job as a paralegal in Tampa meant bringing a space heater into her office and dressing for court in a long skirt to cover her long underwear and boots. Every time she entered a room, she immediately searched for a seat far away from the air conditioner.

Several hundred people in the United States suffer from CAPS. In Diana’s family alone, it has affected her father, sister, two sons, and several uncles and cousins.

If you think that you or someone you know has CAPS, print out and complete the attached checklist of symptoms and bring it with you when you speak to your health care provider. The information can help your health care provider make an accurate diagnosis and understand what you are experiencing.

For more information on CAPS, visit www.capscommunity.com.

Preparing for the birth of a child is one of the most exciting times in a woman’s life. But it also can be confusing as well-meaning friends and family offer pregnancy advice on everything from what to eat to how much weight to gain.

If you’ve got a baby on the way, you can increase your odds of a healthy pregnancy by following these steps to keep yourself (and your unborn baby) in top condition:

nGet all essential vitamins and minerals every day. Take a prenatal vitamin each day as directed by your obstetrician. Women require more iron and folic acid when pregnant, and sometimes it’s hard to get enough by eating alone. A prenatal vitamin ensures you’re getting all the nutrients you need.

• Eat a healthy diet. Load up on fruits, vegetables, and whole-grains (such as whole-wheat breads). Eat plenty of calcium-rich foods (like non-fat or low-fat yogurt, milk, and broccoli) that your baby needs for strong bones and teeth. If you live in areas where fruits and vegetables aren’t in season, frozen vegetables are a good option. Avoid eating a lot of fatty foods (such as butter and fatty meats). Choose leaner foods when you can such as skim milk, chicken and turkey without the skin, and fish.

• Aim for a healthy weight gain. Research shows that women who gain more than the recommended amount during pregnancy have an elevated risk of obesity. On average, 25 to 30 pounds is a healthy weight gain over the 40 weeks of pregnancy. Check with your doctor to find out how much weight you should gain.

• Get enough sleep (seven to nine hours every night). Minor aches and pains, worry and frequent bathroom trips keep many pregnant women awake at night. To ensure the proper amount of sleep, be sure to eat large meals at least three hours before going to bed, engage in easy exercise (like walking) and avoid long naps during the day. Sleep on your left side and use pillows between your legs and under your belly to help you get comfortable.

• Get moving! Regular, low-impact exercise is good for you and your baby. Talk to your doctor about what type of exercise is safest, such as moderate walking, a pregnancy exercise class, swimming, etc.

• Buckle up. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that pregnant women use seat belts that have a lap belt and a shoulder strap (three-point restraint). Seat belt straps should never go across your belly. The lap strap should go under the belly, across the hips. The shoulder strap should go off to the side of your belly and between your breasts. If you are not driving, the back seat is the safest place to sit.

• Ask your doctor before taking any medicines. Prescription, over-the-counter, and herbal medicine can harm your baby. Talk to your doctor to find out which medications are safe to take during pregnancy.

• See your doctor regularly. Regular prenatal care can help keep you and your baby healthy, uncover potential problems should they occur and prevent difficulties during delivery.

• Don’t smoke tobacco.Smoking during pregnancy passes nicotine and cancer-causing drugs to your baby. Smoke also keeps your baby from getting needed nourishment and raises the risk of stillbirth and premature birth.

• Avoid raw or undercooked meat, fish and eggs. Don’t eat cooked fish that comes from polluted waters.

• Avoid sweets and junk food. Strive to eat food that is healthy and nutrient-rich. Sweets and junk food provide empty calories that don’t help your baby grow.

• Don’t drink alcohol. Drinking every day or drinking a lot of alcohol once in a while during pregnancy can harm your unborn baby.

• Don’t use illegal drugs. Tell your doctor if you are using drugs. Marijuana, cocaine, heroin, speed (amphetamines), barbiturates and LSD are very dangerous for you and your baby.

• Don’t clean or change a cat’s litter box. This could put you at risk for an infection called toxoplasmosis, which can harm an unborn fetus. Toxoplasmosis is caused by a parasite that cats can carry in their feces.

• Avoid hot baths, hot tubs or saunas. High temperatures can be harmful to your unborn baby, and can cause you to faint.

As you can see, taking good care of your baby begins long before childbirth. By staying as healthy as possible during pregnancy, you’re well on your way to delivering a healthy baby.

© Copyright 2008 Digital Chicago, Inc

The Dingo Baby™ line of luxury baby essentials includes a vitamin packed Baby Body Butter, Tear-free Shampoo and Baby Wash, Baby Massage Oil, Baby Face - Moisturizing Shea Stick, and Belly Butter for Mom in a light Lavender & Geranium essential oil blend.

‘Absolutely wonderful, wholesome and healing ingredients are all we use in our Dingo Baby™ products,’ states Kathleen Goodwin, owner of Dancing Dingo. ‘I have personally handpicked pure ingredients for their therapeutic properties and benefits to baby’s sensitive skin. Dingo has an ongoing commitment to developing high-quality, pure and healing products for both mom and baby.’

Joy Shepard, a 32 year old mom in Austin, TX has tested the Dingo Baby’s Moisturizing Shea Stick and states, ‘It’s the most wonderful product to have around. It’s perfect for the tiny patches of eczema my son has, as well as his little chapped cheeks in the winter. I noticed that after a week of using it my son’s scratching stopped. I even used it on his cradle cap. I carry it in my purse so it’s always with me; I use it on my hands, too. We both love it!’

Dancing Dingo products are free of parabens, mineral oils and sulphates. Dancing Dingo is a member in good standing with The Compact for Safe Cosmetics, as well as the Skin Deep Database, PETA and Leaping Bunny.

Dingo Baby™ customers can order at the online store which is open for customers, retailers and distributors. To view the full line of Dingo Baby™ products, visit www.DancingDingo.com.

For product review, samples available upon request: please call Kathleen Goodwin 512-670-DNGO (3646) or email: kathy@dancingdingo.com.

With Live-PR

Researchers from the University of Manitoba examined data from 135 babies between the ages of seven and 16 months. They found that 21.6 per cent of them had tooth enamel defects and 33.6 per cent had early childhood tooth decay.

Mothers of children with tooth decay had significantly lower vitamin D levels than mothers of children with healthy teeth.

As well, mothers of children who had enamel problems had slightly lower vitamin D levels during pregnancy than mothers of children without enamel problems.

The researchers found that having enamel defects significantly increased the risk of developing tooth decay.

The findings were presented Friday at the General Session of the International Association for Dental Research in Toronto.

For their study, the researchers analyzed data from pregnant women in their second trimester. Only 10 per cent of them were deemed to have adequate levels of vitamin D, which is defined as 80 nanomoles per litre.

The mean vitamin D level among the women in the study was between 24.4 and 48.1 nanomoles per litre.

Women in the study who drank more milk and took pre-natal vitamins had higher vitamin D levels.

This is the first study to analyze vitamin D levels during pregnancy and how they might influence a baby’s early dental health.

© 2008 CTVglobemedia All Rights Reserved.