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Dr. Teresa Fuller

Board certified holistic pediatrician

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Change 1 Thing! September Challenge

August 31, 2023 by admin Leave a Comment

Change 1 Thing” Challenge

Have You Accepted the Challenge?

Take One Year to Develop a Lifetime of Optimal Health!

The “Change One Thing” Challenge is a 12 step process over one year to help you achieve your health goals.  You simply commit to make one change in your lifestyle every month, so that by the end of the year, you will have completely transformed to a healthy lifestyle.  Why each month?  It takes about 21 days to establish a new habit.  So each month, you will firmly establish one change before starting another.  Are you willing to take the challenge?

Your September Challenge (should you choose to accept it):

“My Family will Share a Home-Cooked Meal Together at Least Five Times Per Week”

healthy_eating_family.jpg

Now that the summer is coming to an end and the kids are back in school, most of us are settling back into a daily routine.  Let me encourage you to make family meals part of your daily routine.  If not every day, at least 3 times per week.

Unfortunately, fewer families are sharing meals together.  But studies show that children who eat with their families more often are less likely to be overweight.  Why is that?  Most likely, because the home-prepared meals that the children are eating are more healthy than bought foods.  And at the table, the parent is able to influence the child’s attitudes toward healthful diets. 

And the rewards extend far beyond a healthy weight.  One study even showed that asthma symptoms are decreased in children who eat more often with their families.  Here are some other research-proven benefits that children experience from frequent family meals:

  • Formation of healthy eating habits in the future
  • Decreased future substance use and eating disorders in girls
  • Improved emotional well-being in adolescents
  • Increased intake of vegetables
  • Increased intake of vitamins and minerals

Tips for making it work:

  • Make the family table a media free zone.  That is, turn off the television, prohibit cell phones and computers at the table.  That will help everyone at the table give their attention to one another.
  • Always have plenty of fruits and vegetables on the table.  Kids are more likely to eat the healthy options when they are right in front of them.
  • Plan ahead and use quick cooking methods such as sautéing and broiling for healthy and quickly prepared meals.

Does it matter what you eat?  Of course!  Healthy meals will include a variety and abundance of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and infrequent fried foods.  Use the food plate below for a guide.

      Don’t forget to continue your:

January habit of drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day (1/2 your weight in ounces of water per day)

February habit of eating 7 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables per day

March habit of replacing refined white foods with whole grains

April habit of exercising for at least 30 minutes 3 times per week

May habit of detoxifying your system daily

June habit of sleeping for 7 to 8 hours each night

July habit of Eating Early, eating often and stopping before it’s too late!

August habit of Increasing Omega 3 Fatty Acids in your diet

Filed Under: Change one thing, Health Conditions

Change 1 Thing! August Challenge

July 31, 2023 by admin Leave a Comment

Change 1 Thing” Challenge

Have You Accepted the Challenge?

Take One Year to Develop a Lifetime of Optimal Health!

The “Change One Thing” Challenge is a 12 step process over one year to help you achieve your health goals.  You simply commit to make one change in your lifestyle every month, so that by the end of the year, you will have completely transformed to a healthy lifestyle.  Why each month?  It takes about 21 days to establish a new habit.  So each month, you will firmly establish one change before starting another.  Are you willing to take the challenge?

Your August Challenge (should you choose to accept it):

“I will Protect my Heart and Brain by Enriching my Diet with

Omega 3 Fatty Acid Power!”

You mean, fats can be good for you?  The right kind of fats are more than good – they’re essential.  Recently, omega-3 fatty acids have become all the rage.  Why?  First, they play a critical role in reducing risk of cardiovascular disease by:  1) anti-platelet activity; platelets cause clotting of the blood, and therefore, can lead to poor circulation,  2) triglyceride reduction; of course high triglycerides are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, 3) increased HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol as it’s called, because it prevents atherosclerosis). 

Omega-3 fatty acids are also a great brain health nutrient.  Our brains are 60% fat, and therefore, healthy fats are needed to support the structure and function of the brain.  The omega-3 fatty acids called DHA and EPA are essential for proper brain structure, and communication of brain cells.  Also, by lowering inflammation, omega 3s protect against neurological (such as Alzheimer’s) and psychological (such as depression) conditions.

Dr. Alan Logan states “dietary and supplemental omega-3 fatty acids may be the most significant brain insurance policy you can purchase.”

Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids are:

fatty fish, such as salmon and tuna

 nuts (such as walnuts and almonds) and

seeds (e.g. pumpkin seeds)

Omega-3 fatty acid supplements

      Don’t forget to continue your:

January habit of drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day (1/2 your weight in ounces of water per day)

February habit of eating 7 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables per day

March habit of replacing refined white foods with whole grains

April habit of exercising for at least 30 minutes 3 times per week

May habit of detoxifying your system daily

June habit of sleeping for 7 to 8 hours each night

July habit of Eating Early, eating often and stopping before it’s too late!

Filed Under: Change one thing, Health Conditions

Change 1 Thing! July Challenge

June 30, 2023 by admin Leave a Comment

“Change 1 Thing” Challenge

Have You Accepted the Challenge?

Take One Year to Develop a Lifetime of Optimal Health!

The “Change One Thing” Challenge is a 12 step process over one year to help you achieve your health goals.  You simply commit to make one change in your lifestyle every month, so that by the end of the year, you will have completely transformed to a healthy lifestyle.  Why each month?  It takes about 21 days to establish a new habit.  So each month, you will firmly establish one change before starting another.  Are you willing to take the challenge?

Your July Challenge (should you choose to accept it):

“I will Eat Early, Eat Often and Stop Before it’s Too Late!”

Eat early means to start with breakfast.  You may have many excuses for skipping breakfast such “I don’t have time,” or “I’m not hungry in the mornings,” or my favorite “I’m just not a breakfast person.”  But breakfast is critical because it stimulates your metabolism for the day, helping you burn calories efficiently.  Now of course, you want a quality breakfast.  It doesn’t have to be big.  In fact, a bowl of whole-grain oatmeal sprinkled with walnuts or fruit is a great choice!

Eat Often:  That sounds counterproductive doesn’t it?  In fact, you may already eat all the time and it’s gotten you into trouble.  However, it is a proven fact that frequent meals result in weight loss in both adults and children.  But of course, it depends what you’re eating all day.  In between meals, you need power-packed snacks.  Snacks that are packed with anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals that keep your metabolism running at a high level.  Foods that fit the bill would be vegetables, fruits, and nuts and seeds.  For maximum benefit, these snacks need to be organic so that you’re not ingesting pesticides and other toxins along with the good stuff.

STOP before it’s too late!  Too late means eating within 3 to 4 hours of going to sleep.  Lots of fast food places entice you to grab a late night meal on your way home.  Resist! Your body is simply not designed to eat late at night and process food while you’re sleeping.  Late eating causes weight gain, and leads to all types of digestion problems, especially GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease).  You’ll even sleep better when you lay down on a quiet stomach (a stomach that’s finished its work of digestion). 

It’s a 3-part challenge for the month of July, but you can handle it.  Remember, you are building habits that will result in optimal health for the rest of your life. 

So, are you taking the challenge?  We’re on a 12 month journey to a lifetime of incredible health!  If you didn’t start with us in January, that’s okay.  You can start right now with this month’s challenge. 

      Don’t forget to continue your:

January habit of drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day (1/2 your weight in ounces of water per day)

February habit of eating 7 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables per day

March habit of replacing refined white foods with whole grains

April habit of exercising for at least 30 minutes 3 times per week

May habit of detoxifying your system daily

June habit of sleeping for 7 to 8 hours each night

Filed Under: Change one thing, Health Conditions

Change 1 Thing! June Challenge

May 31, 2023 by admin Leave a Comment

“Change 1 Thing” Challenge

Have You Accepted the Challenge?

Take One Year to Develop a Lifetime of Optimal Health!

“Change One Thing” is a 12 step process over one year to help you achieve your health goals.  You simply commit to make one change in your lifestyle every month, so that by the end of the year, you will have completely transformed to a healthy lifestyle. 

Why each month?  It takes about 21 days to establish a new habit.  So each month, you will firmly establish one change before starting another.  Are you willing to take the challenge?

Your June Challenge (should you choose to accept it):

“I Will Sleep for 7 to 8 Hours Every Night

Sleep is a serious problem in this society these days!  Almost a quarter of Americans report having insomnia every night or most nights.  Sleeping aids are prescribed and sold at record numbers, and now they are increasingly used by children and adolescents.  A good night’s sleep is just as essential to optimal health as proper nutrition and exercise.

Studies show a strong link between inadequate sleep and obesity.  That may sound counterintuitive, but the trend has been shown in both kids and adults.  And new studies are now coming out, showing that inadequate sleep increases your risk for type 2 diabetes.

How much sleep is enough?  Depends on your age. 

  • Adults should get 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night.  (9 or more hours of sleep has also been tied to increased diabetes risk).  
  • Children between the ages of 2 and 6 years should get 10 – 12 hrs
  • 7 to 13 year olds should get 9 to 11 hours of sleep. 
  • High schoolers should get 9 to 10 hours of sleep per night.

And it’s not just the quantity of sleep that matters to your health, but the quality as well.  An interesting study of young adults showed that slow-wave sleep, which is the most restorative stage of sleep, is important for glucose regulation.  When slow-wave sleep is reduced, there is an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Here’s a tip for getting a good night’s sleep:

Avoid technology in the bedroom.  Artificial light from the various technology screens increases alertness and reduces melatonin levels.  At least an hour before sleep, turn off the technology.  With, kids this is critical.  1 in 10 kids report having their sleep interrupted by text messages during the night.

So focus this month on getting your optimal amount of sleep every night.  One clue that you’re getting enough sleep is that you wake up feeling restored without the need for an alarm clock. Are you up to the challenge?

      Don’t forget to continue your:

January habit of drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day (1/2 your weight in ounces of water per day)

February habit of eating 7 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables per day

March habit of replacing refined white foods with whole grains

April habit of exercising for at least 30 minutes 3 times per week

May habit of detoxifying your system daily

Filed Under: Change one thing, Health Conditions

Creative Ways to Get Your Kids to Appreciate Vegetables

May 15, 2023 by admin Leave a Comment

If American kids had disposable incomes, they’d probably buy groceries like every day was Halloween – reams of Twizzlers, bushels of candy corn, and pounds of M&M’s, Reese’s, and Kit Kats. Unfortunately, the popular US diet (for adults as well as kids) has its consequences. Namely, 39.6 percent of adults are obese. (Obesity is defined as having a BMI over 30.)

Perhaps even more alarming, about one in three US adolescents or teens is overweight or obese. The health risks associated with excess weight include sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. That’s why it’s important to teach your kids to eat well: so that they grow up to be healthy, active adults. To do so, this might mean coming up with creative ways to inspire your children to appreciate and enjoy that most dreaded of meals: vegetables. Here are some helpful tips to get you started courtesy of guest blogger Jason Kenner.

Farmers Market

If your kids eat at the school cafeteria every day, their idea of “healthy food” might narrow down to neon-colored peas or pineapple chunks smushed into plastic ramekins. To teach them about the bounty and splendor of vegetables, take them to a farmers market. You may not know yourself that these markets offer interesting and unusual veggies. From Kohlrabi, Jerusalem artichokes, and green zebra tomatoes to Romanesco broccoli with its intricate coral-like patterns, the offerings can be as lush and varied as perennials in a plant nursery! Letting your kids pick vegetables out of the booths might prove to be enough of a hands-on experience to get them at least familiar with some of the healthiest foods in the world.

Raised Vegetable Beds

If there aren’t many farmers markets in your area, you might consider planting a raised vegetable bed. All you need is to hammer four planks (preferably cedar, since it’s rot-resistant) into a box. Dig out a square gulch, not too deep, in your backyard and fit the box over it and fill it with manure and fertilizer. Then, poke your finger through the surface to make rows where you plant your seedlings. Each vegetable has its own preference regarding sun, shade, moisture, and the month of the year to put it in the ground, but you’ll get all that down. And when you do, you’ll be feeding your kids heirloom tomatoes all summer long, right out of your garden.

Something else to bear in mind: if your backyard needs some additional modifications, as an added bonus, many kinds of home renovations can also increase the appraisal value of your home. Just make sure you keep those receipts!

Delicious Meals

Parents don’t have loads of free time, so serving your kids gorgeous vegetable medleys may seem preposterous. If so, then try looking up recipes meant to be simple weeknight fare. These might include quesadillas, spaghetti with lentils, tortilla or minestrone soup, or spaghetti squash burrito bowls. Making vegetables a staple of your kids’ diet from a young age may help them eat well for the rest of their lives, a routine that will prove invaluable to their health as they get older.

It’s also essential that your kids are drinking enough water every day. Not only will they avoid the extra sugar that comes with soda and juices, but drinking water removes toxins, prevents dehydration, and regulates body temperature.

Parenting Tricks

Meanwhile, if all these tips fail to lure your kids away from McDonald’s and Arby’s, try good old parenting trickery. Dress up your platter o’ asparagus or broccoli with a dab of butter (which is better for you than you might think) or a fun dip. Make them pick their vegetables out of your raised garden beds so that they can participate in the (suburban) farm-to-table process on their own. Finally, eat vegetables yourself, keep them out as appetizers during meals, and don’t pressure your kids to swallow every wedge of cauliflower on their plates. The less you stress about the importance of eating vegetables, the less they’ll latch onto it as a point of contention, until it’s simply part of your household’s regular diet.

Dr. Teresa Fuller is a pediatrician with an expertise in integrative holistic medicine. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Filed Under: Dr. T's Blog, front-page, Health Conditions Tagged With: brain health, child health, healthy child, nutrition, obesity

Change 1 Thing! May Challenge

April 30, 2023 by admin Leave a Comment

“Change One Thing” is a 12 step process over one year to help you achieve your health goals.  You simply commit to make one change in your lifestyle every month, so that by the end of the year, you will have completely transformed to a healthy lifestyle. Are you willing to take the challenge?

Your May Challenge (should you choose to accept it): 

“I Will Start to Detoxify My System Daily” 

Healthy eating concept. Word ‘detox’ from green tea with colorful smoothies and fruits. Top view

We are surrounded by a toxic environment.  Toxins abound in our foods, water, and air in the form of pesticides, heavy metals, air pollutants, harsh cleaning products, etc.  We can’t avoid many of these toxins, and therefore, we need to be proactive in protecting our bodies against the harmful effects of these agents.  Therefore, the following is a plan for you to detoxify your system daily. 

Stop toxin intake! The first thing we must do to detoxify is to stop taking toxins into our systems.  The biggest offenders are cigarette smoke, alcohol and drugs.  But there are other chemicals that we use regularly that are also toxic to our systems.  Sugar, for example, causes inflammation in our bodies.  Excessive caffeine stresses our bodies through elevated blood pressure and heart rate.  Artificial flavors and colors in many snack foods are also inflammatory, and linked to increased frequency of mental health problems, such as anxiety and reduced memory.  So the first step to detoxification is to stop taking in toxins! 

Eat detoxifying foods: Dr. Alan Logan, author of The Brain Diet has rightly said “Your ability to detoxify is only as good as the quality of your diet.”  You need to fill your diet with foods that support the liver and gastrointestinal tracts, which are our body’s main detoxification organs.  For example: 

  • Fiber binds toxic chemicals and removes them from the body through the GI tract.  It also promotes growth of “good bacteria” in the gut.  Therefore, eat fiber rich foods, such as brown rice, barley, beans, fruits and vegetables. 
  • The cruciferous vegetables, which include cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower, support the liver’s detoxification process.  
  • Organic foods are foods grown or raised without use of hormones, pesticides and other harmful chemicals.  I realize these foods are more expensive, but they are worth it in the long-run.  The best foods to eat organically include beef, and fruits and vegetables with thin or edible skins, such as apples, pears, and berries. 

Obtain a healthy weight: Guess where toxins get stored in the body? In fat cells.  In fact, one important reason to avoid eating animal fat is because many toxins that the animal has ingested are stored in the fat.  By losing excess weight, you give your body less opportunity to hang onto toxic chemicals. 

So focus this month on incorporating these strategies to reduce the toxic load in your body. Are you up to the challenge? 

      Don’t forget to continue your: 

January habit of drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day (1/2 your weight in ounces of water per day) 

February habit of eating 7 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables per day 

March habit of replacing refined white foods with whole grains 

April habit of exercising for at least 30 minutes 3 times per week 

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Filed Under: Change one thing Tagged With: brain health, cardiovascular health, health, healthy, healthy child, heart health, lose weight, minerals, nutrition, obesity, omega-3, stress, stress reduction, supplements, vitamins, weight loss

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