So...I know normally I just post pictures and a few comments, but I have to write about this. As most of you know, I've studied nutrition and worked as a Registered Dietitian for the last 8 years. So I have it in mind to pay attention to my family's nutrition needs and intake. Since moving to a new country, our eating habits have changed a lot. There are certain things one might take for granted living in the US. Fortifying and Enriching foods is commonplace in the US of A. Not so here. Granted, we have fresher fruits and vegetables which are also seasonal (good for most, but difficult when when you've got a picky eater (Hudson)).
A couple things I know are important with these little ones: Good source of Vitamin A at least every-other-day, and a high Vitamin C food daily. Iron is important in growth and preventing Iron-deficiency anemia. In the US Iron is usually found naturally in red meat as well as most store-bought bread or cereal which are fortified with Iron. Calcium is important as well as Vitamin D...most people in the US think milk has Vitamin D. WELL...in the US most milk is fortified with Vitamin A and Vitamin D, but these Vitamins are not naturally occurring in milk.
So....
Vitamin C is pretty easy to take care of with fruits such as melons and oranges, and recently strawberries. Vitamin A is found in red meat which is super expensive here, so we eat it maybe once a week. Apricots are high in Vitamin A and so is broccoli (not at market this week). The milk here is NOT fortified with Vitamin A.
Calcium is also found naturally in milk and milk products: cheese, yogurt.
Vitamin D is NOT found in milk here, nor in most yogurt or cheese. Oh where oh where can we find Vitamin D? Egg yolks have some Vitamin D, fatty fish and fish bones too...well, we'll have to stick to egg yolks for our boys. Though Silas does like Tuna salad at times.
But after doing food intake analysis on myself (a good website is www.nutritiondata.com-no I'm not paid for that plug) I realized that without my daily supplement of Vitamin D I would most definitely be deficient. So then I started thinking about how this must be a real problem in this country.
As a side note, for those that don't really keep up-to-date with nutrition news, there is a new Vitamin D amount recommended (DRI) as of November 2010. Recommended intak e has increased across the board. What's concerning is most people think they can get enough sun exposure for their bodies to produce Vit D, but with SPF blocking the UV rays, most of us are not getting enough Vitamin D from sun exposure alone! It's estimated that 20 minutes of direct sunlight for a light skinned individual without SPF coverage a day would be beneficial. (Reference article here) But then there's concern about skin cancer...
My curiosity on this subject of Vitamin D lead me to the web to search out answers. I found research done (peer reviewed article) just last year in this country regarding Vitamin D. The results of those participating in the study (over 300 people) found that 75% were Vitamin D-deficient, while 14% were insufficient. Only 11% of participants had sufficient Vitamin D levels. Really? This is a wide-spread problem here! See the results from the study here, as well as a link to the abstract.
Okay, you might think, what's the big deal about Vitamin D? Well, deficiency of Vit D has been linked to cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, decreased immunity, certain cancers (colo-rectal, breast, and ovarian), osteoporosis, possibly M.S. (click here for information "reference").
We did bring some kids vitamins from the states that contain Vitamin D, but I still think the boys are not getting enough, and we don't remember their Vitamins every day either.
Today I blended part of my Vitamin D supplement with the boys' milk and made a "milk shake". This may become a new strategy for increasing my boys Vitamin D levels! At least until the country can adopt a way to fortify their foods with this important Vitamin.
Did you know that low Vitamin D can also decrease tooth enamel? It appears that Silas has yet another cavity in a new molar. His first cavity ever was in a new molar a few months ago. I thought it was because he was eating more sweets (welcome to new culture) and not brushing it good enough. Now that I see the same problem in yet another new molar, which we have been so careful to clean everyday (at school and home), I believe this is related to his lower Vitamin D intake. Also, Silas' nails have become more brittle since we moved here, and they used to be so strong. There must be a correlation.
In the mean time he is devastated at the thought of going to the Dentist again, since the last time he was traumatized by a nurse who lied to him ("I just want to look in your mouth - STICK (shot)"). We prayed with him and over that painful memory. We also explained what she did was wrong and we would try to go to a different Dentist next time. Handling with care...
Okay, well, those are some of my thoughts. Normally they just rumble around in my head. I hope you enjoyed the info and maybe learned a thing or two that could be helpful to you!
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