How to Raise Healthy Teens in an Unhealthy World

Teaching your child to make healthy choices now may save them hundreds of thousands of dollars over their lifetime. Often, proper nutrition hasn’t been taught in schools or to our doctors and we think that because everyone is doing something that makes it ok. Yet our bodies will pay the price for what we eat.rnOne simple area to consider is hydration. Water is the number one nutrient. It is essential for life. 75% of the population is mildly chronically dehydratedrnThe biggest trigger of daytime fatigue is lack of water. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or printed page and other impaired physiological and performances responses. It’s simple, if you want them to do better in school, give them more water.rnAthletes are often chronically dehydrated. Even 1% of dehydration will result in a 2% performance drop and impair the bodies’ ability to recover from a game or workout.rnThe new healing foods pyramid released by the University of Michigan Integrative Medicine Clinical Services begins with a foundation of water.rnSports drinks, energy drinks, bottled waters and sodas should not be part of the equation for a healthy child.rnPopular energy drinks have been shown to thicken the blood in a way that increases the risk of stroke. The Japanese call Soda, “Cancer in a can.” Even so called sports drinks are not engineered for young people and have been proven to cause problems in organs like the liver. Bottled waters are often tap water run through a reverse osmosis filter and several studies have shown that they are bacteria ridden. Another thing that each of the above drinks have in common is that they are ALL extremely acidic. Sickness and disease thrive in an acidic body and that you body was designed to be alkaline. Adding move vegetables to your diet contributes to alkalinity. So does drinking alkaline ionized water. I love Chanson water ionizers because they are so easy to use and adding the water to my life has made improvements for everyone in our family. Alkaline ionized water is actually more hydrating than other waters because it has a smaller molecule size and is more easily absorbed by the body and it’s antioxidant!rnStart by being a good example, look at your own diet and make some changes that you can model for your family.rnBlend up a simple veggie smoothie for everyone for breakfast. There are lots of variations you can try, but here is one: Alkaline ionized water, a hand full of fresh green beans, and avocado and some blueberries actually taste great and are simple to make and very alkalizing. Throw a kale leaf in once in a while with other fruits and veggies. They may not eat it on a plate but you can get all kinds of things in a great tasting smoothie and you don’t need an expensive blender to do it.