Juice Plus+® Health News

Juice Plus+® Part of a $23 Billion Nutritional Supplement Industry

Juice Plus+® is among thousands of products considered to be nutritional supplements, vitamins, or alternative products that make up a huge industry, a multi-billion dollar one at that.
Pet food and human nutritional supplements have something in common: both are multi-billion dollar businesses in the USA. But where’s the quality control and lab testing with free information accessible to consumers on either of those industries?

USA annual sales of nutritional supplements exceed $23 billion. But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is spread thin and doesn’t have the money, resources, or staff to test all the supplements.

 In comes the private testing labs to fill the gap by testing and then selling reports on the test results. But the labs charge consumers fees to read those lab reports on the quality of various nutritional supplements and related skin-care products.

Shouldn't the lab charge fees to distributors that directly sell the nutritional supplements to the public online or from stores instead of charging consumers fees to find out whether there is lead or other heavy metals in specific brands of supplements? That information should be in a free online database or in public libraries so anyone can instantly find out whether specific supplements or packaged health foods such as various brans contain lead, arsenic, aluminum, mercury, or other toxins.

Comments: There are many products that contribute to this large number, and obviously many that should be researched before taking, or even avoided all together. We´ve always felt that Juice Plus+® is a leader in quality control because of the countless number of research studies performed on the product, and the high level of standards implemented in the manufacturing plant. Most other products the same cannot be said for.

If you are considering any alternative health care product for you or your pets, be sure to get the facts before making your purchase. For the sake of your health and your family´s and that of your pets.

More information on Juice Plus+®

Dr. J. Patrick Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Official Juice Plus+ Distributor

Prevention, A Common Sense Approach To Health Care Reform

The main focus of health care should be prevention. Prevention starts with a healthy diet rich in whole food, raw fruits and vegetables. Because most people don't, won't, or can't get enough fruits and vegetables in their diet, I recommend Juice Plus+®. A concentrate of nutrients from fruits and vegetables, Juice Plus+® is made using a variety of raw, ripened, whole food fruits and vegetables.

The key is health care reform is to focus on what health care should be - care for your own health! That is, not to find a solution so that every procedure, doctor visit, treatment plan, diagnostic tool, and medical care approach can be covered for every citizen (or alien as the case may be) in the country. That is just plain stupid, and will definitely bankrupt the US - financially, physically, and mentally. This from the Post-Tribune --

President Obama's current plan is not drastic enough and adds to costs far beyond what other, healthier countries currently pay. But he's right about one thing: Health care will bankrupt the country if changes aren't made.

Among the drastic solutions needed:

* A national health care plan that focuses on preventive measures. The first and best way to cut down on health care costs is to stay healthy. All pre- and post-natal care should be free for everyone.

* Additionally, every American should get free check-ups once a year.

* To pay for this, there needs to be managed care under what is now Medicaid and Medicare. The nearly $400 billion spent each year between those programs goes to pay for reactive or end-of-life care.

Most of what people spend in their entire lives on health care is spent in the last year. They'll pay anything for another six months with Uncle Joe. But by stressing preventive care, it's likely they'll get another five to 10 years with Uncle Joe at half the cost.

It might sound cold, but it's wiser and more humane to get Uncle Joe cholesterol medication in his 40s than a bypass in his 80s.

All of this would be augmented by the current private payer health insurance, although Obama should allow for national competition for insurance.

This country need not spend more on health care.

Instead, we could cut down on federal costs while allowing free-market insurance to continue.

Both the private and public sectors must do better. (Reference)

Comments: The key here is the statement: the first and best way to cut down on health care costs is to stay healthy. There is no government plan that can make you healthy. I'm not sure about the other proposed changes mentioned, but the efforts, time, money must be spent on education and awareness of the damages that certain choices are making on the health of the individuals who are making them, otherwise the consequences will be dire...and they shouldn't be covered based on those poor lifestyle choices. And the estimated costs for the "end-of-life" care makes up such a huge percentage of the total costs, that we need to ask 'why?'. You could conclude that that's where the money is and therefore that's what medical suppliers, drug makers, and hospitals all put there focus and attention. Have you seen the new buildings that are being erected at hospitals for heart and cancer care? Most are for those who have less than a 1% chance of living more than a year, and account for 40% (or more) of their total revenue. My guess is that most people would rather spend their last days in the comfort of their own home rather than being treated like a piece of meat that is bleeded dry...for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most everyone knows someone that has been subjected to the perils of the ICU and the torture that it must be to be 'kept alive' just because insurance will pay for it.

Instead, we should start focusing on a better quality of life, and making healthier choices in order to achieve that quality. This is the only true solution. Whether it is possible is left to be seen.

Dr. J. Patrick Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Healthy Solutions for Healthy Living Since 1995

Diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of degenerative diseases like heart disease and stroke, diabetes and cancer. Learn why eating fruits and vegetables is especially important, and how you can benefit from adding Juice Plus+® to your diet. Juice Plus+® is the most thoroughly researched nutritional product in history.

Juice Plus+® Nutrients From Fruits And Vegetables

Soft drinks are a major contributor to the extra weight that too many people are carrying these days. Even some juice drinks are not a good alternative, unless in smaller amounts and straight from the source (not concentrate or with added sugar). Soft drinks also prevent good nutrients from being absorbed, not to mention how with so much caffeine most people aren't getting natural stimulants and nutrients from whole food fruits and vegetables. This is a big reason we recommend Juice Plus+®. although the water and fiber in the whole food is not present in Juice Plus+®, it does provide the nutrients from a variety of fruits and vegetables. You would be better off eating fruits and vegetables as a way to get energy and nutrition instead of soft drinks. Here's more about soft drinks --

Soda is loaded with more calories, sugar and chemicals than many people realize. Here are nutritionists' tips for cutting it out - or at least down:

Get some perspective. Estimate how much soda you drink in a week (if you have no idea, keep a food diary for seven days). Then use a calculator to add up how many calories and sugar grams your habit costs you.

Give yourself time. Most people can't go cold turkey. One strategy is to cut back by 25 percent the first week, 50 percent the second week, and so on.

Find other fizz. Seltzer water, mineral water and club soda all have the same feel on your tongue as soda. Experiment by mixing them into small amounts of 100 percent fruit juices.

Find other sweets. When you crave a sugary taste, eat a piece of fruit or chew some sugarless gum.

Drink lots of water. Buy a refillable water cooler and keep it with you at home, at work and in the car.

Stock up on alternatives. Decaffeinated tea and flavored water are top choices for your refrigerator. Some 100 percent fruit juice also is good, but be aware that juices have calories and sugar too.

Switch to diet - maybe. Nutritionists are mixed on diet soda, which is calorie-free but still contains chemicals and may increase cravings for sweet foods. If you want to switch, try mixing some diet soda into regular, gradually increasing the ratio as your taste buds adjust. Note: some say diet soda from a fountain tastes better at first than drinking from cans or bottles. (Read more...

Comments: I would recommend staying away from any diet version of any soft drink, since you're still not getting any form of good nutrition, not to mention the artificial sweeteners that have been linked to many health problems. And too many diet soft drinks have been shown to be linked to contributing to obesity as well. The bottom line with any soft drinks - you're better off not consuming them at all.

Diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of degenerative diseases like heart disease and stroke, diabetes and cancer. Learn why eating fruits and vegetables is especially important, and how you can benefit from adding Juice Plus+® to your diet. Juice Plus+® is the most thoroughly researched nutritional product in history.

Dr. J. Patrick Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Healthy Lifestyle Solutions Since 1995

Solution For Health Care Should Focus On Prevention

Juice Plus+® is one way to support good health, which is all about a lifestyle choice.

While the debate continues about how to get everyone coverage so they can get medical treatment when faced with a debilitating or life-threatening disease continues on in Washington, the real message for good health is being overlooked and ignored. And that is prevention. We want to continue our unhealthy ways yet not be responsible for the consequences that come as a result. While a small percentage has to do with genetics - those who are predisposed to conditions because of a family history, passed down through genetics - that makes up a small group in terms of percentages. And how will we ever know what impact a healthy diet will have on the health of a nation's citizens, and perhaps their offspring, until we make those changes and they become permanent. You can't ignore unhealthy foods and beverages, along with tobacco and even environmental influence (pollutants in the air and water for starters) as being the possible cause of many health problems we face today. The most common diet consists of unhealthy foods and beverages. Most people need to begin with a weight loss plan for starters, and that includes a healthy diet. However, the President is bellowing his usual "I have a solution" message that will make everyone healthy, so that life can continue as usual, with the same irresponsible choices being made everyday that are causing the demise of what little health we have left. The President's message regarding health care --

From the moment I took office as President, the central challenge we have confronted as a nation has been the need to lift ourselves out of the worst recession since World War II. In recent months, we have taken a series of extraordinary steps, not just to repair the immediate damage to our economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting and sustained growth. We are creating new jobs. We are unfreezing our credit markets. And we are stemming the loss of homes and the decline of home values. But even as we have made progress, we know that the road to prosperity remains long and difficult. We also know that one essential step on our journey is to control the spiraling cost of health care in America.

Today, we are spending over $2 trillion a year on health care – almost 50% more per person than the next most costly nation. And yet, for all this spending, more of our citizens are uninsured; the quality of our care is often lower; and we aren't any healthier. In fact, citizens in some countries that spend less than we do are actually living longer than we do.

Make no mistake: the cost of our health care is a threat to our economy. It is an escalating burden on our families and businesses. It is a ticking time-bomb for the federal budget. And it is unsustainable for the United States of America.

It is unsustainable for Americans like Laura Klitzka, a young mother I met in Wisconsin last week, who has learned that the breast cancer she thought she'd beaten had spread to her bones; who is now being forced to spend time worrying about how to cover the $50,000 in medical debts she has already accumulated, when all she wants to do is spend time with her two children and focus on getting well. These are not worries a woman like Laura should have to face in a nation as wealthy as ours. (Full article from USAToday.com)

Comments: While this oft repeated message from the president about how he inherited so many problems from what seems to be the past century (and I think this theme is getting old), he still misses the facts about what it takes for a society to be healthy. It's not the lack of medical coverage, or the inability to pay for a visit to the doctor, or the lack of access to a specialist who can treat a specific condition. In other words, it's not about treatment. Those things are all nice, but they only have significance for a very small percentage of people who have been unfortunate to be stricken with a medical problem because of reasons that are beyond their control (a genetic predisposition?). These are the people to whom help should be provided (to what extent, I don't know, or how). It's not unfair or even heartless to say that those who have a condition that is due to their own negligence, poor choices, or yes even unwillingness to get a job and pay for their own coverage when they are more than capable...should not be provided a handout for expensive care and/or treatment, neither of which is a guarantee for a return to a good quality of life anyway.

There are some flaws in this approach, the first of which is who determines, and how is it determined in which category an individual fits? I suppose such questions that address diet and lifestyle behavior can be asked, or records reviewed to determine such (if there are records). Tests could be performed for the presence of nicotine or other chemicals, and to determine cholesterol and BMI, things that could only be present due to lifestyle choices. This is only a short-term possibility, regardless. The real change that must be addressed is every American's diet and lifestyle. Period. The old saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want to make unhealthy choices and suffer the consequences, then you should suffer the consequences... not expect money that every other individual worked hard to make pay for your health problems.

So really, it comes down to this: it's about HEALTH - getting healthy, staying healthy, maintaining good health, making healthy choices. And, if we know the major contributors to a large percentage of American's health problems - processed foods, fast foods, sugary foods and drinks, tobacco products - then we have an obligation to: 1) inform the public about the possible consequences of their actions; 2) provide some incentive for the makers of those products to change them (insist on it?); and 3) having provided the education of the downside to consuming and using those types of products, hand over full responsibility to each individual to take care of, and handle their own health "care" if a problem arises. That's it. In two words, PERSONAL RESPONSIBLITY.

The government 'takes' enough of our money to do with what they see fit. And the government has NEVER, ever been profitable in any business they have owned, lent money to, or managed...ever. If they stuck to maintenance of the country, along with defending it and providing a safe place to live, we'd be much better off. It's amazing what happens when we as individuals are placed in a position of having to come up with solutions for our own well-being. We thrive. Given a handout, we don't.

The Health & Wellness Institute, PC

The most important source for good nutrition is fruit and vegetables. Because so many people do not get enough fruits and vegetables in their diet, we recommend adding Juice Plus+®. Diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of degenerative diseases like heart disease and stroke, diabetes and cancer. Learn why eating fruits and vegetables is especially important, and how you can benefit from adding Juice Plus+® to your diet.

Health Care Is About Choice, Not A Government Plan

This blog is sponsored by The Health & Wellness Institute, an Official Juice Plus+® Distributor.

Health care should be all about individual choice - diet, exercise, proper nutrition. While the President feels that all problems in the world rest on the shoulders of the American government, so far his solutions are doing nothing more than making the dollar worth less and less while more money is being printed to pay for all of these "programs". Health care has not been left out of the mix, with a proposed solution of government intervention so that more people can access 'health care'.

Here's news regarding health care: you have health care available to you right now. It starts with the choices you make. Diet is the first and most important choice for maintaining good health and in the prevention of sickness and disease. It seems that too many people think that doctors are a service only for the wealthy, and to an extent that may be true. But this just allows those with more money to have more coverage, and in the end (literally) only prolongs their life...but not necessarily improves the quality of their life, and health. (One statistic that supports this is the fact that over 50% of health care costs are spent on the last 6 months of life. Is that why we need to burden our grandchildren with more federal debt?)

If any type of plan is implemented, why not make it one where gym memberships are discounted for those who can't afford them. If you subject yourself to poor nutrition, lack of vitamins, no exercise, smoking, alcohol, and soft drinks... it's only a matter of time before health problems set in. And no drug or doctor can cure the problems brought on by a poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle choices. Sure, they may be able to prescribe drugs to hide the symptoms, but the underlying cause will still be there.

A diet and lifestyle plan where each individual assumes personal responsibility is the only way to health care. A doctor is not for health care anyway, but sick care. Most all doctor visits are after a health problem exists, long after. How many people go to their doctor for counseling about what to do to be healthy? And how many doctors actually offer this type of advice anyway?

Spending more on making 'health care' (you see this phrase in quotes throughout this blog because it's a misnomer - health care is what you make of it; doctors are for 'sick care', 95% of the time not a solution for health and wellness) is not going to solve our country's or any nation's illnesses. It comes down to personal choice.

The three categories that will provide health care for each individual if followed on a daily basis are:

1. A diet rich in whole food, raw fruits and vegetables, avoiding processed foods and beverages that aren't water. A few are acceptable - tea, coffee, juice drinks not from concentrate, but in limited quantity. Water should be 90% of total beverage intake. Fruits and vegetables are the foundation for good health when it comes to diet, no matter what you've heard, read, or seen in some diet plan. You're not going to be overweight nor will you be unhealthy by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables each day. It's the fast foods, soft drinks, and most packaged foods that are processed and have difficult to pronounce ingredients that should be avoided.
2. Regular exercise. If you sit around too much and don't get the heart pumping from some physical movement in order to get toxins out and fresh oxygen in, then eventually your body will break down and need even more rest. Top that off with unhealthy, fattening, artery clogging food and unnatural stimulants from soft drinks and you will really find your body overworked and taxed. Getting out for a daily walk doesn't require a gym membership or any expensive equipment. It does require making the decision to do it, and doing it.
3. Lastly, is having a goal. Those people who have a goal for their life tend to be more focused on what's ahead and what needs to be done to get 'there' rather than sulking in what may not be the most optimal life situation they find themselves in. Having a goal and a vision of a better life to help propel you toward that goal is healthy. It provides you with motivation and drive to achieve, and doing a little each day is empowering. Not only will you wake up with a feeling of purpose, but you will build on each day's experiences knowing that you are in guiding your own ship in a direction of your choosing. Sure there will be bumps in the road or even an iceberg to avoid, but that's all part of the game. Those will be the tests of your character, and the adversity that comes your way will be the reminder that you are in fact becoming stronger and more dependent on your own choices - for your life, your health, and your happiness.

Don't wait for some 'health care' plan to decide what kind of healthy and happy life you want to start carving out for yourself. Someone else's plan, no matter how good the intentions, will never mean the same as your own plan for your well being.

In health,
Dr. J. Patrick Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Providing Solutions For A Healthy Lifestyle Since 1995

The recommended nutritional supplement of The Health & Wellness Institute is Juice Plus+® because it contains nutrients from a variety of raw, whole food fruits and vegetables. Nutrients from fruits and vegetables are an important foundation for a healthy lifestyle. Try Juice Plus+® risk free for 4 months.

Want To Live Longer? Eat More Fruits And Vegetables, For Starters

A new book by author Dan Buettner, sponsored by National Geographic, covers the topic of cultures and societies who live longer and what lifestyle habits they have to provide such longevity. In his book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From People Who've Lived the Longest, the author covers the globe in search of habits and lessons about the people who attain a higher level of longevity relative to the rest of the world. His travels took him to Costa Rica, Italy, and many places in between. What may be expected in such a project, shows longevity has to do with the simplest of things - vitamins, nutrition, rest, simple exercises - as the main reasons for sustaining a higher quality of life for longer than 'normal'.

Yet one common quality of those places where longevity seems to escape its residents, is obesity. Being overweight or obese brings a host of health problems that not only diminish the quality of life but reduce the number of expected years of life. One town was singled out to give attention to, and provide some help for, the compromised health of the residents. Albert Lea, Minnesota is wraught with high obesity rates, and that brings with it hypertension, diabetes, and other health problems. The lessons learned from Buettner's travels are being taught to the residents of Albert Lea in hopes of turning things around.

The simplified conclusion of these lessons make good health sound like a recipe that anyone can follow, with the right motivation. They include...

1. Eating more fruits and vegetables.
2. Getting plenty of sleep, relaxation, and even an occasional nap.
3. Walking to destinations instead of driving, if possible.

The first of these recommendations is not unusual nor should it be surprising, considering how many people lack proper nutrition, and the fact that the best nutrition for good health comes from fruits and vegetables. When compared to those people who live longer, and obviously enjoy better health, the amount of fruits and vegetables consumed by those who are below the average lifespan, falls well short of what's to be expected for even an average lifespan. And of all the things that could possibly contribute to a higher lifespan, this is listed first. Could that mean it is the most important? Probably. Even if it isn't, it is the best place to start considering how many other foods and beverages are contributing to the demise of the health of so many citizens across the globe.

Coupled with more rest, which interestingly includes an afternoon nap to re-charge the body and mind, along with a simple regimen of exercise - walking - and you've got a recipe for better health and higher longevity.

Because fruits and vegetables are so important to the body's health, it is recommended that you add a nutritional supplement that contains nutrients from a variety of fruits and vegetables, Juice Plus+®. Learn why eating fruits and vegetables is especially important, and how you can benefit from adding Juice Plus+® to your diet.

Want to be healthy and live longer? Start with more fruits and vegetables in your daily diet!

Dr. J. Patrick Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Official Juice Plus+ Distributor
Providing Healthy Solutions For A Healthy Lifestyle, Since 1995

Juice Plus+ A Step Above Most Other Vitamins, Supplements

Juice Plus+® is nutrients from the whole food of a variety of fruits and vegetables, unlike most other vitamins and supplements that supply only one or a few nutrients from the whole food. There are thousands of natural supplements that are offered on the shelves of vitamin stores, supermarkets, and even big outlets like Walmart and Sam's Club. The problem with most of these is that they leave out most of the nutrients that a whole food fruit or vegetable provides, that you would otherwise get if you ate that food. These nutrients are an important part of the big picture to good health, which is why this author recommends Juice Plus+. It is important that if you do choose to supplement your diet, that you look for one that has as much of the nutrients from the whole food, and from a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables. (Juice Plus+® also comes in a Vineyard Blend, which contains nutrients from 9 different grapes and berries, a good source of antioxidants for the prevention of sickness and disease.)  The industry of natural supplements is big business, as reported by the Miami Herald --

Some people who buy supplements to avoid Big Pharma drug companies may find themselves doing business with Big Herba, instead.

Some of the same companies that mass-produce drugs also churn out vitamin and herbal pills sold in bottles with rainbows, sunrises and flowers on their labels.

Dozens of other supplement makers reap more than $100 million in annual sales. One of the largest -- NBTY, on New York's Long Island -- sold $2 billion last year in the United States alone. Its brands include Nature's Bounty, Vitamin World, Puritan's Pride and Sundown.

''They used to be mom-and-pop operations but now they're major companies,'' said Bruce Silverglade, chief lawyer for the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest.

There are hundreds of small firms, including niche players with only a few products. But they account for a slim slice of total sales, industry experts say.

Supplements often are sold through multilevel marketing; distributors and franchise holders earn commissions by recruiting others to sell for a large company at the top of the pyramid.

Even many ingredient suppliers are multimillion-dollar firms that do business all over the world.

Little herbal stores are only ''what the consumer sees when they're shopping,'' while the large companies that supply them are mostly invisible, Silverglade said. (Read more...)

Comments: With so many products being marketed today as a dietary supplement, know that nothing is as good as raw, whole food fruits and vegetables...and a variety of different colors consumed regularly is best.  However, if you are like most people and do not get close to the recommended number of fruits and veggies in your diet, a healthy supplement is not usually far from reach. But choosing the right supplement can make the difference between expensive urine and a wasted dollars, or readily absorbed nutrients that provide benefit to your health. Having research that actually supports the efficacy of a product is another step that makes Juice Plus+® superior to typical vitamins and supplements. Educate yourself about why whole food nutrients are superior, and why individual vitamins may actually do harm to your health - you can read more about that here: vitamins may be harmful.

Dr. J. Patrick Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Official Juice Plus+® Distributor

Good Nutrition And Healthy Lifestyle Are Key To Prevention

Juice Plus+® is fruit and vegetable nutrients from a variety of whole foods, put into a capsule.

Too many people are not getting enough of the right nutrition for the prevention of sickness and disease. There are plenty of reasons to make some simple diet and lifestyle changes to improve your health.

Lung cancer is the #1 cause of cancer death for both men and women in America. Lung cancer may occur in smokers as well as in non-smokers. Therefore, any steps that we can take to reduce the risk of lung cancer are worth knowing, following, and sharing with our families.

The most important and primary approach for lowering your risk of lung cancer is smoking cessation. To do this, if you are a smoker, you must be committed to stop smoking, and you can use your physician, your family, supportive counseling, nicotine replacement patches or gum, as well as some of the prescription medications that can reduce smoking drive. But in addition, can other steps help as well?

In a recent article by Dr. C. Chao and co-workers at Kaiser Permanente Health Plan in Northern California (The California Men’s Health Study, Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention Volume 17, page 2696, 2008), the authors evaluated men 45 to 69 years old who had been in the health plan for at least one year. Over 84,000 of these men completed questionnaires about their alcohol use, and were then followed for the development of lung cancer. The authors examined the intake of red or white wine, as well as beer and liquor. Lung cancers were identified by the use of the cancer registry at Kaiser Permanente Hospitals. This study evaluated the development of lung cancer over a period of 3 to 6 years. (More from HealthNews.com)

Comments: It is important to know that a one vitamin cannot, or should not, be singled out when studying the effectiveness of prevention and healing. What is most important is getting nutrition from a variety of healthy sources - that is, raw whole food fruits and vegetables. Some are better than others, but nothing is as good as a ripened food that is grown from the Earth. Not a hamburger or fries, nor is a pizza or potato chips. And you can't get the same results by taking one or a few vitamins as you will be getting all the nutrients from the whole food. This is why it is strongly recommended that you add Juice Plus+® to your diet if you're not getting the minimum needed fruits and vegetables each day for good health.

Dr. J. Patrick Havey
Learn more about Juice Plus+®

If Parent's Lack Vitamins And Nutrition, Will Their Children Too?

It is ridiculous to think that a parent's diet will have no influence on a child's diet. It is more common that a child who is overweight has one or both parents who are overweight. To lead people to believe that their actions have no influence on their children's is not only bordering on stupid, but irresponsible in itself.  For generations the saying about a parent setting a good example has not been just a bunch of rhetoric to make the parent feel good about their decisions. It's obvious there is a direct influence. And too many children are not getting the vitamins and nutrition they need to start thinking that parents' actions don't matter. But, the NYTimes is reporting differently --

Parents may try to set an example by eating a healthy diet themselves, but a new study has found that their children are not paying attention.

Researchers studied a nationally representative sample of adults ages 20 to 65 and their children 2 to 18, a total of 2,291 parents and 2,692 children, tracking their eating habits with questionnaires. They found little resemblance between the consumption of total energy, carbohydrates, saturated fats or polyunsaturated fats by children and their parents, although children’s diets were slightly more likely to resemble their mothers’ than their fathers’. The study was published online in Social Science and Medicine.

Level of parental education and socioeconomic status made little difference. Unsurprisingly, the older children were, the more likely they were to differ from their parents. As children get older, the authors suggest, peers become a much stronger influence on food consumption.

“This suggests that parents don’t play as large a role as people have thought in their children’s diet,” said a co-author of the study, Dr. Youfa Wang, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Most parents are not doing as good a job as they should.” (Reference)

Comments: Let's all just say ah, it doesn't matter. My actions don't mean anything, my kids won't listen anyway. How about we start demanding some discipline of ourselves and our children instead of letting them do what makes them happy. Then you have the other side of the equation taking advantage of that approach - making unhealthy, addictive products that kids (and adults) love to consume because it makes them feel good. That kind of thinking will eventually bring an end to everyone's health. Ignore these "studies" and continue to eat healthy and make healthy choices. We may just find that good health is contagious and more people will start choosing to be such. (You know, this 'influence study' may show these results because there are more unhealthy and overweight people in the US and so it is difficult to have an influence on a child's health. It takes a village works both ways!).

If you don't get enough fruits and vegetables in your diet, add Juice Plus+®.

Dr. J. Patrick Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Official Juice Plus+® Distributor

Vitamins, Natural Supplements - What To Trust?

There are so many vitamins and multi-vitamin supplements available on the market today, but how do you know what is good, what products to trust for quality, content, and most of all, efficacy. New reports come out almost daily about a vitamin or supplement that is not what it claims to be or worse, has adverse side effects that can be harmful. In some parts of the world, there have been children who have have become sick (1 actually died) who are getting Vitamin A supplementation (story here) as an extreme measure to avoid what should be rare conditions. (This goes to show you that the world has too many calories, but not enough good nutrition!)

There is real concern about the quality of nutritional supplements being marketed today. This is not good news, especially when you consider the quality of our food supply and lack of nutrients in MOST foods, needed to support good health. You know the one supplement that I recommend is Juice Plus+®, for two very good reasons. Number 1, Juice Plus+ contains nutrients from a variety of fruits and vegetables, not just one or a few vitamins; and number 2, there are numerous research studies from credible institutions and Universities around the world that substantiate the efficacy of Juice Plus+. Here is why you should choose your supplement carefully --

-- Lead in ginkgo pills. Arsenic in herbals. Bugs in a baby's colic and teething syrup. Toxic metals and parasites are part of nature, and all of these have been found in "natural" products and dietary supplements in recent years.

Set aside the issue of whether vitamin and herbal supplements do any good. Are they safe? Is what's on the label really what's in the bottle? Tests by researchers and private labs suggest the answer sometimes is no.

One quarter of supplements tested by an independent company over the last decade have had some sort of problem. Some contained contaminants. Others had contents that did not match label claims. Some had ingredients that exceeded safe limits. Some contained real drugs masquerading as natural supplements.

"We buy it just as the consumer buys it" from stores, said Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com. The company tests pills for makers that want its seal of approval, and publishes ratings for subscribers, much as Consumer Reports does with household goods.

Other tests, reported in scientific journals, found prenatal vitamins lacking claimed amounts of iodine, and supplements short on ginseng and hoodia - an African plant sparking the latest diet craze.

"There's at least 10 times more hoodia sold in this country than made in the world, so people are not getting hoodia," said Dr. Mehmet Oz, a heart surgeon and frequent Oprah Winfrey guest who occasionally has touted the stuff. (Read more from the Wash Post)

Comments: Be careful if you choose to supplement your diet with any nutritional supplement or vitamin(s). Unless your doctor has given you a reason that you need one particular vitamin or mineral, you are better off a variety of fruits, vegetables, and even berries to your diet to help you get the nutrients you need for good, or better, health. There are literally hundreds of nutrients in whole food fruits and vegetables, not just one or a few vitamins. For avoiding extreme, rare health conditions, vitamins can be useful. But how many of us are at risk of Scurvy or Rickets? The way to good health is a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. If you just want to prevent the most extreme, rare health conditions, then maybe a single or multi-vitamin supplement is the way to go. But if you want good health, eat the minimum recommended fruits and vegetables each day.

Dr. J. Patrick Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Official Juice Plus+® Distributor