Do you remember the infamous cartoon based in the town of Bedrock?  If that is not ringing a bell, maybe this will. “Wilmaaaaaaaaaaaa!”  Remember now?  Yes, it’s the Flintstones…the lovable caveman-like family who always seemed to be in a quandary.  While the cartoon was great, the bad news is, the vitamin is not.

When Flintstones Vitamins came out in 1968, parents rushed out to get these yummy chewable multivitamins that would help keep their kids healthy and strong. Vitamin A, Vitamin C…..Those aren’t so bad, right?  Wrong!  They are bad, when they are synthetically made.

Not all vitamins are made the same. Some are synthetically derived to mirror the real thing but are chemical in nature. Others start as natural, live ingredients and remain that way (for a full explanation of the difference in vitamins, click here).  The body responds to a synthetic vitamin as if it is a foreign object—in essence, it does not recognize it as the “real thing” and will reject it.

So those Flinstones multis that you may think are supplying your kids with their daily essentials are ending up in the “can.”  Furthermore, synthetic vitamins may be supplying your kids with more than you paid for.  Many cheap vitamin companies use harsh binders and fillers (i.e. tars, plastics, etc.) in the manufacturing of the vitamin to “stick” the ingredients together. A large percentage of many of these synthetic vitamins are not even vitamins, but fillers that will do more harm than good in the long run.  How do you think you would do if you ingested small amounts of tar on a daily basis for 10 years or so?  The long-term effects would probably not be the most positive.

When you look on the back of the Flintstones box to see the list of ingredients, the first thing that jumps out at me is the known carcinogenic (cancer causing) artificial sweetener, Aspartame!

The list of ingredients also includes things like Artificial Colors: FD&C Blue #2 Lake, FD&C Red #40 Lake and Calcium Carbonate. In addition, in the list of ingredients, only the name of the vitamin or mineral appears, without its chemical name. No plant sources were given.

So what’s the solution, you may be asking? For many, this is all you may have ever known and you may have believed you were doing something great for your kids! Well, you were, in the sense that you really care about their health and made a noble attempt to do something about it.  So don’t be discouraged. It is never too late.

Begin by getting rid of the synthetic store brands and adding in a whole food supplement that is actually alive.  These live nutrients will fill in the gaps where we may not be doing the best in the food category. A kids diet is a tough one for every mom, so supplementing wisely can really give good peace of mind.  Just make sure it is whole food.

Our family has used these whole food supplements with all of our children, starting when they were babies.  To see why they are different, read here.

Swap out this:

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For a full label and ingredient view, click here.

What we put in our kids is so important. Not only are we building a foundation for their immune systems, we are also teaching them from a young age habits that they are likely to carry with them throughout their life (or have to break later on in life!).

So what are our kids drinking?  One of the most common drinks for kids today is a Caprisun.  Some parents have realized the sugar content of one Caprisun and have gone for the “healthier” version: Caprisun Water Beverage.

Take a look at the packaging on the Capri Sun below. The word “flavor” appears four times on the front, which in itself is overkill when you think about the information that was left out.  On the front it says: “Wild Cherry: Flavored with Other Natural Flavor”. The circular logic makes me dizzy. If you’re not using cherry as a flavor, why not just name it after the flavor you ARE using.

Now, I wouldn’t normally write a diatribe over the word choice on a kid’s beverage, but the fact that they used all that space and lettering, but still FAILED to tell me that the drink uses Sucralose as a sweetener? Somewhat sneaky, when you are talking busy mom’s running into the grocery store, grabbing things without reading labels!

Call me crazy but I do consider Sucralose (otherwise known as Splenda) to be an artificial flavor. Yet, still it says “No artificial colors or flavors.” So it makes me wonder what “Flavored with Other Natural Flavor” could possibly mean if Splenda is not considered artificial.

Maybe the makers of Capri Sun need to slap the word “Diet” on these bad boys since Splenda is the leading artificial sugar used in diet foods and products.

And for those who don’t know what Splenda (sucralose) really is, it is chlorinated sugar. So sugar starts out as sugar cane, they add chemicals to process it down to the white stuff we end up with (and how did they get it white? Isn’t sugar cane brown?). They then take this highly processed substance called sugar and process it even more…with chlorine. And wa-la, we end up with Splenda (this is the non-scientific version of the process!).

So let’s take a look at the product label taken directly from the package.

Product Details:

Flavored with other natural flavor. No artificial colors or flavors. Sensible Solution: Low calorie. Helps hydrate kids. Capri Sun is continuously working to reduce our impact on the environment. Helps hydrate kids (Consume a variety of beverages every day). Contains 0% juice.

Ingredients:

Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Sucralose (Splenda Brand Sweetener), Natural Flavor.

Did you catch that in order to “hydrate” our kids we have to add 2 different types of sugar to their water? Not to mention both sugars have chemicals in them–High Fructose Corn Syrup contain mercury (the most toxic substance known to man), and Splenda has chlorine. So maybe instead of sugar-filled substances that really don’t hydrate, we could help our kids by giving them water!

Did you know that “The average human body is about 60 to 70 percent water? This varies by individual based on body type and composition, and on the state of bodily hydration. Most of the water is found within the cells.

Water is about 55-65% of the total human body weight in an adult. In infants, this is as high as 78%.” - Wiki Answers

I know it may be a hard switch, but they will do it!  A principle we try to live by in our house is, “You won’t eat it (or drink it) if you don’t buy it.” So next time you head to the store, leave these off your grocery list, drink water during the week, and make 100% juice a treat for the weekend!  They will thank you one day!

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With many people in an economic crunch, the first thing that seems to get put on the back-burner and deemed “not as important” is our eating…and thus our health.  While we may not be able to eat everything organic due to costs, there are a few items that would be worthy of purchasing, just to save your health now and in the long run.

One thing many people don’t realize is that when we consume foods that are high in toxins (from pesticides, additives, or preservatives), you most likely will not feel the effects immediately!  This is why many people feel that they can get away with eating poorly and that it is not effecting them.  However, the effects of toxic foods typically show up later (this is not the case for everyone!). Toxins accumulate in the body and DO NOT LEAVE, unless otherwise detoxed out. So you may have years of toxins built up in your system and oftentimes, it is like the old saying, “It was the straw that broke the camels back.”  It may only take one more “straw” to send your body into full-blown disease or disfunction.  This may sound extreme, but it follows the principle, “You reap what you sow.”

It is easy to get the mentality that what we are putting in our mouths is not really THAT bad.  However, we eventually WILL reap what we are continuing to sow.  The great thing is that this works in the positive as well!  If you begin to sow good food and nutrition into your diet, you will reap the great benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

Today’s Swap Out is an easy fix.  If you eat white potatoes, make the switch.  The best choice is to switch to Sweet Potatoes, but this switch is something to think about if you are a french fry lover as well!  French fries are adding insult to injury…toxic potatoes that are fried! Yikes! We all eat them at some point or another, but we can all make better choices on a daily and weekly basis!

The Farm Director Won’t Eat Nonorganic Potatoes

Jeffrey Moyer is the chair of the National Organic Standards Board.

The problem: Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes — the nation’s most popular vegetable — they’re treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they’re dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. “Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won’t,” says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). “I’ve talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals.”

The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn’t good enough if you’re trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.

Budget tip: Organic potatoes are only $1 to $2 a pound, slightly more expensive than conventional spuds.

Swap This:  Conventionally grown Potatoes

For This: Organic Potatoes