Make Your Kid A Genius!
How to Awaken Your Child's Innate Intelligence
| February 2002 |
Issue
#2
|
Irene Helen Zundel, Editor, artwhiz@greenepa.net
By subscription only! Welcome to the current issue of "MAKE YOUR KID A GENIUS".
You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of this newsletter.
IN THIS ISSUE
Feature Article: Eat Right to Be Bright
Hot Tip
Book Review: Feed Your Kids Bright
Fascinating Fact
Coming up in the next issue
Classified ads
Subscribe/Unsubscribe instructions
Eat Right to Be Bright
by Irene Helen Zundel
The old adage "you are what you eat" is certainly true. But did you know that you think what you eat as well? Science is continually reaffirming the correlation between nutrition and IQ. Some foods can hinder brain development and interfere with learning, while others can give your brain a real boost!
The best thing to do, of course, is to eat right during pregnancy. Here are some essentials to remember:
The brain is comprised mostly of protein, and so are neurotransmitters---the chemicals that activate and carry the brain's messages. It is essential that children in the womb, and in the early years of life get plenty of good quality protein.
The best kind of protein for brain cell development is derived from animal sources: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, milk, and plain yogurt. (If you follow a vegetarian diet, you need to make sure that you combine foods properly to form complete proteins. Seek expert advice, please, for the sake of your unborn child!)
To grow healthy glial cells in the brain (the cells thathelp your brain to fire well) you need ample cholesterol and fat.
Dr. Ralph Minear, a pediatrician at Harvard Medical School and an expert on diets designed to feed kid's brains, recommends that 50% of calories consumed by a pregnant woman should come from fat consumption. The best cholesterol foods are whole milk, eggs, dairy products, organ meats, fish an other marine animals. The best fat foods are vegetable oils high in essential fatty acids---specifically almond, corn, safflower, soybean, sunflower, and walnut oils.
You also need foods that have a high glucose value. Glucose bonds with a chemical called ATP, which is literally the brains fuel source. Without sufficient glucose, the brainbecomes powerless and grows dim like a flickering light bulb.
The best foods with high glucose value are fruits, berries, grains, potatoes, mushrooms, milk, oysters and liver.
Three other nutrients are important for healthy brain function in children:
iron (found in red meat, liver, egg yolk and spinach)
lecithin, (found in peanuts, soybeans and wheat germ)
and potassium (found in oranges, bananas, apricots, melons, avocados, nectarines and peaches).
Incorporating all these foods into your diet while you are expecting, and feeding them to your children through out their school years will provide optimum nutrition for healthy body and brain development.
More and more science is recognizing that poor diet, or certain foods children are sensitive to, may be the cause of emotional and behavioral problems, and learning disabilities.
Did you know that:
Children that are hyperactive may be sensitive to foodsthat contain salicylates?
California pediatrician Dr. Ben F. Feingold recommends eliminating these foods from a hyperactive child's diet:
apples, apricots, blackberries, boysenberries, cherries, currants, gooseberries, grapes, nectarines, oranges, peaches, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries and strawberries.
Some foods may make your child a slow learner because they are cerebral allergens. These are the symptoms that accompany "Slow-Learning Syndrome"—
Paleness, feeling listless, circles or bags under the eyes, stuffy nose, sinus complaints and sneezing, coughing, wheezing or chest discomfort, bedwetting, muscle aches, itchiness and rashes, headaches, and puffiness or bloating.
These are the foods to eliminate:
soybeans, bread, commercial cereals, corn and corn products, citrus, lentils, peanuts, pancakes, waffles, potatoes, stuffing, and soy sauce.
Another overlooked item in the American diet is water. The body is over 70% water, and it is essential for your health not to allow yourself to dehydrate.
Dehydration can cause or complicate many auto-immune conditions such as allergies, asthma, and lupus. Water is also essential for learning. It conducts electricity in the body and gives the brain what it needs to fire its neurons effectively. Water also eliminates toxins from the body that can slow you down physically and mentally.
For an interesting look at the role of water in the body and its use in eliminating disease, visit the website www.watercure.com.
For further illumination read these books:
Feed Your Kids Bright
Francine Prince and Harold Prince, Ph.D.
Simon and Schuster, 1987
The Brain Food Diet For Children
Ralph E. Minear Bobbs
Merrill Publishers, 1983
Brain Food
Brian and Roberta Morgan
Michael Joseph Ltd., 1986
Smart Food: Diet and Nutrition for Maximum Brain Power
Arthur Winter and Ruth Winter
Griffin Trade Paperback, 1999
or visit this excellent and comprehensive website:
Note: This article is not intended to be professional or medical advice. The reader is advised to seek competent experts for any health problems they might have.
This article is an entire chapter from my recently released e book:
Make Your Kid a Genius: Tools to Maximize Your Child's Potential from the Womb Through College
© 2001, Irene Helen Zundel
To learn more, visit www.fadco.net/~artwhiz/order.htm.
Hot Tip
Did you know that there is a relationship between food and mood? Eating the wrong diet can contribute to depression and mood swings!
BOOK REVIEW:
Feed Your Kids Bright
by Francine Prince and Harold Prince, P.h.D
iUniverse.com, 2000 (Paperback Version)
This is an excellent and well researched book, and it is very practical as well.
Not only do the authors tell you clearly the relationship between IQ and food, they discuss what learning and behavior problems are caused by diet.
They map out from pregnancy through adolescence what the requirements are foroptimal health and top brain functioning. Following the recommendations in this book, you can conceivably raise your child's IQ as much as 35 points.
There are approximately 80 recipes designed to nourish the brain and body. Theingredients are found in the average kitchen and the recipes are good tasting basicsthat every family eats. The authors even provide delicious, healthy versions of junk foods kids crave such as burgers, milk shakes and chicken nuggets.
Listed are over 250 foods that are best for a child's brain, and over a hundred foodsthat can dull the intellect. There are lists of foods to avoid for hyperactive children,and kids who suffer from *Slow Learners Syndrome*---and lots of other interesting tidbits too!
While the book discusses foods that maximize the potential of a growing child's brain, adults can benefit from eating according to this plan as well. The recipesand eating plan presented are applicable to the entire family.
If you are health and diet conscious and you care about feeding your kid's mind aswell, this book is for you. I think it would be a great addition to your family bookshelf.
This book is reviewed in my recently released e book:
Make Your Kid A Genius: Tools to Maximize Your Child's Potential from the Womb Through College
© 2001, Irene Helen Zundel
To learn more, visit www.fadco.net/~artwhiz/order.htm.
COMING UP in the next issue:
Sound is a nutrient!
Did you know that:
An unborn child can hear after the 26th week of pregnancy?
The sound of the mother's voice nourishes the baby in the womb and creates the beginning of the bond between mother and child?.
The ear also helps to grow the baby's developing brain?
Many learning disabilities are hearing disorders and can be greatly helped by auditory retraining therapy?
You won't want to miss this!
Tell your friends to subscribe too...
CLASSIFIED ADS
Little Language: Give your child a great start in the new year with a 40 minute fun and educational music CD produced by a speech and language expert that is designed to enhance communication skills in children birth to age 5. There is also a resourceful companion book for parents and animal castanets for kids. To learn more, visit our website at http://littlelanguage.com, or call 1-877-755-5402.
These products are reviewed on my website at www.fadco.net/~artwhiz/littlelanguage.htm.
Michigan Learning: A parent guide to maximizing your kids' education. This 16-page bi-monthly guide offers news you can use regarding K-12 education today. Read practical tips on how you can make good educational choices for your children, and how to make those choices work. Order the print publication or read it online at www.PartnershipForLearning.org. Or call 800-832-2464.
Wonder Years: ages 0-5, a bi-montly publication helping parents and caregivers make the most of a child's early years. Everything you do during the first years of a child's life affects brain development that will shape a lifetime of learning. Make the most of these critical learning years, and have fun at the same time. To subscribe, call 800-832-2464 or visit www.PartnershipForLearning.org.
Online issues can be found at http://www.fadco.net/~artwhiz/archives.htm
Irene Helen Zundel
Freelance Writer
©2002 Irene Helen Zündel