YoNaturals Healthy Organic Products

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it is often skipped due to busy schedules or not making enough time to make and eat breakfast. But YoNaturals.com Vending feels that it is vital that children start the day off with a healthy breakfast to nourish them and help them grow.

The following are a few healthy and delicious breakfast ideas from YoNaturals:

One of the best and healthiest breakfast ideas is whole grain cereal, fruit and low fat milk. A few of the better choices that kids like are: Cheerios, Multi Grain Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Kashi and Grape Nuts. Sliced fruit such as strawberries, peaches or bananas or blueberries can be added.

A fruit smoothie is another great quick and healthy breakfast. Fresh fruit, yogurt or low fat milk makes great smoothies. The possibilities are endless. Any fruit makes a satisfying and nutritious smoothie and kids tend to love them. To make a smoothie, add fresh fruits, yogurt or milk in blender and that is it. A little honey or whole grain cereal can also be added.   

Muffins also make a great fast breakfast. Healthier muffins such as whole wheat, bran or banana are good options. A toasted whole wheat or oat bran English muffin can be topped with melted low fat cheese. One half cup of fruit makes it even more appetizing and adds more nutrition. The English muffin can also be topped with 1 tablespoon of raisins and 2 teaspoons of low fat cream cheese and a little cinnamon can to spice up the flavor.

Peanut Butter is also a good breakfast selection Two teaspoons of peanut butter spread on toasted whole wheat bread and a glass of skim milk is something kids will enjoy. Other options are ½ cup of fresh fruit such as sliced banana or peaches served on the side.

A fresh fruit salad is a wonderful and very nutritious breakfast idea. Some fruit to choose are peaches, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. The chopped fruit can be topped with a yogurt dressing and served with 1 or 2 mini multi-grain muffins.

Yogurt, granola and fresh fruit is another great breakfast idea. Cereal can be mixed into the container of yogurt and served with chopped fruit. Chopped nuts such as pecans, walnuts or almonds can be added as well. Nuts are a great source of good fat.

Frozen waffles served with non-fat Yogurt topped with berries is something kids like as well. Also yogurt, peanut or almond butter can be spread on the waffles and served with a glass of skim, soy or low fat milk.

Eggs are something that children enjoy. Using just egg whites will make them healthier, but keeping the yolks is fine too. Lean ham and shredded low fat cheese can be added for a hearty breakfast and it can be serve with whole wheat toast and sliced fresh fruit.

Oatmeal with fresh fruit such as blueberries or bananas is a very nutritious breakfast favorite.

These are just a few tasty breakfast ideas that will help to keep kids healthy.  

Contributed by Lisa Arnold for YoNaturals.com

Author: Darrell Miller

Many people in America have started buying organic foods. Organic food sales have shot up from $180 million in 1980 to over $6.5 billion last year, not only in health food stores but in grocery stores as well. Actually, grocery stores sales made up fifty-six percent of organic food sales in the past year. Although organic food sales only make up two percent of national food sales, the organic market has definitely begun soaring, especially on Wall Street. Experts expect the figure to more than double by the year 2010. The USDA has finally released an official definition of what qualifies as “organic” food in response to the great increase in sales. It is also developing labeling standards which should be in effect by this summer. Up until the past couple of months, a definition of what actually qualifies as organic foods did not even exist. Throughout the past decade farmers and conventional farming organizations have been debating the need for federal organic labeling. Fear that the organic labels would create an unfair bias against conventional products kept conventional farmers from encouraging labeling. In December, the Grocery Manufactures of America actually complained about the new organic standards, claiming that the new labels will mislead consumers into believing that organic products are safer and more nutritious. The agricultural secretary denies the accusation of bias stating that although the organic seal will give more validity to organic products, the seal will not imply that organic foods are safer or more nutritious. Of course, users of organic foods often believe that organic foods are safer, since they contain fewer pesticides, more nutritious because they contain more trace minerals and nutrients, and also better for the environment because organic growing practices are kinder to the soil, sky, and water.

The new USDA standards mean you will get better organic food for your buck due to an official and national standard for what foods can be called organic. You will now know with certainty that the organic foods you purchase contain no synthetic pesticides and no added chemicals. Organic farmers will also use no genetic engineering, no irradiation and no sewage fertilization. Additionally, live-stock raised under these standards will be given 100 percent organic feed and will not be treated with antibiotics. Before the standardization, consumers often had to trust misleading labeling claims on organic products. Even with the new standards, the question is whether it is worth it to purchase organic. Americans who consume organic foods often have substantially higher monthly grocery costs. Actually, in 1998 average costs of organic foods were fifty-seven percent higher than conventional foods. Additionally, a recent report on 20/20 stated that organic foods contain dangerous bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella. However, more and more doctors believe that organic foods are safe and are well worth the additional cost. Those doctors who support organic eating often believe that the cumulative effects of toxins in our food, water, and air can be extremely harmful to our health. They also believe that anything we can do to reduce the toxins is well worth it.

If you only have a small budget but would like to go organic, there are still some things you can do. Some foods are more known for pesticide residue than others. Start with buying these if you can only buy limited amounts of organic foods. Citrus foods are usually not a high risk because of their thick skins, as well as asparagus, bananas, broccoli cauliflower, cherries, corn, onions, pineapple, sweet peas, and watermelon. These are considered by the FDA and EPA to be the ten cleanest foods. Additionally, make sure to wash all the produce you buy, whether or not it is organic. You can regularly take an antioxidant supplement which will help the body to remove any toxins that are on the produce. Most importantly, be sure to keep eating fruits and vegetables, as they are essential to good health.

Author: Gray Rollins

Besides the fact that organic food tastes better and it reduces the amount of cancer-causing chemicals that enter your body, there are plenty of other very good reasons why you should buy organic food. Here are just a few:

Organic Meat Comes From Healthier Animals

The animal from which you got your meat is guaranteed to have been healthy throughout its life. Why? Part of the criteria governing organic products is agreeing not to use antibodies to treat an illness. Animals that are raised with the ultimate goal of being organic are raised in more humane conditions (as outlined by the United States’ Humane Society). These better living conditions result in healthier animals and healthier animals simply are less prone to illness and disease. Of course, nothing can guarantee an animal will never become ill, and occasionally one will require antibiotics to cure an ailment. When this situation happens however, the animal that was treated with the antibiotics must be removed from the organic farm. The affected animal loses its organic status and is usually sold to a conventional farm where it lives out the remainder of its life.

Buying Organic Is A Form of Protest

When you buy organic food, you’re basically making a statement that you care about what you’re putting into your body. So much is happening to our food before it enters the supermarket. We hear about it, yet we do nothing to stop it. If you ever took a few moments to think about all that food is exposed to, from start to finish, the details likely would boggle your mind. Sure, all that perfectly-shaped produce and those rather full-sized chicken breasts look enticing, but those perfections are the end result of growth hormones, genetic engineering, and an abundance of pesticides and fertilizers. You’ve probably heard the saying, “Nature is not perfect” countless times, yet time and again you continue to reach for that perfect tomato. When you buy organic, you are in effect saying you don’t want to be part of that scene any longer. When enough people buy organic, and more are making the switch every day, food companies will be forced to listen to consumers.

Author: Grant Eckert

If you’re thinking about converting your life to organic products, you need to know what you’re getting into. While there are a number of items that are labeled as organic, not all of them are created in the same way, with the same ingredients, or under the same quality guidelines. To help you shop for the best organic products, you need to learn about the basics of what to look for when you’re at the store.

Defining What is Organic and What is Not

Having the label of organic only means one thing: that some ingredients in the product are made under organic guidelines. However, this does not always mean that every ingredient is. So, if you’re looking for an item that has 100% organic ingredients and processing protocol, you need to be wary of what the label says and how you till interpret this.

Organic ingredients are ingredients that are processed and grown without the use of any fertilizers, pesticides or other chemicals. This ensures that the item is toxin free and made from items that are close to nature’s source.

On any particular label, you might find a number of different references to ‘organic,’ but they all mean different things:

* Organic - some or all of ingredients are organic

* 100% organic - all ingredients are organic

* 100% certified organic - all ingredients have been certified as organic

* All Natural - a broad definition, no ingredients are necessarily organic

When you see “organic” in a label for food or for beauty products, you need to be careful in terms of knowing what you’re getting in return. If you want all ingredients to be organically processed, you need to make sure the label says they are.

What to Look for in Foods

Organic foods are easy to find even in local grocery stores these days, helping you get access to organic produce and other products without having to head to a faraway market or health food store. Just as with other items, you will want to look for the labels to say certified organic on produce to be sure you’re getting what you want in terms of a pesticide free product.

These items will generally not look as “clean” as traditional produce, but they are still good to eat and often contain more nutrients because they do not have the added toxins.

What to Look for in Beauty Products

When you read a label on a beauty product, you will need to look to see that there are no ingredients whose names you don’t recognize as being a part of nature. So, you will want to look for not only the organic certification, but also a list of items like plants, herbs, and other natural ingredients. This will ensure that you are getting a natural product that is safe for you to consume or to apply.

You might also want to make sure that each of the ingredients has 100% organic listed next to it to be sure that you are getting each ingredient as organic as possible.

In addition, finding that an item is organically certified is a good reassurance of its organic ‘nature.’ Because these kinds of items will need to undergo stringent testing to make sure they are following certain guidelines, you can be reassured of their quality and their consistency.

Buying organic products is becoming a much more popular task, but unless you know what to look for, you might not be getting your money’s worth for the purchase. And you’re definitely not getting your health’s worth from the item either.