Use By Dates for Vitamins and Supplements

Vitamins and herbs are often recommended as part of lifestyle advice.

If you purchase best quality vitamins and supplements it is highly recommended that you check the ‘best before’ and ‘use by dates’. If none is stated then it is best to seek out other brands.

Unlike pharmaceuticals, it is not compulsory to state the date for vitamins and supplements products. The shelf-life of supplements depends on:

• Temperature
• Moisture
• Oxygen
• Exposure to Light
• pH of the product
• Oxidising and reducing agents
• Presence of metallic ions (e.g. iron and copper)
• Presence of other ingredients
• Other components of food, such as sulphur dioxide
• Combinations of the above

It is likely that Vitamins B,D will have shorter half lives so they will disintegrate quicker. The same will apply to probiotics, which often require refrigeration.

The best advice is to consult with a Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioner who should be able to offer you advice on purchasing the best over-the –counter remedies or preferably they can provide you with ‘practitioner line’ best quality vitamins and supplements which will be specific for your needs.

A Handful of Almonds Daily – Good Food and Nutrition Advice

A recent study has revealed that eating a daily handful of almonds or equivalent almond containing foods improves the Healthy Eating Index in both adults and children.

The complementary medicine research study published in December 2015 in the Journal of Nutrition Research carried out a trial where parents were instructed to eat 1.5 ounces of almonds per day and simultaneously give their children 0.5 ounce of almond or equivalent foods with the minimal almond content e.g. almond butter.

The researchers found that this daily intake over a 14-week period resulted in a significantly improved ‘ Health Eating Index’ component scores for total protein and decreased intake of empty calories.

As parents we are often challenged by barriers in promoting healthy eating to our children. Strategies we can utilise to promote good lifestyle advice for us and our children include basic guidelines such as:

• Ensuring meals and snacks are nutritious, attractive and an appropriate serving size for children
• Make mealtimes are social occasions when people eat together
• Develop good eating habits such as regular times for meals
• Trying new foods, regularly
• Eating when hungry
• Starting with small portions and stopping when full
• Enjoying a variety of foods
• Highlight when a new food is being introduced and have some discussion about the food
• Discourage naming foods as “good’ or ‘bad’; this can encourage children to want ‘restricted’ food
• Discuss the value of particular foods to promote their growing, healthy bodies

Many Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners promote almonds as part of their regular diet as 1 ounce of almonds delivers 170 calories and has a low GI index. It also contains best quality vitamins and supplements such as:

• Biotin
• Vitamin B2
• Vitamin E
• Manganese
• Copper
• Phosphorous
• Magnesium
• Molybdenum
• Fibre