hi olwen, love your newsletters...so a question...do you advocate having lime or lemon juice in hot or cold water first thing in the morning?

This question landed in my email in-box this week. Its a great question! Many people like to drink lemon juice in water, and I think its a very good thing if you find it beneficial. Because.....

- overnight you've become dehydrated from 8+ hours without water; so drinking a glass of water first think will help re-hydrate you

- whether its hot or cold doesn't really matter; its a personal preference

- the addition of lime or lemon juice will give you some extra vitamins and minerals.

But I think the most powerful aspect of this routine is....

Choosing to prepare a healthy drink for yourself as the first thing you do is a powerful affirmation of the care you are taking of your body.

In short - its a really healthy routine for you - keep it up!

Do you find that when you eat out, you eat more food than you do at home? Researchers found that many people do, and were curious to find out why. Their questionnaire, completed by 146 people, revealed some common barriers to healthy eating when dining out. You can read the original research here  http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/may/09_0130.htm#table1_down

Here are the common barriers to healthy eating out, and some possible solutions for you:

Many people found they ate more when they arrived at the restaurant ravenously hungry. This certainly makes it harder to choose healthier options, especially in the winter when hot food is more appealing. For many people in the survey, it was their busy lifestyle that got in the way; they just "hadn't had time to eat".

When you're busy its easy to overlook meal planning; but this is one of the key skills that will help you stay on top of things when life is going a little crazy. The solution? Spend 20 minutes before you shop each week to plan your meals, and purchase some key snack items that you can keep on hand in your desk drawer so you don't go hungry.

Being presented with a big plate of really delicious food certainly makes it harder to resist eating too much. If your first thought when the plate lands on the table is "wow, that's a lot" then it probably is an overly large portion size. Sometimes you can ask for what's left over to be packaged as a takeaway for you to take home.

Were you brought up to eat everything on your plate so as not to 'waste' food? If so, you're likely to find it even more difficult to refuse an overly large portion size. Try routinely asking for an 'entrée size' serve of a main meal item instead.

If you're hungry, and tuck into your meal with gusto, you're likely to miss your stomach's cues of "I'm full!" – this can cause you to overeat, then leave the restaurant feeling bloated. Your best remedy here is mindful eating; put your cutlery down between mouthfuls, and really savour the wonderful flavours and textures of the meal that someone else has cooked for you.

Effective portion control is one of the hallmarks of successful weight management – so try these strategies next time you eat out. You might leave the restaurant next time feeling well fed but not bloated or over-fed.

Are you noticing this too? It seems that 'more calcium' is the catch-cry of so many food advertisements lately. You could be forgiven for thinking that the more calcium you take in, the stronger your bones will be. Er, not quite. There is one very complex biochemical regulator of how much calcium you actually take in from your diet.

So who's in charge here? Your body very carefully and constantly monitors your blood levels of calcium to keep it within normal limits. Your cells are totally dependant on the right amounts of calcium being present, particularly nerve and muscle cells. (The very cells used for thinking and moving. Pretty important.)

If your blood calcium drops below acceptable levels, your parathyroid gland starts issuing instructions to take fast action. It directs your kidneys to stop releasing calcium in your urine; for osteoclasts (bone remodelling cells) to start mining your bones for more calcium, and for your gut to become more diligent in absorbing calcium from food (via calcitrol, the active form of vitamin D).

And there's the catch. Your body can only absorb calcium from your food if there is enough digestive enzymes available, and if your gastric acidity is the right pH. Otherwise it passes through your gut unabsorbed. Our gut acidity tends to wane as we age, as does our production of digestive enzymes;  So you could be eating lots of calcium-rich foods, even taking calcium supplements, and not receiving the benefits.

There are a couple of old home remedies for improving the production of your digestive enzymes, which will improve the absorption of all your food (not just calcium). Important note: People taking medications for hyperacidity, reflux, heartburn or stomach ulcers should check with their health practitioner before trying these home remedies.

-          European cultures often enjoy a 'bitter' drink just prior to a meal. The bitter taste acts through your nervous system to stimulate your stomach lining to produce more digestive enzymes. Sometimes this was a drink made of bitter herbs, sometimes they chewed on a bitter leaf, like Rocket.

-          Apple cider vinegar may help improve the acidity of your stomach, improving your digestion. Start with one teaspoon in a glass of water, and gradually increase the concentration over the next few days to a maximum of one tablespoon of cider in a small glass of water. Enjoy just before each meal.

If you feel your digestion isn't quite right, you might be missing out on many other minerals too, particularly if your bowels are inflamed. If that's the case, its important to address your bowel health first.

P.S. Also enjoy my article on osteoporosis, here ("Could Line Dancing Save You From Osteoporosis?")

What's the mineral that pre-school children are most likely to become deficient in? Full marks if you chose 'iron'. There are other very important minerals too, including zinc, calcium and iodine; but children between one and three are most at risk of developing iron deficiency anemia. Why? Because during the huge growth spurt in their first year of life, your child used up a vast amount of their iron stores to create more haemoglobin (that's the red part of blood cells that carries oxygen around your body).

In a perfect world, your child's diet would easily fulfil this extra need for iron. But there's a problem. Pre-school children rapidly develop firmly held concepts of what food they like and dislike, to the immense frustration of their concerned parents! To compound the situation, the relatively slower growth rate of the pre-schooler often reduces their appetite as well. Parents often shake their heads, baffled about how their child is continuing to thrive on what seems to be a small selection of tiny quantities of specific foods.

The most easily absorbed sources of iron come from animal sources, especially red meat, but your child probably isn't interested in chewing through that carefully cooked steak or stew; instead, present easily eaten foods like rissoles, eggs or fish cakes. (When you're preparing the rissole mix, add some finely chopped spinach, as leafy green vegetables are also a good source of iron.)

To ensure your pre-schooler has a better chance of obtaining the nutrients they need, offer smaller quantities more often, in finger-food sizes, and with a variety of textures and colours. A general rule of thumb is to offer one tablespoon of each food for every year of age. For example, you could offer your two year old a small rissole with a little pumpkin mash, plus green beans. Or for lunch, a fish cake accompanied by a selection of raw carrot, capsicum and zucchini in easy-to-handle pieces. For breakfast, try scrambled eggs, or a soft-boiled egg with toast 'soldiers' to dip into the nutrient-dense yolk. For snacks, try small fruit serves like strawberries, grapes or apple wedges.

There are lots of great books out there to give you recipes and ideas to create meals your pre-schooler is more likely to eat.

Conflict with your pre-schooler over food may achieve little more than increasing your personal stress levels! Just keep offering a wide variety of healthy foods, small quantities, and leave those lollies, soft drinks and biscuits on the supermarket shelf.

If you're concerned that your child may have become malnourished from their fussy food choices, don't just reach for the vitamin supplement – talk to your health practitioner for an assessment, support, and ideas to improve your child's nutrition.

At this time of year in the sub-tropics we're being flooded in regularly, which means long rainy afternoons at home. (For our friends in the northern hemisphere, we hear that you're having the same experience, but with snow!). 

Now you've got something to do while you're stuck at home. There's a great Australian web site, www.calorieking.com.au, which will enable you to check exactly what's in your diet in terms of carbohydrates, fats, protein and fibre. 

They offer a week's free trial of their nutrition planning software too. Go tohttp://www.calorieking.com.au/software/ckdietdiarywin.php and start listing what goes in your mouth. The results may surprise you! (For myself, the software confirmed that yes, I'm eating enough fibre; that there's room for more protein and more calories, but I need to reduce my fat intake.)

How you can use this tool as a meal planner:

People who plan their week's meals in advance are more likely to maintain a healthy diet, rather than people who eat 'on the run' or resort to take-away because they haven't prepared. 

Now that you know what you're eating, and what in your diet needs tweaking, you can use the software as a meal planner. When you've completed a day, and you're happy with the nutrition in it, print it out. Write the month or the season on the page and file it. Next week, or even next year, you can use that day's food plan without having to think too hard about the details.

Did you use the planner? what did you find out about your nutrition? Join the discussion and leave your comment below!