Childhood mealtimes: where grilled cheese and chicken fingers are their own food group, the only vegetables consumed are the ones hiding in other foods, and too many colors on the plate can be a deal-breaker. Kids and picky eating can go hand-in-hand. While it can be reassuring to know that most finicky eating is perfectly normal—and backed by science!—some parents are just trying to get through the day without the dinner table turning into a debate stage (again…).
Do you know what you’re eating? Of course you do -- we all do, we’re the ones who ate it. Why then, do so many people have trouble with the question, “What did you have for dinner last night?” And if you ask them about two nights ago, that tends to leave them stumped.
Forgetting your meal history is pretty normal, but it can make it difficult to know if you’re eating enough of the right things. To see how well-balanced your diet is, it can be useful to keep a log of everything you ate. That’s where food journals come in!
Bonne journée, adventurers! We spend so much time learning about our bodily machines, it only makes sense to take a look at the fuel they run on -- food! This week, as usual, our young adventurers are hungry for knowledge, and I’m excited as ever to dish it out! In discussing nutrition, the scientific mumbo-jumbo can get dairy complicated, so I’ll try not to milk it and keep the info nice and palatable. Anyway, enough stalk -- let’s get down to the meat and potatoes!
Hello to all you adventure boos and ghouls! It’s your skeleton friend, Dr. Bonyfide, ready to answer all your eerie inquiries. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, autumn is upon us, and this round of questioning falls on Halloween! In the spirit of the season, you sent in a bunch of creepy questions -- I never knew you s-cared so much! -- but I could only answer three, and it was tough to decide...witch.
When it comes to anatomy, you’re nearly an expert on knowing yourself by now. But can you apply what you’ve learned to something a little less…human? Think like a mad scientist and help us collect as many field notes and observations about zombies compared to us humans!
Try the activity below to see how fiber pulls in water inside of your intestines to begin forming a gel that supports digestion. Psyllium husk is made of mostly fiber - just two tablespoons contain 10 grams of fiber! To get that amount of fiber in your diet, you would have to eat almost 3 cups of brown rice, 5 large carrots, or 2 whole apples.
We eat every day, but how often do we stop to think about how that process happens? The answers lie in your digestive system!
Your digestive system works with many parts to break down what you eat. Through the digestive process, your body absorbs needed nutrients from your food and gets rid of excess waste and any indigestible parts of whatever you have eaten.
To gain a bigger picture of how it all works, it might help to follow your food!
Macronutrients are what we call the chemical compounds that make up the foods we eat. You’ve probably heard of them before - the major macronutrients are carbohydrates ( “carbs”), proteins, and fats. Along with micronutrients (minerals and vitamins) and water, macronutrients provide the energy we need to live and grow.
Welcome back, Adventurers! Are you ready to digestsome knowledge? The digestive system is responsible for powering your daily activities. It does this by absorbing nutrients from your food and removing waste through excretion. The digestive system is a BIG deal - literally! If you laid an adult’s small intestine out in a straight line, it would measure around 20 feet in length.
