Calming Advice for More ‘Good Days’ with Fretful Kids

BETH DAVIS

Parenting has more than its share of stressful challenges, and today’s moms are often frustrated by conflicting advice. As families search for answers to daily issues, a more holistic and natural approach, known as conscious parenting, has been gaining momentum.

According to Lori Petro, founder of TEACH through Love, a child advocacy group and educational resource for progressive parents, conscious parenting comprises the spirit of cooperation, instead of traditional models of discipline and control. “We want to teach our children how to live in the world, explore, be creative, compassionate, learn appropriate expressions of emotion and think for themselves,” she says.

To help maximize the rewards for all, Natural Awakenings asked several forward-thinking moms for their best tips on how to handle some of parenting’s biggest challenges.

Healthier Option for Your Arteries

Despite traditional cautions against eating animal fats to keep cholesterol in check, Danish researchers have found that eating hard cheese is better for the arteries than consuming the equivalent number of calories in butter.

According to their study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, when hard cheese accounted for 13 percent of participants’ daily calories, their LDL (bad cholesterol) did not increase. When the same individuals switched to consuming more butter, their LDL levels rose. The researchers were unsure what caused the results, but noted that cheese contains a lot of calcium, which can increase the amount of fat excreted by the digestive tract.

Expression of Values May Help Shed Pounds

According to a new study published in Psychological Science, the right kind of writing may facilitate losing weight. Participating women were given a list of significant values including creativity, religion, music and relationships, and asked to rank them in order of personal importance. Half the women were asked to write for 15 minutes about the value most important to them; the other half wrote about a value not among their most highly preferred but that might be important to someone else. The first group lost an average of 3.4 pounds during the next few months, while the second group gained an average of 2.8 pounds. Researchers think the weight loss may be due to increased self-esteem and strengthened resolve.

Gums and Patches Put Unborn Babies at Risk

Expectant moms using nicotine patches and gum to help kick a smoking habit are putting their unborn babies at risk, say researchers at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, in California. In a study published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, they note that the fetus absorbs the addictive substance, which can damage the baby’s blood vessels and may lead to high blood pressure and heart problems later in life.