Healthy Homes e-News from May 2006

I don’t know about you – but it’s been a crazy week around here! It started on Monday night with AWANA awards at our church. My heart sank as my 4-year-old Lydia threw a fit three feet from the stage, not wanting to go on. Normally, not a big deal, but this week she was to perform on stage at dress rehearsal on Tuesday and the recital on Thursday! I was so scared she would throw another fit!

We prayed hard, and she did GREAT! Both Anna and Lydia danced at their recital, and it was wonderful. I had to chuckle on Thursday night when I asked Lydia what was the best part of the night. She thought a bit and said, “Being on stage, Mommy. Being on stage was the very, very, very, very best part!” It was a special night. Hopefully, she’ll remember that next year for AWANA awards night!

In this month’s newsletter:

1. What’s a Mother Worth?
2. Latest on Strong Bones
3. Calcium and Common Sense
4. New: calcium product
5. The new calcium product helps grow new bones
   

1. What’s a Mother Worth? (www.reuters.com)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A full-time stay-at-home mother would earn $134,121 a year if paid for all her work, an amount similar to a top U.S. ad executive, a marketing director or a judge, according to a study released Wednesday.

A mother who works outside the home would earn an extra $85,876 annually on top of her actual wages for the work she does at home, according to the study by Waltham, Massachusetts-based compensation experts Salary.com.

To reach the projected pay figures, the survey calculated the earning power of the 10 jobs respondents said most closely comprise a mother's role-- housekeeper, day-care teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, chief executive and psychologist.

An estimated 5.6 million women in the United States are stay-at-home mothers with children under age 15, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data.

NOT 'JUST A MOM'

"It's good to acknowledge the job that's being done, and that it's not that these women are settling for 'just a mom,"' said Bill Coleman, senior vice president of compensation at Salary.com. "They are actually doing an awful lot."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, some 26 million women with children under age 18 work in the nation's paid labor force.

Salary.com offers a Web site (http://www.mom.salary.com) where mothers can calculate what they could be paid, based on how many children they have, where they live and other factors.

The site will produce a printable document that looks like a paycheck, Coleman said.

"It's obviously not negotiable," he said.

On average, the mother who works outside the house earns a base pay of $62,798 for a 40-hour at-home work week and $23,078 in overtime; a stay-at-home mother earned a base pay of $45,697 and $88,424 in overtime, it said.

2. Latest on Strong Bones USA Weekend, March 31-April 2, 2006, pg 4.

Today, about 10 million Americans have osteoporsis (brittle bones), and another 34 million have osteopenia (low bone mass).

Here’s the latest research on how to keep bones strong:

· Don’t count on calcium alone. New research finds vitamin D just as important. Most women should take 500mg to 800mg calcium and 6oo IU vitamin D each day. (not just vitamin D – many other nutrients are important too – see #4)

· Beware of animal fat. Eating high amounts of saturated fat in meat and dairy can weaken bones.

· Eat fruits & vegetables. One reason; They’re packed with potassium, which slows excretion of calcium.

· Cut salt. For a woman on a typical American diet, cutting back to 2,000mg sodium a day reduced their calcium and bone loss.

· Get B vitamins. Low B12 levels in the blood signal lower bone mineral density in men’s hips & women’s spines. In Japanese research, high daily doses of B12 and folic acid cut hip fractures 80% in stroke patients. (You need all the B vitamins in balance - here's the most complete & balanced B-complex!)

· Limit colas and candy. Higher consumption of these is linked to greater bone loss.

3. Calcium and Common Sense US News & World Report, May 8, 2006, pg 71.

Did you see the headlines recently, stating taking calcium supplements didn’t help women (50-79) lower their risk for fractures? What you didn’t hear is that those women who did faithfully take their pills had 29% fewer broken hips. Dr. Bernadine Healy addresses women and calcium in her column this week in US News & World Report. (Read her column here.)

Here’s what caught my eye:

“Hip fractures do not usually occur in women in their 50s or early 60s, though during that critical time around menopause they are facing a silent loss of calcium from their bones and need to shore it up. So though these women appear to get no benefit from supplements…, we know for sure that they are being set up for fractures a decade or more later. For these women to throw away their calcium pills based on the insignificant number of fractures in their age group is just plain silly.” (emphasis mine)

“The smart move is to stick to a prudent diet: low in fats, high in fruits and vegetables – and rich in calcium and vitamin D.”

“When it comes to calcium, … American women are malnourished. That includes young girls just building their adult skeletons, who on average run 500mg short daily. For menopausal women, the intake gap can easily be as wide as 900 mg.”

4. New: calcium product

As stated above, women need more than just calcium to build their bones. Vitamin D is also important, but so are a number of other nutrients – magnesium, boron, vitamin K, zinc, copper, manganese. These have been described as the “mortar” that hold the calcium “bricks” together.

This calcium product is the most complete formula on the market, with clinically proven absorption. Plus, they’re small, easy-to-swallow coated caplets.

I’ve been taking it since March, and I’ll attest – they’re very easy to swallow, and I love the way I feel taking them. I know I’m helping my body maintain bone mass, and I’ve noticed that my PMS symptoms are now almost non-existent.

5. This calcium product helps grow new bone

I’m not the only one who loves the new calcium product. This brand's calcium products have always been easy to absorb and their formulations have reflected the latest in scientific research. They’ve helped many women not only maintain bone mass, but in some cases even build new bone.

“People who start using [this brand] products have reported bone density growth of SEVEN PERCENT in just a few months! No one needs those DRUGS for good bones! Fosomax only gives bone density increase of three percent if that much.” –Elizabeth McIlhaney

Also from Elizabeth:

“I had dentists tell me for 20 years that my braces I had three years 25 years ago caused severe bone loss. Starting about ten years ago I really started upping my program for healthy bones, all [this brand] products, and by the year 2000 or 2001, the new dentist I went to that year told me there was no evidence of any kind of abnormal or extreme bone loss for my age. Previous dentists and their staff sort of 'freaked' out about my bone loss! I figured it was all that [brand name]!

“Just got off the phone with one of my members who joined [this company] several years ago when she had a health challenge - Lyme Disease. She recovered nicely and has done very well since starting on her [brand-name] vitamins, [multi-vitamin], calcium, immunity booster and protein. Recently she had a physical and the doctor recommended a bone scan. When the results came in, he told her she had the bones of a "much younger woman." He told her to keep doing whatever she was doing: [this brand] multivitamin and calcium and exercising. HE DID NOT RECOMMEND FOSIMAX OR ANYTHING ELSE! Do we have a preventative solution for osteoporosis? I think so!” -Gerri S. via Judy Hanson

“I sit next to a woman here at work who has been taking [this brand] products for years and when she went to the periodontist, he told her she had bone growth instead of bone loss!! It's TRUE!!!” -Mary