Children's eating habits

This past week I had a conversation with a patient about her child and it got me thinking about ways to get kids to eat well and how important it is to get them into good habits very early, and to teach kids how to be self-sufficient so they are making good choices on their own. The patient I am referring to was just telling me a bit about her son. He is a 9 year old boy who is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He is a very anxious boy, and has constipation so bad and so often that he misses school at least once every couple of weeks due to pain. His texture issues and "pickiness" are not helping his mother to get him a great diet that will help to decrease his symptoms and improve his life, but his issues with food and feelings are contributing to the problem. We discussed at length some ideas on food, but I became worried about her son, the way she described his symptoms, especially with his constipation creating toxicity problems. So I did some brainstorming and looked for something else to help this patient with her son and his diet. I found the website listed below, and spent some time browing through the info and activities. I think the activities would be fun for kids, and there are educational tools all over this website that are tailored to children. There was even a Valentine's Day smoothie recipe this week in the daily recipe section. Check it out and share with your children.
http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/kids/main.asp

Hope this helps those of you struggling to help your children make healthy choices,
Enjoy!
Dr. Behnke

A John Stewart Interview

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-4-2010/michael-pollan

I recently stumbled upon this interview that John Steward did with author Michael Pollen. I found it very interesting how he relates people's eating habits with lifestyle and how he talks about industry is the greatest factor in our food production with our health being a very small concern. I have not read the book he is discussing in the interview, I just think that he makes a very relevant point when speaking of how the bulk of our foods are produced.

Enjoy!
Dr. Behnke

Introductory Blog

I will use this first blog opportunity to introduce myself and my work. My name is Alison Behnke and I am a Chiropractor. I work in Burnsville, MN and my clinic is called Southview Chiropractic Health and Wellness Center. We offer chiropractic care, massage therapy, acupuncture, exercise and injury rehabilitation therapy, and nutritional therapy.



The nutritional aspect of the clinic is the newest, and the reason that I am new to the blogging experience. I hope to use this tool to benefit the people who read it, whether they are already a part of the Southview community or not. I like to use nutrition to guide my patients into a healthier being. Whether someone feels good or they feel terrible, I consider their nutritional habits to be a very great part of the reasons for a person's health status. Nutrition interests me because to figure out what is missing requires a lot of thought, science and investigation. The more I learn about how nutrition can help people with problems affecting every system in the body, the more I come to realize that it is such a wonderous part of "the big picture." I enjoy teaching patients how and why it will work, and I really love the great results we get when nutritional protocols are added to chiropractic care. Food should be an exciting part of your lifestyle, and it takes a lot of effort to use food as a healing element rather than the reason for the damage being done in the body.

Outside of work, I like to further my education by reading and I have several hobbies that keep me outdoors. I have always been a resident of Minnesota, and I couldn't imagine living somewhere that couldn't provide me with 4 seasons each year. I love cross country skiing, being on the lakes, mountain biking, playing softball and spending time laughing with family and friends.

Enjoy!
Dr. Behnke