Maniolas

Out-of-the-box baon: Get creative with your kid’s baon. When assembling the bento box, use GladWare food protection containers to help seal in the goodness. These come in different sizes to best match your kid’s baon of the day. MANILA, Philippines – Protecting your child’s baon doesn’t just begin the moment your kid steps out the door to go to school. Before a sandwich or rice meal makes its way into your child’s lunch box, it first exists in the form of essential ingredients that need to be stored and handled properly so that the prepared baon stays fresh longer and uncontaminated right through recess and lunch time. According to the article “Food Safety Tips for Healthy Eating” by Dr. Lourdes Jacobo, different types of bacteria can multiply rapidly in most foods such that millions of them can fit on a pinhead, thriving in temperatures between 5° and 60°C. However, these risks shouldn’t scare parents from preparing school meals in their own kitchens. Making school snacks at home can be a way to ensure that the food the children are eating will adequately furnish 1/3 of their daily food requirements. The 7th National Nutrition Survey by FNRI discloses that a mere 1/5 of school-aged children met the recommended intake for energy (21.5%) and vitamin A (19.6%), while only half met the recommended protein intake (54.7%) for the day. Taking extra precaution is the key to reducing exposure to food poisoning, and a good place to start is when one buys safe Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – With a number of Filipinos aggressively taking on healthy lifestyles, it is surprising to know that many people are still afflicted by osteoporosis, diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic diseases. Many factors may contribute to the development of these illnesses and one of the most talked about by experts today is vitamin D deficiency. A study commissioned by pharmaceutical leader United Laboratories, Inc. (Unilab) found that seven out of 10 working Filipinos suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Of the over 5,000 participants tested, more than 70 percent were found to be vitamin D deficient without them even knowing it. The study also found that there is a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among women. Hi-Precision Diagnostics, a Department of Health licensed medical facility, collected, assayed, and interpreted the results based on international laboratory standards, with 30 ng/ml blood level of vitamin D serving as the baseline for deficiency. Those who registered below the level set were deemed vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D synthesizes calcium and phosphorus from the food we eat, keeping bones strong and capable of self-recuperation. Aside from making the body’s defense system respond faster and more efficient against foreign invaders, vitamin D also stabilizes heart and blood pressure, regulates insulin secretion by the pancreas, and promotes proper muscle formation and brain development. The sun is the body’s natural source of vitamin D and those who shun or have very little exposure to it become susceptible to vitamin D deficiency. Having dark skin, staying indoors Read More …

Christmas is just weeks away, and many of us have already started preparing for it by decorating our homes, buying presents, and maybe even planning for an out-of-town trip. For some people though, Christmas preparations can be quite stressful, and may even take away from the joy and wonder of the season. Don’t let that happen to you (and your family). Take the time to make this Christmas a truly meaningful one for you and yours. Here are some tips to help you out: 1. Start a special Christmas tradition. Homeschooling is such a blessing to our family in so many ways — one of which is that I get to learn about so many beautiful traditions associated with our Catholic faith. I especially love those that are related to liturgical seasons like Christmas and Advent. Over the years, our family has made some of these traditions our own, and our Christmases have been so much more meaningful because of them. Lifestyle Feature ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: For a list of meaningful Christmas traditions that you can start with your own family, try checking out this one by The Learning Basket. It contains most, if not all, of the traditions that we have, too — although I must admit that on some years, we don’t get to do all of them. 2. Give gifts that give life. After Super Typhoon Yolanda struck the Philippines last year, my husband and I decided to forego buying Christmas gifts for Read More …