How to prepare a healthy lunch for kids

February 18th, 2010 by Small State Health Team

The lunch food is a fundamental issue in terms of providing nutrients and energy. Plus if we are talking about the smallest of the house. Without a proper lunch decrease their concentration levels and thus worsen academic performance. Given the importance of this meal (and considering that many times children do not eat at home) know what you should include a healthy lunch.

Firstly, you must include some carbohydrates (choose a snack or a jacket). You can also choose potatoes, rice, beans or pasta (use a yogurt-based condiment instead of mayonnaise). It also adds a little protein. The options can be chicken, a small can of tuna or salmon, cheese, lean meats, eggs, nuts or legumes.

Do not forget to add some vegetables. It is inevitable. Add them to your sandwich or a salad. Tomatoes, lettuce, carrot, celery, cucumber, red peppers may be one of the alternatives to include. It complements the meal with fruit (any fruit will be a good choice).

Finally, an issue to consider: the booze! The ideal drink is water. It uses a rechargeable bottle and freezes the water overnight. During the morning, keep food fresh and will melt enough to have a refreshing cold drink at lunchtime.

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The different types of work-place drug testing and their benefits

February 18th, 2010 by Small State Health Team

Although drug testing sounds like it could be a complicated and difficult affair, the truth is rather different from the popular perception.

It may surprise you that drug testing rarely involves anything as extreme as taking a sample of blood. In fact, unless you’re an uncooperative criminal, in the military or subject to the exhaustive screening of a professional athlete, you’ll find that drug tests are a remarkably mundane experience to go through.

This will probably be welcome news to employers in sensitive fields of work. Despite the fact that many government agencies and industrial occupations have a legal obligation to screen employees for drug and alcohol abuse, convincing your workforce to face the needle would hardly win any favour with staff. Even convicted criminals aren’t subjected to that.

Despite the popular misconception, drugs testing generally makes use of easily gathered biological samples that carry fewer medical risks all round. Here are the three main types of drugs testing used by employers and their respective benefits:

Oral Fluids: drugs tests that make use of samples of saliva are best used for spot-testing, such as healthcare monitoring or roadside testing. A simple swab of the mouth allows lab technicians to develop a picture of what  substances an individual has been taking in the past 48 hours or so. Not only is this type of sample extremely easy to collect, tests can even take place on site. Because of its immediacy, it’s an effective way of detecting on-the-job substance abuse or in post-accident screening. Another benefit is that oral tests can provide an insight into the degree of intoxication, approximately based on the amount of substance detected.

Urine Tests: This is the most widely tested type of sample and the one with the longest track record of proven results. Urine testing provides a profile of drug use for the past 1-4 days for almost all drug groups. It’s also the most cost-effective way of testing employees. Many different samples can be gathered at the same time and delivered to the laboratory simultaneously. An added benefit of this type of testing is the usual size of the sample – without going into too much detail, a large sample volume makes testing much quicker and easier.

Hair: This type of testing is unique in that it provides a long window of detection. This is because ingested drugs get into the blood stream and circulate the body fast; as every hair follicle has it owns blood supply, any drug use can still be found in hair long after the body has processed (and excreted) drugs. Not only are hair samples easy to collect and easy to dispatch, they’re extremely useful for building a long-term profile of an individual’s drug use. This is particularly useful when it comes to pre-employment screening, or for child protection services.

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Benefit Vit B 12

February 18th, 2010 by Small State Health Team



Vitamin B12 is a water soluble vitamin. Water-soluble vitamins dissolve in water, and after that the body uses these vitamins, leftover amounts leave the body through urine.

Normally water-soluble vitamins can not be stored by the body. Vitamin B12 is special, because the body can store it for years in liver. This increases the interest in the benefits of vitamin B12 to be absorbed because it means we can use them.

Role of vitamin B12:

This vitamin, like other B vitamins, is important for metabolism, aids in red blood cell formation and maintenance of central nervous system.

A major advantage of B12 is its role in energy metabolism. It is a vital component in creating red blood cells. It was unofficially known as the “energy vitamin”. Doctors often provide injections of the same athletes as well as those who are not getting enough naturally. Although it does not cause weight loss directly, this vitamin increases energy and metabolism, many say they can help with weight loss process.

Foods containing vitamin B12:

Vitamin B12 is found in eggs, meats, seafood, milk and all its derivatives.

Deficiency of vitamin B12:

Vitamin B12 deficiencies occur when the body can not use it properly. Pernicious anemia can make the body can not absorb this vitamin from the intestinal tract.

Because vitamin B12 comes primarily from animals, people who follow a strict vegetarian diet and consume no eggs or dairy products may require vitamin B12 supplements. (Non-animal sources of vitamin B12 exist but are highly variable in their content of vitamin B12. Are considered unreliable sources of the vitamin.)

Those who had surgery on specific parts of the small intestine or stomach are also prone to a deficiency unless they take supplements of vitamin B12.

Low levels of vitamin B12 can cause anemia, numbness or tingling in the arms and legs, weakness and loss of balance.

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