HealthyLife Articles

Tag: sensory

  • Enhance Your Sense Of Taste

    Mature Health: Over Age 50

    Image of fresh foods and herbs, such as potatos, tomatoes, onions, etc.

    Adding a lot of salt to foods, eating more sweets, and finding meals less enjoyable are signs that your sense of taste is fading. As you age, you may lose up to 50 percent of your taste buds. But you don’t have to resign yourself to a diet that tastes dull and bland. You can take the following steps to perk up your sense of taste.

    *  Eat fresh foods instead of canned or processed items. Fresh-cooked foods are more flavorful and have more texture, which adds to the enjoyment of food.

    *  Pep up your vegetables with flavor enhancers like savory herbs, lemon juice, slivered almonds, and sliced onions instead of extra salt.

    *  Marinate meats and fish in salad dressings or fruit juices before cooking.

    *  Include tart foods and beverages like salt-free pickles, oranges, and lemonade in your meals.

    *  Think visually. Colorful foods, garnishes, and an attractive table setting make meals more appetizing.

    *  Bring chilled foods to room temperature before serving. Flavors are more pronounced when food is warm.

    A Year of Health Hints book by the American Institute for Preventive Medicine. www.HealthyLife.com. All rights reserved.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Forget The Ipad, Let Kids Play In Sand Or With Blocks

    FAMILY LIFE

    Image of young boy playing with blocks.

    When it comes to finding toys to encourage a child’s interest in science, sometimes simpler can be better and yet more sophisticated.

    Creighton University professor of physics Dr. Gintaras Duda suggests looking at toys with a tactile, kinesthetic component that can help illustrate scientific principles while allowing a child to come up with new ways to play.

    “If you can get kids to be creative, that’s the main thing,” Dr. Duda said. “Let them sort of figure out how these things work. It’s great scientific learning. Yes, kids love to play with the iPad, but if you dump a bin of Legos out in front of them and let them go, you’ll always be surprised at what they come up with.”

    Hands-on building blocks, tower sets, and a strangely behaving substance known as kinesthetic sand, which shares certain properties with regular sand but performs differently as it’s being molded, have all captured children’s attention and imagination.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine