Not too long ago, it seemed to me like calcium supplements were like multivitamins. My doctor told me to take a calcium and magnesium supplement to control PMS symptoms, and I didn’t think anything of it. It worked, and the body needs calcium for strong bones, right? I thought it’d be difficult to get too much.

Lately, I’ve been hearing about people shelving their pills to collect dust and depending on their diet alone to supply the calcium they need, though, and I’ve seen quite a few articles about a link to heart disease.

A blog post on The New York Times site, for example, discusses a Swedish study in which 61,433 women born between 1914 and 1948 were followed for 19 years. With all other factors controlled, like diet and amount of exercise, the women with 1400 or more milligrams of calcium per day were more likely to die of heart disease than the women who stayed in the recommended range of 600 to 1000 milligrams.

In the study, the researchers found raised levels of a certain blood protein that seems to be linked to cardiovascular disease, and they associate it with the amount of calcium a person consumes per day.

Even if you skip the dairy most of the time, you still may not need a calcium supplement. If you love your leafy greens or you’re trying to incorporate more of them into your diet for health or weight loss, you’re getting more than you may think.

Oranges, almonds, tofu, soymilk, and plenty of other non-dairy foods contain calcium. Check the chart at SparkPeople for exact amounts in 11 different foods and tips for using them in your diet. There’s another list at US News.

What do you think? If you’re taking a calcium supplement, will you continue to do so, or will you just rely on food?

Photo credit: bchow

Today’s link round-up has a strawberry lime agua fresca, a recipe binder makeover, grilled asparagus, hot chocolate cheesecake dip, and more.

Mom on Time Out showed us how to cool off with a strawberry lime agua fresca.

Resourceful Gals shared a DIY recipe binder makeover (it’s a printable!).

Hardly Housewives offered a simple how-to: grilled asparagus. Yum.

Will Cook for Smiles made something that chocolate lovers will love—hot chocolate cheesecake dip.

By Stephanie Lynn demonstrated how to make a succulent wall planter. It looks like a fantastic weekend project.

The Budget Babe broke down Eva Longoria’s cobalt jeans and white blazer look.

My Life in Pencil shared a “wall” art project that actually goes on the ceiling (it’s a flower lamp!).

Photo credit: rfduck, SheriW, and Forever21

I know a family that’s selling their house to move into an RV and eventually drive across the country in it. It’s a nice RV with three rooms and a completely efficient use of space.

I’m a little jealous of their upcoming adventure, I have to say. I’m also not sure I’d survive it. I like my space and my privacy, and I can’t imagine even the best RV layout can provide much of either of those after a while.

They have two kids, one is around 10 or 11 years old and the other’s around a year old. The plan is to wait until the school year ends and then see how homeschooling on the road goes.

The husband will take temp jobs when they’re in one spot for awhile, and probably take freelance, work-from-anywhere jobs he can do online. The mom will stay with the kids and do the homeschooling.

For now, they’re parking the RV and continuing as usual, with their school and jobs remaining the same. Living in the RV will be much less expensive than owning the house and they’ve put some of their furniture into storage should they ever want to come running back to the comfort of a regular house without repurchasing everything.

Because they’re not rushing off right away, working the same jobs will give them an opportunity to save up quite a bit of money. Still, they gave away a lot of furniture and returning to “normal” life won’t be all that simple. It sounds complicated, but freeing at the same time.

Seriously, though, who doesn’t want to see the country (or the world, but it’ll take more than an RV for that)? Who wouldn’t want to give their kids as many experiences as possible at a young age? I can’t wait to see how their adventure turns out, find out what kind of people they have the opportunity to meet along the way, and hear how much they bond as a family in such close quarters.

I’m not sure I could survive driving around the country in an RV with a kid or two for more than a summer vacation, but I applaud their bravery.

If given the opportunity (and if money and jobs weren’t issues), could you sell your house and travel indefinitely with your family?

Photo credit:  .Larry Page

After a glamorous weekend in Hollywood, Miranda Kerr jetted over to NYC to attend the Victoria’s Secret Fabulous Collection launch. Along the way, she delivered four stylish outfits that are easy to re-create. She updated her airport style with checks, went bold in a yellow one-shoulder, and proved the power of an all-black ensemble — watch on for a few styling lessons from Miranda.

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Have you seen the latest public education anti-teen-pregnancy campaign in New York City? The poster features a toddler with crocodile tears along with a dire slogan…”I’m twice as likely not to graduate high school because you had me as a teen.”

A yellow banner slashes across the center of the poster and says, “Kids of teen moms are twice as likely not to graduate than kids whose moms were over age 22.” A second poster says, “Honestly Mom … chances are he won’t stay with you. What happens to me?”

I know being pregnant as a teen is not easy. I did it. But I’m not all that sure age is the real problem. The real problem is that unprotected sex has become a casual part of dating. The result is pregnancies and STDs.

In other words the “casual” behavior is actually reckless and the consequences have big repercussions. But is the anti-teen pregnancy campaign the right approach?

Haydee Morales, vice president of education and training at Planned Parenthood of New York, told the New York Times, “Hurting and shaming communities is not what’s going to bring teen pregnancy rates down.” Another criticism deals with only showing the negatives without providing positive alternatives.

This made me think of a friend whose daughter is now pregnant for the third time. All the kids have different dads. When my friend asked her about marriage, her daughter said, “No one gets married anymore.”

It’s like that thought isn’t even on her radar. She’s satisfied to be a single mom living on welfare. In her case, I’m afraid the campaign’s slogan may be prophetic.

In this day where we even have the TV show Teen Mom, I don’t think it is all about age. Being a teen mom does not sentence a girl to being the mom of a child who doesn’t graduate. With hard work, sacrifice, and a supporting network, a single teenage mom or a teen who gets married can learn how to be a good teenage mom.

Let’s face it. It’s hard enough being a teen mom. We don’t really need campaigns like this calling us losers. Instead, we need encouragement to become productive adults and responsible parents.

Photo credits: Phoebe !, michael_swan

I was curious. I’d read several articles, blog posts, and comments about how honey and cinnamon in a cup of hot water will make you lose weight like magic.

I like magic. I like losing weight. People were reporting that they lost three to five pounds a week – it sounded good to me.

What was there to lose?

I think I’ve told you before that I had my thyroid removed three and a half years ago. The combination of my last pregnancy and a screwed up thyroid left me about 35 pounds over the top of where I like to be.

I have, over the last year and a half or so, lost 30 of those pounds. At this point I would really like to lose another ten but it just doesn’t want to budge. Since people who are dependent on synthetic thyroid really do have trouble losing weight and maintaining a weight loss, I am pretty proud of what I have accomplished, but I still want that last ten pounds gone.

There were various instructions. Some said you had to have a certain kind of cinnamon and some said you could only use raw honey. The amounts of each ingredient varied from article to article.

The only thing that I do know for sure is that if you are going to do this, you buy the Ceylon cinnamon and not cassia. Cassia has a substance that is sort of like coumadin (a blood thinner they give to stroke patients). It can eventually cause kidney problems as well as a variety of other issues.

So, the recipe that I followed called for a tablespoon of honey mixed with a tablespoon of cinnamon in warm water. You drink this mixture 30 minutes before breakfast and then the last thing before you go to bed.

The first night I furtively warmed up a cup of water in my favorite mug after everyone had gone to bed. I felt a little silly and I didn’t want anyone to know I was trying it. I am like that with everything, it’s weird. I don’t like to exercise in front of people, either.

Anyway, once the water was warm I stirred in the cinnamon and honey. It wasn’t too bad. It tasted a lot like a sweet, cinnamony tea – which in all actuality, it is. I sipped it without any problems until I got to the last bit of it that was left in the cup. There was a soggy slurry of cinnamon and water.

I drank that in one disgusting gulp. It was sort of like drinking the last bit of coffee with the grounds in it.

I did the same thing in the morning and again the next evening. In fact, I did it for several days. Guess how much weight I lost?

Absolutely none.

I wasn’t overeating and I was getting exercise, so that should not have had an effect on my results. I did notice that I seemed to have fewer cravings and I was less hungry, but I don’t know if it was from the combination of ingredients or the fact that I was rinsing cinnamon granules out of my mouth for hours after drinking it.

If you have tried this ‘fess up. What were your results?

photo credit: Kanko* via photopin cc

A study, published on JAMA Psychiatry online, March 20, 2013, seems to indicate that women who were abused in childhood have a significantly higher risk of having an autistic child.

As the level of abuse gets higher, the autism risk increases significantly – women who had suffered the highest levels of abuse were 60 percent more likely to have a child in the autistic spectrum than women who were not abused.

The researchers defined abuse as any of the following -

• Being hit hard enough to be bruised
• Being struck by a belt or other object
• Cruel punishment
• Insulting comments
• Screaming
• Unwanted sexual touching or forced sexual contact

The association between the two is definitely there but the researchers are unsure exactly why. One possibility is that women who were victims of abuse as children have higher stress levels that result in more stress hormones being dumped into her body during difficulty.

If she is pregnant at the time, these hormones could possibly have an affect on the brain of her unborn baby.

There is very little known about what causes a child to have an autism spectrum disorder. There is general agreement that it is a combination of factors which include genetics and environment, but nothing that can be pointed out as a direct cause. This study may lead the research in a new direction, and hopefully give experts new insight.

It didn’t say whether abuse during the pregnancy itself was associated with increased autism risks. It seems to me (remember, I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV) that intense stress during pregnancy would create a higher risk that something that had happened 15 years before.

Hopefully this study will open up doors for more insight into autism.

source: JAMA Network

photo credit: Daquella manera via photopin cc

A new Harvard study links 183,000 deaths worldwide in 2010 to consumption of sugary drinks. In the United States alone, the number is 25,000.

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Do you ever wake up and have dark circles under your eyes? I think as mothers, especially of small children, we are always short on sleep. Sleep is a luxury that many mothers are not afforded.

I am an insomniac with chronic allergies; my circles under my eyes are pretty bad. I’ve just resigned myself to the fact that this was the way things were for me, and then I heard about eye dews.

I realize I am not Columbus and I didn’t discover eye dews. In fact, I am pretty late to the game. I’d heard my friends talking about them and so I wanted to check them out. What are eye dews you ask?

Eye dews are under eye gel pads. Eye dews are hydration for your eyes. It de-puffs, de-circles and provides all the nutrients your eyes need to look refreshed. It’s cooling, soothing, moisturizing, refreshing and rejuvenating. It is truly like getting a mini facial for your eyes.

In just 15-20 minutes a day, you can make your eyes look like you had a full night’s rest, even when you’ve been up all night with a colicky baby.

It’s simple. For best results, place your eye dews in the refrigerator to chill. Apply just below the eyes, leave on for 15-20 minutes, remove and then discard.

Not only will they help with puffs, circles and bags, they are great to use right before having your photo taken.

Disclaimer: I was provided eye dews at no cost to review, all opinions are my own.

Photo Source: Eye Dews