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I've got to say as an active Mom of 7 kids, I have become very conscious about the food my kids eat and the effect it has on their emotions, energy, and most importantly behavior.
I've got to say as an active Mom of 7 kids, I have become very conscious about the food my kids eat and the effect it has on their emotions, energy, and most importantly behavior.
The first thing I ask my kids when they come to me with a health complaint such as a sore tummy or a headache is "What did you eat last?". Now, my kids are so well trained that they recite their last three meals to me without blinking an eye, and by the third meal their eyes light up as they realize the very food or should I say non-food that made them feel this way.
Once you start paying closer attention to the food your children are consuming, you will be able to pin point the very foods that you should eliminate from their diet.
After years of reading about healthy eating and proper food combinations and many more years of trial and error, we have accumulated a guideline of sorts that we use to determine whether a food will help or hurt us.
My hubby and I like to call it Prevention through Digestion!
You will be pleasantly surprised that small diet modifications can create almost instant improvement in your child's attitude towards everything. Here is alist of five foods that I try to avoid feeding my children. I will explain each of these further in a future article.
- White Sugar and Artificial Sweeteners
- White Flour
- Processed Foods
- Food coloring, preservatives, artificial flavorings.
- Fried Foods
I know, right!? You're thinking, "What's left?". You can already see it can't you? A table full of kids frowning faces as the bowls of steamed tofu andbrussel sprouts approach the table. Don't worry, It doesn't have to play out like that. Luckily, I have learned from my mistakes and am here to help guide you throughwhat might seam like a daunting experience.
I remember I used to threaten my kids with what they still to this day refer to as "the green soup", a special blend of organic raw veggies, fermented and sprouted ancient grains, forming the perfect meal nutritionally, but to any kid with taste buds it more resembled a blend of raw veggies with fermented and sprouted grains. Go figure?
I am here to share with you the pains and pleasures of teaching my kids the importance of eating healthy at home and also when away from home. Soon your kids will be craving the same foods you once had to force down their little throats. Over the next few weeks I will show you how to start the process of removing these five non-foods from your diet forever.
I would love to be able to promise you that this transition will be painless. However, the marketing companies for Big Sugar and the likes are going to fight you tooth and nail. Your children will be bombarded with commercials between their favorite shows, ads on the radio, billboards and magazine/comicbook ads just to mention a few. Add to this peer pressure and pop machines in their schools, and you've got some pretty good reasons to start fighting back a bit at home, by arming your children with knowledge.
As parents we have the responsibility to provide our children with enough information so they can make healthy choices now and throughout their lives. I know first hand that enforcing a strict diet on a child is nearly impossible and that sheltering them from negative influences, like media and peer pressure is a wee bit impractical.
In the coming weeks you have the opportunity to let my family and I help you and your family change the way you look at food. Let's start adding some fast, easy, healthy cooking to our lives to relieve the stress we create with this fast food mentality we have become accustomed to. Together, we will relearnhow to eat to promote a healthy digestion which is the key to prevention.
I will return next week with some great recipes and tips for making healthy sauces and dips with lots of flavor to ease this transition.
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Tips and Advice 
