Coach Mom Newsletter - Jan 2011

Healthier Eating ... Happier Kids!

Have you experienced behavioral problems with your child? According to my friend author Lisa Greene, many of the ailments children suffer from today, including attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and some learning disabilities and behavior disorders, stem from the foods they eat. This year take steps to healthier eating, and you might find your child a happier person to live with. I recently read Lisa’s book, Processed Kids: The Real Mom’s Guide to Raising Natural Kids in a Processed World and I hope you will, too (order at www.processedkids.com). From her book I came up with 9 diet steps to healthier and happier children.

9 Diet Changes to Healthier and Happier Children:

1. Cut refined sugars. High fructose corn syrup is one of the leading causes of obesity, and it is loaded in most commercial breads, ketchup, most packaged/box food items, soft drinks, candy and more.

2. Eat 6-9 servings of veggies and fruit each day. No other food provides such outstanding nutrition and protection from a host of diseases. They are perfect in their natural state if they are free of pesticides.

3. Buy organic cheese and milk  (or rice or almond milk). This will ensure you are not ingesting rBGH, a growth hormone injected into cows to increase milk production (banned in countries other than the U.S.).

4. Avoid foods with MSG (Monosodium Glutamate). It is a neurotoxin that literally excites your nerve cells to death. MSG damages the part of the brain that controls appetite, and children are four times more vulnerable than adults. Because MSG was approved by the FDA when it was introduced in the 1950’s (before it was found dangerous in the ‘70’s), companies can legally include MSG in their food and can use a variety of names for it in their ingredient lists.

5. Cut out artificial sweeteners, which include dangerous chemicals. Instead, use the herb Stevia as a substitute for sugar and use pure maple syrup or local honey as a sweetener.

6. Watch out for transfats, which can be listed as many different names, such as “partially hydrogenated…”

7. Try to buy foods that have 5 ingredients or less. If you can’t pronounce the words or there is a long list, it is full of chemicals.

8. Take a whole food supplement and Omega 3 supplement daily (i.e. Juice Plus, fish oil).

9. Add more alkaline-rich foods and reduce the number of acidic foods in your diet. In order to survive and thrive, bodies need to maintain a certain pH level. If pH levels are too acidic, the body will build cholesterol plaques, store fat, and leach calcium from the bones and magnesium from the heart muscles to act as buffers (see chart below for a few examples).

ALKALINE vs. ACIDIC FOODS

Eat More Alkaline-Forming Foods:

Sweeteners: Stevia, maple syrup, raw sugar, raw honey

Fruits: All but some berries

Vegetables: All

Nuts: Almonds, chestnuts

Oils: Olive, Flax

Meat/eggs: None

Beverages: herbal teas

Eat Less Acid-Forming Foods:

Sweeteners: All processed sugar, all sugar substitutes

Fruits: Processed fruit juices

Nuts: Peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews

Oils: Corn, canola, safflower oil

Meat/eggs: All (especially beef, pork and shellfish)

Dairy: Ice cream, homogenized milk, butter

Beverages: Coffee, soft drinks, alcohol

Want to learn how to eat healthier, be informed of expert research, and get dozens of healthy recipes you can make for your family? To win a copy of Processed Kids: The Real Mom’s Guide to Raising Natural Kids in a Processed World, email brenna@brennastull.com and put “Healthy Eating 2011” in the email subject field Don’t delay – drawing will be held Friday, January 7!