All About Food
No matter where your child is in their health journey, one of the bricks that set the foundation is nutrition. It can be the most straight-forward part of the equation for many. Not that it is easy, but in many cases, changing the diet can make night and day differences for kids. It is also the aspect of health that will last the longest. Supplements will come and go, environment will change as they grow but the understanding of whole, nutrient-dense foods never will.
In regards to all aspects of children’s health, you will often hear me say: don’t have fear, but look long-term. In your child’s health, we are playing the long game. Health is born of habits, and habits take time. We are not rushing for perfection. Kids today are bombarded more and more with sugary, processed, and fake foods. Our goal is to give them eyes to see that what is in front of them is not food, and redirecting them to true foods that will fuel their bodies. This discernment empowers them to chose wisely as they get older, and also to know where to fall back to if their body starts doing goofy things in the future. They can pause, remember their childhood food, and come back to it. We are educating them on nutrition as fuel - to empower them and give them hope in their future.
Picky Eating
I have often been approached by exhausted, weary parents frustrated with the daily fight with their “picky eater.”
I immediately wonder two things:
Why is he/she is picky?
Are they trying to tell me something?
There are several reasons kids tend to be picky eaters. But this is huge: Don’t get discouraged. Keep trying. It has been said that kids need a particular food put in front of them close to 16 times before they will like it. That is a lot of effort on the parents’ end, but I cannot stress enough: don’t give up too soon! One bite at a time, over an extended period of time, and often kids grow to like foods they first rejected.
Do you eat foods as an adult that you would have never eaten as a child? This might be the reason. Also, remember this a long game with kids! Keep offering, and keep giving them the opportunity to try foods they’ve previously turned away.
Many kids have sensory issues that will make food, textures, and smells uncomfortable. As root causes are addressed and the nervous system is functioning better, many sensory issues disappear. In this way, looking for patterns in common foods that your child will not eat can be helpful. Is it always foods like bananas, avocado, and yogurt? Then we might need to address a sensory issue with that particular texture. Maybe they cry about foods being spicy and the only season used is pepper? They actually might have a heightened taste sense and need super bland foods as you slowly introduce more spice. Additionally, low zinc levels will make things taste and smell funny.
We will get into this more in root causes and why the body may be low in zinc, but this can be another key factor in helping your picky child. As the body holds on to nutrients better, smell and taste will improve, and they will be able to enjoy foods that they previously shied away from. Lastly, with picky eating never underestimate the simplest things such as shape of the food, color, or utensils that are being used. Some kids will eat certain foods with a plastic spoon, but give them a metal spoon and they will refuse. Other times, simply changing up the color or shape of a food and suddenly it becomes fun.
*Note on this though, first start with just simple things - it does not always have to be elaborate. You want to be mindful to guard your time and energy as a parent. As best as you can, have the whole family eating the same food. This will help guard your time, energy while not catering to your picky eater and contribute to the family team aspect of nutrition and foods.
Additional support alongside working on root causes can be:
1.) Chiropractic Care
2.) Cranial Sacral Work
3.) Feeding Occupational Therapist
* In many cases your pediatrician can write you a referral for a feeding OT that will be covered by insurance. Always be sure to ask before paying out of pocket.
4.) Usually a last resort but not out of the question - a Food Sensitivity Test to rule anything you haven't already tried to eliminate
Family Time
Learning how to cook as a family and getting your kids involved in the process of mealtimes and food, is a great way to get them to eat healthy, and grow to appreciate the effort the process of nourishing our bodies. Have them go with you to the grocery store or farmers’ market and pick out one fruit or veggie they love, and one that is brand new to them. Go in with that idea of being a family team or unit and follow the equation: Easy + 1. For littles, invite them into the process by printing off pictures of your grocery list (fruits and veggies are easiest), or writing it out for early readers. Then, have them try to find each item on your list! This gets everyone involved and keeps little hands busy while you shop. Not only are you making it a whole family event, you are teaching them life skills at the same time. Back home, get your kids involved in the cooking process. It might feel overwhelming at first, but assess where they are at in maturity and physical capability and then give them appropriate tasks. It will be slow, yes, and it will be messy, too. But, it also makes eating what they have made, that much more fun. Lastly, if you have the space, I highly recommend gardening. Outside of the benefits of being outside, in the sunshine and getting their hands dirty, it also gets them involved in the creation of what they are eating - from seed to plate.
Ideas of getting kids involved and excited about food:
1.) Visiting a farm
2.) Growing a garden with veggies they want to pick out or even indoor herbs they can "decorate" their food with
3.) YouTube cooking videos for kids
4.) Simple ingredient recipes they can make their own video of
5.) Painting your plate with colors of the rainbow using foods and trying each one
6.) Playing with food textures as a sensory exercise
7.) Kid songs about food
Changing The Diet
All diets have some truths to them. This is often why diets get pushed, and you see varying degrees of success/lifestyle impact from each one. But, we cannot overly restrict our children’s diet, or it will lead to deficiencies.
So, how do we restrict foods that are causing harm, without losing nutrients that we need along the way?
In the short term, kids may need a specific diet framework based on gut integrity. The Food – Mood Journal (download below!) is key in detecting what approach is most helpful for individual children. But the overall framework I start with, is:
Step 1: Get out all the junk food, artificial additives/colorings/preservatives.
Step 2: Add in whole foods.
Step 3: Then, take on a biochemical approach to their diet.
Options:
Gluten / Dairy Free Diet – best places for most people to start with their kids.
Allergen Free Diet ‐ Common Allergies/Sensitives diet (corn, eggs, citrus, peanuts and nuts)
Elimination & Rotation Diet – Slow diet with a long-view approach. In a Rotation diet, you are rotating foods every few days to see if you can spot a reaction
Grain Free Diet –
Paleo Diet – The Paleo diet is based on the foods our hunter and gatherer ancestors ate and avoids what they didn’t. It’s based on the notion that we did not evolve on these modern agriculture foods, and that we are healthier with a diet closer to our ancestors. The Paleo diet avoids all grains, legumes, dairy, and industrial oils and sugars. A Paleo Diet includes meat, fish, vegetables, organ meats, other animal foods, fruit, nuts, seeds, and natural fats/oils.
GAPS diet – The GAPS diet is a strict elimination diet that reintroduces foods in phases.
FODmaps diet - FODMAPs is an acronym for different types of fermentable carbohydrates. FODMAPs stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides (Fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides), Disaccharides (specifically lactose), Monosaccharides (specifically fructose) and Polyols (sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, and maltitol). It’s a diet low in these fermentable carbohydrates. Typically, all categories of FODMAPs are initially restricted and later tested back to determine tolerance, or intolerance, and threshold of tolerance.
Keto Diet- The ketogenic diet can make a huge difference for clients with certain metabolic conditions, seizures, and neurological disorders.
Phenols & Salicylates - Phenolic compounds can create hyperactivity along with a whole list of other symptoms such as: irritability, aggression, and sleep issues. When the body cannot bio‐chemically break down these chemical components, lack of sulfation can create issues. For these kids the added component and stress of not being able to break down and use phenols food groups, creates negative behavior.
Reactions to look for: Red cheeks, red ears, and hyperactivity are the most classic signs. But, some can have trouble falling asleep, and others may just get really wild at night. Others display aggressive behavior. Sometimes these reactions can happen immediately after eating foods, other times it can happen over time. Remember that these are found in food, spices, essential oils, and even somethings like Christmas trees which have a phenolic component. For guidance in avoiding these components: Failsafe approach (bigger list) / Feingold diet (less foods)
With many of these diets, the first step is to remove foods that are creating the issue while you work on the root cause and address why the body not able to process these compounds. There can be two approaches to addressing these diets, and they are dependent on the child and the family. The first approach is a shorter list and is focused on starting slow, taking out a few problematic foods and waiting to see if you need to take out more. The second approach is going all in, taking out everything (a bigger list of foods) and then adding things back in slowly. Whichever method you choose, the most important thing to first assess is whether the lifestyle change it will require is compatible with your chid and your family.
Oxalate diet – Oxalates can be very inflammatory. Oxalates can come from the diet or they can generate within the cell. In kids with low sulfate, oxalates can get into the cell. And if your child is deficient in certain nutrients, they can produce oxalates in the cell. Often, leaky gut can be a contributing factor to oxalate compounds getting into the bloodstream. Once in the cell, it can get into the mitochondria and wreak havoc.
Oxalates can create a lot of pain in the body and be very uncomfortable. Some symptoms to look out for include:
Shoulder pain – might look like kids always flapping their arms or hitting their shoulders
Eye irritation – might look like rubbing their eyes a lot
Pain Urinating
Fatigue
Brain Fog
Take note: What are patterns is your child displaying that seem odd or out of the ordinary?
Amines and Histamine– Amines are foods that break down or ferment. Histamines are the most well‐known amines. Many people have heard of a low histamine diet. Symptoms to look for with histamine reactions are: anxiety, headaches/migraines, skin irritation, dizziness and more. Food – Mood Journal is key here!
Take your time when beginning to reintroduce foods – slow and steady wins the race. Start with as little as 1 tsp or 1 tbsp per day and wait every few days to look for reactions. There is no need to rush.
Common Symptoms, Food Substances and Special Diets - pdf
GI Diet Support Hand Out - pdf
Food-Mood Journals
While most of the time this task can seem daunting and time consuming, it can be EXTREMELY helpful in identifying food sensitivities, reactions, and behavior issues. We do not require anyone to keep a food journal of their kid's food or meals, but we recommend it, and many will opt to do so on their own, especially when connecting food patterns to chose an appropriate bio-compatible diet.
Food Frameworks
(Lots more coming soon on the topic of nutrition)
Downloads:
Food-Mood Journal and Food-Mood Journal Audio (to go with it) This audio is also back in the Welcome Module.
Recipes To Activate Parasympathetic State
BioIndividual Nutrition Recipes
Main Street Wellness Family Meal Plan
Main Street Wellness One Pan Meal Plan
Main Street Wellness Summer Friendly Meal Plan
Eating for Seasons - GROWNUP Health
Common Symptoms - Food Substances & Special Diets
Calcium Rich Foods on a Low Oxalate Diet - Bio-individual Nutrition
Books:
1.) The Paleo Kids Cookbook – Jennifer Robins
2.) Gut and Psychology Syndrome – Dr. Natasha Campbell -Mcbride
3.) Everyday Paleo – Sarah Fragoso
4.) Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for Children
5.) Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Childcare
Disclaimer: The following information is not intended to be, nor should they be construed as a claim or representation of medical diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only.