Food rules to increase your child’s nutritional intake

Feeding kids can be tough these days and I get it! I have the exact same problem in my house.

My kids are completely opposite when it comes to eating. I have one child who loves food and has an endless appetite, whilst the other one is not a big eater, prefers to graze and would love to eat only cucumbers and tomatoes forever. 

Having studied Nutrition and Herbal Medicine at a tertiary level, I know EXACTLY how much they should be eating and what they should be eating. So, when they don't eat the good stuff, I can get frustrated because I know their nutritional needs are not being met, but, I need to let that go. 

I can't force food down their throat (I would love to though) as it will only end up in tears, tantrums and disaster. That is not what eating should be associated with. We need to enjoy our food and create positive associations around it. 

So as a Mum, all I can do is the best I can which is to offer awesome food and encouragement and leave it at that. 

There are some things that you can do to increase their nutrition without them even knowing it. It has nothing to do with what you need to eat, but more to do with the way we look at our food system.  

FOOD RULE #1  If it comes from an animal, it must be in it's most natural state possible 

Let me give you an example of why this is important...

Let's look at breastfeeding mothers. They know that whatever they eat will end up inside their breast milk and the baby will consume it. It's the same with animals. Whatever they consume will end up in the final product which we will end up in us too.

Many animals can be given antibiotics which means that when we consume that meat/dairy or eggs, we are going to consume those antibiotics as well which will wipe out our gut bugs. We need to be nurturing and growing our gut bugs (microbiome) not killing them off.

If animals are stressed they will produce the stress hormone cortisol which will end up in the final food product as well. 

What we want to look for are animals that were raised humanly, raised on pastures, ate their natural food source (grass for cows and bugs and weeds for chickens) and were not given antibiotics.

Look for farmers and suppliers who are using traditional farming practices.

FOOD RULE#2  Source good quality fruit and vegetables or consider organic.

Organic produce has a higher nutritional value when compared to conventional produce. It tends to be a bit more expensive as the growers need to pay big bucks to prove that their produce is not genetically modified and has not been sprayed with any sort of chemicals.

Buying produce that has been grown in season tends to have a high nutritional value as it has been grown with minimal meddling. 

Farmers markets are a wonderful way of accessing fruit and vegetables that are grown naturally and freshly harvested. When produce is picked it looses some nutritional value every day so obtaining it fresh to begin with and eating it as soon as possible ensures your getting a good dose of nutrients.

Explore around you and see if there is a community garden close by. Often, they will sell their produce at reasonable prices. It might also inspire you to join and start growing something yourself.

FOOD RULE #3 Know whats in your food

Sometimes it's handy to just grab something from the pantry whilst you run out the door. There's nothing wrong with that, it just needs to be a good option.

It's time to turn the box around and look at the ingredients.

If you don't know what the ingredient is or can't pronounce it, then it is probably a chemical that was made in a lab with the intention of making bland food taste better. The issue is that these chemicals have not been studied properly and they are in too many food options. 

When is comes to the numbers:

- if it starts with a 1 then it is an artificial colour

- if it starts with a 2 then it's usually a preservative (many have been shown to worsen asthma).

- if it's a 6 then it is usually a form of MSG (can contribute to behaviour problems in kids).

Food should be real, not made in a laboratory and flavour should come from herbs, spices, salt and pepper. 

FOOD RULE #4 Ditch the sugar.

This is a big one for kids. Their diets are sugar loaded. This included foods that break down into sugar. 

Kids love biscuits, muffins, pastries, breads, cakes, chips and everything made from flour. These are refined carbohydrates and will leave them feeling moody, tired and not able to maintain attention or focus.

The bigger issue here is that it teaches our kids that all food is meant to be sweet. This can cause problems when you try and introduce different types of food (like veggies and proteins).

To develop a love for different tastes and textures we need to keep sugar to a minimum. 

For desserts you could explore baked pears or apples instead of the sugar loaded baked goods. Muffins and biscuits for snacks can be swapped with dips and dippers. 

If you do like to bake, you can cut down on the sugar content and still have a delicious dessert.