USING FOOD AS MEDICINE

Disclaimer: I’m what you may consider a “crunchy” mom. I co-slept, breastfed, made my own baby food, etc. I firmly believe that there are many solutions to problems that we, as a society, tend to overlook because there is now a medicine or cream or solution that is faster. However, many times, when we look into the history as the human species, those quick fixes may not always be the best solutions. So basically, if you don’t believe in the benefits of practices like yoga and chiropractic care, you   may want to stop reading now!

                Now, to jump off my soapbox and rewind a few years to when my oldest daughter was in 3^rd grade and she was given homework assignments that were supposed to last us around 20 minutes to complete. Well, unfortunately, this task ended up taking us closer to 2 hours, due to lack of focus and, well… because doodling was more fun! The more I fought with my child to focus, the more I began looking for reasons and solutions as to why this was happening. I took her to a child therapist who recommended a possible testing for ADD or ADHD and potentially medication. Because I am a self-proclaimed hippie, I decided to try my own tactics and only go to medicine as a last resort. I began researching about environmental factors that can trigger these types of behaviors and boy oh boy, are there a lot of them! From hormones in our meat, chemicals in our cleaning products, and even many, many food ingredients that are in fact banned in other countries, but allowed in the U.S. that are PROVEN to cause higher cases of ADD and ADHD (yet the FDA allows it anyway, but that’s whole other conversation!!)

As a result of some of my findings, I began to evaluate the products in my home. Over the last few years, I have eliminated almost all color food dyes in my home, buy many more gluten free snacks, don’t use dish or laundry soap with colors or odors, don’t use harsh chemicals when cleaning, purchase only hormone free meats and milks, and overall try to purchase more natural products. Not only did my oldest child’s ADD issues vanish, but in the process, so did my middle child’s eczema! Now, I’m not saying that this is the case with everyone and every child. Some kids definitely require more intervention, and in many cases, medication. However, I wonder how many pharmaceuticals that we could avoid, as a society if we sought natural solutions FIRST???

I say all of that to say this… as a mother, or father, or even just a person, why wouldn’t you want to take the best care possible of yourself and those around you??? Every year I see more and more posts on social media talking about how sick everyone and their kids are, and for the past 3 years, nobody in my family has had more than the sniffles! A cold at the very worst… and even that is maybe once or twice a year. It’s starting to make me realize that this isn’t a fluke… I FIRMLY believe that the products and foods that I choose to keep in my home 100% affect the health of my family, which led me to feel obligated to pass along this information to others.

Now at this point, I know what you’re thinking… “Well that’s great, but my husband would never give up Dr. Pepper”, or “My kids would never stop eating fruit snacks”, or whatever the case may be in your home. Well, you’re in luck! Because just as I see certain problems, I also offer you solutions! Here are some tips to implement these changes based on what I did in my own home:

-Each week make one switch in your groceries. For example, instead of buying Fruity Pebbles, buy Vanilla Chex, or instead of buying Cheesy Doritos, buy cheddar rice cakes. Both of these easy swaps would eliminate tons of artificial colors and flavors AND gluten. WIN-WIN!! Here are some products that I buy regularly that fit within my criteria of appropriate, and also kid-friendly, foods=

·         Clear American or Zevia sodas

·         Any flavor of Chex or Cheerios, and Cascadian Farms & Puffins cereals are also a delicious, kid-friendly and organic breakfast options (Peanut Butter Puffins is my jam!!)

·         Chocolate flavored cereals like Cocoa Puffs (no colors)

·         Rice cakes (with peanut or almond butter is even better!)

·         Smoothies (can add fruit, yogurt, protein, nut butters, etc.)

·         Make your own popsicles using pureed fruit and yogurt

·         Greek yogurt (Greek Gods Honey Vanilla is our favorite)

·         Veggie Straws and chips

·         Cheese sticks

·         Pretzels

·         Organic juices

·         And most of all, simply cooking and eating at home! We eat dinner at home, made by me, 90% of the time. Prepping and cooking ahead of time of the easiest and most efficient way to do this successfully (hello crock pot!)

Here is a perfect example of two different fruit snack labels. On the left is Annie's organic fruit snacks and on the right is Kellog's. You can see how the right label has several color dyes listed and the one on the left does not. The organic snacks are $15 for 40 packages and the non-organic are $11 for 36, which comes out to only $.07 more per package for the organic fruit snacks.

-Look for all natural food brands like Annie’s (ironic I know), Amy’s, Bolthouse Farms, Kashi and the Honest juices, just to name a few. If money is an issue, you can often find many of these brands on sale at Sprouts, and even ALDI had some amazing prices on organic and gluten-free foods. Sprouts also often has MOM’S best breakfast cereals on sale for $2.50.

-If your family still won’t budge… then guess what? You’re the adult and you’re in charge! You buy the groceries and it’s your money and you get to make those decisions. Sorry kids. I’m not saying to feed them kale and Brussel sprouts for every meal. Far from it! My kids rarely eat vegetables, but they do love fruit! So I do my best to pick my battles.

-I regularly use products made by Norwex, such as dryer balls (to replace dryer sheets) and cleaning products from both Norwex and Melaleuca, neither of which use any harsh products or cleaning chemicals.

-Remember that as a consumer, you vote with your dollars. If we, as a society, want to see more organic and healthy options, much less at a good price, then we have to show the food and household industry what we want by PURCHASING MORE OF IT!!!

-It’s worth noting that the main drink in my house is water. There is milk at breakfast, organic juices for snacks and lunch, water at dinner and water in between. My one vice that I’m not afraid to admit to is Diet Dr. Pepper (and also wine… but I don’t share those with the kids!) But even with diet soda, I have one per day, flushed down by about a gallon of water a day, so I have no shame in that J

-When I make things like chili, pasta dishes, soups, etc., I hide things like spinach, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and many other veggies and nutrient dense foods inside of them to make the foods more nutritious without the kids (or husband) noticing them!

These changes didn’t happen overnight at my house and they won’t at your house either. It took me many months and even years to research what was in my foods and products, what changes to make, read nutrition labels, learn what to avoid, and so on. But now it’s just second nature, to me AND my family! I was making my grocery list the other day and my kids asked for things like caramel rice cakes, bananas, yogurt, and oranges for snacks. Now, that’s not to say that I don’t get some occasional push back! My 12 year old asked me the other day why we don’t buy Ramen noodles, “Like every other American family.” To which I reminded her that every other “American family” is often sick and overweight (that’s simply a fact, unfortunately.) We still have pizza once a week and we all love Braum’s! So we’re not perfect, but if I can make some simple changes in my family’s food and home products to make my family healthier both on the inside and out, then by God, I’m going to do it!