Raising Healthy Families

As many of us move away from processed foods and towards a raw lifestyle, we start to feel the amazing health benefits associated with eating this way. Our energy level increases, digestion clears up, we shed that excess weight, our skin glows, and we’re so much happier. With this comes the realization that we also want our family to experience some of these benefits, and soon we begin to wonder (& often doubt) just how to get them on board with us.

Shifting the family to a healthier, natural diet can seem overwhelming and daunting at first. It’s hard enough changing our own diet, but how do we convert our picky eaters into fruit and vegetable lovers without the dinner table becoming a battle-field? It can be a real struggle to get family members to try anything new or healthy for that matter – especially if their taste buds have already been tainted with refined, cooked foods. And, as we all well know, ingrained habits are extremely difficult to break so the thought of changing our kid’s eating habits can feel like an insurmountable task. It is, however, possible.

The key is to start small. Take incremental “baby” steps, and focus on one change at a time. Stick with it, be patient and keep trying. Just because your child does not like something the first time, doesn’t mean that they won’t like it eventually. Explain to your family why it is so important to eat well, and be sure to set a good example as children often pick up their parents habits. If you don’t eat well, chances are your kids won’t either.

Smoothies are an ideal way of boosting vital nutrients into our kids diets. Most children prefer fruit over vegetables, so making fruit smoothies with a handful of leafy greens slipped in can be the perfect solution for getting them to eat more fresh organic produce. Over time, you can add more greens and less fruit. You can even add a little bit of flax oil, soaked chia seeds, or a touch of E3live but don’t change the original taste, texture, and appearance too quickly otherwise your little ones will notice and most likely refuse to drink that pulpy smoothie. Always transition them gently and comfortably, and remember that even small changes can make an enormous difference in your family’s health.

My son has always been an extremely picky eater, so you can only imagine my shock when I discovered that he didn’t take to eating sprouts. Being a sprout lover since the 80’s, I refused to accept this — so I began adding one lone sunflower sprout to every one of his meals. Yes, there was a lot of squirming and it took him forever to eat that little sprout, but over time he got used to eating one, then two, then three, and now – well, as you can see in the video clip below, Mischa at 13 year old, is eating mouthfuls of sprouts at every meal.

I will be teaching a “Healthy Kids & Families” workshop sometime in May so stay tuned. In the meanwhile, keep feeding your beautiful children healthy vital foods, and above all, don’t give up. It might take time for your kids to come around but if you’re patient and persevere, they’ll be chewing mouthfuls of sprouts in no time!

today’s food log:

• 4 ozs e3live
• firewater
• 32 ozs. juice (celery, jerusalem artichoke,zucchini beet, ginger)
• 1 quart green smoothie (sunflower sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, pea sprouts, parsley, pear, soaked chia)
• bowl of broccoli sprouts, azuki sprouts, mung sprouts, sunflower sprouts w/tahini dressing
• 4 ozs. wheatgrass juice
  
• glass of chia/flax pudding
• 4 soaked brazil nuts

yesterday’s log:

• 2 ozs e3live
• firewater
• 1 quart green juice (alfalfa, sunflower, zucchini, kale, celery, burdock, jerusalem artichoke)
• sprout salad (pea shoots, sunflower, broccoli, fenugreek)
• 4 ozs wheatgrass juice
• chia/flax pudding
• 4 soaked brazil nuts