You are what you eat.
Though we’ve all heard this before, most of us take it for granted. The truth is, the food we put in our bodies has an enormous influence on our health.
we know that:
All disease begins in the gut.
Our (and our children’s) gut health is the number one determining factor in our overall health.
There’s a growing body of research linking neurological conditions like ASD, ADHD and SPD to gut dysbiosis (an unhealthy gut).
The most powerful intervention for reversing gut dysfunction is replacing gut-irritating foods with gut-friendly foods.
Cardiologist and best-selling author Dr. Joel Kahn says,
“Our fork is so powerful it can not only transport food to our mouth, it can be used as a genetic on and off switch to alter our weight, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, cancer growth, and even our chances of healthy aging.”
So, what do we do when we suspect our child’s gut is out of balance and we know we need to change his diet, but he's the World’s. Pickiest. Eater.?
Vegetables
Purée cauliflower and add it to your egg mix when making scrambled eggs (my kids can’t taste the difference).
Purée peas and add it to mashed up avocado to make a dip for crackers or a spread for toast.
Add spinach to a smoothie.
Make cauliflower pizza crust.
Make sweet potato pizza crust.
Cut up jicama and sprinkle with sea salt (my boys love this- it’s the perfect mix of sweet and salty and jicama is a prebiotic).
Try breading - you’ll need one beaten egg in a bowl and some gluten-free bread crumbs in another bowl. Grab some raw veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and asparagus are good options), dip veggie in the egg batter first, then the bread crumbs, then sauté with coconut oil, olive oil or grass-fed butter. This is a great trick for kids who love bread, carbs and crunchy foods.
Add sweet potato purée to your pancake batter.
Add a thin slice of sweet potato to a grilled cheese sandwich.
Mix puréed butternut squash and grated cheese for a delicious quesadilla.
Put veggies in muffins, like these delicious paleo banana carrot muffins.
Healthy Fats
Mix a teaspoon of XCT or coconut oil into yogurt.
Put a teaspoon of olive oil or avocado oil on toast before you butter it.
Add 1 teaspoon avocado oil to a serving of hummus.
Serve sliced avocado sprinkled with sea salt with each meal.
Make avocado pudding.
Make these delicious [fudge fat bombs].(http://realbalanced.com/recipe/fudge-fat-bombs)
Use extra grass-fed butter or ghee on toast.
Use generous amounts of ghee or olive oil for cooking.
Make these amazing chocolate keto muffins
Now for the hard part: eliminating your kids' favorite gut-irritating foods. If you have a picky and/or problem eater, this is especially difficult. When your child will only eat a few select foods, the thought of eliminating those foods (assuming they are not the most gut-friendly options) is anxiety-inducing (to put it mildly). I mean, what in the heck is he going to eat?!
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