Kids Cooking and Cookbook Blog

Vegetable garden (Photo credit: Downing Street)

Today I want to get back to healthy living and start the New Year on a forward-looking note. What we do today, whether it’s our diet, exercise, or other health habits, affects our future. So let’s start with diet – what we eat.

I feel there are some general principles of healthy eating we can follow that will help our children and our families feel better, look better, and learn better.

Here is a review of healthy eating guidelines as a reminder to get you and your family on the right path this year.

#1. Primarily eat fresh, unprocessed plants such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.

#2. Avoid virtually all processed, manufactured foods and beverages, including fruit drinks and soda pop.

#3. Eat a wide variety of food.

#4. Eliminate or vastly reduce grains, especially wheat, from your diet. Wheat contains gluten as a protein which can cause an inflammation response in the body.

#5. Minimize or eliminate pasteurized cow’s milk products.

#6. Cut out sugars and white flour.

#7. Eliminate unhealthy oils such as corn oil, soy oil, and partially-hydrogenated oils.

#8. Drink plenty of clean water.

#9. Buy locally grown, organic foods, preferably in season, as often as you can.

#10. Remember to take time to enjoy your food and those around you.

Listen to your body. If you are low on energy, why is this? Think back on the food you have eaten. Also recall whether you are getting enough sleep and rest. Are you drinking enough water?

The human body knows how to be healthy. We just need to give it the right building materials it needs to do its job. Unfortunately, much of all chronic disease is caused by poor food choices, toxic food ingredients, and lack of physical exercise.

To your health and that of your family,

Lee Jackson, CFCS
http://www.HealthyKidsEatingTips.com