Superfoods

What are superfoods, and should we be feeding our children superfoods daily?

 

The term Superfood has been used over the past few years to describe foods that contains high levels of certain properties that are considered beneficial to our health. It has in some respects become a little bit of a trend, with a new superfood being hailed as the latest must have in shops and the media every year, resulting in a huge increase in sales for that product.

 

While certain foods contain higher levels of vitamins etc than others, it is important to remember that our body needs a wide range of nutrients, even those small amounts of trace elements are important for a healthy body. A varied, balanced diet based on natural wholefoods is ideal rather than overdosing on one particular superfood.

 

I also believe that sustainability and the care of our planet is so important at this moment in time. Therefore focusing the majority of our diet on local, seasonal produce is ideal rather than importing Goji berries all the way from Tibet for daily consumption.

 

I am not saying that we cant try new foods and get to know other products, however focusing our daily consumption on local, seasonal produce is not only great for the environment but also our health. Particular plants and dishes originate from certain countries for a reason...hotter foods traditionally come from hotter climates as spices such as chili help to cool the body down in the long term. As well as hearty rich stews with root vegetables tend to originate from colder climates as they help to warm and ground the body.

 

However saying that over the next month I will post some information on a few vegetables that have been classed as superfoods. These can be included in your children's diets for added health benefits.

 

If you have any questions about a particular superfood do post your comments here and I will answer any queries :-)

Tip #3:

So heres the 3rd tip for this months NLP theme on improving childrens diets...

Role Models

If you want to achieve a goal one of the best ways is to find a role model that has already achieved what you want to achieve and to notice what they did to achieve it. Model their behaviour.

How does this fit in with improving children's diets?

Find another friend or relative that has improved their children's diets and find out what they did...how did they behave, think, believe and feel in order to achieve their goal? What practical steps did they take? Do they have any useful tips and advice for you and your family?

Be curious, experiment with new ideas and enjoy seeing the healthy eating improvements unfold!

This also works the other way - children use adults as role models and if they are surrounded by a healthy eating family who enjoy good, home cooked food, and are able to explain the importance of good food in a fun and creative way them then they are likely to follow in their footsteps.

Children will have a very hard time believing that vegetables are good for them if the rest of the family is eating microwaved junk food and fizzy drinks!

Be that role model for your children.

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi

There Is No Failure - Only Feedback

Tip #2: Congratulate yourself for persevering and learning something new from every situation. If you don't receive the results that you were hoping for, try something else.

Children are great examples of this, they will try all sorts of methods to influence you to buy that new toy or chocolate bar!

...asking politely, demanding it, having a tantrum, saying that their friends have it etc...

Flexibility and creativity are key

Be Flexible: Try a different method and see what happens, if they didn't like carrots cut into stick shapes, try them cut in flower shapes (see vegetable shapes post)

Be Creative: You know your children better than anyone so use that to your advantage, be creative in presenting vegetables in a way that will be appealing for them.

"If you always do what you've done, you'll always get what you've got"

Henry Ford