The “High 5” Supporting Cast of Healthy Nutrition for You and Your Kids
We all have the best intentions to get healthy, wholesome food into our kids (and ourselves) every day.
And when it comes to the movie of healthy living, we know the main cast.
Whole, real foods, fresh air, exercise, rest and play…they make a star-studded lineup, for sure.
But, sometimes the very best films happen because of an amazing supporting cast that can act as a safety net for the lulls in the film and make the main characters even more robust.
It has been helpful for me to have a supporting cast of ways of 5 quick things I can do for myself and my children every day to be sure we are staying healthy through the ebbs and flows of our days.
1. Omega 3 Fatty Acid Supplement
I use Carlson Labs or Nordic Naturals. My kids love the chewables with natural strawberry flavor.
2. Whole Foods Supplement or Whole Foods Vitamin
I take New Chapter Organics Whole Food Multivitamin and love it.
3. Raw Fruits and Veggies
When in doubt, at least get some of these superstars in. A quick green smoothie or cut up veggie and fruit plate can be a nutritional day saver.
4. Probiotics
We need a healthy gut. Not only for our digestion and nutrient uptake, but for our immunity too. I try to get some probiotic food in myself and children daily (like plain yogurt with live cultures, or cultured vegetables) but will also bolster our diet with probiotic supplements as well.
5. Water
It’s amazing how highly correlated a crappy food day is with my low water intake. When I notice we’re in a food rut, I start getting the water into myself and my children. Kids can get dehydrated easily and need to be in the habit of drinking water throughout the day too!
Here’s an article on a simple way to get your kids’ buy-in on eating healthy, balanced meals.
Please share this if you found it valuable!
What’s your safety net for less-than-stellar nutrition days?
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I agree! When I have a less than stellar day or if I am feeling lethargic I start to chug some water and make sure I get lots of fresh veggies in at my next meal.
Love this! thanks for the visual. And as always, thank you for the quick approachable way to get the right nutrition in.
The thing that has worked really well for my kids is “Eat the Rainbow.” It becomes a contest betweeen them tallying up what colors they have eaten so far that day and having bragging rights if they eat the rainbow first. You gave me the idea with this post of making my own rainbow poster to remind us. Oddly enough, this works with adults too – I find myself competing right along with the kids. 🙂
Totally agree Catherine! I love the rainbow goal and use it myself– healthy eating is healthy eating for kids or adults!! 🙂
Is there a better way to buy Juice Plus than just from the website? I would love to use their products, but with 4 children their vitamins alone would be very expensive. I have never talked with anyone that uses it!
Hi Kathy-
You are right they are expensive. And for right now, since I just started I plan to take it on a quarterly basis and see how it works for us. I purchased mine through a woman who distributes them and was a member of one of my classes– and I was able to get the supplements for my kids free as part of a children’s health study (with every adult purchase any child 4 yrs old or over can be in a health study and get their supplements for free). Email me at byrnehealth (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll pass on her name if you’d like more info!
Great tips! We have used Juice Plus daily for years. I’m not sure if me or my husband or 3 kids feel the miracles like more energy and not getting sick as JP claims will happen, but who knows, maybe we are. I have been wondering though about changing to an organic option. Can I ask why you switched from the organic brand you mentioned to JP?
Hi Sarah! Great question…and I’m still teasing it all out for myself right now. I am slightly concerned about concentrated vitamins. There is so much we don’t know about what is actually IN real food that makes it so healthy and vital- there are thousands of phytochemicals not even isolated at this point. And we know that sometimes taking single vitamin supplements (in particular synthetic vitamins) can cause problems down the road.
That being said, I feel there is a difference between whole food sourced vitamins (like the new chapter ones) and synthetic versions so I felt comfortable going with them for a while.
The benefit I see with Juice Plus (it isn’t a vitamin, but a whole food complex) is that it retains the natural balance and composition of what naturally comes in real food- I think there is wisdom there.
They aren’t certified organic (which is absolutely a downside you are right) but for right now we are exploring this as an option for us.
Thanks for your response! I’ll be interested to hear what you think about Juice Plus once you’ve been taking it for a while. Hopefully you’ll post on that! They say that they do use a lot of organics and are working on using more but until they are certified organic I will assume they are not as I’m sure the levels vary. We eat as healthy as we can in our house. Lots of fruits and vegs, not much dairy, whole grains, little to no red meat, very little meat at all and then I just take the JP as a little extra insurance for when our diet is not as great as I’d like. We do also take a vitamin supplement, which may be overkill, but I’m not comfortable to giving that up. We use Dr. Fuhrman’s vitamins as he seems to keep up on what is the best composition. Again, thanks for responding. I enjoy getting your emails. Lots of good reminders!
I love this. The only thing, I would add a finger 🙂 Thanks to reading your blog and after 10 yrs and 4 kids entering school I have finally realized the power of: de-stress. Stress is a major factor in lowering our immune system (one of the many reasons colds are so common during the first months of school :)). I have added a nightly ritual of rubbing lavender oil (sometimes mixed with Castor oil and Coconut oil) on my children’s chest, hands, arms (my 6 yr. old loves his armpits rubbed with the lavender oil – funny?!) … because lavender essential oil also naturally kills germs/bacteria while aromatherapy relaxes. Win-win. Recent studies in Germany have found Lavender oil effective on toe fungus so I figured it must be keeping my kids healthy and can “kill” anything they’ve picked up over the day.
We are a long way from having kids around, but your ideas sound great for us. I agree with Jennifer about stress. Stress and anxiety are major triggers for unhealthy habits in our home. I use coconut oil everyday for my dry skin. But I am allergic to lavender. Any other essential oils I could use instead?
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