Healthy Choice Food and Drinks For Our Children

Back to school means packed lunches or hot school lunches, but either way, the children need good nutrition. Fresh or less additives added to food and snacks are my choice for children at all times because they are made without all the high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, allergy trigger dyes and tons of preservatives. These precious ones trust us older ones to provide them with proper nutrition that will help keep them from an overload of unhealthy foods. Of course, if your child has a food allergy, you must be diligent to provide them healthy and safe choices.

The old phrase "An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away" is not a fable. It's been proven that children who eat more fresh fruit and vegetables stay healthier than kids who eat mostly processed foods. Organic and wholesome, fresh foods are on the rise as parents discover the many chemicals that are added into the food chain and sprayed onto the fruit. While ADD, ADHD, Crohns Disease, obesity and to many other illnesses are invading the younger generation.

The most important meal for school children is the breakfast and too many are eating cereal and sugary carbs that zap their energy and provide little healthy nutrients for a growing child. Studies show that school children's brains function much better with a nutritious, healthy breakfast. USA Today reported that research proves that people need protein rich breakfast foods such as eggs, meat, hot cereal, free-range butter, coconut, and fruit to start the day off and keep their energy levels up there. Protein and good fats help a child's brain and body develop right.

Probiotic foods are in the news and very crucial to keep a child's digestive system healthy and also a good way to avoid too many antibiotics. Many probiotic foods can be made at home such as kombucha, lacto-fermented pickles and keifer which my large family loves!

School lunch programs provide food from the required food groups, but they are making more changes away from canned, processed and frozen foods, and trying to add more fresh fruit, vegetables and complex carbs. It is the parent's responsibility to make sure that their child is getting the right nutrients every day at home or school.

Children can be taught what to select as healthy, while they grow older. One good way to do that is to teach them about early American farmers and how families ate from fresh gardens. How our ancestors fermented their foods for preservation before there were refrigerators and how fermenting actually provides much-needed enzymes, lactic acid and nutrients not found in many processed foods. Give them examples of fresh food versus chemical laden foods and data on the difference in health of people who eat wholesome compared to processed food and drinks. Their drinks should be mostly water or pure, unsweetened juice, fermented drinks, not sugary juice boxes or sodas that offer no health benefits.

What kind of food should the children bring to school or eat after school?. This organic food guide will help you to know what has more pesticides sprayed on it and is helpful to determine which foods to buy.

These wholesome foods and snacks are a good choice for the kids and a lot of them can be made at home, saving money in the long run.

1. fruits
2. vegetable slices and sticks
3. nuts and seeds
4. raw goat cheese
5. organic jerky
6. hard-boiled free-range eggs
7. salads
8. lacto-fermented pickles and veggies
9. sprouted bread sandwiches
10. Homemade keifer