Always look at what you can add to your child’s diet and lifestyle instead of getting caught in the downhill spiral of all the don’ts, shouldn’t or can nots. Nurturing a positive relationship with food is essential for developing a positive wellbeing. Food should be enjoyable, nourishing and appreciated, free from fear, guilt and shame.
As busy parents, we often get caught up in an internal emotional battle around our children’s nutrition and dinner time. Stressing over what we think we should or shouldn’t eat, time to prepare resources, and the overall effort versus benefit is often exhausting. Instead of focusing on all the should-nots, flip it and focus on all the simple things you can quickly and gradually add to benefit them.
Physically, with the help of suitable digestive enzymes, we absorb what we eat; energetically, we absorb the environmental energy and emotional load simultaneously. The jaw is the memory vault of the energetic, emotional history. The muscles used to chew belong to the digestive system meridian and hold the memory of our ancestors and their connection to food and nourishment.
So it shouldn’t be a shock to hear that we absorb that when we eat under stress, too. When we eat in front of the television, we absorb the drama we watch. As the parents in the household, we are the ones who hold the dominant emotions around food. If your relationship with food is less than best for you, it is often experienced that your child will reflect the same emotions differently.
The good news is that there are lots of Kinesiology tools that can help when it comes to food—from supporting and releasing the core emotions resulting in adaptive behaviours. Some balances address retained reflexes expressing suppressed vagal nerve activation, sucking reflexes (Thumb sucking and dummies) and adrenal responses, jaw releases, cranial-sacral releases and digestive meridian balances.
Below is a detailed list of easy ‘adds’ I use with my kid’s meals. They are simple suggestions that you may like to try yourself. See what works for you regarding time, money and your family. Each tip is designed to inspire change, focus on what we add nutritionally and in no way the need to remove. Food needs to be fun, relaxed and enticing; there should be no wrongs or rights, just our awareness of food that makes us feel good, strong and healthy.
- Bone broth and gelatin are added to savoury meals. Just make sure they are organic and grass-fed.
- With a sprinkle of medicinal-grade mushroom powder, we use the elixir brand in Australia and love them.
- Heemseeds, hemp protein and hemp oil are so good and easy to hide in kids’ meals. Start with a small about and build up. I used to love just a splash of good-quality hempseed oil on the pasta before adding any source.
- Sauerkraut in the savoury source. I started with a very small and finely chopped cabbage in the tomato source whenever I could.
- Liposomal vitamin C is rubbed into the skin with coconut oil to prevent stickiness.
- Cinnamon sprinkled on anything sweet to help balance blood sugar levels and downward spirals.
- Reading food labels for chemicals over calories. Removing MSG is often challenging as it comes under many different names from MSG, Flavour enhancer, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Textured Vegetable Protein, Yeast Extract, Rosemary Extract, Glutamate, Calcium Glutamate, Yeast Nutrient. The first step is not necessarily changing what you are eating but becoming aware of the ingredients and, if you do choose to consume it, noticing how you feel afterwards.