Nicole Dean says: Hey Lynn, I have a personal question for you about Low Carbing it: Kids.
Now that I’m eating more low carb and have been reading about research and I see the health benefits (including cholesterol reduction, treating disorders like heart disease and autism and seizures), I’m feeling guilty feeding the kids their usual stuff, like ramen noodles, spaghetti, pizza, and snacks like pretzels and yogurt.
What are your thoughts on how to handle this?
Great question, Nicole!
Guilt goes hand-in-hand with parenting in my experience 😛 and the kitchen is no exception! It never really occurred to me how much “junk” we ate until my teen daughter and I both put on 20 pounds, and I made the dramatic change to a low carb diet.
I say dramatic change because of the amount of sugar and processed foods I was eating on a regular basis. Even when I *thought* I was making healthy family recipes, the food were not necessarily good together.
As an example I might make a meat with potatoes, corn and carrots on the side. Never mind that it was usually fried chicken or something similar (I’m from the south, you know!) but on top of that all the sides were usually high carb or starchy vegetables.
Obviously there is nothing wrong with a potato or a carrot. The problem is in the combination of foods we serve for dinner, and how those combinations are processed. Meat and potatoes for example, when eaten together delay digestion.
Do not eat a concentrated protein and a concentrated carbohydrate at the same meal. This means do not eat nuts, meat, eggs, cheese, or other protein foods at the same meal with bread, cereals, potatoes, sweet fruits. Cakes, etc. Candy and sugar greatly inhibit the secretion of gastric juice and markedly delay digestion and if consumed in large quantities can depress the stomach activity. –source: Food Combining
It’s also called Food Synergy – I like that term 🙂
The key to creating Healthy Family Recipes is to start by making a list of the foods your family loves. Sit down at the table together with a notepad, let them know you’re looking for some new and interesting dinner ideas, and ask them their favorite foods. You probably already know some of them, which will be a great conversation starter.
If you start with foods they already enjoy, you’ll have much less resistance at the dinner table. You can’t force a kid to eat spinach if they abhor that vegetable (without ruining the entire evening, at least -lol), so stick with the things they DO like as a start.
Favorite vegetables at my house include broccoli, squash, green beans, zucchini and caesar salad. They also like corn, potatoes, carrots and beans – which are not on my low carb diet. I still make these things on the side for them and just don’t add them to my own plate. I also take my serving of romaine salad out before I add the croutons.
As for other things like pasta, mac & cheese, pizza, pop tarts, bagel bites and all that jazz… I simply buy less of it. NOT taking the kids to the grocery stores helps a lot. 😉 If you start by having less of it on hand, having healthy snacks easily available, and filling them up on healthy family recipes – they’ll be less hungry for junk food snacks. Which will help. Weed those things out slowly, and fill them up on good stuff. Sudden dramatic change may cause a riot in your home -lol.
I wouldn’t totally nix pizza night either. Every now and then pizza & a Netflix movie are good for the soul! And fun family time is just as healthy for the soul as a great dinner is for the body. For those of us on a low carb diet, we can eat something separate – or just eat the toppings. As a splurge you can eat a slice or two of thin crust pizza with light sauce (or even better – no sauce).
On a Low Carb note, while we (as adults) are keeping a very low carb count, our children need more carbs. If my teen daughter were going to start a low carb diet to lose her weight, I would suggest she start at a minimum of 80 net carbs per day (where I stick to 20 or less). Her carb count might include whole milk, cereal, fruit, oatmeal, wheat bread, juice etc (things she already likes).
Also see: Low Carb Snacks
Like I said, start by letting your family have some input by sharing their favorite foods. Then work on putting together meals that incorporate their favorites – in good combinations. Food Combining or Food Synergy is the key, so that’s something to study up on.
I would love to hear from others on how you handle this. Do you cook for your family, or just yourself. And if for the family – what are your tips for creating healthy family recipes that kids & spouses ENJOY? 🙂
Nicole Dean says
Thanks for posting this question, Lynn, for suggestions, and sharing your thoughts. I need all the help I can get! π
Lynn Terry says
Thank you for asking – it was great “food for thought” π I think food combining is the thing that stood out to me most as I was thinking this over. It’s one thing I’ve been working more toward in my own home.