Reasons to Ditch Processed and Packaged Snacks for Kids.
Inside: Why we need to ditch processed and packaged snacks for our kids; simple answer is to help their bodies learn the correct way to gain energy from food.
Packaged foods or “snacks” as most commonly known are such an indispensable thing in a mom’s life.
Kids are always asking for a snack, and we moms always seem to be busy when they ask for snacks (which really feels all-the-time). So, we resort to handing them a bag of snacks.
Plus, these snacks are so easy to deal with. I mean – they’re rightly packaged (as much as a child can eat), travel-friendly, dry, and easy to handle for kids.
They marketers have hacked right into our brains, haven’t they?
BUT,
You know and I know there must be a better alternative to these highly processed snacks for kids and us moms!
There are, just too many downsides to these snacks, in spite of their convenience.
Reasons to ditch processed and packaged snacks for your kids–
High Sugar and Simple Carbs; teach bad food signals to our mind and body.
These packaged and processed snacks are often sugary AND have white flour in them. And that while flour is literally equal to sugar for our bodies (that’s how white flour is processed by our body; like sugar).
Whether we accept it or not, these high sugars and simple carbs send our kids bodies in bad energy pendulums.
Which simply means for our kids is — kids get high energy from the sugars and simple carbs in these packaged foods, and then their energy drops suddenly, hence kids go through cranky moods.
These packaged foods have preservatives and colours added to them. Plus, devoid of healthy vitamins and minerals, because of their extreme processing.
Related: Healthy Shopping Guide I use at my house.
Their Little Minds are in Training too, just like their bodies.
We don’t realize this, but just like their little minds are in training to learn the ins and outs of life, so are their bodies in training to learn how to process foods to find energy.
Although it’s a much more mechanical and advanced system than their minds, their bodies are still in training!
Understanding the Mind and Food Signal Relationship
The food we eat gives signals to our minds for food, and if we train our kids minds to get energy from sugary foods, or foods with simple carbs; their mind is going to learn, that’s how quickly we should feel the energy from food after eating it, and that is not going to be the reality for healthy food with complex carbs, or with fresh foods.
So, kids minds will have huge difficulty in learning the time it takes healthy food to give energy to their minds.
So just like we try to give their minds and physical bodies the best possible treatment, through our teaching and through our good example.
It’s important we give that good treatment to their internal body process too.
Especially food! Because food is medicine, and food is bad too; depending on what food we choose.
Okay, that got a little scary! Sorry.
But, my dear friend this is a truth we cannot deny, we don’t think like that because we can’t think bad things for our kids, but we also are responsible to do the right thing for them, as much as possible.
Soooo, let’s understand how to get ourselves out of this packaged food rut!
While I do have some other posts about Picky Eating and Easy Healthy Snacks for kids, in this article, let’s just keep it simple.
The easiest replacement for packaged snacks and processed foods for kids is — fruits!
They’re sweet, easy for kids to handle, and are fairly travel-friendly.
I know, I know your kids don’t love fruits very much, and so you can’t them to eat fruits.
That’s because your child’s mind is used to sugar rush from processed food.
It will need consistent redirection for your child’s mind to like fruit. They are going to reject it, and we should expect it.
But then tell them — fruit/fresh snack is what I have to offer you, period.
They’ll come around, the fruit is nourishing to our bodies, their bodies will take little time, but WILL accept fruit sooner than later.
If fruit feels expensive to you. I’ll assure you it’s not. A single serve packed food costs between 25 cents to 50 cents a piece, and so do a banana, apple and orange, which all make a single serve.
Related Read: Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen for 2018
All in all, I would say try to realize how bad packaged snacks really are for your kids. They really are not worth the convenience they provide.
Plus, some mindfulness about what kids can snack on instead of snack bags, can easily go a long way in helping them make a healthier relationship with food.
I hope you understand the reason why we need to let go of packaged snacks for our kids, so their minds learn the relations between energy and healthy foods.
