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Getting Children to Eat More Raw and Living Foods 101

I am happy you are here.  I love that you want to add more fruits and vegetables into your children’s diet.  It is never too late to get our children to eat better. Study shows us that eating raw foods has a biochemical effect on our brain, how we learn and process information, it also has a direct connection to our body, how we behave, feel, heal and respond to environmental pollutions. When our children are eating healthy food they begin to create a higher self worth, they feel a connection with our planet.  They do better in academic studies, sports and personal relationships. They have a greater sense of health and well-being.

Here are a few tips on getting your children to eat more fruits and vegetables.

It takes between 8 to 12 bites of a new food for a child to become accustomed to the taste.

Be ready to have patience and open your mind to being flexible.

One of the best ways to get a child to eat healthy foods is by getting them involved and living by example. After I went raw my children started seeing big bowls of fruits and vegetables sitting out on the table.  I noticed they would walk by and just grab a fruit.

I then started leaving carrots, sliced celery, red peppers and cucumbers on a plate with raw almond butter.  Slowly but surely they started eating those as well.  

Every time I made healthy food a convenience they started eating it. I then started making them smoothies. One of my children’s favorites is Almond milk, strawberries, banana, flax meal, a huge bunch of spinach, a little lemon and raw honey.  I usually have 60% fruit and 40% greens.

Talk to them about the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables. Let them know eating healthy foods will keep us strong and well.

Learn all you can about feeding your children healthy foods. Check out recipe books, learn about superfoods like goji berries, macca and cacao.

Have healthy foods on hand all the time, things like fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

When I go to the grocery store I take the children with me and let them pick out the fruits and vegetables they want.

I stopped buying the processed food in the center isles and started only buying food on the outside isles. 

I make less of the unhealthy foods and started focusing on the good healthy items.

I do not want to make food an issue; I want to make it fun.  We play games like; who can find the craziest fruit today that the grocery store? or Let’s see what kind of fun smoothie we can make, what should we put in it?

We make raw fruit leathers in the dehydrator,

I let them pick out what they want in their smoothies and then we add a green,

We make sorbet in the Vita-mix.

For snacks I let them choose the fruit or vegetable they want to take to school.

We decide as a family what we are going to plant in the garden. They help plant and then gather the vegetables.

Playing outside and connecting with nature has a huge affect on children. When they feel connected to the planet they want to eat from the earths gifts.

They will love knowing that by eating raw and living foods we are giving back to the earth by not filling our landfills with trash.  We create less trash by not buying processed foods. The food we eat is biodegradable and fuels our soil with nutrients not toxins.  Just like it fuels our body!

Get them INVOLVED!  Children need to feel they are a part of something. They want to know they matter. They want you to know they are responsible individuals with an opinion. When children feel respected they will grow to respect themselves. 

Don’t feel bad if the children don’t take to eating raw foods immediately. Transitioning into a raw food lifestyle takes time. Have patience.