Fun Health Food Tips

Our early ancestors ate mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts and meats.

Although the fast- and processed-food industries have spent millions of dollars on advertising and packaging to sell their products, eating whole, healthy foods can be as fun and delicious as that greasy burger and fries. Learning more about where food comes from, how to prepare it and what it does to and for your body can help in understanding why healthy foods can be as fun and interesting as unhealthy ones.

Smoothie Stand

Use a blender and some crushed ice to mix different kinds of fruits together to see which combinations taste best. Forego the yogurt, sugar and smoothie mix, and just play with different combinations of apples, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, bananas and melons. Add whole apple or orange juice to ease the blending process and shredded coconut for a tropical taste. Next, try blending vegetables.

Family Recipe Night

Choose a whole-food recipe that parents and kids can cook or bake from scratch. Try pesto pea soup, black bean chili with butternut squash or roasted squash with balsamic sauce and apples. Choose a recipe, create an ingredients list and go shopping together. Healthy food is slow food: It takes time to wash, chop, cook and serve. Begin incorporating this time back into your routine, and if time is tight, make a Family Recipe Night to make enough food for a few days.

Perimeter Challenge

Issue a challenge to yourself and your kids to do 80 percent of your shopping around the perimeter of the grocery store. The outer and back aisles of the store typically contain whole foods: fruits and vegetables, milk and cheese and fresh meats. The inner aisles are generally reserved for processed, canned and packaged foods. Do 80 percent of your shopping in the outer sections and see what healthy meals you'll come up with when healthy food is in the house.

Caveman Fare

Talk to your kids about early cavemen and what they ate, and then eat like them. According to radiologist Boyd Eaton, M.D. and exercise physiologist Loren Cordain, Ph.D., the hunter-gatherer diet of our remote ancestors is the model for human nutrition. The agricultural revolution occurred only 10,000 years ago, not enough time for the human body to genetically adapt. Eaton and Cordain advise reducing dairy and grains and replacing them with fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and meats; these are foods higher in protein and micronutrients than bread and milk, and easier for the human body to assimilate.

References

• Let's Move: Try a New Fruit or Veggie
• Good Morning America: What Does 'Shop the Perimeter' Mean?; Leslie Bonci, R.D., M.P.H.; Feb. 2009
• Epicurious; A Heart-Smart Diet and Lifestyle; Esther Sung
• The Paleo Diet: Frequently Asked Questions
• "Runner's World" magazine: Should You Be Eating Like The Cavemen?; Amby Burfoot; Aug. 2004

Resources

• The Dr. Oz Show: You: On a Diet Basics
• Best Life
• Epicurious: Pesto Pea Soup
• Epicurious: Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash
• Epicurious: Roasted Squash with Balsamic Sauce and Apples