What we eat affects how we behave. Hate toddler tantrums? Let’s clean up the terrible twos with these six clean food swaps!
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Helpful links to get your toddler eating better.
Hello, hello. We are going to talk about toddlers because they are awesome, and sometimes they can rule the world. So, when I talk to parents and I’ll ask, I’m like, “are your toddler years delightful? Or are you stuck in the terrible twos?”
Sugar
When you have a kid throwing a temper tantrum on a regular basis, a lot of times, it is the insulin blood sugar drop. And what we need to be doing is looking very closely at their diet because what I see is most toddlers get fed sugar. Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar.
So what you have is these highs and lows. When they’re coming down off of sugar, which reacts in the brain just like cocaine, they are mean, they’re ugly, they hit, they kick because the body doesn’t understand that sugar. It’s just being pinged hardcore.
So when we start looking at how to change a toddler’s diet, one of the first things I start looking for is how we can transition into a protein-based meal plan for them. Because in reality, their plates should be 90% protein because that’s what you need to grow. Their sugar consumption, including fruits and juices, should be under 20 grams a day. So, knowing that, what do you feed toddlers?
Simple Mills
So, number one, Simple Mills, is a product that I absolutely love. They have replaced our crackers because they come with almond flour, and they’ve got so many different flavors. You can replace your cheeses with your Simple Mills. Then there’s another company that’s brand new called Ground Up, and they’re making their products out of cauliflower. So, they have pretzels, and they have pizza bites, and they have all the things that your kids can take into school systems and not feel like they’re eating something weird.
UnReal Candy
Then you’ve got the grandparents. And by golly, I love them, but they will sabotage the stew out of you because they just want to give a little bit of candy. “I just gave them a little bit.” And if your kids were like mine, a little bit did not do well. So, what do we do for our grandparents? We take them a company called UnReal, which is created by two brothers who got very tired of their hippie parents stealing their candy. And so their parents looked at them and said, solve the problem, make a candy, I won’t steal. So they did.
They have an M&M alternative that is amazing. The colors are beautiful, all made with vegetables. The product is real chocolate and so what you find is that kids can’t eat that much because it satisfies that brain, and they just get happy. You don’t have to worry about artificial colors, artificial flavors.
Then you can make your own gummies, and we’re going to give you a link to that because most of the commercial gummies are just filled with crap.
Justin’s
Justin’s makes nut butters that are in individual packets. These things are in my car. They’re in my purse. They’re in the diaper bag. When your kid starts throwing a temper tantrum, you open that up, you shove it in the mouth, you squeeze, and you will find that it’ll be like “gulp, gulp, gulp” — and then they’re done, and they’re happy again.
Applegate
Applegate makes these chicken strips. They’re fabulous. They’re already cooked, already ready to go. So if you’re in a hurry, you could grab that box, and you just kind of beat them over the shoulder like you have to do when you have to drive around a lot, and you’ve got a kid that’s screaming in the background.
When we have time to cook, you’ve got Ian’s. They make organic, gluten-free chicken fingers. Oh my gosh, they are so good. And that’s a great quick, easy fix for your kids.
Kombucha
Then maybe they’re a little bit older, maybe you’ve gotten them on soda, and now you’re trying to reel them back in and pull them out.
There’s an incredible kombucha that we’re going to give you a link to, that allows your kid to chug it. It’s going to taste like soda without the effects that sodas have on our guts.
Yogurt
And then yogurts. Parents love yogurts, but they’re so filled with sugar, they’re filled with dairy, then we get sinus infections, we get ear infections. So Delicious makes one with coconut, and then Foragers makes one with cashews. Both are delicious and great protein alternatives for your toddlers. So I hope this helps. Talk to you soon. Bye-bye.
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