Can Clean Eating Help My Childs Behavior?

It’s #minionmonday, the day I focus on how to eat clean with kids. And if you don’t have kids, don’t worry – a lot of these tips and recipes work great for the big kids like you too.?

First – I had a great DM question about if putting my kids on clean eating has changed their behavior. ABSOLUTELY. That has been the driving force to keep all this work up because it is work, planning and effort. But the changes made it 110% worth it.

What I did – my husband have eaten clean/Paleo for 3 years, with me doing 8 Whole30’s within all that, but as of July we made clean eating a family endeavor. I was absolutely intimidated and put it off for months. But some of my kids were asking to (believe it or not) and I told them we would just try it for a month (30 days…sound familiar?) and go from there.

We cut out grains, dairy, and refined sugars – for the most part. The exceptions being occasionally they have rice (since at least its gluten free), they eat peanut butter (which is not Paleo), and some things with small amounts of added sugar like the peanut butter, packaged meats, and organic ketchup. All of those were choices to make this do-able and affordable.

The changes – this is the part where I start sounding like a bad infomercial, but I literally interviewed my children after a month and these are straight from them:

– I’m a lot less hungry all the time
– I get less stomachaches
– Graham screams less**
– I’m happier and my brothers are kinder
– I sleep better
– I like all the cool new foods
– My skin looks so good (13 yo’s face cleared up entirely)
**My 7 yo is a spirited kiddo who was very loud – lots of over the top emotions fits, and screams. This lifestyle has pretty much eliminated all that and that result alone is worth every minute of work! ?

It goes back to the Whole30 mindset – try it, an experiment of one (one family), for a month. See if it works for you and what changes you notice in your kids. No one can tell you what’s best for your family besides you.

(Due diligence disclaimer – I am NOT your child’s physician, therapist, or even a licensed medical nutrition counselor. I am a #certifiedwhole30coach and a mom ?.)