If your child is exibiting signs of behavioral, physical, and/or emotional symptoms in response to what they eat, it may be time to begin implement a plan to eliminate the offending foods from their diet in order to identify food sensitivites. The process of food elimination can be stressful without a plan. The following tips will not only help identify the foods causing behavioral or physical and emotional symptoms but also ensure a successful path to clean eating for the whole family.
Observe and Document
It is vital that you keep track of the ups and downs of the symptoms you observe. Look for patterns of behavior that follow specific foods. Keep in mind that reactions to foods can happen anytime between two hours and three days after eating. Write down your observations including time of day a food is eaten and observed behaviors that follow.
Take a Step by Step Approach
It's not realistic to remove all possible food sensitivities at one time, especially when working with children. Think in terms of taking small steps to the bigger goal of healthy eating for a lifetime. All along the way you need to set realistic expectations and goals that your child can achieve. What do you want to eliminate first? One idea is to take the first 5 - 10 days remove junk foods and fast foods. Then pick another common food sensitivity like dairy and work your way through until you've eliminated all possible causes. takes time and patience. That’s why in our Balance 360 Clean Eating Program we walk you step-by-step instead of taking giant leaps.
Use Positive Reinforcement
It's important to stay positive throughout the diet changes and reward your child with positive praise, rewards, and incentives. Many parents have found it helpful to use charts or games to demonstrate positive eating and track their child’s progress. Charts work because they are interactive and fun. We provide Balance 360 games to parents of our Program to keep them motivated and moving forward.
Be Simple and Specific
It is easier to keep track of “making a decision not to eat a candy bar” or “eating three carrots dipped in hummus” as opposed to “eat healthy food tonight” or “no bad snacks”. Those would be too general and hard to track. Make sure that you and your child are on the same page as to the goal and how to track to it.
Introducing major changes into your family’s nutrition can be an enormous undertaking. Enjoy the adventure of navigating the paths that you will encounter as you embark on this journey to improve your child’s diet and promote better brain functioning. Contact us to learn more about how our system gives you the knowledge, strategies, and tools you need to partner and collaborate with your Brain Balance Team to maximize your success.
