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Understanding The Gut-Brain Connection and Behaviours.

Each food you eat either fuels your body and benefits your cells healing and reproducing new healthy cells. Or it harms your body causing inflammation and deficiencies and thus behavioral issues like Depression, Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and Bi-Polar Disorder, or inflammation illness like; Arthritis, Diabetes, ME, MS, Heart Conditions, Crohn’s, Eczema, psoriasis, Asthma, Epilepsy and Auto-immune diseases. It’s vital to understand eating the right foods and living in the right environment for your body so it can heal itself and do what it is designed to do without medication and intervention.

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The “Mind-Gut Connection”

The trillions of microbes that inhabit the human body, collectively called the microbiome, are estimated to weigh two to six pounds. Up to twice the weight of the average human brain (No wonder we call the Gut the second Brain) Most of them live in the gut and intestines, where they help us to digest food, synthesize vitamins and ward off infection. Studies have linked the gut microbiome to a range of complex behaviours, such as mood and emotion, appetite, and even learning and memory. Not only does the gut microbiome appear to help maintain brain function, but it may also influence the risk of psychiatric and neurological disorders, including anxiety, depression and autism.

  • Gut microbiota help break down certain nutrients.
  • Gut microbiota produce brain chemicals such as,
  • GABA, tryptophan, serotonin, histamine and
  • Dopamine (all needed to function and stay happy and balanced)
  • 70-80% of your brain chemicals are made in the gut!

Disruption of the gut barrier:

  • Dysbiosis “leaky gut” – toxicity
  • Parasites and over-growths of yeast
  • Inflammatory bowel disorders

Microbiota Disturbance

There are many things that can upset this delicate balance, from family genes passed on from blood lines, to environment, toxins and of course most important is the food you nourish your body with.

  • Environment – pesticides, herbicides, synthetic hormones and pollutions.
  • Foods – intolerances, processed foods, white sugar, trans fat, wheat, gluten and food chemicals, preservatives and additives. (Gluten can cause opening of the cell junctions, open it up to toxins and bacteria entering the blood stream causing Leaky Gut)
  • Under-active digestion (low stomach acid)
  • Stress and emotional trauma. (Causing diarrhoea or constipation, bloating, wind, reflux, low stomach acid, ulcers in the digestive tract, disruption in motility, bacterial imbalance, when stressed there are tendencies to eat more sugar and refined carbohydrates when under pressure)
  • Medication -painkillers, sleeping tablets, thrush treatments, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory e.g. Nurofen, Cortisone, Voltaren.

Many factors come in to play to stop our cells from talking to each other and growing healthily or reproducing:

  • Inflammation
  • Food sensitivities – e.g. gluten intolerance
  • Oxidative Stress (toxicity of cells)
  • Hormones – e.g. Cortisol (stress)
  • Leaky gut

What is “Leaky Gut”?

The lining of our digestive tract acts as a barrier with tiny holes that should only allow small, harmless particles to pass through while preventing waste particles and undigested food from escaping. However, if this lining becomes compromised or more porous than normal, undigested food particles and waste products can get through and enter the bloodstream. When undigested food particles and waste seep into the bloodstream, the immune system responds with inflammation throughout the body, leading to leaky gut syndrome (coined my Naturopaths). Inflammation can then lead to symptoms like bloating, cramps, constipation, diarrhea, headaches, fatigue, rashes, achy joints, allergies, and more. These symptoms, in addition to chemicals produced during this immune response, are contributing factors for kids who struggle with behavior, focus, and learning difficulties. Kids with leaky gut syndrome may also experience vitamin and mineral deficiencies due to poor absorption, which can further exacerbate learning or behavioral struggles. While it is widely accepted that people with Crohn’s Disease, Celiac Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) often experience leaky gut syndrome, the idea that kids with ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), Autism and Dyslexia and other neuro-developmental disorders may also be affected is gaining traction thanks to Dr Natasha Mc Bride ‘The GAPS Diet’.

leaky-Gut

Hannah’s Gut Healing Protocol.

Hormones

Hormones play such an important role in your body and its healing ability, if one is out or low or too high it can cause many long-term health issues. If your lacking in any of these hormones or your body is imbalanced you can get symptoms of depression, learning difficulties or leaky gut. Here I break down each one and the importance of them:

Neurotransmitters

These act as messengers for the brain and nervous system:

  • They either “excite” or “inhibit”
  • Keep you in a “fight or flight response”

Noradrenaline

Helps with:

  • Alertness, concentration, memory and mood:
  • Overproduction can result in high stress – panic attacks or anxiety and not being able to switch off at night

Acetyl Choline

Helps with memory and learning, signs and symptoms of a deficiency include:

  • Poor concentration
  • Light sleep
  • Fatigue
  • Anxiety
  • Highly reactive to stress

Serotonin

Helps with regulating sleep, mood and eating behaviours. Signs and symptoms of a deficiency include:

  • 95% of serotonin in the body is in the GUT! – Gluten effects serotonin production
  • Aggressiveness
  • Bad temper
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attacks

(so if your guts not right your not going to feel happy)

Dopamine

Helps with motivation, mood regulation, memory and movement. Signs and symptoms of a deficiency include:

  • Restless legs (Fibromyalgia)
  • Low libido
  • Depression/low mood
  • Dull boring dreams or no memory of dreams

GABA

Helps with sleep maintenance and our main inhibitory brain chemical “stops excitatory brain chemicals” signs and symptoms of deficiency include:

  • Anxiety/panic attacks
  • Alcohol cravings
  • Insomnia or struggles to fall asleep/waking during the night with a rushing mind

Cortisol.

Too much elevated Cortisol levels can interfere with every aspect of your health. Signs and symptoms include:

  • Learning and memory difficulties
  • Lowered immune function
  • Bone density
  • Increase weight gain or unable to loose weight even when under eating and exercising
  • Blood pressure issues
  • Cholesterol
  • Heart disease
  • Keeps you in chronic stress
  • Increase risk for depression
  • Mental illness
  • Lower life expectancy
  • Inflammation in the body
  • Burn out your Adrenal Glands

Histamine

Helps with your immune system, proper digestion, and your central nervous system. As a neurotransmitter, it communicates important messages from your body to your brain. It is also a component of stomach acid, which is what helps you break down food in your stomach. Too much Histamine can cause:

  • Leaky Gut
  • DEO deficiencies
  • GI bleeding

Too little Histamine can cause:

  •       Arousal and wakefulness
  •       Loss of appetite
  •       Low stomach acid
  •       Food allergies
  •       Binge eating and cravings
  •       Dry skin allergies
  •       Tissue swelling
  •       Difficulty regulating temperature
  •       Fatigue
  •       Cramping around menstruation
  •       Anxiety
  •       Nasal congestion, sneezing,          difficulty breathing
  •     Vertigo or dizziness
  •       Arrhythmia, or accelerated heart rate

Parasites

Parasites can cause many issues when untreated and stop the healing process. The body becomes Malnutritioned and they can cause Leaky Gut and Fat Malabsorption, meaning the body doesn’t get the nutrients from the food you are eating as they take it all first. This then affects the Gut Flora and Microbiome and other deficiencies accrue. We all have parasites to some level but some are able to expel them natural without it causing them harm whilst others need medical help. Parasite can be picked up through:

  • Travel to other countries – e.g. “Bali Belly”
  • Weakened immune system
  • Pets and animals
  • Lack of hygiene

Signs and symptoms of them include:

  • Diarrhoea
  • Wind
  • Bloating
  • Indigestion
  • Pain
  • Nausea
  • Weight gain or weight loss

Parasites can be passed through salvia and bodily fluids and from changing nappies so if one family member has them you all have them. Testing can be hard but worth persisting to find out which ones you have and the right treatment for them. Treatment can take up to 1 year and there are foods to help with expelling them as well as natural cleansers.

Candidia Yeast Overgrowths and Sibo

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (or SIBO) is a chronic bacterial (and/or yeast) infection of the small intestine, where excessive number and/or abnormal type of bacteria (and yeasts) growing in a part of the gastrointestinal tract that normal contains relatively few microorganisms.  These bacteria can cause a variety of problems by interfering with digestion and absorption of nutrients and by damaging the lining of the gut, causing a “Leaky Gut” Symptoms of bacterial overgrowth include abdominal pain, nausea, bloating, gas, belching, flatulence, chronic diarrhoea, and chronic constipation.  These symptoms are due to the large volume of bacteria the digestive tract (alive and dead, as they read the end of their lifecycle) and the large amount of gas and metabolic waste that they produce.  Many more symptoms of SIBO are a direct effect of nutrient mal-absorption (the body being starved even though you are eating). This arises either from the bacteria metabolizing those nutrients before we can absorb them or by the bacteria causing enough inflammation in the lining of the gut that it the gut can’t work properly anymore. The bacteria preferentially consume iron and vitamin B12, causing anemia.  The bacteria decrease fat absorption by de-conjugating bile, leading to deficiencies of vitamins A & D and causing fatty floating pale stools.  As the gut lining becomes increasingly inflamed and leaky, larger and not fully digested food particles enter the body, causing an immune reaction, which leads to food allergies and food sensitivities.  Bacteria themselves can enter the blood stream causing systemic inflammation and immune reactions that can lead to autoantibody formation and autoimmune diseases. The truth about fruit . . .

Read about my gut healing protocol here; Hannah’s Gut Healing Protocol.

Understanding Food Intolerances and Allergies.

Understanding why yourself or your child has started to react to a food you have eaten for along time and out of the blue can be frustrating and confusing.

Over the years and through lots of experience I have leant not to demonise that one food like the tomato or strawberry to name 2 of the worst culprits. But to indentify why you or your child is having that reaction.

I like to imagine the nervous system like a pot a big shiny pot. Once that pot is full it starts to overflow. Bubble and spit and boil over. What’s it over flowing with? Toxins, chemicals in the home and personal beauty products, processed foods, sugar, alcohol, gluten, additives, E-numbers, preservatives, stress, lack of sleep, over exercising or lack of exercise . . . If you remove some ingredients, the pot will calm down and simmer along nicely again.

We went down the path of eliminating most foods on the RPAH Elimination Diet and running around like head less chickens panicking about if the kids had eaten a carrot, which was medium on the RPAH Salicylates list. This panic in it’s self was not helping. So learn from my experience. Yes you have to eliminate a few food groups and temporally remove trigger foods and toxins but the most important thing to do is to learn why it’s happening and to remove those items but then repair the body. All food intolerances, out of character behavioural issues and skin reactions are a symptom of the gut. Repair the gut and the symptom will calm down. Remove the foods, limit your triggers but faller to repair the gut or underlying problem will mean you are chasing your tail for many years blaming eggs, nuts or nigh shades. For me I blamed dark raw chocolate, when really it was the stress that leads me to eat chocolate as when I eat chocolate without stress my body copes with it just fine. With my son he can cope with nuts but only when life is calm for him. If there is stress from a new school term, or daddy is away for a while then his pot rises and his body reacts to more things and I can’t give him as many foods as his nervous system is heightened. So instead we steer clear of his trigger foods until he is calm. Then he copes just fine as his pot is very low. What comes first the reaction or the food or both we will never know. Stress plays a big part in gut damage and why you may be reacting. Practice mindful eating. Chew your food. Turn your TV off and focus on sitting straight and enjoy your food that is nourishing your body. Example. I can’t eat nightshades very often. So if I make a 5 minutes tomato and capsicum omelette, eat fast then rush to get out the door whilst screaming at the kids to hurry up we are late . . .and not digest it properly I will react. But If I’m out to dinner with friends and I have nightshades on my plate, as I am calm and happy my body copes with it better. Again how full is your pot depends on what you can cope with.

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REMOVE-REPAIR-RE-TRY

So where to start?

Firstly before I go on to show you the best paths to take and how to tackle what must seem like mind field too most.

I must explain the damage Antihistamines, pain killers, Steroids and Anti-fungal or Antibiotics can do on an already weakened under attack Immune system and a nervous system that is over flowing (remember the pot). These are suppressing the symptoms so putting a big lid on that pot that is boiling over. Well we have all done that whilst cooking and what happens? it still over flows and splits worst, often making more mess and not fixing the issue. You have to turn down the heat to stop it and remove some ingredients. By using antihistamines and steroid creams you are pushing it down and it will come out another way and worst. So what was a skin rash might come back as a chest infection or earache. Keep suppressing that with more medication without looking at the cause, it will come out in an asthma attack lets say or a headache because you body is no longer getting the minerals it needs because of holes in the gut lining and food particles are being attacked in the blood stream and your brain is being starved. Keep going with more medication and it comes out as something worst and so on till you get a really nasty problems. So please don’t use a short-term fix, look at the real reason and repair the gut.

There are natural herbs and foods that are antihistamines that work brilliantly to calm your body’s reactions whilst you fix your body. Also you could use Homeopathy, but not synthetic drugs.

An allergy is something your often born with an your reaction is acute or deadly an Intolerance is something you can calm and change with diet and lifestyle. Although I have seen many people over come lifelong Allergies to nuts and pollen through healing their gut that they were born with. But most doctors will tell you that is impossible.

Healing and repairing diets to work towards adapting in your family would be:

A 100%raw food diet low in fats high in carbohydrates and fruits, melons, berries and nuts and seeds and free from anything else.

These are not quick fixes but lifestyle changes that will mean you can change your outcome and stop a life of needing creams, medication and avoiding foods.

No sugar coating: You must eliminate all (MSG), preservatives, additives, flavour enhancers, gums, vegetable proteins (TVP) E-numbers, food acids, thickening agents, sugars and fake processed foods including soy bi-products like dairy milks, soy lecithin in chocolate, chocolate, caffeine , alcohol ect and trans fats and all oils. (Real food only not from a packet)

food-not-food

Understanding the main chemical and allergy food groups:

Salicylates: this big word is a plant chemical found naturally organic or non organic fruit like strawberries and vegetables like tomatoes and eggplant, honey, spices, teas, coffee, yeast and products which use them like laundry powder, aspirin, perfumes, toothpaste, cleaning products.

Amines: this is from the breakdown of proteins. Amines levels increase in meats and fish and cheese that is char grilled, aged or matured and in fruits and vegetables that are very ripe like bananas, olives, and avocado. Or concentrated sauces like tomatoes sauce, fruit juices, chocolate, flavoured spreads, jams and fermented foods.

Glutamate: this is an amino acid that is an essential building block of all proteins and is found in most naturally foods. In its natural state away from protein it is used to enhance flavour in foods like cheese, tomato, stock cubes, spreads, soy sauce, yeast extract. Like amines they naturally accrue in ripe fruits, so as the proteins in the fruit break down they appear.

Fructose: this is simple sugar found in fruits and vegetables and natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. Fructose when eating as a whole piece of fruit can be absorbed well because it has the fibre to go with it. When you have it as a fruit syrup or juice without the fibre or as dried fruit, which is concentrated. It can ferment in the large bowel causing gas and an over production of bad bacteria. Fructose is not a problem for most if it’s eaten as a whole fruit and in small amounts of local organic in season fruit. The problem arises when a cold climate person eats lots of tropical fruits, juices and dried fruits. (Example 1 box of sultans contain up to 50 grapes or 1 roll up contains 7 serves of fruit and often sulphur and sugar is added) fruit juice is pure sugar to the body and it spikes your hormones gives you short term energy without any of the goodness to feed your body. Eat fruit as a whole piece of fruit.

Lactose: this is the natural sugar found in milk. Its a compound sugar made up of glucose and galactose and can not be absorbed until its been digested by the enzyme Lactase in the small bowel. Which if you don’t have that enzyme you cannot digest it.

Gluten: if you have reaction to gluten you might have Coeliac Disease and before removing it you should be tested. For others it may be an intolerance and once others food have been removed and replaced with organic, unprocessed grains that have been stored properly, soaked and prepared properly you may be able to cope with it. But that does not mean shop brought cookies, cakes and breads that means homemade fermented grains or homemade sourdough using traditional methods. For me I cannot cope with grains yet as I still have gut healing to do. This should be one of the last foods to replace.

Histamines: is a chemical, which occurs naturally in certain foods. This is also one of the chemicals that is released in the body as part of an allergic reaction, causing the typical itching, sneezing, wheezing and swelling allergy symptoms. We all have an enzyme which breaks down any histamine that we absorb from a histamine-containing food. When we eat a food, which contains histamine, it does not affect us. However, some people have a low level of this enzyme. When they eat too many histamine-rich foods they may suffer ‘allergy-like’ symptoms such as headaches, rashes, itching, diarrhoea, and vomiting or abdominal pain. This is called histamine intolerance. Foods that are high are. Champagne, wine, beer, cider and other fermented drinks and spirits, sauerkraut and other pickled foods., tofu and soya sauce, aged foods like cheese and meats, mushrooms, tinned fish, sausages and other processed meats (ham, salami, gammon, bacon) mushrooms, dried fruit, seeds, nuts, yeast extract, yeast, chocolate, cocoa, cola.

Check out more information on:

http://fedup.com.au

This is a chart I used back when I was working out what we were reacting too. It may help you too. Fill it in with your symptoms and your triggers.

Symptoms Gluten Dairy Soy Corn Eggs Nuts Citrus Chocolate Sugar High Salicylates High Amine
Bloating
Headache
Joint pain
Rash
Hot flush
Mood changes
Anxiety
Depression
Your symptom

 Change the column names to suit your symptoms and foods.

Getting started.

I recommend eliminating all trigger foods like dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, gluten, and sugar for 3 weeks to allow your pot to empty. Drinking water away from food and also removing toxins from your home and turning to natural products to clean and wash clothes and avoiding as many outside toxins as you can. As I said earlier ‘No Sugar coating!’

Once you have made it through the 3 weeks without any slip-ups reintroduce one food at a time eating that food at least twice a day for two days using the chart to observe your symptoms.

If you have symptoms like a rash, brain fog, fatigue or a digestive reaction remove it again and write it on the chart. If you are fine with the food you can keep eating it.

Once the reaction has past what a day and start on the next food.

A note about Gluten if you react to it in any way bloating, headache, rash, bowel changes you may need to keep it out until your gut heals.

You can’t be part time gluten free as it takes up to 3 weeks and in some cases 3 months to remove the particles from the intestinal tract. So no cheating on the weekends if you want to be symptom free!

Be patient, as it will take time to reintroduce the foods back watching for reacting and not adding the ones you react to until you have done the gut repairing.

REMOVE-REPAIR-RE-TRY

Look at my Gut healing protocol or contact me to take you through the process of healing.

 Good luck finding your triggers guys!

From darkness there is light . . .

There is a beautiful light that surrounds our family. It shines with hope, love and promise and it’s there to remind us to keep looking forward to a future of health, happiness and life.

But there hasn’t always been light. Like so many families who live with the uncertainty that Autism and illness brings, our journey to health began in a very dark place.

After our first son was born, we knew something was wrong almost from the start but we were too exhausted and overwhelmed by false information to even see clearly, let alone take action.

We tried to coped with his constant screaming, tantrums that started way before the average toddler age, violent rage that was unbelievable in a young chid. We did this by living day-to-day and numbing ourselves with bad food, alcohol and respite escapes, all the while with others telling us that all parents feel overwhelmed and that our son’s behaviour was normal. Going to health check up and being told we were just like everyone else go home and give him more milk he is a big baby and just hungry. Or parenting classes and told we need to work harder at putting him on the naughty chair.

But in the pit of our stomachs we knew that this wasn’t normal parenting tired . . . we were breaking, we were falling apart, we were not coping.

Somehow in the midst of this chaos we found the strength to begin look for answers. We started removing chemicals from our home and investigated every type of colic remedy before deciding to take our son off diary, thinking that my own diary allergy as a child could be a clue to what was wrong. After more research we also embarked on a gluten-free lifestyle. Life became a bit more settled, but things still weren’t great.

Our idea of what our family was going to be like was shattered. Instead of a loving, happy child ours was not affectionate and only wanted to be touched on his terms like feeding times. From birth he had been in meltdown almost all day, every day. We lived on eggshells. Life was tough and we had little happiness.

Monday 20th February 2012- 12 days before our son turned 2 he was officially diagnosed with High Functioning Autism. I remember my husband and I leaving the office feeling numb and we both fell to the ground and held each other. Life felt like it had stopped. The responsibility and guilt I felt was overwhelming. I felt responsible. Be that right or not it was how I felt for such a long time, I felt that because I didn’t look after myself over the years or that because I had passed on to him heavy toxins and metals during my pregnancy. I felt guilty for feeding him dairy and grains that caused more damage, I felt responsible because I had immunised him on a weakened immune system that contributed to his toxic overload. I’m not saying vaccination or eating dairy caused his autism, it was an accumulation of many factors I was not aware of at the time, so did nothing to change the outcome. Hindsight is a useless emotion and I have had to put all that to rest and move on. If you are reading this and beating your self up about things you could not change please I beg you to stop and be kind to yourself.

Instead I put all my efforts into creating the best life I can and for him to have a better future than the experts were predicting for him.

When he was diagnosed we were told our little boy would never feel empathy, be social or seek our love that life would be tough for us and that we should grieve for the child we wont have. This was my lowest point as I lost hope and did grieve for the boy that I thought I was going to have. But somehow that sense of responsibility kicked in and I researched, researched and researched some more to save our child from what everyone told us was a life sentence.

Gradually we started to understand the connection between the level of toxins in our son’s system, his nervous system and how it was affecting his behavior. We came across the Raw Vegan Diet, Homeopathy and embarked on a clean living lifestyle and removed all toxins and chemicals from our home.

By now were had welcomed our second son, who was tested for Autism at 2-years and was instead diagnosed with a Global Development Delay of 18-months. That meant that although he was a two-year-old, he had the ability of a child aged 10 to 12-months-old. Again, we grieved. Would this little boy ever be able to talk and fit in with his peers?

By now I was determined to heal my boys, and persisted with our lifestyle changes as well as Mickel Therapy and Homeopathy to help me beat the depression, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia that was a result of years of running the stress treadmill that had become our lives and always putting others first.

Gradually, we began to see our boys blossom, and our family began to feel like the family I had hoped for. By reducing toxins within their bodies, my boys had found a new sense of calm and now had the space to embrace early intervention therapies and for these therapies to be much more effective.

Our boys are now creating their own life sentence instead of following the path that was predicted for them. They are learning, loving and achieving every day. Our older son is clever, kind and thoughtful who loves his family and friends and is coping with kinder really well. Our younger son is a cheeky, funny, social little boy who has healed our family and now has a delay of 2 to 3-months and does NOT stop talking!

So what was the purpose of sharing our story? Our journey shows that there are answers out there and I want to share them with you. Our journey shows that through diet and lifestyle you can get your children back and unlock them from the chains that are Autism.

But most of all, I was to help the amazing mothers and fathers and grandparents who battle a battle each day that others don’t see. I want to help these amazing people look after themselves, so they can look after their beautiful children and live the life they dreamed of.

Your ‘Wellness Warriors’ and you can change your families outcome x x x

contact me for a free consultation of how I can help your family.

hannah@nourishtohealth.com.au

0414967763

Getting your child to drink green juices!

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This may seem very far off for you to imagine, or you might be ready to add more greens in to their current juices that they drink now. Either way be mindful that green juice is something that takes more caution when giving it to children. Because greens are very nutrient rich and a potent detoxifier, our bodies naturally begin detoxifying a bit quicker with greens then other juices. Not that this is bad and when you are trying to heal Autism this is essential, but it can make you/them feel ill if you do it too fast. If you feel that your child needs to detoxify, their bodies will naturally do it through a good diet full of fruit, herbs and vegetables combined with fresh green juices and or green smoothies over time and a chemical free happy environment. But start slowly and build up so they are used to the taste and their bodies get used to detoxify anything that needs to come out. With my boys we started with carrot, cucumber and celery juice and built up to removing all root vegetables and now they have a few different greens like spinach kale, celery, lettuce and cucumber with lemon, and sometimes ginger and turmeric . they have this most mornings before their breakfast. In the afternoon they might have a beetroot or carrot juice but we personally don’t add fruit as they find it sweet enough and I like them to eat their fruit on its own with out mixing with vegetables, this helps their bodies digest it better. As with my smoothie post go slowly and build them up.

The truth about fruit . . .

The difference between a smoothie and a juice, is when you make smoothies they contain fiber which means you can only eat a certain amount at each meal before feeling full (we need the fiber so keep making them!) That is the reason I do not suggest fruit juice  as it doesn’t have any finer in it. Even cold pressed organic fruit juice.

How to get your child drinking and loving ‘green smoothies’ . . .

3Z2A53381IngridPullenPhotography

But with juicing you can include a large amount of greens that you normally would not be able to fit in to your body in one go. A juice is a large amount of vegetables and it’s a nutrient dense shoot of goodness for the gut and each and every cell! Would your child sit down to a large green salad? Maybe not but a green juice sweetened with some apple might go down well.

Here are a few suggestions that taste yummy and mask the bitter flavour some greens can have.

  • I recommend starting with fruit and wining them off fruit till it is just vegetables as fruit spikes the blood sugar level and causes hormonal crashes. Coconut water is a better option to add with greens.

These recipes are for 1-2 glasses of juice

Carrot Celery:

  • 2 carrots
  • 2 celery sticks
  • 1 cucumber (with skin)

Beetroot Apple:

  • 1 small beetroot
  • 1 celery stick
  • 1 cup spinach
  • Cucumber Apple:

 

Cucumber Pear:

  • 1 cucumber (with skin)
  • 2 pears
  • Small handful of kale

Cucumber Orange Grapefruit:

  • 1 cucumber (with skin)
  • 1 small handful of spinach greens
  • 1 orange peeled
  • 1 grapefruit peeled

Broccoli Pineapple:

  • 4 broccoli florets and stalks
  • ½ pineapple
  • 1 small bunch of parsley

Broccoli Apple:

  • 8 broccoli florets and stalks
  • 1 small bunch of parsley
  • 3 apples

Green Citrus:

  • 1 small handful of spinach
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • 1 handful kale
  • 3 oranges or 1 lemons peeled

Cucumber Watermelon:

  • 1 cucumber (with skin)
  • 1 thick slice watermelon
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • 1 lemon peeled
  • 1 handful mint
  • 1 handful of parsley

Green Bullet!

  • 1 cucumber
  • 2 sticks celery
  • 1/4 lemon
  • hand full of coriander
  • hand full of parsley
  • 1 cup coconut water

Simple Green:

  • 4 sticks celery
  • 2 cucumbers
  • 1/4 lemon

Melon fantastic:

  • 1/4 water melon
  • 1/4 cantaloup
  • 1/4 rock melen
  • 1 hand full of fresh mint

Why Leafy Greens are so good for you and the Nutritional breakdown.

Enjoy trying them all and play with what your child likes!

Tips: I suggest finding glasses and cups that are fun and even using flowers on top to diguse the colour so they try without making assumptions. Also get the kids involved in chopping and making them it will encourage them to want to try it more.

Good luck and remember they sense your fear and emotions – if you are hesitant and scared they will not go for it. Be confident and set an example by eating well yourself. Monkey see monkey do. Kids can not buy their own food, so only stock the best at home and choose only the best when you are out. If you are suffering with self sabotage and food binging and cravings. Contact me to coach you to break free of these . . . like I did.

Much love and Thanks Hannah xx