What’s on my plate this month?

food is the best medicine for your vibrant child 
“The #1 medicine for my patients? Food. If I could find something better, I’d use it.”
~ functional medicine pioneer Mark Hyman, MD
at the Institute for Functional Medicine Conference, September 10th, 2012

Sadly we’re not a culture that’s tapping into this pharmacy.
As parents, we’ve become complacent, indulgent and (let’s face it), too busy to turn our attention to true healing on a meal-by-meal basis. The current societal swing brings a lot of pressure and we as parents are concerned that our child will be “different” among their peers. As a result, we may very well be overlooking the fact that we’re the ones, right here, right now, that have a strong hand in informing the health, longevity and disease prevention for our kids.
Is it our fault, as parents, that 1 in 4 teens today is either pre-diabetic or diabetic?
And before we allow ourselves to get off the hook, just because of the way our child looks (ie. not overweight), a good number of that diabetic population is thin! These kids are developing what’s called metabolic obesity. Their inside physiological genetic make-up is like a little switch just waiting to be turned “on”.
Here are a few key factors that light up the switch board in our little ones in all the ways we wish we could prevent down the line:
* allergens
* infections
* toxins
* stress
* and, you guessed it, nutrition
These factors can be known to us parents and quite visible, or they can be little underlying and niggling factors that we chalk up to being part of who our child is. . . .
* bags under the eyes
* chronic runny noses
* difficulty sleeping or falling asleep
* chronic constipation
* belly aches
* skin irritations, like rashes or eczema
* difficulty breathing
* sensory issues
* behavioral challenges (at home and school)
* sassy attitudes
and more
Whatever your child is telling you. Listen.
With their voice they may be telling you that they want bagels or mac & cheese or even a daily cupcake from the gluten-free bakery.
But what are they telling you otherwise?
What are their signs and symptoms telling you?

It’s to address the concerned parent, like you, that I created the comprehensive Your Vibrant Child course a few years ago with my good friend, colleague and favorite chef, Andrea Livingston.
The best news is that we’ve been working like dogs to repackage the whole program so that you could have the education and resources at your fingertips to learn the Whys and Hows of fine-tuning your listening ear and making the best decisions for your family.
That’s what you want after all, to make the best decisions for your family.
What I’d like to invite you to do is Be the Change. Provide disease prevention for your kids now.
Your Vibrant Child awaits you.
Warmly,