#418 Ali Miller: Building Resilient Kids With Real Food

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The first foods that the pediatrician are still telling mothers to feed their children is rice cereal, which is ultra processed, super high glycemic index and synthetically enriched. So right there, we're starting to imprint them with a synthetic versus natural and a high glycemic bland food. Which doesn't challenge their palate with savory or bitter.

When kids are eating too soft a foods, which in America we see them go from the rice cereals to the ultra process puffs, which are like these air puff crisps that they'll say has spinach, but it like has a powder of spinach, you know, extract again, synthetically, enriched synthetically and enriched rinsed and rinse and repeat.

'cause they're just getting bombarded with synthetic vitamins. Because the foods are devoid of nutrient density. Mm-hmm. Right? Uh, and then they go, you know, to the goldfish, they go to the, and so they're eating, even if they're crunchy, they're ultra processed crunchy foods. So they're not developing their jaw from just like a macronutrient perspective.

I know you were [00:01:00] talking about babies being a ketosis. Is there a different, like as your child starts to reach, like two to five versus six to nine, is there a difference in regards to like the macros or like the split of fat to carbs that your child or protein that your child might need? Or does it stay fairly consistent?

I think it's so interesting just thinking about like. Supporting that in child development, like not obstructing it by adding processed foods in and basically like hot wiring and like breaking the system. Yeah. And just giving them that the, the foods that, you know, ultimately, ultimately will make them thrive and give them all the things that they need to thrive.

Yep.

Allie, welcome to the V Mafia Podcast, part two. Thank you. We're excited to have you back on. I'm super stoked to be here. Great. Yeah, we were saying just how quick time passes 'cause you were episode 2 36, which we recorded in 2023. Okay. Um, and Harry and I always say off camera that you were one of the most insightful guests we'd ever had on from a nutritional and food standpoint.

Oh, I love it. Yeah. And just the [00:02:00] timing of this episode, um, you're about to release a children's, a, a cookbook and recipe book called Naturally Nourished Kids. Yes. Which we think is, if you take like all the issues that this country is facing, if you just fix the food for our kids, that's our thesis where a lot of amazing things will flow out from that.

So the fact that that's what you're choosing to attack with your book, we were super excited and we can't wait to dig into that with you today. Yes. I, when I've been really focused on putting out a resource for optimizing mental and metabolic health for children for over five years, my daughter is now nine.

So basically since. Conception with Stella. I started of course, immediately digging deep into how can I grow a super baby? Mm-hmm. How can I nourish my baby, uh, and set her up for the best optimal health for brain, for mental health, for metabolic health, and give her the best opportunity for success, of course.

Mm-hmm. And then have watched in my clinic with my work with the anti-anxiety diet, the role of [00:03:00] neurological conditions, working with a lot of A DHD children, children on the spectrum, uh, aversions and, uh, taste Avoidances or food jags. And now Becky, my co-author of this book, just had her third baby, so.

We've gone through from baby led weaning through keeping healthy hip, we have solutions for you. And it's equally a guidebook as it is a cookbook. Mm. So when do you think people should start thinking about this topic? Is it even before they have a kid? Like, I feel like guys are doing it. Yeah. Thank you.

Also, thank you for putting this on your platform, right? Yeah, absolutely. Free fathers. Yes. Uh, you know, recently married and getting married soon. Yeah. But this is the time. I mean, because really for women optimal fertility, we start to think of preconception health at one year prior to getting pregnant.

Wow. So this is the time to start focusing on our health, our antioxidant status, the stress and inflammation in our bodies to optimize fertility and opportunity for children. And then, you know, really to start to lay the foundation of a [00:04:00] household that will help them thrive. Mm-hmm. That's amazing. Sorry, what were you gonna say?

No, I was just gonna say, I, I feel like it's, it's a topic where, you know, a lot of people just put it off until it actually matters. But the habits that you have before you have a kid are gonna. Just be the bedrock of, you know what, you start feeding your kids. And yes, kids are so observant too, like they're watching their parents.

So I think just like having those habits going into, you know. Conception and actually raising your kids is so, so pivotal. Yeah, and I mean, beyond the eating thing, which we'll get into food as medicine and nutrition of course, and priorities of macros. Setting the tone, like you said, of a healthy eating environment is something you can already start practicing.

So like digital devices away from the table, if we wanna listen to soft music, like a record playing in the background, that's reasonable, but television should be off. It's our job as parents to create a safe eating environment and that creates less chaos, which allows more acceptability, more opportunity for connection.

You know, the dinner table is really sacred space where we can really foster our children here about their [00:05:00] day, uh, really instill values and round table struggles in their life and provide advice. And we need to provide that nourishment that goes beyond food, that spiritual nourishment, that family nourishment, and create that environment to do so.

Mm-hmm. And all too often I see, you know, couples already sitting out, dining out, scrolling on their phones, being a, you know, lack of absence in their brain and spiritual space. And that's not gonna set the tone, I think, for a family success. Mm-hmm. It's so funny you say that because like you had mentioned, I got married the end of June, and so my wife and I, we've been doing long distance because she had been living in New Jersey.

I've been living in Austin, Texas, and now that we've been living together, together for the first time, I've had this almost like spiritual sense of, wow. So many of these habits that seem really small that we're starting to lay now will probably pass off to our families. And it's so easy to just, you know, scroll on your phone or not pray before your meals.

Yes. And like you were saying, it literally starts before you decide to start having children. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And it just passes on, no doubt. Yeah. So what was the process like? Putting pen [00:06:00] to paper for this, when was the initial idea formed? When did it become important for you to actually put a book together on the idea?

So Becky and I have been working together since 20 15, 20 14 I believe. And she started working for me as my food photographer. So she's photographed all of the cookbooks and uh, then she started doing recipe blog writing. Wow. And so some of these recipes go back from 2014 to date. Wow. Uh, and some of them were developed like the strawberry collagen Lemonade was.

Stella's Princess Pink Lemonade for her fourth birthday party. The zucchini fritters were her second birthday party. Appetizer. Uh, we have Noah Becky's oldest son, uh, his blueberry bone broth smoothie featured in here. We have Mabel's Greek yogurt waffles in here, which Becky pre-made and froze when she was pregnant with Mabel.

And Mabel literally grew up with a waffle in her hand nonstop. They're paleo, they're delicious. Wow. Uh, and then Otto hasn't had a named recipe yet because he is [00:07:00] four weeks old at this time, but, uh, we'll get him in the next book. The se this has been kind of building, you know, as we've been of course, uh, growing our own families and coming up with the recipes that we love in our household that we wanted to put together and share with others.

It seems like when I'm was reading through that book, prior to you coming on the podcast, it's, it seems like you and Becky have said, especially for children, there's a world that exists where you can make meals for your children that taste absolutely delicious, that almost tastes like desserts or like these really savory junk foods, but they're actually incredibly nutrient dense.

You're not compromising on ingredients. Like I feel like we think that these worlds are mutually exclusive, especially for kids where it's like, if something tastes really d, if something um, is really healthy, my kid's not gonna like it. And I feel like you've kind of defied that with your cookbook, where it's like, Hey, let's give you some amazing recipes that aren't super complicated that.

Your kids are gonna love and they're also gonna get the right macros and micronutrients to, to fuel healthy growth as as they grow up. Yes. Well, and in fact, I referenced a research study in the beginning content [00:08:00] where they looked at a equal delivery of macros of an ultra process, food diet, and a real food diet.

Mm. And then they did a cross-sectional study where they flipped groups. So the groups that had the ultra process foods ate the real foods in a two week crossover. And in both scenarios, when they were eating the whole real foods, they lost weight. Wow. In both scenarios, when they were crossed over in the ultra processed foods, they gained weight.

When they looked at, uh, enjoyability and satisfaction, there was better satisfaction in the whole rail foods. And there's. Was equilateral enjoyment in the ultra processed foods. In the whole real foods. Wow. So you can't say that my kid won't eat it because they're used to these things or these foods don't taste good.

And I think it's also equally important to note that one of our big focuses in this book and with guiding our children to optimal health is channeling a savory palette. I preach on this through all ages, truly. And this is where we even start with baby led weaning versus rice cereals. So, you know, when you're starting with First Foods following breastfeeding and you're [00:09:00] starting to introduce solids to your baby, when we are using food as medicine in a naturally nourished approach, we want to use whole real foods that are nourishing single ingredient sources, uh, not ultra processed, refined carbohydrates, which are marketed to children.

So the first foods that the pediatrician are still telling mothers to feed their children is rice cereal, which is ultrapro super high glycemic index and synthetically enriched. So with synthetic enrichment, if a child is M-T-H-F-R or has the genetic mutation on methylation and they get synthetically enriched folic acid in their first food, they're already starting to get more neurological stress to their system because that's hindering their methylation process.

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And about 40 to 60% of Americans have an M-T-H-F-R gene. Mm-hmm. So right there, we're starting to imprint them with a synthetic versus natural and a high glycemic bland food, which doesn't challenge their palate with savory or bitter. Mm-hmm. So for. Steals. Her first solid food was actually salmon. Uh, we [00:10:00] followed that with avocado, um, and then smashed blueberries, and then it kind of grew from there.

Uh, and Becky's done very similar things. We're all about providing even like bones actually for children to GNA on. So like, think like a lamb chop. Mm-hmm. Uh, for teething and actually developing the, the motor skill and also the, uh, mandible getting that jaw working earlier on. More primal support.

Salivary enzyme production, digestion is enhanced. And I even mentioned in the book further that. When kids are eating too softer foods, which in America we see them go from the rice cereals to the ultra processed puffs, which are like these air puff crisps that they'll say has spinach, but it like, has a powder of spinach, you know, extract again, synthetically enriched, synthetically enriched, rinse, rinse and repeat.

'cause they're just getting bombarded with synthetic vitamins because the foods are devoid of nutrient density. Mm-hmm. Right? Uh, and then they go, you know, to the goldfish, they go to the, and so they're eating, even if they're crunchy, they're ultra processed crunchy foods. So they're not developing their [00:11:00] jaw.

As we're seeing in the trend. Probably more of your guys' group, like the mewing and like the, trying to make jaw definition, right, because ultra processed foods creates atrophy. We are getting more occlusion, we're getting our wisdom and teeth removed because we're not using our chew because we've done the processing and the machines so we can just lazy mouth our palate.

Uh, and so when we actually chew. Crazy things happen. We can actually see in the hippocampal area of the brain that if we do not activate our mastication function, that there's atrophy in that part of the brain. Wow. We can actually see then our prefrontal cortex, which is the part of our brain that plays a role with decision making, uh, plays a role with cognitive function, learning processes, attentiveness and memory, that if we do not chew and eat enough protein, we can see, uh, disabled function in that area.

And so giving your kid like stew meat, um, raw carrots in their lunch, actually making them work, that part of their, of their mouth provides the body signals that we're [00:12:00] parasympathetic. We're in a rest digest mode. No one chews a steak when they're surviving from a cheetah. Right? Yeah. Like we're not eating then.

Yes. Um, and so chewing in itself tells the body it's safe. It tells the body that it's parasympathetic versus in a survival mode, which we all need 'cause we're bombarded with stressors. Uh, and we're just not providing that opportunity in toddlerhood and in babies. And it's a huge disservice. And we're seeing this all the way into the elementary kids and so forth.

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And adults, I mean, adults are eating soft processed foods too. Mm-hmm. There was a study that I read a while back, I think it was from the, maybe the 1930s, and it was kids had basically like different choices of different types of nutrient dense foods that they could choose and their pals like, this just blows my mind around just the ch like our natural wiring, this neurological wiring that gives us this ability to like seek out nutrient density through our palate.

Mm-hmm. Um, one of my favorite books, one of our favorite books, um, by Mark Schatzker, the Dorito Effect talks about that. Yes. Where like, our tongues are this map of Yes. How to find the right nutrients. Mm-hmm. [00:13:00] And I think it's so interesting just thinking about like, supporting that in child development, like not obstructing it by adding processed foods in and basically like.

Hot wiring and like breaking the system. Yes. And just giving them that the, the foods that, you know, ultimately, ultimately will make them thrive and give them all the things that they need to thrive. Right. I always say, you know, I'm also a fan of the concept of intuitive eating. Mm-hmm. But we cannot apply intuitive eating when we are eating chemical shit storms.

Yes. Yeah. We cannot apply intuitive eating with a bag of Oreos. We cannot apply intuitive eating because the food scientists are setting us up with hyper palatability, with, uh, you know, disrupting hunger cues and signals. And so it's really difficult to eat intuitively to listen to your body. Mm-hmm. When you're not eating whole real food or food made from God, you're eating manmade, industrialized foods.

Yeah. Uh, it, you have to, in order to have the access to eat intuitively, you have to rewire your metabolism and eat whole real foods. And then I think that you can [00:14:00] really be quite intuitive with the diet. Hmm. Totally. Were you gonna say something? Nope, I was gonna say it must be really encouraging. Um. For potentially new parents, knowing that from day one of your child getting solid foods, that you could be rewiring that savory palate.

Yes. I never thought about it. Like literally from the time you get them off breast milk or formula that from the first, you know, the bite of salmon or the bite of blueberry, what that could do to your, your child 20 years down the road. Yeah. So other really cool, you know, first foods is like bone marrow.

Uh, usually we wait till like eight or nine months 'cause it's pretty fatty of course. Mm-hmm. But super nutrient dense. Uh, we can provide children patts patts, we often will do like on preloaded spoons, so there's still baby led weaning. The idea with baby led weaning that is. Super important is it provides autonomy with the child.

It allows for more, uh, fine motor development skills. They're using their pince or grip to pick things up. There's more of a neuro mental connection of satiety and the eating experience. I can't tell you how [00:15:00] many times, and now you'll be aware when you are in some public space and you'll see a mom on her phone and there's a baby, and they're feeding them like this.

Mm. Um, and the baby's like gagging on the spoon. Wow. And they're just taking the spoon and cleaning that rice cereal and shoving it in their mouth. Uh, and now start to pay attention. Know versus am I imagine the scenario of a baby actually sitting. At the dinner table with the family using their own hand.

Mm-hmm. Watching people and at their own pace. Maybe they miss sometimes maybe they make a mess. Mm-hmm. But they're actually able to choose, select. Now you create the opportunity. So for instance, with Elle's, we would always start savory and she loved blueberries and so we would, if she would slow down with her protein smash, two more blueberries.

Are you still interested in eating kind of thing. Mm-hmm. You know? Mm-hmm. And then it's like, okay. And then she'd go for some more burger bite, grass fed burger or um, you know, other soft cooked meatballs and such. Uh, we can incorporate ancestral blends into ground meats with ease for children very early on for nutrient density.

Of course. Uh, and it's really [00:16:00] beautiful when you do that because again, babies in utero, I think we talked about this last episode, babies in utero are in ketosis. Uh, breastfed babies are in ketosis. So we literally break that. Now, formula fed baby's controversial depending on the type of formula, type of formula.

Uh, but you know, depending on how you baby lead, wean your baby, they could still have that hybrid, a access to using ketones and fat as fuel. For ongoing. Mm-hmm. They can have blood sugar stability. And honestly, the crux of metabolic illness, of course is dysglycemia and diabetes and blood sugar instability.

And when we talk about children, they are so susceptible to hypoglycemia because their poor little pancreas is trying to push out insulin from those ultra processed high, high-glycemic carbs, and they're on the blood sugar roller coaster of highs and lows. Wow. And you know, we use that as a visual in the book actually, for parents to be able to talk to kids about the importance of understanding what is a carb, uh, what is a whole food carb and why [00:17:00] that matters, and the difference of impact on glycemic index.

And then the concept of no naked carbs of why we would pair a protein or a healthy fat with a naked carb, because that helps to sit like a lid on the jar and to make a speed bump versus a. Bike and, um, residual crash. Mm-hmm. And when you look at kids, and you can talk to any teacher, the postprandial, fancy medical word for after lunch.

Right. The after feed class is always the worst. Mm-hmm. Because they're coming off of a sugar high. Yes. And they are dealing with highs of energy. They're dealing with irritability, they're dealing, they can't sit still. Uh, and then what's happening is the, the teachers are threatening the parents to medicate the children.

One in five children is diagnosed with a mental illness or learning disability in America, one in five. Wow. Uh, and that's just astronomical to me. And I think really if we could harness the blood sugar irregularities and get them off that blood sugar rollercoaster, we would see a huge improvement. What do you think the number would be?

Just what, what do you think the number would be if we like actually had more one in 20? Yeah. [00:18:00] I mean, maybe even less. Yeah. Truly. I mean, have y'all been on a blood sugar rollercoaster? I mean, we all have, right? Oh, yes. Yeah. Yeah. We all know what it feels like and we're grown adults. And so if, if children don't have the ability to tap into their primal.

God-given human code to be able to fast and make ketones to be able to have metabolic flexibility. We're disabling them for success in all aspects. Absolutely. I mean, of course, mental and metabolic health, and it could go further. We had, um, a guy on the podcast named Mike Collins and he talked about.

Sugar, um, in vitro, like before the child is even born. Yeah. Potentially having these effects of like making the child more prone to addiction. Yes. And prone to like blood sugar dysregulation like you're talking about. But also like, you know, as they're growing up, these sugar spikes and crashes do have some link, I guess according to the research that he was looking at to addiction.

Mm-hmm. And getting prone to addiction. Yes. And it's interesting, you know, so I have a 9-year-old and she's at that, I think she's officially a tween now, [00:19:00] is what they call them. Uh, and she's fun. I mean, I'm, I always have her on my Instagram, so if you wanna check her out, you can check out Ally Miller. Uh, but she was just on my podcast 'cause I wanted to interview her of her life experience of eating naturally nourished.

And we had never talked about actually, uh, we, we talk about naked carbs, we talk about the blood sugar rollercoaster, whatever. But she told me a phrase that I hadn't heard Makes sense. But the kids call it a sugar rush. And she, she said on the episode, she's like, well, a sugar rush is when you get real, there's three signs of a sugar rush.

I'm like, okay. She's educating me. And she's like, you get real sweaty. She's like, you laugh your head off. Mm-hmm. And then you fall down and she's like, and then you feel so tired. You have a headache and your belly hurts. And I was like, okay. And she's like, yeah, kids talk about all the time on the playground.

And I was like, have you had a sugar rush? And she's like, only once or twice, like at a birthday party. And let me tell you, it's not good. Yeah. And so it's so funny, I, I use this even likelihood in adults. It's like we adapt to mediocracy [00:20:00] and then we adapt to expectations of shitty and that's normal. Uh, and so when we don't live in optimal thrive mode, we don't know what that stair step down feels like.

Um, once you start to set the tone for your children in your household to optimal thrive mode, no one's going to dip down. And if they do, it might happen three, four times a year, which is reasonable to not have an impact of, you know, health consequence. Yeah. What's really cool is the fact that, to your point, your daughter already has intuition at nine years old.

Yeah. Like, I don't think I even really had intuition until I went carnivore when I was 24, 25. Sure. Like you just, how many people just blanket accept, like they understand that their food is not making them feel good, but there's no. Understanding your contrast of, Hey, when I eat this, I actually feel really good when I eat this, I don't feel good.

Like, just the fact that she already has that intuition, like you think about what that compounds do over the next 20 years. It's pretty amazing to think about what this, like, this next generation could grow up to become just by eating the right foods. That's so encouraging to me. Yes. Well, and if [00:21:00] we don't go back to her, I, I want to share this because I hear flack and I know it's only gonna get louder as the book comes out of, well, this can set the stage for disordered eating.

Mm-hmm. This can set the stage for restriction. And I wanna say this, in our household, on our mantle in our household, we have Romans 12, two written down in a Sharpie. And I think that that's a big way in the way that I live my life, do not conform to the patterns of this world. Um, but transform your mind, the renewing of your mind mm-hmm.

So that you can be a, a, know God's will. Right. And so it's, we are in this world, we're not of this world. Mm-hmm. And Stella, yes. It does feel different to eat differently. Yeah. It also is gonna feel different when you choose to not have sex. It's also gonna feel different to choose to not have, uh, do drugs or participate mm-hmm.

In other things that are secular cultural norms that we don't do. And so, you know, what I feel as a parent, that I'm actually giving her the fortitude and strength at [00:22:00] an early age to know what it feels like to be different than her peers. And to be confident in that space and own it than to say I should normalize her child experience.

Mm-hmm. And let her eat things that I believe are disempowering, chemical, altered processed foods or food like substances maybe shouldn't even be called foods to normalize her and allow her to not have fear. Association of processed foods. You know? Yeah. It's just like, that's like telling your kid they can have a little bit of sex.

Or do a little bit of things, but not, you know? Mm-hmm. It just doesn't make sense to me. It's like, if it's right or if it's wrong, if it's good or if it's bad. Um, we have to be able to instill principles with strength, and we have to be able to be confident to be in this world being different. Mm. That's a powerful reframe.

I feel like I'm ready for the moms to come at me. That's why, just like, I'm ready. I've been thinking about it, you know, but just the, the thought of, you know, the, the obvious question is like, well, where's the line of, you know, educating and informing your kid and giving them the tools, but without, you know, creating [00:23:00] harm.

A harmful side effect. Right. And I, I, I think you just delivered the perfect response to that, which is empowering your kid to be comfortable being uncomfortable, being the one who's probably in the minority anyways. 'cause they know about what, what they're putting in their body. Like most kids don't know Right.

Anything about food. Right. Most kids don't know a thing about food. They're not, they're not being equipped to. Fuel themselves. And that's why you, you know, you look around and it's like a lot of people are unhealthy. They don't know what they should or shouldn't be eating. Yes. And we're working on discernment and delivery.

Yeah. Because, you know, that's the, so another scenario is like she, she is used to not having the birthday treats at school, right? Mm-hmm. That's classic because. It's, it's not just she's gluten free and, and you get these forms as a parent, does your child have any allergies? No. And then there's like the, my husband's like, okay, what are we gonna, you know, what comes next?

However, please do not feed my child anything. Period. Hard stop. You know? And then it like goes on and it's like, if there is to be a food related activity, I would like notification in advance so I can provide an alternative [00:24:00] or nourishing option. I always try to be. A asset or a, uh, source of help to a teacher versus a thorn in their side.

I never want to create more work. Bless our teachers. Yeah. Uh, but also I wanna create an opportunity for all the kids to experience food as medicine. And so I've been able to incorporate, uh, for instance, last year in Stella's school, we made beet hummus over Valentine's Day. And from literally they have a garden.

We went from the garden process of harvesting the beets to roasting the beets. Um, they got to use real chef's knives. I mean, and Wow. Third graders. It's so cute seeing 'em stand in line with their aprons and they're just super engaged and. They're learning about antioxidants and I'm educating them on, you know, the processes of, uh, oxidative stress.

And we made the hummus, we packaged it, they got to label it, they got to make marketing terms. They're learning how to grow a business. Mm-hmm. And it's like, this is the type of empowerment that we need to provide them access to. So it becomes, again, hip desirable, cool. Mm-hmm. Um, and, [00:25:00] and that's how I think in the world of, again, in this world versus of this world, that's how we share what we do.

Right. Like, they'll know we're Christians by our love type of thing of like, you exem, you exemplify the light, you exemplify a magnify Christ in the best way you can. That extends to the food world. If we don't come down and shame and say, I can't believe you're eating trick cereal for breakfast. Mm-hmm.

We say, Hey, would you like to try a slice of my green eggs and ham, Tata? Then if your kid likes it, we talk about the benefits of choline for their brain development and how if we could just get every kid to eat a half, one and a half eggs per day, we would see huge neurological gains. And so, you know, I think it's leading through example, not preach in a sense, if that makes sense.

And I think that's where Stella is already starting to see peers asking her for parts of her lunch, which is pretty cool. Wow. And uh, I was gonna say, um, she was at an event where they gave a cookie cake and a woman came out to the lobby and said, oh no, Stella said she can't have the cookie cake. Could she [00:26:00] have?

And she had in her hands like three bags of things and she had, um, Doritos, you know, some other brand of a chippy thing and something else. And I said, oh no, she's fine. And the woman's like scattering. And she's like, but these are gluten free, these are, and I just looked at her, I said, is Stella upset? And she said, no, Stella's just dancing with her friends.

And I said. Believe me, I appreciate your efforts, but it's more, it's more stressful for you than for my daughter to have a snack. Mm-hmm. She's good. She ate a snack in the car. Like she just wants to play with her friends. Yeah. Yeah. Because I don't also wanna come down and be like, oh, we don't do high fructose corn soup.

We don't, and educate them in that moment with shame. Totally. You know what I mean? Yes. It's easier to just kind of, some times, um, just pivot away is the best way. It's a tough balance. Right. But the fact that her, uh, her classmates are taking to it is really cool and really encouraging. Yeah. Yes, yes. And this year we're throwing her in a bigger school, so we'll see how it goes down with a real cafeteria and all the things.

That's awesome. Do you, from a, from just like a macronutrient perspective, I know you were talking about babies being in ketosis. Is there a [00:27:00] different, like as your child starts to reach, like two to five versus six to nine, is there a difference in regards to like the macros or like the split of fat to carbs that your child or protein that your child might need?

Does it stay fairly consistent? Curious, relatively consistent. I mean, so, so kids are a lot more metabolically flexible than adults. Uh, so they have a lot more leeway of carb intake. Mm-hmm. Uh, but generally speaking, we go when we have guidelines in here for parents based on age range and, uh, we go above the aa, um, I think it's the American Academy of Pediatricians, uh, guidelines.

And, um, we're significantly higher in protein. The protein guidelines in America are insufficient for child development and brain development. I mean, it's, it's. Honestly very sad. And it sets them up for disabled learning. Mm-hmm. Uh, and so, you know, it's literally like to prevent wasting. Wow. And so the protein levels that we recommend are more than double what's recommended in the American guidelines.

Uh, the fat range is actually [00:28:00] quite comparable, but we're more emphasis on sourcing and whole food based fats, of course. Uh, and we identify, of course, industrialized fats, avoidance of seed oils, and y. Then carbohydrates. We do have a section where we actually have a code on recipes for keto friendly. If a child is at the level of considering an intervention for metabolic health, let's say ozempic, I prefer them do our keto approach.

Of course, if a child is on consideration of an A DHD drug, I'd prefer them do the keto of course. And so at that level is when we then would say, okay, if you're considering medication intervention for neurological or medi or, or metabolic conditions, let's go ahead and tighten up the carbs tighter. Uh, but otherwise, with activity factor and the growth that's going on with kiddos, um, they can do about 50% of their macros.

You know, 35 to 50 of carbs. Got it. Mm-hmm. How do you go about educating your kids with these tools and equipping them with these tools so that [00:29:00] ultimately they're the ones out there like making decisions around? These food choices at the, at a certain point? Well, so I think it, you have to meet them where they're at and, uh, we try to, in the book, go through, uh, guided conversations, we call it.

Mm. Uh, because I think that that's like something first to set the tone. You can't expect your children to do anything new. You aren't providing them the opportunity to be heard and seen. Uh, food is an area where, and I would agree in that sense that food is an area where children as early as toddlers start to learn their ability to assert control.

Uh, and it's a way for them to have behavior jags, it's a power mechanism. And they realize very quickly 'cause kids are smart, they realize very quickly how their parents can get quite frazzled if they deny a food or very, you know, and, and so they, they, they can latch in on that and they can read that.

And so it's important that you create clear expectations that you are [00:30:00] consistent, um, and that you speak to them and listen to them. And so we have a section in here actually called being a Taste adventurer. And it's like a, a printout worksheet that you can photocopy and use in your home. And you can start being a taste adventurer at age two.

All the way through 18 and probably there's some 20 plus year olds that need to be tasted ventures too, that are watching. Uh, and you know, we see in research it can take 10 to 15 times of introducing a food for acceptance of the new flavor profile. Mm. Uh, and so right early on we start having guided conversations of, we don't get to say yuck or no, we get to say descriptive words.

Was that too bitter? Was it slimy? Was it the, and so at young ages you can feed them words or you can cue words and see how they can communicate with you. Uh, for instance, Stella early on, uh, didn't like bell peppers cooked because I learned she thought they were like slimy worms. Well, I wouldn't have thought of that, but now I'm like, they kind of do look like creepy slimy worms.

Okay. Uh, and so we figured out that she would eat [00:31:00] chopped or diced peppers cooked, or if they were going to be long, she wants them raw because she likes a crunchy pepper versus a slimy wormy pepper. Mm-hmm. Totally fair. Uh, but that way, as a mother, I know I can get her those carotinoids. I know that she's getting the vitamin C in, and I know her willingness and I know what parts are unwilling and why.

Uh, and then we can work together and say, okay, well, would you be willing to try if I put it in X, y, z, she agrees. Yes. And guess what? When I deliver that plate to her, she's not going to fight back. She's not gonna have drama. She's going to know that she had the autonomy to join me on that decision making process.

And that I've delivered. And that's what it takes literally is like listening to your child and understanding their dislikes. You know, for a while cheese sticks were coming back in her lunch and I was like, I don't get it. And it came down that she was nervous to ask the teacher to open her cheese. And she couldn't open the cheese.

Wow. And so it's like I was meanwhile throwing, you know, thinking, oh, she doesn't like cheese anymore. It's like, again, we have to just pause and ask and understand and then explain to them if it's [00:32:00] important for us to troubleshoot the food, why we'd like them to eat it. So, you know, well, the broccoli that we have in here is really important because it has nutrients that helps our liver.

And our liver has to do so many things for our bodies, you know, and again, you can have. Educated conversations from toddler to advanced age. If you're talking to your teenager and you're talking about acne, you can talk about the liver connected to detox processes. Mm-hmm. And you can connect it to their hook, which is them having clearer skin, you know?

Mm-hmm. Yes. If we're ta and, and we also see for the record with acne, we've seen microbiome imbalance, which is why dermatologists prescribed doxycycline or an antibiotic. We can talk to our kids about eating probiotics instead for their acne and for insulin regulation, because we see in studies that insulin resistance is associated with acne.

So there's that conversation of why we don't drink soda pop. Mm-hmm. Uh, and so it's not just because I said so, uh, it's always tying in the information in a sense that's empowering and relative or relatable to them. So it sticks so it's [00:33:00] meaningful. And I think that's important at all ages. I mean, even when I'm talking to my 70-year-old patients, I can't just say, eat this because, right.

It's, it's, it's because this will do this for you, and this part is important to what you told me was your goal. That's really cool. So it's like, so you're saying not allowing, um, your child to describe it as like, oh, I don't, I don't like this. Or Yuck actually being able to use descriptive words. Yes. And then that gives you more information, then you can kind of like meet somewhere in the middle.

Yeah. So we literally have texture, appearance. Color, flavor. Uh, and then within those we give buzzwords. Yeah. So like flavor could be words like bitter, salty, sour, right? Mm-hmm. And then it's like, oh, okay, so it's because I added the lemon in that, let me try it again for you without adding the lemon.

Mm-hmm. And I mean, even better, Harry, to your question of getting kids to accept is getting them involved in the process. Mm. So we're getting them involved in the decision making process so that they're willing Yes. Because that's the first thing. We're not gonna shove it in their mouth. They need to come to the table willing.

So that's those conversations in [00:34:00] advance and getting them to be a partner with you in the process. But then we're also getting them involved in hopefully the selection from whether they're coming to the farmer's market with you as a family weekly ritual. Whether you're growing something in your backyard and they get to pick their first ever carrot or plant seeds, uh, that's always gonna increase willingness.

How excited. My child. And I've seen children of all ages working with gardening programs in youth, in inner cities, in Houston. The excitement of harvesting something you've grown and eating it is just like a very wild joy. Mm-hmm. And, and sense of they absolutely love it. Yeah. It's a total, I mean, in Houston, in the Fifth Ward, kids didn't know Carrot grew in the ground, you know?

Um, and so that, that part is huge. And then fast forward, getting them involved in the preparation is like game change. And we do this at all ages. We actually have by age range different tasks in bullet format that you can check off with your kiddos. So it starts as simple as like rinsing the berries and baking soda, which we've seen [00:35:00] can reduce pesticide residue significantly.

All the way to setting the table, uh, to tearing the lettuce leaves to cracking eggs. Of course, Stella now as a 9-year-old, has graduated to stove responsibilities. Wow. So she now lights the gas stove and she can put pans into the oven. Uh, we get children at age 15 and up to package the leftovers up independently, execute recipes, uh, of course to modify recipes, create their own recipes.

And so it's like a constant growing. And how empowered would we have all been if we were actually like, set up to thrive in college with these tools? Oh my gosh. And not having Right. To start from an unknown and, and anything. Yes. Uh, so, and I mean, I'm with, I had, I had, you know, diet Coke in college, I think in my freshman dorm year.

Um, so you know, if we didn't know much, but I think that getting them involved in the process, uh, also helps at the dinner table for less arguments, less fighting, less forcing of a, of a vibe. And it makes it more communal. Like that's what the dining experience is about. Right. Yeah. The connection aspect is huge.

Mm-hmm. Like through the whole process. Yes, yes. It's, it's more [00:36:00] inviting. Um, I'm so curious. What do you think makes kids picky eaters? Because I, you were talking about like texture and color. Mm-hmm. And those were two things when I was a kid, I was like, I could not eat anything that was like yellow or green.

Mm-hmm. And like, texture was definitely a thing. So I'm curious, like, is that, is there something to that that parents should look into? I think it's just, well, I mean, texture, avoidances can be, of course, more seen when we have like atypical neurological things, alto, like textures of clothing and such. Um, but a lot of that can be worked with like somatic, um, response.

Mm-hmm. And I will say that textured versions often come from lack of exposure, first and foremost. Yeah. Right. Again, so it's like, it's easier. Um, this is different to me. And if it wasn't introduced. With a Y of the different being positive, then I'm not gonna take that different choice. I'm gonna do the familiar, the easy, the option.

I mean, mac and cheese, you just swallow, right? You don't even have to chew it, I think. Yeah, I remember my brother and I used to do that. We'd be like, we are not even swallowing, we're not even chewing. We're just swallowing. [00:37:00] Okay. Yeah. It's such an interesting, it's just such a, yeah, an interesting paradigm shift that you're talking about because I feel like, I remember I have the best mom Italian, and um, I just remember being pushed like broccoli.

And being like, no, you need to eat this. And being like, well, I hate broccoli. Right. But you're talking about like, it's almost like this, like negotiation and you're letting your kid almost feel like autonomy and ownership in a way. It's so interesting. 100%. Yeah. And, and Right. And it's like also, you know, and maybe I'm, I, I'm sure your mom did a better job than mine, which my mom's fantastic as a mom, but we ate frozen broccoli.

Mm. So it was mushy and flavorless. Yeah. We didn't have vegetables prepared in my household in a way that had fat and flavor. Mm-hmm. And I think that's another important point to this book and the recipes we provide. 'cause there's that guidance and that conversation, but it also has to taste good. Yeah.

Yes. Like again, and that's the guiding of like how many parents serve their kids a mushy vegetable and they don't eat it. Mm. And they're like, eat your vegetables. [00:38:00] Totally. And then they're just eating their own thing. It's like we have to model and enjoy the food that you are eating and enjoying. And so with the broccoli, we have like a smashed, crispy broccoli with parm.

Mm. Uh, which is really yummy. I mean, pretty much everything's good with cheese kind of thing. Look past, but crunchy, salty flavor. We do, uh, roasted vegetables five ways. And uh, in that we actually talk about how to prepare vegetables in that section, which I think is really important. Mm-hmm. Uh, so I presented as really thinking culinarily of how that produce grew.

So we think from root to fruit, so roots are gonna be things that need longer time in the oven, often roasted, uh, or hit the pan first. So if we think about that, it's like, okay, that's. Duh. That's the onions and the garlic that always starts in the first pan. Pan with the recipe, right? Uh, or we'd be roasting sweet potatoes in the oven or carrots, and then we think from that root upbound into the stem.

So we think like celery, asparagus, a little bit more turgid, uh, but not as fibrous [00:39:00] as the roots. And then we work up into the fruits, which anything botanically that has a seed. So bell peppers. And we would even put like the cauliflower broccoli in that family as well. And then final would be the greens, which would be kind of braised in at the end.

Mm Uh so understanding how long to cook things is important to get that perfect crunchy Mylar browning flavor. Yes. Profile. Uh, adding enough salt, a quality mineral salt is so key. Uh, and then adding enough fat for flavor. So we're big fans of melting down tallow. Uh, we use coconut oil. We use olive oil as our primary go-tos for veg.

Then in the veggie roast five ways, we give different combinations. So like the beets are roasted with coconut oil and thyme. Uh, the kale is roasted as kale chips with olive oil and we call 'em ranch chips. So there's dried onion, powder, dill and, and um, garlic powder on those. Totally irresistible. Wow. And then there is, uh, in the cauliflower, turmeric, roasted cauliflower, and that's turmeric and [00:40:00] ghee, um, and cracked black pepper.

And so again, we're instilling all these synergies of food as medicine, but also imparting flavor and also educating you so that when you get produce of that likelihood, you kind of know how to treat it. Yes. Without a recipe type of thing. Got it. What would you say to the moms out there who are. Nervous about giving their kids fat.

They've heard all the things about fat saturated fats and don't wanna feed their kids fat. Yeah. Well, I mean, your child's brain, all of our brains are predominantly fat of makeup. Uh, and our kiddos need fat for hormone development, for growth, uh, neurological function. And unfortunately the fats that most children are having access to are industrialized seed oils, which are highly oxidized.

Uh, and what I think is important when we talk about food as medicine is that it's a double-edged sword. So, um, you know, we've seen in studies, and I reference a couple in the book that of course, and I know you guys have done a lot of content on seed oils, uh, but we've seen in studies that oxidized seed [00:41:00] oils drive inflammation in the body.

Mm-hmm. Furthermore, they're devoid of nutrients. So they are providing us grams of fat, but they're not providing us polyphenols vitamin E because the solvents like hexanes, which are still residually found in many of these products, which make them more inflammatory of course, but the solvents, the bleaches, the centrif fusion that goes on to take a tiny seed into a liquid oil, which is industrialized not God food, right?

It destroys any nutrient that was possibly in that seed. Uh, where if you look at the other end of the spectrum of a whole food fat, like cold pressed olive oil. Or even avocado oil. I've moved away from a lot in the kitchen because a lot of it is very processed still, you know? But if an avocado oil is actually green and pigmentation and cold pressed, we know that that's more of a whole food.

Mm-hmm. That's actually retaining some polyphenols. We see it visually with the color. It hasn't been chemically stripped or bleached. Uh, and we know that that has more vitamin E because of that, that has more antioxidants because of that. And so again, it's, it's not just [00:42:00] avoiding seed oils because they create oxidative stress and inflammation.

It's eating whole real foods because they provide you nutrients. Yes. Right? Yes. So it's like not just avoiding that. Mm-hmm. And, and, and that's what I always say about ultra processed foods, is that they're not just empty calories. That's the worst messaging out there. They are net harmful. You know, these, a lot of these ingredients, um, and food-like substances I'll say, are not things that are fit for human consumption and actually distress the body.

They don't just feed the body empty calories. Yeah. It goes further than that. I think, what's the study that everyone points to? That 67% of all calories consumed in the US come in the form of ultra processed foods. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So you'd have to think now with children in, in the childhood obesity rate, it's probably similar to that.

I've seen 70 plus. Yes. Wow. Wow. When you think about like the poor, you think about the poor like 8-year-old kid that um, was fed like Lunchables for lunch or like a slice of pizza or something. And then you make him sit through history class. You're talking about that sugar spike. He obviously can't pay attention 'cause he is probably [00:43:00] not interested in that subject.

He also just had a sugar spike and the natural response is to just get him on some type of amphetamine like you're talking about, like Adderall or something else. And then he's on that. We're Harry and I see that. 'cause we're we're 31. So a lot of the kids that we grew up with have been on these drugs since they were like, some of them 10 to 12 years old.

Yes. And they can't do anything without this drug. Yes. And it's, it's crazy to think about. Yes. Versus like, could this all just be solved by. Just learning the, honestly, like learning the principles in your book and leveraging God foods. Truly. And all too often there are nutritional deficiencies seen with A DHD, and I mean, we can extend into neurological disorders across the board.

Mm-hmm. It's, it's really wild and unfortunate that we don't first start with at least nutritional supplementation as the first line of defense, like magnesium, bisg, glycinate, uh, like providing methylated folate, uh, providing nutrients that we know aid with concentration and focus. Uh, no child in America has a deficiency [00:44:00] of methamphetamine.

Uh, no adult has a deficiency of methamphetamine. Uh, it is not a key nutrient for the body, and yet there are many nutritional deficiencies and higher levels of oxidative stress or antioxidant insufficiency in these populations. Mm-hmm. And so that could easily be corrected. I just feel like, I know that there's gonna be people that listen to this podcast that are gonna be like, oh, like this all sounds great in theory, but like, do I, I don't, you know, I'm a busy parent.

I don't have time to cook, cook my child two to three meals a day. And I'm just thinking like, my natural response to that would just be, I, I know for myself, there are so many times just leveraging an air fryer where I can make two to three delicious meals, maybe. 30 to 40 minutes max outta my day. Mm-hmm.

And I know for myself, I'm like, I really, if I can't take 30 to 40 minutes to prepare something nutrient dense for myself, I really just don't wanna be healthy that bad. And I would have to imagine it has to be that on steroids for your child. So. Yes, yes. You know, the reality is, is yes, it does take time and energy and effort and no doubt.

[00:45:00] Uh, and I know firsthand and have worked with a mirad predominantly. I work with women in my practice and a lot of mothers. We provide, uh, parent hacks in a lot of the recipes. Mm-hmm. Like time-saving tips, uh, of ways to do multiple things at once. Or if you're prepping this, you can use part of this recipe in this, for instance, our sweet potato fries.

We use a part of that in the bison, bacon, kale, meatloaf. Uh, and so that adds moisture to the dish. So we chop up the already cooked sweet potato fries into the meat mixture, which is really yummy. Um, but we give those kind of parent hacks or, or tips to help to make things a little bit more streamlined, if you will.

Uh, but I will say every parent, every human should, every fully functioning human that is of age to live autonomously, uh, should be able to spend one day a week to meal plan, uh, and to lay out. What their week is going to look like. Mm-hmm. What we do in our household is, [00:46:00] uh, we use a deep freeze because we're very focused on quality meats, uh, and sourcing from our local ranchers and, uh, growers as far as produce goes.

Uh, so we use a deep freeze and my husband and I every Saturday or Sunday. It just kind of depends on the flow. We sit down with our cup of coffee and we literally map it out on the week and it's like, oh, I have a meeting engagement Tuesday night, so, uh, could you make dinner that night? Yep. Okay. I'm claiming this.

Okay. So it's, he's like, I'm pulling the pork chops from yonder and um, okay, well then we'll do sweet potato fries with that and kale chips. Check, check. Okay, well then on Monday I'll make the bison meatballs and then we'll have those leftover on Wednesday. 'cause Wednesday's a crazy dance day. I mean, you have to lay it out.

Mm-hmm. You have to plan and lay it out. Yeah. Especially when you're talking about multiple children in the mix and one is basketball, one is soccer, and one has, you know, dance and you're already trying to drive them around and do all the things. I will say that I think that in our culture we are overcommitting children to activities and not enough organic play.

That's a whole [00:47:00] other conversation, but we're trying to like, make our children into Pele soccer players at age seven. We are, it's like too much, man. Yeah, it's crazy. And then we're stressing ourselves out about their schedules. We're driving 'em 45 minutes to an hour and a half for their games, and it's like you're taking the heart of the family on a Sunday away.

Uh, there's a lot on that in its own piece. That's a whole other podcast. Right. But I think yeah. Food and Health has to be a centerpiece of, of the family because it, it's what we're made of. Yes. You know, I mean, at the end of the day, uh, so yeah, it, it takes, I would say a minimum an hour of planning and in, within that planning could be some prep.

Yeah. Uh, and should be some grocery listing of sorts. And then, you know, you with your partner determine is one doing the, are we all going to the farmer's market and then one does a grocery store run? Mm-hmm. Uh, how does this lay out? And everyone should be equipped with a couple, like 15 minute throw together meals.

Yes. You know, that are the busy, and, and you know, at times absolutely appropriate to use some pasture raised grass, fed grass finish sausages with, um, you know, [00:48:00] cucumber slices and carrots and a leftover nut flour muffin. And that's a meal. And that's okay. Yes. Yeah. But it's all still whole real nourishing foods.

Mm-hmm. Uh, and so, uh, I think that it's part of, just kind of fake it till you make it and Yeah. Make it a part of your priorities. Mm. I guess, uh, zooming out a little bit and just trying to like, think about your way of thinking and how you organize your thinking around nourishing your kids. What are, like, how, how would you go about organizing your thinking and just like for someone who's just, just getting started, like trying to be super practical, like what would you lay out or like, like at each meal or just like the pillars, like the pillars of how they should be approaching.

Like, Hey, I really wanna make like a 180 change on how I'm feeding my family. These are like the five main things to focus on to actually make an impact. Over the next two years, three years, four years. Yeah. So I think the first thing is understanding before we can worry about grams of protein or if the carbs are too high or what's going on is, is, is, is this a whole real food?

Mm-hmm. Uh, [00:49:00] is this God food or is this product of the industry? Mm-hmm. And so I think that that's first and foremost like the foundation because we have to learn to understand how to navigate whole real foods. Mm-hmm. How to select those and how to use those. And so that's the, the, the foundation of all plates.

And then I always go to protein as the priority, as the the second part. And so what is going to be Stella's protein on her plate? And this goes back into like if we're talking about lunches or even potentially dinner and we haven't locked in the meal plan, let's say we just know we're doing Black drum or.

Snapper, uh, that would be an opportunity to say, Hey, Stells, do you, are you, we got fish tonight for dinner. So not, you never say to your child, first off, what do you want for dinner? Hmm. That's not a guided conversation. Yeah. That's an open-ended ask for Yeah. Not honoring their voice. And that's crappy. As a parent, we don't want to ask our children to share their thoughts and then not honor them.

Does that make sense? Right. Yes. 'cause like, if you say, what do you want? Or Are you ready to go? And they say [00:50:00] no, then you're like, well, we still gotta go. Mm-hmm. So that's not a good question either. It's, it's, it's time to go. How can I help you get ready? Mm-hmm. Or it's time to go. I would like you to get your shoes on, please.

Right. It's giving direct cues. So, in the world of protein and we got this black drummer, snapper, I would say Stella, we're having snapper for fish. For fish. Uh, tonight, for dinner, would you prefer a pan seared with lemon and butter, or would you prefer it as uh, the almond flour breading like fish stick?

That way she gets to choose the format of it. I have all the ingredients on hand, it's not for me here or there. Mm-hmm. Um, and then I'll prepare in that way. And she's stoked about it. So she got to choose the prep, uh, or I might say in her lunch. What would be your protein of choice? We have leftover burger.

We could make deli rollups or kebabs with the chicken breasts. Kebabs. Cool. Would you like to make 'em? Yeah. And then she grabs literally an olive, a cucumber. She gets her little cutting board. She cuts her cucumber, she puts an olive, a cucumber, a raw cheddar piece, a cheese piece, a chicken piece, excuse me.

And then repeats that. And these are really cute little kebabs. And [00:51:00] she's got like animal, you know, little. Stick things and yeah, it's hip because she doesn't have labeled things in her lunch, but because of pop of color, uh, and so, you know, protein is the second priority. I went on a little tangent there, but just in the idea of like bringing them in it right, of like, they should choose their protein, they should know the importance of protein.

Mm-hmm. Uh, I think that the third priority would be that glycemic index of making sure that of their carbs, it's in a range that isn't going to rapidly spike their glucose. Mm-hmm. Uh, and seems metabolically sound so often that's like a half cup of a starchy vegetable for most kids, give or take. Um, or could be fruit as a side with that meal.

Then I think of antioxidants as key. Uh, when we talk about neurological disorders, oxidative stress is such a problem. And, uh, we're just, again, and the processed foods are zero antioxidants except for, um, synthetic additives. Uh, and so we really need those from whole real foods to offset the exposure to heavy metals, [00:52:00] to offset the exposure to microplastics, which our kids are bombarded by.

I mean, we see that lycopene, for instance, and I have this in our bone broth, tomato basil soup, uh, lycopene offsets, BPA. Um, and we see higher levels of BPA in autistic children. So it's like their bodies can't detox appropriately. So if we can give them more antioxidants to offset that inflammation from the environmental toxin, we're setting them up for more neurological success.

Mm-hmm. Uh, that'd probably be the fourth. And then the fifth one would just be ensuring within that antioxidant concept, we aim for two to three colors on each plate. Two to three colors. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Such a good framework. I feel like people can start with that and go, take that so far. Yes. Like, I mean, if, like, just as a basic framework, like the foundation of real food, real foods versus Whole Foods protein, uh, glycemic index, and then focusing on the fourth one, antioxidants.

Antioxidants. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And then the two colors. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like such a great framework for parents to just simplify it. And actually start applying these [00:53:00] things. Yes. And, and like I said, getting them involved in picking their protein is key. And also the colors. That's an easy early on. Yeah. I mean, your kids are starting to learn colors in age two, uh, maybe earlier.

And so it's like, why not say, oh, your lunch has a red item, it's missing another color. Can you go to the fridge and pick one out? Uh, and we really believe in a lot of that kind of Montessori method of like having the household ready for the child to access the items that can support the process as well.

So like, can they reach a plate to grab themself a snack? Um, they should have a whole plate set that they should be able to access versus reaching and needing, um, you know, and, and very early on can they pour themselves water. A lot of these things are really important in empowerment and the confidence that it builds is just fantastic.

And again, that's what makes them leaders in the world. Mm-hmm. Is both arming them metabolically and mentally, but also giving them ownership and confidence of. Doing these things. Hmm. I love that. Um, the day, the day set aside just to meal planning [00:54:00] too. I feel like that's something that's so basic, but so impactful.

Yes. Because I'm just thinking about even where I'm at pre-kids, how easy it is to just let like the stresses of the world impede your schedule. And like you imagine that, you know what that would be like actually having children and just having a dedicated day where it's like Monday through Sunday we have all of our meals locked in.

We know what we're gonna make. Yes. I have my days that I'm gonna go to the grocery store, or even now it's like there are so many high quality options even on DoorDash, where the gross or Instacart where they'll do the shopping if like Sprouts or Whole Foods. There's somewhere really good quality where even if you can't get out there, you could have that shopper pick you up those items.

No doubt, no doubt. Yeah. You should take it off your plate. Having the framework, you're setting yourself up. Of course. To be successful. And I think in a partnership it's so helpful because you're able to, early on in the week, ask your partner, I need help on this day. This day's gonna be really intense for me.

Mm-hmm. And, and that's the type of communication that keeps marriages together. We just celebrated my 16 year wedding anniversary and, um, congratulations. It's, it's important, you know, to be able to put up the white flag or hopefully anticipator [00:55:00] so, and say, Hey, this is gonna be a gnarly one. Like, I need to not have much responsibility in that evening.

Can we make sure we have leftovers on that day? Or, you know, is this something that you can provide food for? Mm-hmm. Yeah. I feel like it's a very hard thing to do, but being able to like effectively like communicate what level you're at in terms of like how much capacity you have and just being able to like.

Plan out meals is such a way to like, basically raise the floor of like how you guys are able to communicate as parents. Like, yeah, hey, we like know these are gonna be our meals. We have so many other commitments throughout the week. So like, uh, at a basic level, like we're gonna have this covered. And, you know, we're gonna be able to communicate the ebbs and flows of how we're feeling about all the other commitments that we have.

Mm-hmm. And when in doubt, you might have a recipe of my paleo chicken tenders in the freezer, just in case you need to pop 'em in the oven, you know, to back up. Yeah. I just whip up a tur of cu mustard sauce in a second. Uh, but yes, I think that it's so key and it's important for children to know what's coming.

Uh, it [00:56:00] can alleviate a lot of anxiety and unknown. We all like to know what's coming. Mm-hmm. And so if you have a meal plan that's on the fridge or that's in everyone's space, again, as far as acceptance at the mealtime, if they know on Wednesday morning that the evening meal is gonna be our cheeseburger casserole, they could be stoked about that and, you know, look forward to that.

Or they just know it's coming. And so they don't say, oh, I wanted the paleo chicken tenders. You know, they don't fight it. They're, they see it, they anticipate it. There's more willingness. Mm-hmm. When in doubt paleo chicken tenders. Yes. Yeah. Well, hopefully we just continue to see more like healthy new.

Like exciting startups entering the marketplace. Like our buddy Jesse has Jesse and Ben's fries. Okay. Which is pre-cooked fries. They started with avocado oil, but now they, they have beef tallow. Ones cool. That are pre-cooked and beef tallow. And just for parents to be able to pop those into the air fryer mm-hmm.

Is great. And then you maybe have some of those, those precooked chicken tenders too that you'd already made. Mm-hmm. Just these simple things like you were talking about. So I think we'll probably continue to see more and more new entrants into the space where it's technically not a single [00:57:00] ingredient food, but they've, they're extremely precise with the ingredients they put in and, um, can be like those in the pinch solutions for busy parents.

Love it. Love it. Yeah. If you had a billboard here in Austin to just put one message up about nourishing your kids, what would you put up there? Hmm. I think it would be. I think it would be eat God food or food, or eat whole real food. It's too good. It's too good of a message. Eat God food, not industrialized foods.

Yes. I think that's the fir, like I said, amen. You can't, you can't layer on, I mean, again, because there isn't hyper palatability, because it's made by. A parent or a chef versus a scientist who's literally looking at addictive tendencies, hyper palatability, dissatisfaction, altering satiety. I mean, we're wiring ourselves up for dysfunction when we're outsourcing our nourishment from God, food, uh, and then we're asking for industrialized solutions of pharmaceutical intervention and the whole, you know, [00:58:00] continuation of that.

So I think in order to really rewire our circuit board, or to get back to optimal metabolic and mental health, it has to start with whole real foods that come from God. These are foods that wilt, these are foods that. From an animal, came from an animal, uh, was once living and growing, uh, can expire, has not been chemically adulterated, does not have exposure to pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, uh, you know, and is eaten in its most whole traditional form.

I even have a section in the book about that because, you know, it's important to even denote that, you know, sourdough bread is very different from Wonder Bread. And, you know, uh, we've talked about how, you know, gluten in other countries is very different than the short dwarf hybridized wheat that is sprayed with glyphosate and then also sprayed with glyphosate again at harvest as a desiccant drying agent.

And that's where we're seeing it at astronomical levels in our children's cereals, right? [00:59:00] But yet when we go to Europe where it's banned, uh, that application, and then they're using. Ferments, uh, you know, sourdough cultures from the 16 hundreds, some places in Europe like from grandma's, grandma's, grandma's, grandma's, grandma's that they've kept alive, uh, in caves, you know, or cellars.

It's like, well, well that is a living. We just, we just provoked life. Word probiotic means for life. You know, we just brought life into this bread, into this emer. Um, and that is a different, that is God food. Yes. Wonder bread is not. Uh, and it starts with, again, the chemical application, the hybridization of the crop being an obesogenic crop to begin with.

The processing, the stripping, the refining, whereas stone milled, groaned, um, I'm a big fan of out here, um, Barton Spring Mill. Uh, they use all glyphosate, free US farmed grains, and they're using ancestral, um, or not ancestral, um, uh, ancient grains like Pharaoh, [01:00:00] Emer, et cetera. Um, and some grains that have been lost, and they're milling it in these old mills that don't remove the complete germ.

Mm. Um, so you're actually getting nutrients mm-hmm. Again, versus a total dead, chemically refined, you know, food. Hmm. That's incredible. So there, so that could even be another meal too, right? Like good quality bread that you approve of some good quality deli meats as well. Cheese, yes. Primal kitchen sauce or something like that.

Yes. We recommend keeping gluten out until, uh, gut is healed. Yes. And we're assuming that most are coming with some gut dysfunction. Yes. And metabolic dysfunction. So, you know, I speak to the point of, you know, with a naturally inertia approach to eating, we're providing a lot of gut restoration. There's an emphasis to have bone broth a couple times a week.

Mm-hmm. There's an emphasis to have a probiotic rich food a couple times a week as a condiment or as a base of a recipe, whether it's yogurt in a smoothie or confer or pickled vegetables, et cetera. And so with the focus, and then we're getting high antioxidant of course, and as we are removing inflammatory foods, [01:01:00] getting bone broth, getting cultured foods, we should be restoring both the, the epithelial lining of the gut and the microbiome of the gut that in time we should absolutely be able to tolerate fermented traditionally.

Produced grains. Awesome. Uh, and so I think that that's definitely on the table, just maybe not during the healing process. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I think my last question to you would be like, what? It is probably more like mental or mindset, spiritual advice, just to the mom or dad that's associated to this, that's loving this information.

And maybe they just kind of gravitated off of like a standard American, ultra processed diet to keto carnivore or paleo. Maybe they're just eating single ingredient foods and they're feeling really good, and then they wanna translate that onto their kids, but they're just like, they're loving this content, but they might even be a little bit overwhelmed too.

Mm-hmm. Um, yeah. Do you, do you have any like practical advice just mentally or spiritually just around making just some of these, starting to make some of these changes for their kids? Not overcomplicating it too much. Yeah. I mean, I, I think that's part of it [01:02:00] is, you know, not getting in perfection paralysis Yes.

And being at peace at the present mm-hmm. And starting to build with abundance. Uh, so not having like the scarcity of what isn't and worrying about perfection. I think that getting anxious about ultra processed foods often can drive more anxiety and neurological dysfunction than of course, um, you know, not knowing anything.

Mm-hmm. We can harm ourselves with fear alone. We all know that. Uh, so I would say take everything with a, a face of what can, how can I apply and what can I do? Mm-hmm. And knowing that this is an, a ongoing continuum, and so again, we don't have to have that perfection paralysis of, if I can't do it this way, then it's not worth it at all.

Mm-hmm. Where can you start to insert something? So they might have heard in today's conversation, okay, I need to give my kiddos something dense to chew because I need them to work their mandible. So I'm gonna include a raw veg in every lunch, or I heard that and I'm gonna give more steak or dense chewy meats.

'cause we usually only do ground meats. Uh, or another parent might, um, you know, be focused more on the two to three colors. And I think there's always a [01:03:00] piece we can apply. And then once that becomes normalized or uh, expected or like a, a ready foundational pillar, we just kind of keep layering it in.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Awesome. This has been great. I feel like, um, people are really gonna benefit from the work that you've put into this book. I feel like, you know, kids are the most prized thing that we have as a society. Mm-hmm. And just this investment in their future of just nourishing them correctly. It sounds so simple.

And the advice of just eating God foods, it really is. It's a simple endeavor, but there's so many complex things that go into making that happen. We just love and appreciate the fact that you've put this resource together for people. So thank you so much. Thanks. I'm super stoked to share it. What's the best way for people to, uh, get a copy of this book too?

So you can order it from any major bookstore. You can also order it@alimillerrd.com. So I can put a direct link in the show notes for that. Yeah, we'll drop that in. Uh, and yeah, it has a hundred plus low glycemic, antioxidant [01:04:00] rich food as medicine recipes. Uh, the guide in the beginning is 40 dense pages of information with guided conversation cues.

Those responsibilities based on the ages in the kitchen, uh, calculating your child's macro needs to navigating the blood sugar rollercoaster and so much more. Uh, so I hope everyone reading it finds something empowering about it, something to apply and that they see the return on their investment with the results of wellness in their household.

It's great. It's gonna help so many parents. Yeah. We'll link to all that in the show notes, but thank you so much for doing this. My pleasure. Cool.

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