July 28, 2024 • 46 mins
This is the first of a two-part series on raising healthy children in our modern-day world. In this episode we focus on healthy eating. In part two we will explore many other aspects of Raising Healthy Children.
Our guests, Lindsay Mathews and Rachel Norgan are both Registered Nurses, and Lindsay is also an IIN certified Health Coach. Together they bring to us their wisdom from many years of professional experience in treating, counseling, and coaching children and families. They are both also in the trenches of being active, thoughtful, and engaged moms of some pretty amazing young children. They underscore the significance of teaching children how to navigate life's challenges on their own, rather than simply providing them with solutions. Lindsay and Rachel emphasize the importance of kids understanding the "why" behind healthy choices, rather than just focusing solely on rules and regulations. They also highlight the value of modeling healthy behaviors for our children and fostering an understanding of stewardship towards their bodies and health.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Wellness Connection MD podcast.
I'm Dr Jim McVin, and thank youso much for joining us today.
Are you a parent strugglingwith how to raise your kids?
In this modern world that welive in, things are much
different than when I grew up.
Today, it seems like parentsare constantly faced with new
challenges from many differentdirections when it comes to
raising healthy, well-adjustedkids.
Well, we have some answers foryou on the show today, we're
(00:28):
going to pick the brains of twoof my favorite people in the
whole wide world, who happen tobe experts when it comes to
raising healthy, well-adjustedkids.
Both of our guests areregistered nurses with many
years of experience dealing withchildren and families, and they
are both right in the thick ofparenting young children
themselves.
As you can imagine, there's alot of ground to cover here, so
we're going to split this intotwo podcasts.
In part one, we'll discusshealthy eating, and in part two,
we'll cover all the otherimportant issues.
(00:48):
So buckle up and enjoy the show.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Welcome to the Wellness Connection MD Podcast
with Dr McMinn and Coach Lindsay, where we bring you the latest
up-to-date, evidence-basedinformation on a wide variety of
health and wellness topics,along with practical take-home
(01:19):
solutions.
Thank you.
To see a list of all of ourpodcasts, visit mcmdcom and to
stay up to date on the latesttopics, be sure to subscribe to
our podcast on your favoritepodcast player so that you'll be
notified when future episodescome out.
The discussions contained inthis podcast are for educational
purposes only and are notintended to diagnose or treat
any disease.
Please do not apply any of thisinformation without approval
(01:40):
from your personal doctor.
And now on to the show with DrMcMinn and Coach Lindsey.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Hello and welcome to Wellness Connection MD, the
evidence-based podcast on allthings wellness.
We thank you so much forjoining us today.
As always, we come to you tobring you honest,
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in order to empower you toovercome your healthcare
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(02:10):
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So thank you so much, and nowon to the show.
I'm really excited about today'sshow.
I've been thinking about it fora long time and have been
looking forward to it.
My wife, dr Cheryl, and I haveexperienced the joys and
(03:39):
challenges of parentingfirsthand, and I'm happy to say
that we've come to it on theother side with two wonderful,
amazing daughters.
But I got to tell you it wasnot always easy, especially with
both of us working full time.
Also, I have a confession tomake If I had to do it over
again, I'm sure there's somethings I would do a little bit
better.
It seems to me like justyesterday that we were changing
diapers.
(03:59):
But oh my gosh, times seem tochange so fast these days.
It seems like it's getting evenmore and more challenging in
our modern world to raisehealthy, well-adjusted kids who
will go on to be well-roundedadults.
When I was a kid, oh my gosh,life was so much simpler.
We didn't have social media and, for that matter, we didn't
have computers, so we had verylittle screen time.
I'm sure that things like drugsand sexual identity issues
(04:20):
existed at that time, but theywere swept under the rug for the
most part.
As Bob Dylan once said, thetimes they are a-changin', and
now kids and parents are facedwith so many challenges.
Our kids are surrounded by junkfood, academic pressure, very
little time in nature and notenough free play time, as well
as increased rates of sexualviolence, bullying and add on
top of that, a pandemic.
(04:41):
These days, the average kid isexposed to way too much screen
time, where he or she is exposedto all sorts of insidious
negative influences, and all ofthese things are taking their
toll on our young folk.
Let's start with our young girls.
Studies show that teen girls inthe United States are
experiencing a significantmental health crisis, with
alarming increases in sadness,depression and suicidal thoughts
(05:04):
.
In the US, over half of ourteen girls reported persistent
feelings of sadness orhopelessness in 2021, which was
a sharp increase.
About 30% of our teen girlsseriously considered attempting
suicide.
That's up 60% from the previousdecade.
Some of the major reportedcauses of stress for these girls
(05:24):
are social media pressures andonline interactions, academic
stress and uncertainty about thefuture, objectification of
girls' bodies, exposure todistressing events like school
shootings and things likeworrying about climate change
and sexual identity issues.
And boys don't have it muchbetter.
They experience alarming ratesof anxiety, depression,
loneliness and, as a result,they are much more likely to
(05:45):
engage in high-risk behaviorsand display aggressive or
violent behavior when strugglingwith mental health issues.
When it comes to physicalhealth, we also see alarming
rates of increase in childhoodobesity and an increased
prevalence of many childhooddiseases like diabetes and
gut-related disorders likeinflammatory bowel disease.
So these trends are trulyalarming.
So, as a parent, what to do?
(06:06):
Well, we're going to break itdown for you today and hopefully
we can leave you with somehelpful tips for steering your
little ones towards betterphysical and emotional health.
I'm really excited to have twowonderful guests on the show
with us today to share theirpersonal experiences and their
thoughts on the matter with you.
Both of our guests areregistered nurses with many
years of experience dealing withchildren and families.
(06:26):
They come to us both from thetraditional medical background
and from a functionalintegrative medical background
and, most importantly, they areboth right in the thick of
parenting young childrenthemselves.
I know them both well and Iwitnessed them in action, and I
can tell you without a doubtthat they are both amazing moms
who have put a lot of thoughtand energy into the issue of
(06:47):
raising healthy kids, and everyday they practice what they
preach.
Our first guest is our belovedCoach Lindsay.
She is usually the co-host ofthe show, but today she's going
to take off her co-host hat andput on a guest hat so that we
can pick her brain on herparenting philosophy.
For those of you who don't knowCoach Lindsay, she's a
registered nurse with many yearsof experience and she's a
(07:07):
certified IIN health coach.
She also happens to be one ofthe nicest people in the whole
wide world.
Our next guest is Nurse RachelNorgan.
From the moment Rachel gotpregnant with her first little
angel, she became interested inall aspects of wellness, both
for herself and for her kids.
She is particularly interestedin the intersection of emotional
and physical wellness.
She has come to realize thatmodern medicine falls somewhat
(07:30):
short in addressing thatintersection for our children.
Over the years Rachel has put alot of thought into how she, as
a responsible parent, can helpher kids navigate our
challenging world and becomehealthy, curious, resilient and
kind human beings.
I've got a bio and picture ofRachel for you at mcmindmdcom
under the tab guest biographiesif you want to check her out.
(07:50):
And also you can find out moreabout Coach Lindsay at
mcmindmdcom on the home page.
One more thing before we bringin our guests, I want to be
clear that there's no absoluteright and wrong when it comes to
being a parent, and nobody gaveany of us a parenting manual
after delivery.
So we are coming at this topicfrom a totally non-judgmental
point of view.
(08:10):
We're just sharing our ownthoughts and experiences with
you so that it might help you inyour efforts to be the best
parent that you can be.
So, without further ado, racheland Lindsay, welcome to the
show.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Thank you.
Thank you very much for havingme.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I've already talked about your bios, and so
everybody's familiar with youalready, but before we get going
with some questions, I justwant to thank both of you so
much for taking time to do this,because I know you're both
incredibly busy.
Working moms and, of course,working moms have always been my
heroes but this is just a superimportant topic and I've been
looking forward to it a longtime, so I'm really thrilled to
have your enormous brains topick on this issue today.
(08:46):
Again, the title of the show isbasically how to raise children
in this modern world that welive in, and so let's just start
with you, lindsay.
Let's just kind of try to setthe stages in terms of what you
consider to be a healthy child.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
You know, I think first we got to acknowledge that
we are emotional, spiritual andphysical beings.
So health encompasses all ofthose aspects and it's about
maintaining a balanced state inthose areas rather than like
achieving a certain level.
(09:19):
You know, like check the box,I'm done kind of thing when I
think about being healthy.
That means that we can kind ofmodulate and buffer and respond
well in changing environmentsand different challenges.
It's about just those constantminor adjustments that our
bodies or that we mentally do orspiritually do, so that we can
(09:42):
live and adapt within ourrelationships and environments,
so that we can live and adaptwithin our relationships and
environments.
So I, you know, almost likethinking about it's the
difference between driving to aspecific destination versus
knowing how to drive and getanywhere.
So I kind of think of health asthis balancing act.
So my goal when I'm raising mykiddos is to educate them and
(10:03):
strengthen them so they cannavigate and live as the
landscape around them changes.
So emotionally they can handleand experience all emotions well
.
Then physically they can dohard things, but they can also
heal and recover from illnesswell.
They've built up immunity well,and then spiritually they have
(10:25):
a sense of purpose, they havepeace in life and that transfers
regardless of life events thathappen to them.
So it's almost like to me,health is resilience in maybe a
different word.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
What do you say are some of the most important
healthy habits to instill in ourchildren?
Any other comments besides whatyou just mentioned?
Speaker 4 (10:45):
I think that's a great question.
So first I would say what's thefoundation?
You know, before we even puthabits on something, the
foundation has got to be the why.
Why be healthy?
And just to motivate my kidswith why.
That's important because wecould do all of these beautiful
evidence-based things in ourhome.
(11:08):
But if they don't really careand it's not on a heart level,
that's not serving them for therest of their life.
And I also want to model thatand live it for them too.
So teaching them that is animportant value, that's the
foundation and then from there,you know, I think some habits
that have helped us specificallylike some big bricks
(11:30):
nutritionally something that'sjust like simple but has been
powerful is just emphasizingprotein and protein first in our
meals has been really helpfulfor us, because a lot of times
when we load up on the sweetsand the carbs first, then we
don't want the other things, sowe just kind of like that's a
natural progression at our homeis you start with a protein,
(11:53):
let's fill up on that, well, andthen we move on to the next
thing, not as a reward, it'sjust like this starts first and
this comes next, and then we gofrom there.
And then, you know, I thinkanother vital habit is just
outdoor activity and movement.
That habit, I think, cannot beunderestimated for adults, but
(12:13):
also especially kids.
They need movements.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Absolutely Wonderful.
So, rachel, turning to you now,what would you say are some of
the biggest challenges thatparents face today when trying
to raise healthy children?
Speaker 3 (12:25):
There's really a lot happening and it's complicated
and I think one of the biggestthings is just the amount of
pressure there is on parents todo everything right and so many
stressors, the absence of avillage for parents to operate
in.
And you know, I think parentsreally are trying to do the best
they can.
I really think that andsometimes it's not going well.
You know, I think parentsreally are trying to do the best
they can.
I really think that andsometimes it's not going well,
(12:47):
you know, and, like Lindsay wassaying, you know trying to find
ways to regroup and be flexible,but I also think you know the
standard American diet, anxietyand stress that kids are facing,
just how big tech has gotten inour kids' lives.
I think that's a huge challenge.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yeah, I love that saying.
It takes a village and, as youpointed out, Rachel, oftentimes
we have these disjointedsocieties and we just don't have
villages anymore.
So it's really, I think,difficult for a lot of folks.
But yeah, so let's kind offocus a little bit on healthy
eating.
You know, when I go out andabout, say, in the local grocery
store or drugstore, you cannotcheck out without going through
(13:30):
a gauntlet of candy bars andjunk food.
And you see these kids, youknow tugging at mama, you know
just pitching a fit to getsomething.
And also, of course, when theygo over to a friend's house, I
mean, you all may do fine inyour house, but they're always
going to go over to theirneighbor's house.
And so all these temptationsthat kids are always exposed to
these days, do you have anystrategies that folks can use to
(13:50):
help keep them on the righttrack and teach children about
nutrition so they can makeinformed food choices?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Yeah, I think, like Lindsay said, you know, it's not
about one individual bite ofbroccoli, like it's about
creating the mindset aroundhealthy foods, around our
language, around food.
And so that's a big challengethere is, you know, creating
that language that'snonjudgmental for the kids, so
(14:19):
they aren't automaticallydeveloping judgment.
For example, instead of sayingthis food is good or bad, we
might say this food makes mefeel full of energy, or it makes
me feel healthy, or it makes mefeel strong.
Instead of using words likeit's a special food, this is a
treat.
We're creating that languagethat makes these foods more
(14:45):
desirable.
So in my house we say that's asometimes food and we sometimes
eat it.
And when we pass by the candybars, that's a sometimes food,
we sometimes eat it, but we'renot going to today, just like
you said, understanding thatthose unhealthy foods, they're
going to happen.
Letting them experience control, letting them listen to their
(15:06):
own bodies around those foods.
How do I feel when I eat anentire slice of cake at this
birthday party?
Let's try it and see.
And when we can, you know howcan we minimize some of those
things when possible.
And, like Lindsay said, maybeyou know, before they go to that
birthday party, making surethey're full.
You know, like my kindergartner, she comes home, she, from
(15:27):
school.
Why don't I have a granola barlike everyone else?
Why can't I have crackers?
And so that's an opportunityfor us to talk about how people
have different values.
And one of those things is howpeople approach a balanced diet.
But it does become complicated.
We don't want our kids to feelalienated from other people
(15:48):
because of their eating choices.
We don't want other parents tofeel judged because we eat
differently.
You know how we connect aroundfood it's social connection as
well.
So it does get complicated.
Those conversations help tostart by listening to our kids.
You know when they have aconcern.
What are they really feelingconcerned about?
(16:11):
What do they think the solutionis?
Because that can tell you a lotabout what is their perspective
.
What do they think would help.
It doesn't mean we need to dowhat they're saying, but you
(16:31):
know, starting with them feelingheard, I think is really
valuable and doing those thingslike Lindsay mentioned, the
protein beforehand, maybethinking about extra fruits and
veggies at the meal before we goto somewhere that there's not
going to be a lot of nutritiousfood available, bringing your
own fillable water bottle so youdon't get into that juice box
trap.
That can happen when you're ata party or something like that.
And also just thinking aboutyou know a 90 to 10, 80, 20 rule
(16:57):
of you know we do the best, wecan make our best choice 90% of
the time and you know 10% of thetime there can be some
compromise there.
Come and prepared with options,you know bring in something
that could be a little healthier.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yeah, I had some sometime food the other day.
It was the Fourth of July party, all kind of wonderful desserts
that I don't usually keeparound the house and, oh my gosh
, I just can't resist it.
You know it's there, we justdon't keep it here because I
can't resist it.
But after that I could hardlykeep my eyes open.
It was just you're talkingabout how foods make you feel.
They give me energy.
You know, these high carbthings they just zap my energy
(17:31):
these days.
I just I'm not used to them,but anyway, so yeah, they can
definitely change the way youfeel.
To add to that, you know, interms of how parents can manage
the issue of treats and snackswithout creating unhealthy
associations with food.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
You know, I really liked, rachel, how you emphasize
like conversation, like havingthis open dialogue with your
children about food, and that'sbeen an evolving process for me.
And like labeling the food hasalso been a learning curve.
You know, I remember the firsttime with Mary Ellen when we
were out at a social gatheringand she was like that's not
(18:09):
healthy, that's bad, you know,and she's saying that really
loudly to someone else there atthe party and I realized, oh, my
goodness, that's what she'shearing from me and that's the
languaging I'm using and that'snot serving her well socially
and emotionally and it'scertainly not helping those
(18:32):
around her.
So I had to kind of make ashift with doing a lot of prep
conversations before we go to asocial gathering, and I think
that also helps emotionally tooto anticipate what might be
going on.
So, for example, we're going togo to small group for church
and I know that there's going tobe other things there and so
(18:55):
I'll just in the car on the waythere I'll be like hey, mary
Ellen, we're going to go hereand you can expect that there's
going to be some cupcakes andsome brownies, and it's okay if
we don't have this.
And I think every family makes adecision on if that's going to
be a sometimes situation or ifyou've brought your alternative
(19:17):
there, and most of the time asmall group understands our
lifestyle and has accepted usbringing our alternative options
.
But there are situations wherewe make it a sometimes situation
.
But we'll go ahead and kind ofhave that prep conversation and
then I'll say and it's okay.
It's okay that we eatdifferently than other people,
(19:40):
that's okay, that's important inour family, but other families
choose differently, and that'sokay, that's important in our
family, but other familieschoose differently and that's
okay.
So I had to really shift mylanguaging around that because I
realized how judgmental thatwas and it just wasn't serving
her well, or me for that matter.
So that's just a specific kindof example.
But I think we as a culture cansupercharge food emotionally
(20:07):
when we use it like as a reward.
I think about when I wasgrowing up in our house.
M&ms were power pills.
When I was studying for a test,I needed some power pills and
to this day I have this littleinternal guttural reaction, not
(20:28):
with power pills or M&Ms, butlike with a little.
I'm doing some really hard workhere.
I need some ice cream, you know, and it's just so easy for that
mindset to be so ingrained.
And what a gift.
I just think about it as what agift it would be if I can give
(20:49):
my children the gift of nothaving that emotional eating
thing happening for them.
I think of it as like a giftthat I can give them.
So anyway, just trying to thinkabout you know what kind of
other rewards or other ways thatI can not emotionally charge
food.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
You know, rachel, I love your conversation about
conversation and I've witnessedyou in your conversation and
correct me if I'm wrong, but itseems like you talk to your
children in a way thatappreciates them as intelligent
beings.
You know, sometimes we talk toour kids like they're always two
years old, but you reason withthem and you actually, in a kind
(21:32):
of almost Socratic way, you askthem well, how do you think
that's going to make you feel?
And you sort of get them tothink about the answer, rather
than just telling them.
I think it's so beautiful theway you communicate with your
kids.
I really have admired you overthe years as I've gotten to know
you.
But, lindsay, so what aboutpicky eaters?
I mean, there's some kids whojust put up a fight and just
(21:54):
refuse to eat or whatever.
How do you work?
Speaker 4 (21:57):
your way through that .
I just want to extend so muchgrace to the parents out there
who are working with us.
It is hard and you know it'slike we want to encourage
autonomy and independence andchoice.
You know, for our kids, we wantthem to be good choosers, but
then, like, when it comes downto it, we also want them to
(22:17):
choose the right thing.
So I just want to acknowledgethat we might have listeners on
every end of the spectrumlistening to this out there and
I just want them to hearencouragement.
But so first I would say thatthere's hope and that taste buds
are teachable.
But then I think you knowrachel, you really mentioned
this just watching ourlanguaging around food, keeping
(22:40):
our wording neutral as much aspossible and keeping our
languaging around trying newfoods as very positive, avoiding
terms like that's good food,that's bad food, not putting too
much pressure on trying newfoods and letting that whole
situation become like this poweremotional, power play situation
(23:03):
.
But just thank you for tryingthat, that's enough.
You don't have to like makethis huge, like ah, you win the
gold medal for trying somethingnew.
It's just like trying new ispart of life and thanks for
doing it.
And now onto the new thing youknow when possible.
I think if you can give somelevel of autonomy to the kids.
(23:24):
Like you can have X or Y, whichone would you like?
You know you can have broccolior asparagus, which would you
like to try tonight?
Speaker 1 (23:34):
That way there is some level of autonomy.
But I've seen some kids throwhissy fits and let me let me
just say that in my intro I madea very clear statement.
This podcast is completelynonjudgmental.
We're just going to share inwith you our thoughts.
But for the grace of God, goany of us to have one of those
picky eaters or whatever.
But what about you, rachel?
(23:55):
Any thoughts about these wholekind of power struggles that we
can have with kids?
Speaker 3 (23:59):
Like Lindsay was saying, the power struggles
around new foods.
So we started a rule one bite,no, thank you.
You could try one bite.
Say no thank you After that itmight come back later because
our taste buds change over timeand when it comes back later we
say well, sometimes we changeover time and you might, if you
have a really picky eater, justto kind of take the heat off of
(24:21):
trying new foods, maybe eventhink about letting them spit it
out if they really feel theycan't swallow it, because we
just want to.
We want them to try and we wantto get into the power struggle
about it.
You know your own kid bestwhether or not they're going to
take advantage of spitting itout.
But yeah, like Lindsay said,just kind of reflecting that
again, that the power of choice,you know, don't make choices
(24:42):
that don't exist, though wedon't say do we want to eat a
vegetable, you know, becausethat's not the choice.
The choice is do we want thisor this?
And being okay with whateverthey choose in that choice.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
But I don't like green eggs and ham, sam, I am.
That's a great book, isn't it?
I remember it after all theseyears.
But you know, we went out todinner the other night and there
was this table with familysitting around it.
I think it was like a parentand three kids and everybody was
on their device.
You know, mom and dad were ontheir cell phones, the kids were
(25:16):
on some kind of gaming device.
Sometimes at home, you know,the TV's blaring or whatever.
So I think that sit-down familytime is really special.
So any thoughts from you guysas far as how can we promote a
really high-quality family?
Speaker 4 (25:30):
meal time.
I love that question.
I think that's a beautifulquestion.
I think it would be.
This is not a strategy.
You bringing this question upmakes me think.
You know we really probablyshould have put-away phones at
the table, which I thinkgenerally we do, but I think
that would be a great strategy.
We, we have a time of prayerbefore the meal and we like
(25:51):
engage all the kids on that andthen, you know, during the meal
a lot of times, if not duringthe meal or sometime later on in
the night, we'll do like agratitude practice where
everyone gets to go around andsay something they're grateful
for about the day, and I thinkthat just is a sacred family
time to eat together and that isa form of nourishment because
(26:11):
we are spiritually, spiritual,emotional, physical beings that
togetherness partaking togetheris a nourishment for our kids
and for us you know, when mykids were little, every night
when we had dinner, we wouldsing this little song all
together and I'm not going tosing it for you or we'd lose all
our listeners but it went likethis Thank you for this food,
(26:37):
this food, this wonderful,wonderful food, and the animals
and the minerals and thevegetables that made it possible
.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Isn't it nice?
But the point of the song wasto engage in what I call active
gratitude for where the foodcomes from and that for what
made it possible, including thefarm workers and the people
truck drivers, and I think thatthat's really important to kind
of connect food with gratitude.
(27:05):
In this world we live in,there's so many people who live
in food deserts or in povertyand in famine and other parts of
the world, and we're just soblessed in our country and to
where we have to have the foodwe have, but we seem to take it
for granted.
What about y'all?
Do either of you guys teachyour children active gratitude
(27:26):
for the food that we have?
Speaker 3 (27:28):
You know food is a great way to think about
gratitude and I think talkingabout the resources that go into
making food items, or theanimal that gave its life and
why it's not important to wastefood, because of everything that
went to getting the food ontoour table, helps them to be more
connected to you know how doesthis all happen.
(27:49):
It's not magic that it appearshere and you know talking about
working pays for food and youknow kind of it makes it real.
It makes it real and tangibleand a great way to approach
gratitude, for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Do either of y'all involve the kids in food
preparation?
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Whenever it's possible, I like to.
It definitely takes more energyto do that, yes for sure.
(28:28):
So right now I have atwo-year-old and a five-year-old
and most of the level of theirability is we can pull out
plates, we can put napkins onthe table, we can set it with
tossing them in the olive oil orwhatever it is, but a lot of
times they'll have to observe mepreparing the raw meat or you
know things like that.
But when we do involve them infood preparation, it helps them
(29:02):
have a more vested interest intrying something new.
You know we were talking aboutthose picky eaters earlier and I
think that definitely can helpthat process.
And you know, as they get older,I anticipate things that they
could help me with would be hey,let's pick out some recipes,
what are we going to eat thisweek?
You know?
Ok, what does that mean?
What groceries do we need tobuy?
(29:24):
And then letting them be at thegrocery store and go grab the
apples, you know, look at themand pick some, and just
involving them can grow as theygrow.
You know, thoseresponsibilities increase.
I think also, wherever we canapply a little bit of joy and
happiness and even sillinesswhen it comes to food can also
(29:47):
just help help this whole aspectof trying new things and
enjoying food and being justlike expand our health ideas
around food and so, like some ofthose tools could be like
cutting your fruit into sillyshapes or making a smiley face
on the plate for the kiddos, orlet's see if we can make this
look like a caterpillar thebanana, you know like.
(30:09):
Cut the little pieces and shapeit.
Pillar the banana, you knowlike.
Cut the little pieces and shapeit and just fun things like
that can bring joy as well andjust imagination and creativity
to the whole process andexcitement around preparing food
.
So, yeah, I think it's veryimportant that we are connected
(30:30):
with our food and not justconsuming.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Anyway, what about gardening?
I know, lindsay, you live outin the country, do you have a
garden?
Do you help the kids, help youin the garden?
They see the stuff growing andthat way they want to eat it
more.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
Yes, this year we did , because of extenuating
circumstances we have not had agarden, but in years past we
have, and that's been veryexciting, you know, and we've
just honestly allowed our kidsfree range to go out and if they
want to eat something in thegarden they can whenever they
want, and I think that'sexciting for them.
(31:05):
And you know, also, just kindof learning, oh, that's not
ready, that is ready.
Just there's so much to belearned from just hands in the
earth and experiential educationthat words don't communicate,
you know.
There's just something aboutthem doing it.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
So what are your thoughts on using food as a
reward?
So, for instance, if you'll bea good boy today, you can have a
cookie.
Yeah, I think anytime we usefood as a reward.
So, for instance, if you'll bea good boy today, you can have a
cookie.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Yeah, I think anytime we use food as a reward or an
expression of our affection,anytime we're using food outside
of nourishment to our bodies,we're getting into some kind of
tricky territory there and it'schallenging because this idea is
around us.
Everywhere you get a lollipopfor going to the dentist and it
can be hard to work against thatfood as a reward narrative
(31:56):
because it's so pervasive in ourculture.
And you know, sometimes whenthey come home with these
lollipops, I might offer totrade them for something else
and if they don't take the trade, they really want that thing.
It's important that they're notcoerced into trading, because
sometimes they get it and theywanted it and they didn't enjoy
it as much as they wereexpecting.
(32:17):
I want to let them stillexperience the control of that
situation and just again, thatlanguage of this instead of this
is a treat.
This is special.
I just want to stay withsomething more neutral.
Just this is sometimes food.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
And Coach Lindsay, you know how bullish I am on the
microbiome issue, and so do youhave any strategies, food-wise,
to help your kids maintain agood, healthy, gut microbiome?
Speaker 4 (32:40):
I think one interesting one is thinking
about our snacking and howfrequently we're snacking.
Now, I think this is also anage-appropriate thing.
You know, some younger childrenrequire more snacking than
others.
But you know, when we went andsaw our bio dentist, one of the
observations that he mentionedto us was that in his practice
(33:03):
he has and they're grazing, theyhave no time to just eat all
the time and there's no oralmicrobiome rest and also no rest
in the gut to like completelydigest and be done, and so it
(33:24):
provides this opportunity forthose opportunistic bacteria to
kind of multiply more and kindof create that unbalanced
microbiome.
So I think there is somethingto be said about eating at the
appropriate times, ageappropriate for your kiddo.
I'm not saying snacks are evil,but I do think it's important
(33:47):
to just weigh out what's ageappropriate for the child and
then truly keeping snacks atsnack time and not snacking all
day.
For that reason Also, you know,just not super heavy carb
loading all the time, butbalancing it with that protein
so that we don't yet againprovide that further invitation
(34:09):
for those opportunistic bacteriato grow.
You know also I think there'sstudies out there on the
microbiome that it's really setpretty well within the first
five years of life.
Not to say that there's nothope for those of us who have
six-year-olds, but just sayingthat those first five years of
life are really critical when weare cultivating the microbiome.
(34:34):
There was a study that came outof microorganisms.
It's a journal in 2023 thatshowed that exposures that your
gut has to diversity inmicroorganisms Actually that
study is quoted during the first3.5 years of life imprint the
gut microbiota for adulthood.
So I think if we as parents canhave the mindset of, hey, these
(34:58):
first five years are reallycritical to introduce a lot of
diversity to our kiddos as faras you know, diverse foods, lots
of colors.
Also, you know, yeah, let'sintroduce those cultured foods
to them too.
I think that's important forthat microbiota.
And then you know, wheneverpossible, avoiding those
(35:21):
antibiotics during thattimeframe too.
You know antibiotics can bereally necessary and life-saving
in some situations, but let'snot jump to an antibiotic every
time we get sick, especially forour young kids.
I think that's really worthfighting for.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
And you know, conversely, how do we build
their immunity alternatively andnot just wait for them to get
sick?
So, I think it's critical tothink about, like how can we
think in this way so that we are, you know, avoiding putting
ourselves in situations where wehave to use the antibiotic in
the first place?
But but of course again pleasehear me listeners use it if it
(36:02):
is in a, in an appropriate timeand per your doctor's
instruction.
But then I would also say, youknow, supplement wise, what we
do for our kiddos.
We do give them inulin, whichis a prebiotic, and then we also
like to give them a lot of goodcultured foods.
I make my own yogurt at homeand it's really easy.
(36:22):
I'd be happy to give to putthat recipe out for listeners.
But anyway, that's just onesimple, two little simple things
that we do microbiome-wise forour kids.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Yeah, lindsay, you are correct and those first
years are super important.
However, I think, even asadults, the use of things like
culture-informed foods, thetaking of probiotics it won't
permanently change yourmicrobiome, but it can change
things like gut inflammation oryour gut-brain axis and have
permanent beneficial effects.
So, all right, well, we'regoing to close out on food in
(36:56):
just a little bit and move on tosome other things.
Food's so important, but let'sjust get specific here.
I would love to find out whatmight be happening in the
typical Norgon and Matthewshousehold on a typical day
breakfast, lunch and supper.
What are some things you'llhave?
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Yeah, we kind of have a formula, like you do about
the protein.
I always say you know breakfasthas a protein, a fruit and your
milk, and so what do you wantfor your protein and what do you
want for your fruit?
And I'll, you know they canhave the choices there.
And sometimes we're not eveneating breakfast food, right,
(37:31):
we're eating, you know, ahandful of cashews as our
protein.
So it's just about giving themthe formula of what does a
breakfast need to include andyou choose from there.
Similarly, you know, to lunchand dinner.
You know we need to have avegetable, we need to have a
fruit, we need to have a protein.
You know the carbohydratesalways kind of tend to come in
anyhow.
So I don't make that arequirement, but letting them
(37:53):
have those choices of what thatlooks like.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Well, that's great.
Yeah, you know there's so muchdiscussion and debate about diet
, but it seems to me like itboils down to whole food and if
you kind of stick with that andyour emphasis, I agree with you,
Lindsay.
Especially for young people andfor older people, getting
enough protein is huge.
So, Lindsay, you mentioned abook the other day is called
French Kids Eat Everything.
(38:18):
What's that all about?
To give us a little summary ofthat?
Speaker 4 (38:21):
You know it was a book that I picked up when I
found out I was pregnant withMary Ellen, because I just had
all this anxiety about what am Igoing to feed her, how will she
not be a picky eater and howwill I teach her how to eat
healthy?
And that was the title thatpopped up and I read it and I
loved that book.
The premise was it was thiswoman, karen, who had moved to
(38:42):
France with her family and herkiddos were fully Americanized
on the SAD diet, that standardAmerican diet, and then when
they moved over there, it was alittle bit of a culture shock
because the French kind ofapproach raising their children
and food, and in such abeautifully different way.
And so she kind of summarizedit throughout the book in 10
(39:03):
like rules that she found thatthe French used, and one of them
the number one rule, was thatparents, you are in charge of
your child's food education.
I think this idea is it's justcaptured me and I just agree
with it on such a fundamentallevel.
One of the quotes was thatFrench parents think about
(39:25):
healthy eating habits the waythat we think about toilet
training or potty training orreading If your child had
trouble learning to read or usethe potty, would you just give
up?
The same should go for eating avariety of healthy foods and so
kind of allowing parents tothink about helping teach our
(39:47):
kids how to eat and when to eatbeing a basic life skill that we
get to give them as parents.
I just I love that concept andI agree with it.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Well, great, I'll put the name of the book under the
resources section on the website.
And one follow up question onthat.
Lindsay, so many kids thesedays, especially low income kids
, get breakfast and lunch atschool.
So do schools play any role interms of trying to set a
positive culture for healthyfood?
Speaker 4 (40:21):
I think that they could and should.
And you know, just think aboutit.
We as human beings eatpotentially three times a day or
more, from the time that we'reborn until the time that we die.
And so food and eating food andpreparing food and talking
about food and knowing what foodto eat and why to eat it and
(40:42):
when to eat it is truly lifeskill, and yet we don't
standardly teach our kidsanything about that in school.
I think.
I would be pretty surprised ifany of my nieces or nephews came
up to me and said hey, wetalked about food in school
today and they showed us how tocook X, y or Z.
(41:03):
A school garden is somethingthat is happening more to help
kids learn about that foodconnection.
We talked about gardeningearlier, but it's definitely not
the norm.
What if we looked up and we'redriving by a school and it was
like right now we know it's aschool because we see a
playground, but what if we alsoknew it was a school because
(41:24):
there was a garden in theplayground?
What if that was just the norm?
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Yeah, wouldn't it be nice, Like what if that was just
?
Speaker 4 (41:31):
the norm.
Yeah, wouldn't it be nice?
I think it could be and shouldbe, and why not?
But I do think gardening couldbe something like.
I think it's just an easy wayfor kids to learn and really a
wonderful way for kids to learnwhen they get that experiential
learning going on Well that'sgreat, a wonderful idea, part of
it.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
Well, thank you for sharing that.
And so, gosh, you guys have hadsuch great ideas on food and
healthy eating.
Thank you so much for sharingthose with us.
And, coach Lindsay, we just dida couple of podcasts on
supplements.
Are there any particularsupplements you think might be
helpful for kids?
Speaker 4 (42:05):
We have just a simple couple in our house, and one is
DHA fish oil.
We've given to our kids sincethey were infants and so we do.
Dha for brain and neurodevelopment and reducing
inflammation.
So DHA fish oil.
We always try to incorporateolive oil every day in some form
(42:26):
in their diet and that's forthose omega-9.
And that's also part of thatanti-inflammatory idea.
And then I mentioned inulinearlier in the podcast.
We do that as a prebiotic.
And then the fourth one we dois Megaspore, and that's just
like a spore-based probiotic.
(42:46):
We started them on like partialamounts of capsules and
increased it.
So those four things are what'simportant in our house.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
If y'all have any particular resources, you can
just send me an email or a textor whatever, and I'll put them
on the website for everybody,and so that will about do it for
this episode of the WellnessConnection MD podcast.
And Rachel and Lizzie, thankyou so much for sharing your
expertise and your passion onthis important subject with us
today.
It was really fun to talk toyou and to you, the listener.
Thank you very much for joiningus today and I hope we were
(43:15):
able to share something with youthat was helpful for you.
Speaker 4 (43:18):
Don't forget to check us out at mcminnndcom, where
you can find lots of greatresources and the Wellness MD
blog as well.
Also, please help us grow thepodcast by telling your friends
and family about us.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
And please take a moment to rate us on iTunes.
These reviews really do help usout.
We've had some feedback fromsome folks that it can be
difficult to actually do thesereviews, so we have a dedicated
page on the website to explainto you exactly how to do this on
your iPhone, step by step.
You can find this at mcmindycomforward slash reviews.
If you want to reach out to meby email, you can do so at
(43:53):
drmcminn, at yahoocom.
You can also find me atfacebookcom, slash mcminnmd or
instagramcom, slash mcminnmd.
I'll have all of our links foryou at the bottom of the
homepage on mcminnmdcom.
And now, coach Lindsey, can youleave us with a final Coach
Lindsey, pearl of wisdom.
Thanks.
Speaker 4 (44:11):
Lindsay, can you leave us with a final Coach,
lindsay, pearl of wisdom.
Thanks, dr Mack.
You know I just want to leaveour listeners with a message of
hope.
Kids are super resilient andyou know, I think there's a
scripture in the Bible that saysit best of all, love covers a
multitude of sins.
So you know, we can make a lotof mistakes as parents, but at
the end of the day, if you putthat love and intention and your
(44:34):
kids know that they are loved,that will cover a whole lot of
things.
And then here's another quickone of hope, and this comes from
a study that was done by theUniversity of Colorado at
Boulder, and it found that justone week of camping was able to
(44:55):
balance out circadian rhythmswithin one week.
Oh, that's pretty cool, isn'tthat amazing?
Yeah so you know, I just thinkthat just goes to say that we're
resilient and the body can doso many things.
So I just, I just want againlisteners have have a message of
hope from all of this that yourkiddos can can really thrive
(45:16):
and do well in this world withlove, and then just a little bit
of intention, like if there'sthings that are off course that
you've listened to today andheard and you want to change,
have hope that that things canchange in your house.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
That's right.
You know when, when my kidswere a little bitty, I read this
interesting article aboutthings that kind of bind
families together and keep themtogether, and one of the top
ones was camping, and so I wentout with the girls, we bought a
little pop-top camper trailerand the entire time they were
growing up we went campingtogether like a whole bunch,
usually down at the beach, andwe had so much fun, such great
(45:51):
memories, and to this daythey're both kind of outdoorsy,
kind of girls, I think, becauseof that.
One other thing you know, oneof y'all earlier used this
wonderful term unconditionallove.
That's such a powerful term.
So I think that as much as wecan sort of keep coming back to
that and use that as sort of thefoundation of the relationship,
(46:12):
then that's all good.
So that should wrap it up.
Thank you again so much forlistening to us.
We really appreciate it.
This is Dr McMinn and this isCoach Lindsay.
Take care and be well, thankyou.
Welcome to the Wellness Connection MD podcast.
I'm Dr Jim McVin, and thank youso much for joining us today.
Are you a parent strugglingwith how to raise your kids?
In this modern world that welive in, things are much
different than when I grew up.
Today, it seems like parentsare constantly faced with new
challenges from many differentdirections when it comes to
raising healthy, well-adjustedkids.
Well, we have some answers foryou on the show today, we're
(00:28):
going to pick the brains of twoof my favorite people in the
whole wide world, who happen tobe experts when it comes to
raising healthy, well-adjustedkids.
Both of our guests areregistered nurses with many
years of experience dealing withchildren and families, and they
are both right in the thick ofparenting young children
themselves.
As you can imagine, there's alot of ground to cover here, so
we're going to split this intotwo podcasts.
In part one, we'll discusshealthy eating, and in part two,
we'll cover all the otherimportant issues.
(00:48):
So buckle up and enjoy the show.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Welcome to the Wellness Connection MD Podcast
with Dr McMinn and Coach Lindsay, where we bring you the latest
up-to-date, evidence-basedinformation on a wide variety of
health and wellness topics,along with practical take-home
(01:19):
solutions.
Thank you.
To see a list of all of ourpodcasts, visit mcmdcom and to
stay up to date on the latesttopics, be sure to subscribe to
our podcast on your favoritepodcast player so that you'll be
notified when future episodescome out.
The discussions contained inthis podcast are for educational
purposes only and are notintended to diagnose or treat
any disease.
Please do not apply any of thisinformation without approval
(01:40):
from your personal doctor.
And now on to the show with DrMcMinn and Coach Lindsey.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Hello and welcome to Wellness Connection MD, the
evidence-based podcast on allthings wellness.
We thank you so much forjoining us today.
As always, we come to you tobring you honest,
commercial-free, unbiased,up-to-date, evidence-based,
outcomes-oriented information,along with practical solutions
in order to empower you toovercome your healthcare
challenges, to optimize yourwellness and mind-body-spirit,
(02:10):
and to become a great captain ofyour ship when it comes to your
health and wellness.
Before we get going, let mejust remind you that our podcast
remains commercial-free so thatwe can stay completely unbiased
.
We're not here to sell youanything and we're not going to
waste your time with annoyingcommercials.
However, it does cost us moneyto produce these podcasts and we
put many hours of work intoeach podcast.
So think of us like publicradio and consider making a
(02:32):
contribution to help us keep itcoming to you.
There are a couple of ways thatyou can contribute to the show.
First, if you buy nutritionalsupplements, then consider
purchasing physician-gradesupplements from our Fullscript
dispensary at a 10% discount.
You can see the link toFullscript below in the show
notes.
Or go to mcmindmdcom and thelink will be there at the bottom
of the homepage under helpfullinks.
(02:54):
It's quite simple Just click onthe link and they'll guide you
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It's a classic win-win you gethigh quality supplements at a
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You can also safely make acontribution to the show
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(03:17):
link which you'll find in theshow notes.
And please don't forget tosubscribe to the show and tell
your friends and family about us, so that we can bring this
valuable information to evenmore people.
So thank you so much, and nowon to the show.
I'm really excited about today'sshow.
I've been thinking about it fora long time and have been
looking forward to it.
My wife, dr Cheryl, and I haveexperienced the joys and
(03:39):
challenges of parentingfirsthand, and I'm happy to say
that we've come to it on theother side with two wonderful,
amazing daughters.
But I got to tell you it wasnot always easy, especially with
both of us working full time.
Also, I have a confession tomake If I had to do it over
again, I'm sure there's somethings I would do a little bit
better.
It seems to me like justyesterday that we were changing
diapers.
(03:59):
But oh my gosh, times seem tochange so fast these days.
It seems like it's getting evenmore and more challenging in
our modern world to raisehealthy, well-adjusted kids who
will go on to be well-roundedadults.
When I was a kid, oh my gosh,life was so much simpler.
We didn't have social media and, for that matter, we didn't
have computers, so we had verylittle screen time.
I'm sure that things like drugsand sexual identity issues
(04:20):
existed at that time, but theywere swept under the rug for the
most part.
As Bob Dylan once said, thetimes they are a-changin', and
now kids and parents are facedwith so many challenges.
Our kids are surrounded by junkfood, academic pressure, very
little time in nature and notenough free play time, as well
as increased rates of sexualviolence, bullying and add on
top of that, a pandemic.
(04:41):
These days, the average kid isexposed to way too much screen
time, where he or she is exposedto all sorts of insidious
negative influences, and all ofthese things are taking their
toll on our young folk.
Let's start with our young girls.
Studies show that teen girls inthe United States are
experiencing a significantmental health crisis, with
alarming increases in sadness,depression and suicidal thoughts
(05:04):
.
In the US, over half of ourteen girls reported persistent
feelings of sadness orhopelessness in 2021, which was
a sharp increase.
About 30% of our teen girlsseriously considered attempting
suicide.
That's up 60% from the previousdecade.
Some of the major reportedcauses of stress for these girls
(05:24):
are social media pressures andonline interactions, academic
stress and uncertainty about thefuture, objectification of
girls' bodies, exposure todistressing events like school
shootings and things likeworrying about climate change
and sexual identity issues.
And boys don't have it muchbetter.
They experience alarming ratesof anxiety, depression,
loneliness and, as a result,they are much more likely to
(05:45):
engage in high-risk behaviorsand display aggressive or
violent behavior when strugglingwith mental health issues.
When it comes to physicalhealth, we also see alarming
rates of increase in childhoodobesity and an increased
prevalence of many childhooddiseases like diabetes and
gut-related disorders likeinflammatory bowel disease.
So these trends are trulyalarming.
So, as a parent, what to do?
(06:06):
Well, we're going to break itdown for you today and hopefully
we can leave you with somehelpful tips for steering your
little ones towards betterphysical and emotional health.
I'm really excited to have twowonderful guests on the show
with us today to share theirpersonal experiences and their
thoughts on the matter with you.
Both of our guests areregistered nurses with many
years of experience dealing withchildren and families.
(06:26):
They come to us both from thetraditional medical background
and from a functionalintegrative medical background
and, most importantly, they areboth right in the thick of
parenting young childrenthemselves.
I know them both well and Iwitnessed them in action, and I
can tell you without a doubtthat they are both amazing moms
who have put a lot of thoughtand energy into the issue of
(06:47):
raising healthy kids, and everyday they practice what they
preach.
Our first guest is our belovedCoach Lindsay.
She is usually the co-host ofthe show, but today she's going
to take off her co-host hat andput on a guest hat so that we
can pick her brain on herparenting philosophy.
For those of you who don't knowCoach Lindsay, she's a
registered nurse with many yearsof experience and she's a
(07:07):
certified IIN health coach.
She also happens to be one ofthe nicest people in the whole
wide world.
Our next guest is Nurse RachelNorgan.
From the moment Rachel gotpregnant with her first little
angel, she became interested inall aspects of wellness, both
for herself and for her kids.
She is particularly interestedin the intersection of emotional
and physical wellness.
She has come to realize thatmodern medicine falls somewhat
(07:30):
short in addressing thatintersection for our children.
Over the years Rachel has put alot of thought into how she, as
a responsible parent, can helpher kids navigate our
challenging world and becomehealthy, curious, resilient and
kind human beings.
I've got a bio and picture ofRachel for you at mcmindmdcom
under the tab guest biographiesif you want to check her out.
(07:50):
And also you can find out moreabout Coach Lindsay at
mcmindmdcom on the home page.
One more thing before we bringin our guests, I want to be
clear that there's no absoluteright and wrong when it comes to
being a parent, and nobody gaveany of us a parenting manual
after delivery.
So we are coming at this topicfrom a totally non-judgmental
point of view.
(08:10):
We're just sharing our ownthoughts and experiences with
you so that it might help you inyour efforts to be the best
parent that you can be.
So, without further ado, racheland Lindsay, welcome to the
show.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Thank you.
Thank you very much for havingme.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I've already talked about your bios, and so
everybody's familiar with youalready, but before we get going
with some questions, I justwant to thank both of you so
much for taking time to do this,because I know you're both
incredibly busy.
Working moms and, of course,working moms have always been my
heroes but this is just a superimportant topic and I've been
looking forward to it a longtime, so I'm really thrilled to
have your enormous brains topick on this issue today.
(08:46):
Again, the title of the show isbasically how to raise children
in this modern world that welive in, and so let's just start
with you, lindsay.
Let's just kind of try to setthe stages in terms of what you
consider to be a healthy child.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
You know, I think first we got to acknowledge that
we are emotional, spiritual andphysical beings.
So health encompasses all ofthose aspects and it's about
maintaining a balanced state inthose areas rather than like
achieving a certain level.
(09:19):
You know, like check the box,I'm done kind of thing when I
think about being healthy.
That means that we can kind ofmodulate and buffer and respond
well in changing environmentsand different challenges.
It's about just those constantminor adjustments that our
bodies or that we mentally do orspiritually do, so that we can
(09:42):
live and adapt within ourrelationships and environments,
so that we can live and adaptwithin our relationships and
environments.
So I, you know, almost likethinking about it's the
difference between driving to aspecific destination versus
knowing how to drive and getanywhere.
So I kind of think of health asthis balancing act.
So my goal when I'm raising mykiddos is to educate them and
(10:03):
strengthen them so they cannavigate and live as the
landscape around them changes.
So emotionally they can handleand experience all emotions well
.
Then physically they can dohard things, but they can also
heal and recover from illnesswell.
They've built up immunity well,and then spiritually they have
(10:25):
a sense of purpose, they havepeace in life and that transfers
regardless of life events thathappen to them.
So it's almost like to me,health is resilience in maybe a
different word.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
What do you say are some of the most important
healthy habits to instill in ourchildren?
Any other comments besides whatyou just mentioned?
Speaker 4 (10:45):
I think that's a great question.
So first I would say what's thefoundation?
You know, before we even puthabits on something, the
foundation has got to be the why.
Why be healthy?
And just to motivate my kidswith why.
That's important because wecould do all of these beautiful
evidence-based things in ourhome.
(11:08):
But if they don't really careand it's not on a heart level,
that's not serving them for therest of their life.
And I also want to model thatand live it for them too.
So teaching them that is animportant value, that's the
foundation and then from there,you know, I think some habits
that have helped us specificallylike some big bricks
(11:30):
nutritionally something that'sjust like simple but has been
powerful is just emphasizingprotein and protein first in our
meals has been really helpfulfor us, because a lot of times
when we load up on the sweetsand the carbs first, then we
don't want the other things, sowe just kind of like that's a
natural progression at our homeis you start with a protein,
(11:53):
let's fill up on that, well, andthen we move on to the next
thing, not as a reward, it'sjust like this starts first and
this comes next, and then we gofrom there.
And then, you know, I thinkanother vital habit is just
outdoor activity and movement.
That habit, I think, cannot beunderestimated for adults, but
(12:13):
also especially kids.
They need movements.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Absolutely Wonderful.
So, rachel, turning to you now,what would you say are some of
the biggest challenges thatparents face today when trying
to raise healthy children?
Speaker 3 (12:25):
There's really a lot happening and it's complicated
and I think one of the biggestthings is just the amount of
pressure there is on parents todo everything right and so many
stressors, the absence of avillage for parents to operate
in.
And you know, I think parentsreally are trying to do the best
they can.
I really think that andsometimes it's not going well.
You know, I think parentsreally are trying to do the best
they can.
I really think that andsometimes it's not going well,
(12:47):
you know, and, like Lindsay wassaying, you know trying to find
ways to regroup and be flexible,but I also think you know the
standard American diet, anxietyand stress that kids are facing,
just how big tech has gotten inour kids' lives.
I think that's a huge challenge.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yeah, I love that saying.
It takes a village and, as youpointed out, Rachel, oftentimes
we have these disjointedsocieties and we just don't have
villages anymore.
So it's really, I think,difficult for a lot of folks.
But yeah, so let's kind offocus a little bit on healthy
eating.
You know, when I go out andabout, say, in the local grocery
store or drugstore, you cannotcheck out without going through
(13:30):
a gauntlet of candy bars andjunk food.
And you see these kids, youknow tugging at mama, you know
just pitching a fit to getsomething.
And also, of course, when theygo over to a friend's house, I
mean, you all may do fine inyour house, but they're always
going to go over to theirneighbor's house.
And so all these temptationsthat kids are always exposed to
these days, do you have anystrategies that folks can use to
(13:50):
help keep them on the righttrack and teach children about
nutrition so they can makeinformed food choices?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Yeah, I think, like Lindsay said, you know, it's not
about one individual bite ofbroccoli, like it's about
creating the mindset aroundhealthy foods, around our
language, around food.
And so that's a big challengethere is, you know, creating
that language that'snonjudgmental for the kids, so
(14:19):
they aren't automaticallydeveloping judgment.
For example, instead of sayingthis food is good or bad, we
might say this food makes mefeel full of energy, or it makes
me feel healthy, or it makes mefeel strong.
Instead of using words likeit's a special food, this is a
treat.
We're creating that languagethat makes these foods more
(14:45):
desirable.
So in my house we say that's asometimes food and we sometimes
eat it.
And when we pass by the candybars, that's a sometimes food,
we sometimes eat it, but we'renot going to today, just like
you said, understanding thatthose unhealthy foods, they're
going to happen.
Letting them experience control, letting them listen to their
(15:06):
own bodies around those foods.
How do I feel when I eat anentire slice of cake at this
birthday party?
Let's try it and see.
And when we can, you know howcan we minimize some of those
things when possible.
And, like Lindsay said, maybeyou know, before they go to that
birthday party, making surethey're full.
You know, like my kindergartner, she comes home, she, from
(15:27):
school.
Why don't I have a granola barlike everyone else?
Why can't I have crackers?
And so that's an opportunityfor us to talk about how people
have different values.
And one of those things is howpeople approach a balanced diet.
But it does become complicated.
We don't want our kids to feelalienated from other people
(15:48):
because of their eating choices.
We don't want other parents tofeel judged because we eat
differently.
You know how we connect aroundfood it's social connection as
well.
So it does get complicated.
Those conversations help tostart by listening to our kids.
You know when they have aconcern.
What are they really feelingconcerned about?
(16:11):
What do they think the solutionis?
Because that can tell you a lotabout what is their perspective
.
What do they think would help.
It doesn't mean we need to dowhat they're saying, but you
(16:31):
know, starting with them feelingheard, I think is really
valuable and doing those thingslike Lindsay mentioned, the
protein beforehand, maybethinking about extra fruits and
veggies at the meal before we goto somewhere that there's not
going to be a lot of nutritiousfood available, bringing your
own fillable water bottle so youdon't get into that juice box
trap.
That can happen when you're ata party or something like that.
And also just thinking aboutyou know a 90 to 10, 80, 20 rule
(16:57):
of you know we do the best, wecan make our best choice 90% of
the time and you know 10% of thetime there can be some
compromise there.
Come and prepared with options,you know bring in something
that could be a little healthier.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yeah, I had some sometime food the other day.
It was the Fourth of July party, all kind of wonderful desserts
that I don't usually keeparound the house and, oh my gosh
, I just can't resist it.
You know it's there, we justdon't keep it here because I
can't resist it.
But after that I could hardlykeep my eyes open.
It was just you're talkingabout how foods make you feel.
They give me energy.
You know, these high carbthings they just zap my energy
(17:31):
these days.
I just I'm not used to them,but anyway, so yeah, they can
definitely change the way youfeel.
To add to that, you know, interms of how parents can manage
the issue of treats and snackswithout creating unhealthy
associations with food.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
You know, I really liked, rachel, how you emphasize
like conversation, like havingthis open dialogue with your
children about food, and that'sbeen an evolving process for me.
And like labeling the food hasalso been a learning curve.
You know, I remember the firsttime with Mary Ellen when we
were out at a social gatheringand she was like that's not
(18:09):
healthy, that's bad, you know,and she's saying that really
loudly to someone else there atthe party and I realized, oh, my
goodness, that's what she'shearing from me and that's the
languaging I'm using and that'snot serving her well socially
and emotionally and it'scertainly not helping those
(18:32):
around her.
So I had to kind of make ashift with doing a lot of prep
conversations before we go to asocial gathering, and I think
that also helps emotionally tooto anticipate what might be
going on.
So, for example, we're going togo to small group for church
and I know that there's going tobe other things there and so
(18:55):
I'll just in the car on the waythere I'll be like hey, mary
Ellen, we're going to go hereand you can expect that there's
going to be some cupcakes andsome brownies, and it's okay if
we don't have this.
And I think every family makes adecision on if that's going to
be a sometimes situation or ifyou've brought your alternative
(19:17):
there, and most of the time asmall group understands our
lifestyle and has accepted usbringing our alternative options
.
But there are situations wherewe make it a sometimes situation
.
But we'll go ahead and kind ofhave that prep conversation and
then I'll say and it's okay.
It's okay that we eatdifferently than other people,
(19:40):
that's okay, that's important inour family, but other families
choose differently, and that'sokay, that's important in our
family, but other familieschoose differently and that's
okay.
So I had to really shift mylanguaging around that because I
realized how judgmental thatwas and it just wasn't serving
her well, or me for that matter.
So that's just a specific kindof example.
But I think we as a culture cansupercharge food emotionally
(20:07):
when we use it like as a reward.
I think about when I wasgrowing up in our house.
M&ms were power pills.
When I was studying for a test,I needed some power pills and
to this day I have this littleinternal guttural reaction, not
(20:28):
with power pills or M&Ms, butlike with a little.
I'm doing some really hard workhere.
I need some ice cream, you know, and it's just so easy for that
mindset to be so ingrained.
And what a gift.
I just think about it as what agift it would be if I can give
(20:49):
my children the gift of nothaving that emotional eating
thing happening for them.
I think of it as like a giftthat I can give them.
So anyway, just trying to thinkabout you know what kind of
other rewards or other ways thatI can not emotionally charge
food.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
You know, rachel, I love your conversation about
conversation and I've witnessedyou in your conversation and
correct me if I'm wrong, but itseems like you talk to your
children in a way thatappreciates them as intelligent
beings.
You know, sometimes we talk toour kids like they're always two
years old, but you reason withthem and you actually, in a kind
(21:32):
of almost Socratic way, you askthem well, how do you think
that's going to make you feel?
And you sort of get them tothink about the answer, rather
than just telling them.
I think it's so beautiful theway you communicate with your
kids.
I really have admired you overthe years as I've gotten to know
you.
But, lindsay, so what aboutpicky eaters?
I mean, there's some kids whojust put up a fight and just
(21:54):
refuse to eat or whatever.
How do you work?
Speaker 4 (21:57):
your way through that .
I just want to extend so muchgrace to the parents out there
who are working with us.
It is hard and you know it'slike we want to encourage
autonomy and independence andchoice.
You know, for our kids, we wantthem to be good choosers, but
then, like, when it comes downto it, we also want them to
(22:17):
choose the right thing.
So I just want to acknowledgethat we might have listeners on
every end of the spectrumlistening to this out there and
I just want them to hearencouragement.
But so first I would say thatthere's hope and that taste buds
are teachable.
But then I think you knowrachel, you really mentioned
this just watching ourlanguaging around food, keeping
(22:40):
our wording neutral as much aspossible and keeping our
languaging around trying newfoods as very positive, avoiding
terms like that's good food,that's bad food, not putting too
much pressure on trying newfoods and letting that whole
situation become like this poweremotional, power play situation
(23:03):
.
But just thank you for tryingthat, that's enough.
You don't have to like makethis huge, like ah, you win the
gold medal for trying somethingnew.
It's just like trying new ispart of life and thanks for
doing it.
And now onto the new thing youknow when possible.
I think if you can give somelevel of autonomy to the kids.
(23:24):
Like you can have X or Y, whichone would you like?
You know you can have broccolior asparagus, which would you
like to try tonight?
Speaker 1 (23:34):
That way there is some level of autonomy.
But I've seen some kids throwhissy fits and let me let me
just say that in my intro I madea very clear statement.
This podcast is completelynonjudgmental.
We're just going to share inwith you our thoughts.
But for the grace of God, goany of us to have one of those
picky eaters or whatever.
But what about you, rachel?
(23:55):
Any thoughts about these wholekind of power struggles that we
can have with kids?
Speaker 3 (23:59):
Like Lindsay was saying, the power struggles
around new foods.
So we started a rule one bite,no, thank you.
You could try one bite.
Say no thank you After that itmight come back later because
our taste buds change over timeand when it comes back later we
say well, sometimes we changeover time and you might, if you
have a really picky eater, justto kind of take the heat off of
(24:21):
trying new foods, maybe eventhink about letting them spit it
out if they really feel theycan't swallow it, because we
just want to.
We want them to try and we wantto get into the power struggle
about it.
You know your own kid bestwhether or not they're going to
take advantage of spitting itout.
But yeah, like Lindsay said,just kind of reflecting that
again, that the power of choice,you know, don't make choices
(24:42):
that don't exist, though wedon't say do we want to eat a
vegetable, you know, becausethat's not the choice.
The choice is do we want thisor this?
And being okay with whateverthey choose in that choice.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
But I don't like green eggs and ham, sam, I am.
That's a great book, isn't it?
I remember it after all theseyears.
But you know, we went out todinner the other night and there
was this table with familysitting around it.
I think it was like a parentand three kids and everybody was
on their device.
You know, mom and dad were ontheir cell phones, the kids were
(25:16):
on some kind of gaming device.
Sometimes at home, you know,the TV's blaring or whatever.
So I think that sit-down familytime is really special.
So any thoughts from you guysas far as how can we promote a
really high-quality family?
Speaker 4 (25:30):
meal time.
I love that question.
I think that's a beautifulquestion.
I think it would be.
This is not a strategy.
You bringing this question upmakes me think.
You know we really probablyshould have put-away phones at
the table, which I thinkgenerally we do, but I think
that would be a great strategy.
We, we have a time of prayerbefore the meal and we like
(25:51):
engage all the kids on that andthen, you know, during the meal
a lot of times, if not duringthe meal or sometime later on in
the night, we'll do like agratitude practice where
everyone gets to go around andsay something they're grateful
for about the day, and I thinkthat just is a sacred family
time to eat together and that isa form of nourishment because
(26:11):
we are spiritually, spiritual,emotional, physical beings that
togetherness partaking togetheris a nourishment for our kids
and for us you know, when mykids were little, every night
when we had dinner, we wouldsing this little song all
together and I'm not going tosing it for you or we'd lose all
our listeners but it went likethis Thank you for this food,
(26:37):
this food, this wonderful,wonderful food, and the animals
and the minerals and thevegetables that made it possible
.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Isn't it nice?
But the point of the song wasto engage in what I call active
gratitude for where the foodcomes from and that for what
made it possible, including thefarm workers and the people
truck drivers, and I think thatthat's really important to kind
of connect food with gratitude.
(27:05):
In this world we live in,there's so many people who live
in food deserts or in povertyand in famine and other parts of
the world, and we're just soblessed in our country and to
where we have to have the foodwe have, but we seem to take it
for granted.
What about y'all?
Do either of you guys teachyour children active gratitude
(27:26):
for the food that we have?
Speaker 3 (27:28):
You know food is a great way to think about
gratitude and I think talkingabout the resources that go into
making food items, or theanimal that gave its life and
why it's not important to wastefood, because of everything that
went to getting the food ontoour table, helps them to be more
connected to you know how doesthis all happen.
(27:49):
It's not magic that it appearshere and you know talking about
working pays for food and youknow kind of it makes it real.
It makes it real and tangibleand a great way to approach
gratitude, for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Do either of y'all involve the kids in food
preparation?
Speaker 4 (28:08):
Whenever it's possible, I like to.
It definitely takes more energyto do that, yes for sure.
(28:28):
So right now I have atwo-year-old and a five-year-old
and most of the level of theirability is we can pull out
plates, we can put napkins onthe table, we can set it with
tossing them in the olive oil orwhatever it is, but a lot of
times they'll have to observe mepreparing the raw meat or you
know things like that.
But when we do involve them infood preparation, it helps them
(29:02):
have a more vested interest intrying something new.
You know we were talking aboutthose picky eaters earlier and I
think that definitely can helpthat process.
And you know, as they get older,I anticipate things that they
could help me with would be hey,let's pick out some recipes,
what are we going to eat thisweek?
You know?
Ok, what does that mean?
What groceries do we need tobuy?
(29:24):
And then letting them be at thegrocery store and go grab the
apples, you know, look at themand pick some, and just
involving them can grow as theygrow.
You know, thoseresponsibilities increase.
I think also, wherever we canapply a little bit of joy and
happiness and even sillinesswhen it comes to food can also
(29:47):
just help help this whole aspectof trying new things and
enjoying food and being justlike expand our health ideas
around food and so, like some ofthose tools could be like
cutting your fruit into sillyshapes or making a smiley face
on the plate for the kiddos, orlet's see if we can make this
look like a caterpillar thebanana, you know like.
(30:09):
Cut the little pieces and shapeit.
Pillar the banana, you knowlike.
Cut the little pieces and shapeit and just fun things like
that can bring joy as well andjust imagination and creativity
to the whole process andexcitement around preparing food
.
So, yeah, I think it's veryimportant that we are connected
(30:30):
with our food and not justconsuming.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Anyway, what about gardening?
I know, lindsay, you live outin the country, do you have a
garden?
Do you help the kids, help youin the garden?
They see the stuff growing andthat way they want to eat it
more.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
Yes, this year we did , because of extenuating
circumstances we have not had agarden, but in years past we
have, and that's been veryexciting, you know, and we've
just honestly allowed our kidsfree range to go out and if they
want to eat something in thegarden they can whenever they
want, and I think that'sexciting for them.
(31:05):
And you know, also, just kindof learning, oh, that's not
ready, that is ready.
Just there's so much to belearned from just hands in the
earth and experiential educationthat words don't communicate,
you know.
There's just something aboutthem doing it.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
So what are your thoughts on using food as a
reward?
So, for instance, if you'll bea good boy today, you can have a
cookie.
Yeah, I think anytime we usefood as a reward.
So, for instance, if you'll bea good boy today, you can have a
cookie.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Yeah, I think anytime we use food as a reward or an
expression of our affection,anytime we're using food outside
of nourishment to our bodies,we're getting into some kind of
tricky territory there and it'schallenging because this idea is
around us.
Everywhere you get a lollipopfor going to the dentist and it
can be hard to work against thatfood as a reward narrative
(31:56):
because it's so pervasive in ourculture.
And you know, sometimes whenthey come home with these
lollipops, I might offer totrade them for something else
and if they don't take the trade, they really want that thing.
It's important that they're notcoerced into trading, because
sometimes they get it and theywanted it and they didn't enjoy
it as much as they wereexpecting.
(32:17):
I want to let them stillexperience the control of that
situation and just again, thatlanguage of this instead of this
is a treat.
This is special.
I just want to stay withsomething more neutral.
Just this is sometimes food.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
And Coach Lindsay, you know how bullish I am on the
microbiome issue, and so do youhave any strategies, food-wise,
to help your kids maintain agood, healthy, gut microbiome?
Speaker 4 (32:40):
I think one interesting one is thinking
about our snacking and howfrequently we're snacking.
Now, I think this is also anage-appropriate thing.
You know, some younger childrenrequire more snacking than
others.
But you know, when we went andsaw our bio dentist, one of the
observations that he mentionedto us was that in his practice
(33:03):
he has and they're grazing, theyhave no time to just eat all
the time and there's no oralmicrobiome rest and also no rest
in the gut to like completelydigest and be done, and so it
(33:24):
provides this opportunity forthose opportunistic bacteria to
kind of multiply more and kindof create that unbalanced
microbiome.
So I think there is somethingto be said about eating at the
appropriate times, ageappropriate for your kiddo.
I'm not saying snacks are evil,but I do think it's important
(33:47):
to just weigh out what's ageappropriate for the child and
then truly keeping snacks atsnack time and not snacking all
day.
For that reason Also, you know,just not super heavy carb
loading all the time, butbalancing it with that protein
so that we don't yet againprovide that further invitation
(34:09):
for those opportunistic bacteriato grow.
You know also I think there'sstudies out there on the
microbiome that it's really setpretty well within the first
five years of life.
Not to say that there's nothope for those of us who have
six-year-olds, but just sayingthat those first five years of
life are really critical when weare cultivating the microbiome.
(34:34):
There was a study that came outof microorganisms.
It's a journal in 2023 thatshowed that exposures that your
gut has to diversity inmicroorganisms Actually that
study is quoted during the first3.5 years of life imprint the
gut microbiota for adulthood.
So I think if we as parents canhave the mindset of, hey, these
(34:58):
first five years are reallycritical to introduce a lot of
diversity to our kiddos as faras you know, diverse foods, lots
of colors.
Also, you know, yeah, let'sintroduce those cultured foods
to them too.
I think that's important forthat microbiota.
And then you know, wheneverpossible, avoiding those
(35:21):
antibiotics during thattimeframe too.
You know antibiotics can bereally necessary and life-saving
in some situations, but let'snot jump to an antibiotic every
time we get sick, especially forour young kids.
I think that's really worthfighting for.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
And you know, conversely, how do we build
their immunity alternatively andnot just wait for them to get
sick?
So, I think it's critical tothink about, like how can we
think in this way so that we are, you know, avoiding putting
ourselves in situations where wehave to use the antibiotic in
the first place?
But but of course again pleasehear me listeners use it if it
(36:02):
is in a, in an appropriate timeand per your doctor's
instruction.
But then I would also say, youknow, supplement wise, what we
do for our kiddos.
We do give them inulin, whichis a prebiotic, and then we also
like to give them a lot of goodcultured foods.
I make my own yogurt at homeand it's really easy.
(36:22):
I'd be happy to give to putthat recipe out for listeners.
But anyway, that's just onesimple, two little simple things
that we do microbiome-wise forour kids.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Yeah, lindsay, you are correct and those first
years are super important.
However, I think, even asadults, the use of things like
culture-informed foods, thetaking of probiotics it won't
permanently change yourmicrobiome, but it can change
things like gut inflammation oryour gut-brain axis and have
permanent beneficial effects.
So, all right, well, we'regoing to close out on food in
(36:56):
just a little bit and move on tosome other things.
Food's so important, but let'sjust get specific here.
I would love to find out whatmight be happening in the
typical Norgon and Matthewshousehold on a typical day
breakfast, lunch and supper.
What are some things you'llhave?
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Yeah, we kind of have a formula, like you do about
the protein.
I always say you know breakfasthas a protein, a fruit and your
milk, and so what do you wantfor your protein and what do you
want for your fruit?
And I'll, you know they canhave the choices there.
And sometimes we're not eveneating breakfast food, right,
(37:31):
we're eating, you know, ahandful of cashews as our
protein.
So it's just about giving themthe formula of what does a
breakfast need to include andyou choose from there.
Similarly, you know, to lunchand dinner.
You know we need to have avegetable, we need to have a
fruit, we need to have a protein.
You know the carbohydratesalways kind of tend to come in
anyhow.
So I don't make that arequirement, but letting them
(37:53):
have those choices of what thatlooks like.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Well, that's great.
Yeah, you know there's so muchdiscussion and debate about diet
, but it seems to me like itboils down to whole food and if
you kind of stick with that andyour emphasis, I agree with you,
Lindsay.
Especially for young people andfor older people, getting
enough protein is huge.
So, Lindsay, you mentioned abook the other day is called
French Kids Eat Everything.
(38:18):
What's that all about?
To give us a little summary ofthat?
Speaker 4 (38:21):
You know it was a book that I picked up when I
found out I was pregnant withMary Ellen, because I just had
all this anxiety about what am Igoing to feed her, how will she
not be a picky eater and howwill I teach her how to eat
healthy?
And that was the title thatpopped up and I read it and I
loved that book.
The premise was it was thiswoman, karen, who had moved to
(38:42):
France with her family and herkiddos were fully Americanized
on the SAD diet, that standardAmerican diet, and then when
they moved over there, it was alittle bit of a culture shock
because the French kind ofapproach raising their children
and food, and in such abeautifully different way.
And so she kind of summarizedit throughout the book in 10
(39:03):
like rules that she found thatthe French used, and one of them
the number one rule, was thatparents, you are in charge of
your child's food education.
I think this idea is it's justcaptured me and I just agree
with it on such a fundamentallevel.
One of the quotes was thatFrench parents think about
(39:25):
healthy eating habits the waythat we think about toilet
training or potty training orreading If your child had
trouble learning to read or usethe potty, would you just give
up?
The same should go for eating avariety of healthy foods and so
kind of allowing parents tothink about helping teach our
(39:47):
kids how to eat and when to eatbeing a basic life skill that we
get to give them as parents.
I just I love that concept andI agree with it.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Well, great, I'll put the name of the book under the
resources section on the website.
And one follow up question onthat.
Lindsay, so many kids thesedays, especially low income kids
, get breakfast and lunch atschool.
So do schools play any role interms of trying to set a
positive culture for healthyfood?
Speaker 4 (40:21):
I think that they could and should.
And you know, just think aboutit.
We as human beings eatpotentially three times a day or
more, from the time that we'reborn until the time that we die.
And so food and eating food andpreparing food and talking
about food and knowing what foodto eat and why to eat it and
(40:42):
when to eat it is truly lifeskill, and yet we don't
standardly teach our kidsanything about that in school.
I think.
I would be pretty surprised ifany of my nieces or nephews came
up to me and said hey, wetalked about food in school
today and they showed us how tocook X, y or Z.
(41:03):
A school garden is somethingthat is happening more to help
kids learn about that foodconnection.
We talked about gardeningearlier, but it's definitely not
the norm.
What if we looked up and we'redriving by a school and it was
like right now we know it's aschool because we see a
playground, but what if we alsoknew it was a school because
(41:24):
there was a garden in theplayground?
What if that was just the norm?
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Yeah, wouldn't it be nice, Like what if that was just
?
Speaker 4 (41:31):
the norm.
Yeah, wouldn't it be nice?
I think it could be and shouldbe, and why not?
But I do think gardening couldbe something like.
I think it's just an easy wayfor kids to learn and really a
wonderful way for kids to learnwhen they get that experiential
learning going on Well that'sgreat, a wonderful idea, part of
it.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
Well, thank you for sharing that.
And so, gosh, you guys have hadsuch great ideas on food and
healthy eating.
Thank you so much for sharingthose with us.
And, coach Lindsay, we just dida couple of podcasts on
supplements.
Are there any particularsupplements you think might be
helpful for kids?
Speaker 4 (42:05):
We have just a simple couple in our house, and one is
DHA fish oil.
We've given to our kids sincethey were infants and so we do.
Dha for brain and neurodevelopment and reducing
inflammation.
So DHA fish oil.
We always try to incorporateolive oil every day in some form
(42:26):
in their diet and that's forthose omega-9.
And that's also part of thatanti-inflammatory idea.
And then I mentioned inulinearlier in the podcast.
We do that as a prebiotic.
And then the fourth one we dois Megaspore, and that's just
like a spore-based probiotic.
(42:46):
We started them on like partialamounts of capsules and
increased it.
So those four things are what'simportant in our house.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
If y'all have any particular resources, you can
just send me an email or a textor whatever, and I'll put them
on the website for everybody,and so that will about do it for
this episode of the WellnessConnection MD podcast.
And Rachel and Lizzie, thankyou so much for sharing your
expertise and your passion onthis important subject with us
today.
It was really fun to talk toyou and to you, the listener.
Thank you very much for joiningus today and I hope we were
(43:15):
able to share something with youthat was helpful for you.
Speaker 4 (43:18):
Don't forget to check us out at mcminnndcom, where
you can find lots of greatresources and the Wellness MD
blog as well.
Also, please help us grow thepodcast by telling your friends
and family about us.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
And please take a moment to rate us on iTunes.
These reviews really do help usout.
We've had some feedback fromsome folks that it can be
difficult to actually do thesereviews, so we have a dedicated
page on the website to explainto you exactly how to do this on
your iPhone, step by step.
You can find this at mcmindycomforward slash reviews.
If you want to reach out to meby email, you can do so at
(43:53):
drmcminn, at yahoocom.
You can also find me atfacebookcom, slash mcminnmd or
instagramcom, slash mcminnmd.
I'll have all of our links foryou at the bottom of the
homepage on mcminnmdcom.
And now, coach Lindsey, can youleave us with a final Coach
Lindsey, pearl of wisdom.
Thanks.
Speaker 4 (44:11):
Lindsay, can you leave us with a final Coach,
lindsay, pearl of wisdom.
Thanks, dr Mack.
You know I just want to leaveour listeners with a message of
hope.
Kids are super resilient andyou know, I think there's a
scripture in the Bible that saysit best of all, love covers a
multitude of sins.
So you know, we can make a lotof mistakes as parents, but at
the end of the day, if you putthat love and intention and your
(44:34):
kids know that they are loved,that will cover a whole lot of
things.
And then here's another quickone of hope, and this comes from
a study that was done by theUniversity of Colorado at
Boulder, and it found that justone week of camping was able to
(44:55):
balance out circadian rhythmswithin one week.
Oh, that's pretty cool, isn'tthat amazing?
Yeah so you know, I just thinkthat just goes to say that we're
resilient and the body can doso many things.
So I just, I just want againlisteners have have a message of
hope from all of this that yourkiddos can can really thrive
(45:16):
and do well in this world withlove, and then just a little bit
of intention, like if there'sthings that are off course that
you've listened to today andheard and you want to change,
have hope that that things canchange in your house.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
That's right.
You know when, when my kidswere a little bitty, I read this
interesting article aboutthings that kind of bind
families together and keep themtogether, and one of the top
ones was camping, and so I wentout with the girls, we bought a
little pop-top camper trailerand the entire time they were
growing up we went campingtogether like a whole bunch,
usually down at the beach, andwe had so much fun, such great
(45:51):
memories, and to this daythey're both kind of outdoorsy,
kind of girls, I think, becauseof that.
One other thing you know, oneof y'all earlier used this
wonderful term unconditionallove.
That's such a powerful term.
So I think that as much as wecan sort of keep coming back to
that and use that as sort of thefoundation of the relationship,
(46:12):
then that's all good.
So that should wrap it up.
Thank you again so much forlistening to us.
We really appreciate it.
This is Dr McMinn and this isCoach Lindsay.
Take care and be well, thankyou.
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