Did you know food is your best medicine?
There are many things in fruits and vegetables (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytochemicals…) that have enormous healing powers. All you have to do is eat them often!
Approximately one in three U.S. children live with chronic health conditions and this number is on the rise. These chronic conditions often affect their daily lives and normal activities, contribute greatly to missing school, and require continual medical attention.
These chronic health problems include, but are not limited to:
Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADHD)
Arthritis
Asthma
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Auto-immune disorders
Developmental/Learning Disorders
Cancer
Cardiovascular problems
Constipation
Cystic fibrosis
Diabetes
Epilepsy
Food allergies
Obesity
Respiratory allergies
Prevention is better than cure
Prevention, education, and investing in the health of all children would help prevent the exacerbation of many illnesses, and alleviate the epidemic of chronic disease that currently exists.
What we do know
Food is our medicine!
Eating the right foods will keep us healthy!
Eating the wrong foods will make us sick!
There are many benefits in eating colorful foods
Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, watermelon, apples, cranberries, pomegranates, tomatoes, red peppers…
Oranges, apricots, cantaloupe, mangoes, nectarines, papaya, peaches, pineapples, carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, yellow peppers, pumpkin, sweet corn…
Avocadoes, green apples, honeydew, kiwi, broccoli, cucumber, lettuce, green peas, green beans, spinach, zucchini, kale, celery
Blueberries, blackberries, grapes, plums, purple figs, purple cabbage, eggplants, purple carrots, purple potatoes
Bananas, white nectarines, white peaches, cauliflower, garlic, onions, turnip, mushroom, jicama, ginger, white potatoes, white corn
When learning about the healing superpowers of whole foods, one thing to always keep in mind is that eliminating bad foods is just as important as adding good ones. Why? Because the bad foods not only keep adding to the problem, they can also block the healing superpowers of the good ones.
What we may not know
More than 3,000 food additives — preservatives, flavorings, colors and other ingredients — are added to US foods, including infant foods and foods targeted to young children. Meanwhile, many of these are banned in other countries, based on research showing toxicity and hazardous health effects, especially with respect to adverse effects on children’s behavior. Food dyes are one of the most widely used and dangerous additives. There are no labels informing consumers of the health risks, but they have been shown to:
- cause inflammation and disease
- make you moody and miserable
- make you hyperactive and misbehave
- cause cancer
Food dyes approved in the US, but banned outside the US:
Eat the Rainbow Challenge
Here is the trick: in order to successfully eliminate the bad foods, you first have to add new good foods to your diet that you really like, otherwise you will most likely reach for the bad ones again.
This is why we proposed the Eat The Rainbow – Challenge at our elementary school this year, and it was a huge success!
We handed out this chart to fill out for two weeks:
Observations and Outcome
- We had 190 kids out of 742 kids participants.
- About 30% of the returned sheets were filled out completely, indicating that these kids were eating the rainbow of colors daily : )
🍎🥕🍋 🥦 🍆 🍇 - We received really good feedback from several teachers saying it was eye-opening for many families.
- Some asked to do the rainbow challenge yearly or even quarterly!
- Some said they noticed how their kids were calmer when eating fruits and veggies instead of artificial chips and sour gummys for snacks.
- And last but not least, many kids said they loved it and it was fun!!!
It was a great experience that we recommend to everyone! We will do it again and hope you will join us! Give it a try and let us know how it does in the comments below! Happy, healthy eating everyone!
Comments:
“Our class participated in the Rainbow Challenge last year. As a teacher, I noticed the snacks many students brought consisted of processed junk food such as chips and candy. The Rainbow Challenge couldn’t have come at a better time. One student in particular was experiencing a lot of emotional and behavioral challenges consistently throughout the school year. Around the time of the Rainbow Challenge, I noticed a drastic shift in his behavior- he became more focused, calm, and his ability to emotionally regulate was more evident. I was so impressed by this so I asked the student what changed? The student responded with, “ The Rainbow Challenge has helped me change my behaviors. I feel happier and more calm eating the Rainbow. I feel I can do better at school.” This student stopped bringing Hot Cheetos, Takis, and candy for snack and lunch everyday, and started drinking fruit and vegetable smoothies in the mornings, and bringing veggies and fruits for snack and lunch everyday. It was life-changing for this particular child. Thanks a million Rainbow Challenge!”
