Paleo diet has become popular as a means of losing weight in adults. But is paleo diet right for your kids? Eating lean meat and fish and less or no junk food at all seems impossible for kids. But is this diet the right way to go? Though the basis of paleo diet sounds pretty healthy, the question of whether this meal plan is enough for the daily activities of a kid, seems unclear. So, before you start planning a paleo meal for your kid, let’s take a closer look at paleo diet and what being paleo means.
What is Paleo Diet?
When you hear the word paleo, the first thing that may come into mind is the dinosaur era, which is somewhat closely related to the paleo diet plan. The whole ideo of a paleo meal is to try foods that were eaten by people thousands of years ago. This includes lean meat, vegetables, fruits, fish, and seeds.
Foods are products of agriculture are off limits. These includes rice, wheat, barley, oats, dairy products, potatoes and yams and other starchy root crops, beans and processed foods. This includes ice cream and chocolate too. Two of the most favored food by kids.
Can Paleo Diet Make your Kids Healthier?
Though may be healthy and is really effective in losing weight and regulating blood pressure levels, Paleo diet may not be enough to sustain the daily energy needs of a kid. It is really effective for adults and many people have ripped the benefits of going paleo, but for kids, this diet is a bit restrictive. They need lots of energy to play outside, run in school, be active in class and have fun. Paleo diet cuts out necessary foods such as grains and starchy crops that is an excellent source of energy.
Aside from the fact that Paleo diet cannot sustain the daily energy needs of a kid, it also cannot sustain proper body development and brain growth. Unlike adults, kids needs enough nutrients to support brain and body development. They need more nutrients to support their growing organs.
Paleo diet can be very restrictive for kids. It requires planning and commitment. Imagine your kids having a sleep over and everybody is eating ice cream except them, or when it’s time for lunch and one of the kid has a tasty dessert to share. For a kid to go on a strict paleo diet is impossible.
The Conclusion
Though it may have some health benefits and the lack of complex carbs can be compensated by eating more fruits and root crops, there’s really not a lot of data to support paleo diet as good for kids. A more healthier approach would be to cut down the processed foods and replace those with healthy alternatives. Overall, teaching your kids which foods are healthy and what not is very important.
