AGEs -- Another Reason to Stop Giving Kids Processed Food

By Julia Moravcsik, PhD, author of Teach Your Child to Love Healthy Food

A recent study found that babies have high levels of chemicals called advanced glycation end products. These chemicals are the result of exposing food to high heat, and are especially high in processed food and fast food. Processed food is made with high heat, and fast food restaurants use high temperature oils or grilling to cook their food.

AGEs can cause many modern diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's. AGEs cause inflammation, which may be involved in countless other diseases, such as allergies and autoimmune disorders. Scientists are just beginning to discover the ramifications of the high level of AGEs in the modern diet.

Babies emerge from the womb already high in these AGEs. Because the bloodstreams of the mother and fetus are connected, the AGEs in the junk food that the mother has eaten finds its way into the baby.

Babies who are fed formula continue to get large amounts of AGEs -- they were found to have twice the levels that adult diabetics have. Many of these babies actually had elevated insulin levels -- something that we think of as an adult health problem.

How to Reduce AGEs in Your Child's Diet

You can take these steps to reduce the AGEs in your child's diet:

1. If you're pregnant, avoid processed foods, fast foods, and foods (especially meats) cooked at high temperatures.
2. Breastfeed your baby.
3. Most of your child's food should be homemade. Packaged food has been processed at high heat to extend shelf life.
4. Limit the amount of fried food that you give to your child.
5. Use low temperatures for frying.  Never grill meats.
6. Before frying, coat the food with high antioxidant foods, such as cherry juice, herbs, or spices. These will protect the surface of the food, which is in contact with the high temperatures, and reduce the formation of AGEs.
7. Feed your child lots of fruits, vegetables, and other low-fat plant foods.
8. If you give your child meat, make sure it's cooked at a low temperature. Stewing is especially good -- it produces few AGEs.
9. While I hate to recommend a completely raw food diet because of its nutritional imbalances, you can still benefit from using raw food recipes. There are many good raw food cookbooks, and there may even be a raw food restaurant near you.

Would you like a simple, easy-to-follow program that will teach your child to love healthy food? See my new book Teach Your Child to Love Healthy Food on amazon.com.

Related Articles

Feeding Your Child Healthy Food Now Can Help Him Years Later 

Junk Food Diet May Cause Autism Through Insulin Resistance

See the Latest Article...

Cure Your Junk Food Kid in 6 Weeks

By Julia Moravcsik, PhD, author of Teach Your Child to Love Healthy Food

Many parents are in a bind. They really want to feed their children healthy food, but their children refuse everything but junk food. Parents serve piles of vegetables next to the hot dogs and potato chips, and those same piles of vegetables end up in the garbage can.

Children, cute as they are, are the same as rats.  Scientists have found that rats that are used to eating junk food will refuse to eat if they're given healthy food! They actually have to go through a withdrawal period before they start enjoying the taste of real food.

This makes sense in evolutionary terms. Starvation is a constant threat for wild animals. If an animal finds a cache of high-calorie, sweet, fatty food, it fills up on it. If it also ate low calorie vegetables during this time, it would not have room for the high calorie food.

Don't despair! You can wean your child off of junk food with these steps:

Before You Begin:

• Make a list of the relatively healthy foods that your child likes. Make sure they are no sweeter than fruit, and not extremely high in fat. These foods will sustain your child during the weaning period.
• Rid your house completely of junk food. Absolutely no sweets, chips, and other sweet or overly fatty foods. Your whole family needs to cooperate. Your child shouldn't even be able to see these foods, or see someone else eating them, or your child will start craving them.
• Buy foods that you want your child to learn to like,  (e.g., fruits, vegetables, and whole grains).

Weeks 1 - 3:

• Make tasty dishes with the foods that you want your child to eat. Use ingredients that your child already likes (but are still healthy). For example, if you are trying to get your child to eat broccoli and she likes cheddar cheese, sprinkle cheddar cheese on the broccoli.
• Give your child only the healthy new foods, except for dinner. Dinner should consist of the relatively healthy foods that your child already likes.
• Give your child a new food every two or three days. If you give it to her too often, she will get tired of it. If you give it to her too infrequently, she won't learn to like it.

During Weeks 1 - 3, your child will be hungry during the day because she is eating less of the new foods. She may even refuse to eat some meals. However, Nature has provided a great tool for learning to like foods -- HUNGER! Think about how tasty food tastes when you're hungry. The few forkfuls that your child eats will taste especially good, and will help your child learn to like that food.

The evening meal of familiar foods prevents your child from getting too hungry. But, as a parent, you do need to stay strong if your child seems to be eating too little during this time. It won't hurt your child to eat a little less for a few weeks. Remember, the long term benefits are worth it!

Weeks 4 - 6:

• During these weeks, slowly replace the evening meals with new, healthy foods. At this point, your child has probably learned to like a few of the new foods.
• The whole family should be eating these same healthy foods. Eat together as a family in order to give your child role model examples.

Week 6 and Beyond:

Congratulations! Your child has taken the first steps to being a healthy eater!

From now on, sweets and junk food should be an occasional treat only. Each time she has junk food, she will probably regress for a day or two -- refusing to eat healthy food and whining for junk food.

You can make a bigger list of food that you want your son or daughter to like. For each food, make sure it's in a tasty recipe, and give it to your child a few times a week. It usually takes a month or two before your child likes a new food.

Would you like a simple, easy-to-follow program that will teach your child to love healthy food? See my new book Teach Your Child to Love Healthy Food on amazon.com.

Related Links

25 Ways to Get Your Child to Eat Vegetables
Children Like the Food They Grow Up With

See the Latest Article...

Switching From a Junk Food Diet to a Healthy Diet May Make Your Child Stop Eating -- But Don't Worry!

By Julia Moravcsik, PhD, author of Teach Your Child to Love Healthy Food  OK, you've decided to take the plunge and feed your child nothing but healthy food. You've thrown away all sugary foods -- candy bars, ice cream, granola bars are in the trash. You've stocked up on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and other healthy foods. The frozen kids meals, crackers, and chips are gone.

The day has come. You put a plate of healthy food in front of your child. He doesn't eat it! Never mind, you think, he'll eat the next meal. But no...day after day goes by and your poor darling barely eats anything!

You begin to worry. Maybe your child just doesn't like healthy food. It's better to give him a little junk food than to starve him, isn't it? You begin to waver in your resolve.

Rest assured. It is completely normal for kids to stop eating if they don't get their junk food. Scientists have found that rats will starve themselves if they have become addicted to junk food and the junk food is taken away. Your child is used to getting a high from junk food, just like a cocaine addict does. Normal, healthy food simply doesn't provide that high.

What the article doesn't mention is that after a period of withdrawal, junk-food-addicted rats will start to eat normal food. If you persevere and continue to give your child healthy food, he will start to eat it. And, because he is no longer addicted to junk food, he will actually like the healthy food. It will taste good to him.

Tips and Techniques

Go cold turkey with your child. Remove all junk food and give him healthy food. Expect a period of time where he will not eat very much. This is normal. After a few weeks of withdrawal, your child will emerge with a new palate, uncorrupted by the addiction of junk food.

Would you like a simple, easy-to-follow program that will teach your child to love healthy food? See my new book Teach Your Child to Love Healthy Food on amazon.com.

Find me on Facebook or Twitter.