One unintended consequence of the recession is that American eating habits have changed. Overall this is a good thing, because families are eating at home more often. This is certainly beneficial for children.

Meals prepared at home tend to be more nutritious and the time spent with the family around the kitchen table is invaluable. During mealtimes families bond together, share experiences and children learn to eat healthy foods.

New market data has revealed that 81 percent of Americans eat dinner at home and plan meals in advance.

The data from the NPD Group’s National Eating Trends reveals there has been a decline in eating out. Although the decline on eating out is slowing, visits to restaurants have continued to decline for two years.

Instead of eating fast food,
Ethan is enjoying a meal made at home.

When heading out to the grocery store, I have to have a list or I’m sure to forget the most important item I need. Turns out, the majority of U.S. shoppers make out a grocery list before going to the market, as well. According to the Before the Store report also by NPD Group, 94 percent of U.S. shoppers prepare a written shopping list prior to grocery shopping. Furthermore, their research found that “72 percent of shoppers never or only occasionally buy items not on the list.”

Woman of the household are more likely to be responsible for most of the grocery shopping and meal planning. Although, the grocery list preparation tends to be a family affair. Sixty percent of married and family households report family members contributed to the grocery list.

Food manufactures goal is to get their processed food on your shopping list. Processed food is less nutritious and more expensive. For better health and lower grocery bills, avoid processed food. Shopping from a comprehensive grocery list is the best way to accomplish this.

“For food and beverage manufacturers and retailers, it’s all about getting on the list,” said Ann Hanson, executive director of product development and author of the report. “With so many purchasing decisions being made at home where meals are being planned and shopping lists assembled, it’s important to focus on the consumer at home before they leave for the store.”

When you shop with the Baby Bites Grocery List you’ll purchase the nutritious foods you need… And you’ll leave expensive, processed, empty-calorie foods behind. Click Here for the free grocery list.

CLICK HERE for the Baby Bites Store.

For info about the free Baby Bites Ezine,  CLICK HERE

We lie most about what we eat. Because we desperately want to believe we eat a healthy diet; we comfort ourselves with lies and food myths. We believe we eat better than most of the world!

Americans are fatter than the rest of the world, but that doesn’t mean that we eat better. We can afford to eat out a lot and statistics show that people eat out at least 4 times a week. Nearly half of our food budget, that’s 46 percent, is spent on eating out-most of that at fast food restaurants. Even picky eaters will eat fast food, in fact junk foods are usually the picky eaters favorite. Depending on where you eat, eating out can be twice as expensive as cooking at home. In addition, cooking has changed from preparing whole foods to heating up or assembling processed foods.

Our eating habits are costing families more than dollars. It’s not only cheaper, but healthier to do your own cooking. You have no control of what’s in the food you purchase out. Foods in fancy restaurants and fast food restaurants have a commonality: Trans fat, sugar, and MSG.

Pictured: Zach, Angel & Joshy eating an ice cream treat.

Morgan Spurlock, producer, director, and guinea pig of Super-Size Me, shocked America by documenting his month-long fast-food binge. I had no desire to watch his movie…until last week. I thought the premise was preposterous, after all, who wouldn’t expect to gain weight after eating exclusively at McDonalds?

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Supersize-Me, actually shed light on the not-so-obvious perils of regularly eating fast foods. Spurlock became a fast-food lab rat for one month. He calls it his “month in Hell.”

A team of health advisers documented his experiment. By day 18, his whole body was in a meltdown: headaches, body aches, and lack of energy. No surprise, his cholesterol and tryglycerides skyrocketed. What’s worse, his liver began to fail. Despite this, he found himself craving the foods that he was consuming! Morgan’s health team neglected to make a couple of significant connections. They were at a loss for the cause of his headaches.

MSG is a hidden ingredient in much of McDonalds’ food, including fries. MSG is an excitotoxin, which over-stimulate brain cells to the point that they die. Many people experience headaches when this occurs. It seems likely that MSG was the cause of Morgan’s headaches. It’s a shame that Morgan’s health team missed this important connection.

They were also at a loss as to why Morgan’s liver began to fail after only eighteen days. They concluded it was because of the saturated fat he was ingesting. It was a red herring! They neglected to isolate Trans Fat from natural saturated fats. Trans Fat is manmade and can’t be properly metabolized into your body. Fast foods (as are all restaurant fried foods) are loaded with trans fat.

The government recommends that we, and especially children, don’t eat any trans fat. Since 2006, it became mandatory to list trans fat on nutrition labels. In fact, McDonalds website lists the trans fat in their foods. A small fry has 3½ grams; medium 5 grams, and a large fry 8 grams. Happy Meals, purchased for small children, fall somewhere between 4 and 5 grams of trans fat.

Trans fat can be found in most of McDonalds foods: salads, shakes, hamburgers, all fried foods including chicken McNuggets, sandwiches, cookies, biscuits, burritos, and of course their fries. Morgan was ingesting trans fat in just about every bite of food. No wonder his liver began to fail!

Most of us don’t eat exclusively at McDonalds,  but you should be able to eat at ANY restaurant for a month without your health failing —even if you put on a few pounds.

It DOES matter what we eat! Desperate parents often give in to their picky eaters, who willingly eat junk foods. CLICK HERE for Baby Bites: Transforming a Picky Eater into a Healthy Eater. The cost of eating well is measured in not only dollars, but health.

For info about the FREE Baby Bites Ezine, Click Here.

My journey to whole foods began when Jenny, my third daughter, was diagnosed as hyperactive. Her pediatrician wanted to write a prescription at her two-year check-up to control her symptoms. I resisted and I resisted again at her 3-year and 4-year check-ups.

Jenny was constantly moving and she had a short attention span. We found ourselves adjusting our routines just to accommodate her. More worrisome, Jenny had great difficulty falling asleep. Bedtime took hours for her to settle down.

I knew in my heart that Jenny wouldn’t be able to function in a school setting and I would be out of options at her next annual check-up. I began to search for solutions at a time where there weren’t many. Although, it didn’t take too long and I found a book, Why Your Child is Hyperactive, by Dr. Feingold. He was the first to make the connection between food additives in processed foods with hyperactivity. Today, you can find many resources through the Feingold Association.

After reading Feingold’s book, I knew I had to change my purchasing habits, not only for Jenny, but for the entire family. I figured, I didn’t have anything to lose. I was a mom on a mission. I didn’t wait to gradually replace the food I’d previously purchased, but took an afternoon and cleaned out my entire kitchen. I read every label and gave away 5 bags of food.

In about a week, we began to see a new child emerge from the cloud of chemicals. Jenny, who exhausted US at her bedtime, was now falling asleep in minutes. This alone was worth any perceived difficulty or for that matter cost in changing our diets. Jenny’s attention span increased. She was more at peace. We always knew when something hidden in our food got past us, in our own accidental double-blind studies. After ingesting hidden chemicals, Jenny would once again experience sleep difficulties and, of course, hyperactivity.

I became a master sleuth, locating the additive culprit and then eliminating it. It typically took three to five days to clear her system. Unfortunately, in the last 30 years more chemicals have been added to our food supply. Today, 90 percent of the foods in our grocery stores are processed with over 3,000 chemicals. I believe this is why we are seeing an alarming increase of Autism Spectrum Disorder, which includes: Attention Deficit Disorder, ADD, ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder, and of course Autism.

Learning what’s in the food we purchase is vital for every family; whether or not you have a sensitive child, like Jenny. Eliminating additives and chemicals from your diet will increase the overall health of your family. Although our nutrition label is more complete, today, manufactures have added to the confusion. They want us to believe that we’re purchasing a healthy product, even if we’re not. They do everything they can to convince us that their processed food is in some way nutritious.

In Baby Bites: Transforming a Picky Eater into a Healthy Eater, I explain the difference between natural and organic: “The terms natural and organic don’t mean the same thing. They’re not interchangeable. Certified USDA organically grown produce is produced without pesticides, synthetic herbicides, sewage sludge, irradiation, preservatives or additives, and doesn’t utilize seeds from Genetically Engineered Organisms (GMOs). USDA Organic means it’s grown, handled, and processed differently than conventionally processed foods. At least 95 percent of the product is organic. On the other hand, the word “natural” on the label means absolutely nothing. Natural isn’t a term designating how the food was grown or produced or handled. The term “natural” indicates the product is edible. The food hype includes the whole food industry, which is growing by leaps and bounds. Just because the word organic is mentioned, don’t think the product is free of sugar or white flour. Reading labels is still your best bet. ”

If you liked this article, then you’ll want to read “The Picky Eater and ADD/ADHD:  CLICK HERE

Buy the Book at the Baby Bites Store!!!

For info about the free Baby Bites Ezine, CLICK HERE.

> Does your picky eater prefer fast food and sugar?

> Does your preschooler refuse to touch vegetables?

> Does your toddler throw food on the floor in defiance?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re not alone! Forty-nine percent of moms say they have a picky eater. With “Baby Bites,” in only 7 days, your picky eater will be tasting new foods!

Regrettably, we’re seeing the consequences from our present eating habits with overweight kids and kids who are experiencing diseases once reserved for adults. Thankfully, the synergy of the Baby Bite Steps catapults your picky eater to healthy eating. With the inclusion of multi-sensory learning, in a matter of days, your picky eater will be picking up and eating once refused food on his own. If you’re a new mom, you’ll discover how your baby can love whole foods from the beginning, avoiding ever having a picky eater.

Children love Betty Baby Bites^TM and Try Rannosaurus^TM, vital components used in the Baby Bite Steps. They not only offer a means to change negative mealtime patterns, but their enthusiasm for whole foods promote a new appreciation of nutritious foods for the picky eater. For the older grade school child, chapters 8 and 12 integrate multi-sensory learning into fun activities. Regardless of the age of your picky eater (even Daddy) can be transformed into a healthy eater with age-appropriate multi-sensory learning.

In addition to the Baby Bite Steps, you’ll find many timesaving ideas, shortcuts, and tips in Baby Bites^TM to be invaluable.There’s nutritional information, oodles of tips, fun food facts and activities, plus super-nutritionally packed kid-tested recipes. In fact, if you’re a busy mom, whether or not you have a picky child, you’ll benefit from Baby Bites^TM !

Buy the Book at the Baby Bites Store Now! Click Here.

To discover how your child will exclaim with Try Rannosaurus, “Green food is yummy!”

<< “Fantastico!” Click on Betty Baby Bites to learn more.