By Dr. Michelle Irwin

Healthy kids, just like healthy adults, start with what we put in our body. I know it sound cliché, but we are what we eat.

If we are eating the right foods that give us the most bioavailable nutrients, we build strong healthy cells, but if we are eating fried and processed foods for every meal, we are depriving our cells of the proper building blocks to build a strong healthy body.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are more prevalent in children in the last 20 years because the foods we grew up with that were the quick alternative to long hours on the stove have become less nutritious that when we were kids.

Due to bleaching of the flour which strips the nutrients out, soils being depleted of their basic minerals, and increase in sugar and preservatives in the foods the current generation of children are not getting the correct nutrition and so their bodies are holding on to what it can get to hold off starvation. Just like when we had to prepare our body for winter and build fat reserves.

Then instead of burning that fat when we need energy, we burn the sugar that has been added to the foods and so the natural process that would remove the excess fat is stalled and we hold on for a cold and rainy day.

However, if we can flood the body with proper nutrients with healthy organic foods, we can reverse the process and start building a strong healthy future.

I know it can be a little more time consuming to prepare the raw foods, but in the long run if we can set aside some time to meal prep and teach our families to reach for the healthy foods, we can make good choices the easy choices and have more energy to continue making good choices not only in the foods we eat but also in how we move and what we do in order to have a healthy and strong future.

Here are some lists of foods that you can make your shopping list from that will help you make the healthy choices for you and your family.

Dirty Dozen: Important to buy organic

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale, collard and mustard greens
4. Apples
5. Nectarines
6. Grapes
7. Bell and hot peppers
8. Cherries
9. Peaches
10. Celery
11. Tomatoes
12. Pears

Clean 15: okay to buy non-organic

1. Sweet potatoes
2. Watermelon
3. Mangoes
4. Cantaloupe
5. Mushrooms
6. Cabbage
7. Kiwi
8. Honeydew melon
9. Papaya
10. Onions
11. Pineapple
12. Avocados
13. Sweet corn
14. Sweet peas (frozen)

Chiropractic care focuses on healing the body naturally, holistically, and without the use of medication from the inside out. If you need help getting out of pain, schedule an appointment today!