The Fad Diet You May Want to Try With Your Kids

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You’ve probably heard of the Paleo eating plan, which is often referred to as “the caveman diet.” Did you picture giant plates of meat with tiny bits of nuts and seeds for sides? I’ll admit it — I did. But Heather Dale, a nutritionist and mother of three in Denver, Colorado, says that people who think that way have Paleo all wrong. “The primary emphasis of Paleo is to eschew processed, refined, junky food-like-substances in place of real, whole foods,” she tells Yahoo Parenting. “It is about identifying — from a biochemical and biological perspective — what foods support our health and what foods are likely detrimental.”

Dale turned to Paleo three years ago when she was feeling low in energy and holding onto 20 pounds of post-baby weight. At first, she went it alone. “My husband swore he’d never give up pasta and bread,” she says. “But then he saw the amazing changes that happened with me.” Dale lost the baby weight plus another 10 pounds in about 16 weeks. “I was so full of energy — gone were the 3pm slumps, the cravings, the constant need for sugar.” And soon, her whole family, including her three children, now 9, 6 and 4 years old, had gone Paleo.

Nutritional Considerations
While the idea of putting kids on any sort of eating regime tends to raise red flags for people, Paleo parents argue that the diet simply encourages healthier eating. Chandra Turner, a mom of two in Pelham, New York, went Paleo about six years ago after her husband turned to the plan and gave her some books to read. “Most of it made sense to me,” she tells Yahoo Parenting, “especially the parts about avoiding processed foods.” Her family went Paleo when her son was an infant and her daughter was two years old. “Outside of cutting Cheerios and pasta, there wasn’t much change for our toddler,” explains Turner. “We were already feeding our kids healthy whole fruits, veggies and organic meats — no chicken fingers or neon orange mac and cheese! They ate what we ate.”

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Elisa Zied, nutritionist and author of “Nutrition At Your Fingertips,” agrees with Turner, and likes that the Paleo plan encourages whole foods. “Today’s kids consume far too many nutrient-poor foods that come in packages, so encouraging more ‘real food’ can be a boon to health,” Zied tells Yahoo Parenting. But she’s not 100 percent sold on Paleo. “A downside of the plan is that it excludes some nutrient-rich foods including whole grains, low-fat or nonfat dairy foods like milk and yogurt, and legumes (beans or peas). These foods provide tons of nutrients — complex carbohydrates, fiber, protein and calcium.”

So are kids on Paleo missing out on essential nutritional needs? Dale says no. “There is absolutely no micronutrient, vitamin, or mineral that is present in grains and legumes that is not present in some other fruit, vegetable, meat, nut, or seed,” she asserts. “Not one.” She adds that dairy is not strictly a “never” food for Paleo eaters (her family sometimes has cheese) — but it’s a food that can be “highly problematic for those cannot properly digest lactose (milk sugars) or casein (milk proteins).” And, since estimates indicate that over half the world’s population has issues with dairy, cutting back on it is a good to find out if you’re one of those people. Dale also notes that every once in a while her family eats legumes (which have lectins that can cause digestive distress). “I always soak any them overnight and rinse thoroughly before cooking, which helps,” she says.

Turner’s children, too, are not super-strictly Paleo. “The kids still eat whole wheat bread, peanut butter and dairy, so I guess they are Paleo Light,” she says. “Our rule is outside of the bread, which only was allowed in the last year or so when we had to start packing school lunches, there are no processed foods in the house — no pasta, boxed cookies, crackers or cereal. We make nearly everything from scratch.” The Turner children also eat off-plan at birthday parties and play dates. “It’s not like they have allergies,” says Turner. “It won’t kill them to eat Goldfish, nachos, or pizza one afternoon. But unlike most kids who eat these foods day in and day out, they know that these foods are treats to be eaten rarely.”

Potential Benefits
Both Dale and Turner say that their families are healthier and happier since going Paleo. “My and my husband’s cholesterol levels are insanely low,” says Turner. “At my annual health screening every year I always get gasps from whoever does my blood draw. When I say I eat eggs or sausage every morning they just can’t sort that out in their brains. Paul has also seen that his skin is clearer and that he has more energy.”

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Dale has seen even greater changes, specifically for her 9-year-old son. “My son had severe ADHD and in the process of learning about current research on the connections between diet and cognitive function, I saw a lot of links between what he was eating and how it could be affecting his behavior,” she says. “So I got rid of the gluten and dairy as a first step when he was 7. The changes were unreal. His teachers asked if I’d finally given in and decided to medicate him (I hadn’t) because for the first time ever he was sitting still and attentive in class, and at home what had been two hours of homework became 20 minutes, which is what it was supposed to be.” Dale says that two years later, her son remains a centered, focused student.

Challenges
Because Dale’s children were older when they changed to a Paleo lifestyle, they didn’t find the transition as easy as Turner’s little ones did. “At first, my kids missed everything, in particular the really junky food like Goldfish crackers, processed cookies and pizza,” says Dale. “But I’ve developed alternative, healthy recipes for almost everything. There are tons of blogs out there that have incredible recipes for Paleo pizza, ‘healthy’ cookies (usually using almond or coconut flour), crackers and bread.”

School meals are a challenge, too, and Dale’s son gets teased about his lunches sometimes. “It’s been slow going getting him to feel comfortable, and I have made some modifications, trying to make food look close to originals,” she says. “I focus on things like homemade chicken nuggets (with a crust made of almond flour—tastes and looks like the original). If I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll make some homemade white bread made out of ground up cashews and then make him grilled cheese sandwiches out of that. It’s more work than throwing in a bag of processed snacks, but for me it’s worth it because I know how important this is for kids’ growing bodies and brains.”

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Turner finds the cost of sticking with the Paleo plan to be something of a drawback. “It’s expensive to eat all whole foods all the time — our grocery bills are insane,” she admits. “We go through a ton of fresh fruit and bags of seeds and nuts every week, and we also try to eat humanely, which means more money for organic, grass-fed and free-range meats.”

Consult an Expert
Zied acknowledges that there are lots of benefits to the Paleo plan, as mentioned above, but she maintains that she’s not a fan of anyone, especially growing kids, excluding foods or food groups without first talking to an expert. “Parents considering a Paleo plan should discuss food options and supplementation with a registered dietitian nutritionist and a pediatrician to ensure they meet their kids’ energy and nutrient needs,” she advises.