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Originally Posted by organicmidwestmama
 that sounds so hard. all can say, from my experience of having a child who only wanted grains/carbs, is they are "hypoglycemc" because of the refined/quickly digesed sugars (and even whole grains turn to sugar in the bloodstream) they are eating, so eating more of these foods creates a viceous cycle of craving, blood-sugar crashing, and then feeding the beast so to speak.
i cant tell you what to do but i have noticed with my son if i only offer cheese, nuts, meats, etc. for a snack, when he is begging for junk, he will eat the healthy foods if he is truly hungry. he may cry, because sugar, and even refined grans like noodles can be addictive, but after a chunk of cheese or something he will calm down and feel better. i am not saying kids shouldnt ever eat carbs, but grains and sugar arent very nutrient-laden and do cause problems for many kids. low sugar fruits lke berries, and lower sugar starches like butternut squash are healthier carbs in my opinion then bread, crackers, noodles etc. |
yes, he does crave carbs...because his blood sugar runs naurally low, like mine, my dad's, and my maternal Grandmother. Also, I offer only nutrient dense snacks. He'll just let it sit there if he's 'not hungry'. If I can convince him to take a bite of something, he discovers that he's suddenly ravenous, and then is willing to eat the good stuff. But I have to get in that first bite. I was about 'this close' to smearing the inside of his cheek with maple syrup, just so he'd feel hungry enough to eat.
I agree that many people who experience hypoglycemic sugar measurements do so because they are eating toast w/fruit for breakfast, hummus and crackers for a snack, grapes and skimm milk cheese for lunch, 100 calorie snack packs for a snack, and a huge salad minus dressing or protein for dinner. I know people who eat that way.
We don't. I don't buy noodles, or instant stuff. I don't even usually have flour on hand. I know that rolled oats are still processed, but they are minimally processed. I do buy whole ground corn meal, rolled spelt, garbanzo bean flour, etc. I don't cook with flour. I must sound like we're on the typical SAD but we're not.
Each meal I base on a protein, usually meat or eggs, or beans. I add good fat if necessary. Then I add a plant food, like wild rice, yams, celery root, lentils, beans, and often onions and fresh garlic and tomatos. Then I add something fresh, either a raw veggie for dipping, or fruit. I also include something cultured or fermented, cheese, yogurt, sour cream...I like Kombucha, but the kids don't. I process my own tomatos. Even the toast is sprouted grain bread- no flour.
argh...getting long-winded...here's my point. We are truly hypoglycemic. That is our normal state, low. I can only eat half a small apple or pear, and I better eat it with peanut butter or cheese, and a glass of whole milk, or I'll get a sugar high and then crash. What I'm saying is, regardless of how carefully he and I eat, we still must eat frequently, and always protein and fat first, then veggies/fruit. I never serve fruit w/o a fat.
The probem I'm having with him is that I'll serve apples and peanut butter, and he'll only eat the apple.
Or, like the stupid eggs, he won't eat them if there's any yolk mixed in at all. So that's why I've been trying to use some of my whole grains to bake- that's the only way I can get the yolks in him! I did make some 'cookies' with oats, almond flour, egg yolks, butter, and a touch of maple syrup. He ate them. 
That is the only reason I'm baking anything at all!He's been doing better the last two days. After the almond cookies. The next morning he ate three strips of bacon and a bite of eggs, but a few hours later, he ate a couple ounces of cheese, and a few bites of chicken. Later we went on a walk, and he ate a whole string cheese and drank a little jug of milk. Then when we got home, he ate part of a beef jerky stick. Today, he ate milk/fruit smoothie...peanut butter toast, a few bites of the dinner I'd made last night, beef, beans, tomatos and rice...then for dinner he ate 6 breakfast sausages, an egg white, and some milk. That's a lot for him.
That's why I'm frusttrated, I am providing him with the only food he really should eat, and he won't even eat that.
Magelet- that is EXACTLY our problem. And I do talk to him about it, tell him stories about how I felt as a little girl, and how it feels to feel so cranky and not know why. And for the last two days, I've been pointing out to him how much better he feels b/c he's eating well, and he agrees with me.
thanks so much for helping me think this through. Any further thoughts are welcome.
