What are some of your no no foods? - Page 3

[ChelseaG]

Originally Posted by BookGoddess

I'm another believer in moderation in food for my toddler. She gets to eat pretty much anything as long as it's whole food (unprocessed) and not full of dyes, fillers, hydrogenated oils, and man made chemicals. I can't take too much credit for it but DD turned out to be one of those rare kids who absolutely loves vegetables. She'll pass over the meat to eat broccoli, sprouts, celery, carrots, peas, even bitter vegetables that I won't touch!

We don't eat junk food often. She hasn't had McDonald's yet. But that's not to say I won't give those things to her at some point. I think not giving a food can sometimes create a forbidden fruit complex so I would rather give a bit of chocolate or ice-cream occasionally rather than excising it completely from her diet.

:

We try to limit sugar and fried foods for our 2yo DD - but will give in occasionally - as I indulge occasionally and think it is hypocritical for her to see me eat something but tell her she can't have it...
(BTW her favorite foods are cauliflower and brussel sprouts)
I try to stay completely away from HFCS, soda pop, and artificial sweetners.

I agree with the "forbidden fruit" complex - my sister and I did not have any sugar until age 10 or so - and once we could indulge (chowing oreos and red vines at friends houses) -we took it WAY too far and each gained about 20 lbs!

I hope to teach my kids that sugar is something that is OK to have on special occasions - but not something we eat every day because it is not healthy for us...

[snoopy5386]

The only thing I guess would be artificial sweetners. Other than that, there is nothing she can't have. We are trying to cut down on HFCS in our house, and partially hydrogenated stuff, but that is it. I drink a diet coke every day, just one, but every day. We eat treats such as cookies, ice cream and brownies a few times a month. She has had chips, cheetos and other junk, but not much. She LOVES french fries unfortunately and they seem to "come" with every meal you order at a restaurant.
Honestly, this thread has really made me think.....how/what do you people eat?? Where we live I would go broke trying to eat 100% organic, not to mention it would be impossible, the availability of foods just isn't there. And no processed foods? Does this mean no crackers, bread, cereal, etc? All these things are "processed", heck cheese and pasta are processed foods. Do you never eat out? That to mean seems to be where DD gets the worst food, restaurants or fast food.

[Thompson'sMommy]

Originally Posted by nighten

Well I certainly didn't ban formula, because when we had Thrush From Hell I had to supplement briefly while pumping and I was very thankful formula existed for that reason. I think it's a shame to add guilt to some mamas who had difficulty breastfeeding by lumping formula as a forbidden food, when in some cases it's not a choice, you know? We're still BFing and I'm thankful for it, but there by the grace of God and all that, you know?

I am sorry that you had to use formula for your baby and happy that you sill get to breastfeed. I however I don't think that I would have to use formula even if that such thing came up. I firmly believe that there are other ways to "suppliment" without giving formula.

I don't want to get into that, but I will say that I in NO WAY added guilt to mammas who couldn't/ didn't BF. It is a choice to give your child formula and until you mentioned it, I didn't bring it up.

I am sorry if you took my saying that formula was forbidden as a reason that you or anyone else should feel guilty about a decision to feed formula, whatever be the situation. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings but for now, formula is on my no no list.

That being said, when my son was small, I did ALLOW the Dr. to give him formula when he had jaundice. I didn't know any better and now I do so that is where I stand.

When you know better, you are expected to do better.

[Thompson'sMommy]

And I am also thankful that I have this BFing relationship with my son also.

[Steve's Wife]

There isn't really anything I ban, but I limit most unnatural, processed foods. No artificla sweetners for anyone in the house, though.

HFCS- I don't buy much of anything with HFCS except graham crackers and wheat breat (it's so hard to find bread w/o HFCS). I have a mean sweet tooth so we like to snack on chocolate covered raisins now and then, too.

I rarely buy anything with dyes, but we do like fruity cheerios now and again.

I don't do hotdogs unless they're from Trader Joes.

Hydrogenated oils - just Maranatha PB, so it's all natural. I do buy a muffin mix on occasion, though, and they have shortening in them.

[JamieCatheryn]

Seems like these are about forbidden for our own kids/ in our households, mostly sans judgement on others. I've seen some opposite answers one after another regarding chocolate for one thing.

We avoid:
Artificial Sweeteners
Corn Syrup
Hydrogenated oils
White flour
Artifical colors
Non organic dairy
Caged Eggs
Powdered milk products
Potato Chips
Overly processed and packaged snacks

[Thompson'sMommy]

I guess when I asked, I was thinking when you eat at home. We try not to eat out often but you are right when you eat anywhere, things are processed. I try to eat and chose my son to eat as min. processed foods as I can. And things that have the best ingredients as possible. Liek for instance, the noodles that I get have wheat drum flour in them and that is ALL. Sometimes things slip in. Like birthday parties and going over to relatives and stuff like that.

I used to not let him have anything processed until he was about 2 I mean nothing. Just whole foods. Now I bend... He eats veggie pizza (the meat has yucky stuff in it) and he eats Qdoba (which has white tortillas) and other stuff.

I TRY really hard. Some people don't even try to inform themselves about the dangers of some foods like arti. sweetners and other things. It is hard to live this way and I just wanted to see what others thought were biggies.

Oh my Dr said that they are the busiest right after Halloween... Food for thought?

[sophiekat]

gum. everything else in moderation.

[WannabeaFarmer]

Well as far as junk food, DD really doesnt like it. and with candy, she is only allowed a treat after dinner and usually only at grammas house. We really dont eat candy here. Most of the chips we have are tortilla chips and DD really doesnt like those either. The one thing I guesssome would consider junk that is her favorite snack right at the moment, is whole grain wheat thins...
We really do limit the junk here. DP and I both have diabetes so we tend to eat pretty balanced. I do admit though DD is on a fruit kick and would rather eat berries and apples right now than green beans or carrots. that will change in a week or two though...
I do make my own granola bars, simple breads, pizza crusts...etc. Its jsut easier and I know then what goes in them. We also make our own french fries too. They just taste better fresh.
But DD really doesnt get cows milk unles she asks for it(she calls it "daddys milk")cause she still gets "mommys milk".
As far as oils go, we usually do a majority of our cooking with 100% olive oil.
I have yet to find a good home-made pasta recipe.. I would so rather make my own and freeze it than buy it in the store.
We made our own baby food, and I wish I had a farm, cause I sure would be cutting my own meat and milkin my own cows. DP thins im nuts cause thats the work he used to do in high school...
So thats what we do.

[ktbug]

Soda (seltzer or sparkling water with juice is sometimes ok)
Store-bought juice except for Simply Orange, which we drink diluted or as above)
Gum
HFCS
Candy/cookies
White sugar

He has had McDonald's - a french fry. He didn't like it very much.

Moderation. But no sippies full of juice, no purple stuff (except eggplant), no lollipops. Not yet, anyway.

[Heirloom]

Artificial flavors and colors and preservatives. I am in for moderation as well. I try to teach them why certain foods are not good for you so we do not eat them very often.

[Trillian]

Well, because of allergies we don't eat peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, wheat, rye, fish, or shellfish. Other than that, nothing is completely forbidden, although I don't keep soda, juice, junk food, or sugary cereals around the house. If they happen to be available at someone else's house or at a restaurant, they are fine as treats.

[The4OfUs]

This is where my, "I come for the AP, not so much for the NFL" comes into play. We minimize junky stuff, but don't forbid it, and sometimes we eat convenience food regularly for a few days. We *mostly* eat whole foods, but sometimes eat fast food. We don't have tons of candy in the house, but DS will have a lollipop a couple times a month maybe. We stay away from HFCS for the most part, and especially when it's with red dye, as that combo seems to make him nutso. He gets half a cup of soda maybe once a month. Then again, he's almost 4. DD is 15 months, and does not get candy or soda. Neither of them get artificial sweetners. DS gets a max of 4 oz of juice a day, DD doesn't like juice. Both of them love chocolate and enjoy it in moderation. They both eat a lot of whole grain foods, fresh veggies, and fruit, such that I don't worry about the occasional nugget or hot dog. I'm DEFINITELY a 'most' things in moderation type of gal. We cook food from scratch about 85% of the time, I'd say, and it's not in my nature to sweat the other 15% within the parameters I put out above. The kids are healthy, bright, and thriving. IMO, it ain't broke, so there's nothing to fix for us. YMMV.

[veggiemomma]

We do not have any forbidden foods in our house. I do not buy high sugar, high fat items at the grocery, so I suppose their choices are somewhat limited. However, once a week, when I drive thru the bank, the teller always sends out two suckers for my kids. I let them have them because they usually only take two licks each and then they are done. I do sometimes let them have fast food, but not all the time. I also don't let them eat tons of organic apple slices (which they adore) because that makes their bellies hurt worse than a gallon of ice cream with chocolate syrup.

We eat A LOT of fresh fruits and veggies. They are not picky and will eat anything from lima beans and brussel sprouts and broccoli to (gasp) mac & cheese and french fries.

Honestly, I am leary of having "forbidden foods" as I am afraid it will actually cause them to have bad eating habits later when they can make their own food choices. I echo what has already been posted...moderation, moderation, moderation

[mama_b]

As a general rule there are a lot of things we avoid. I really don't like the idea of completely forbidding anything, but there are two things that I just can't bring myself to give in on, even in small amounts on rare occasions: anything with msg or artificial sweeteners. Those two things are known to cause brain damage and it flips me out to think of her eating even just a little bit. Everything else I can give in on every once in awhile, fast food, hfcs, trans fats, white sugar, etc.

[verde]

In our house my DH is the pickier eater with the list of forbidden foods. I'm the moderate one.

We try to eat whole, organic, local, non-processed foods. I don't eat meat and DH eats very little so DD has had a few bites of meat occasionally. DH forbids MSG and tries to avoid all preservatives and artificial colors and flavors. We have not given DD any candy but she has had some sweet things like cake with the frosting scraped off. She's lactose-intolerant so we avoid dairy but she does eat goat cheese and sheep yogurt.

She loves fruits and veggies and also likes things with a bit of a sharp taste like olives.

[Steve's Wife]

Originally Posted by mama_b

As a general rule there are a lot of things we avoid. I really don't like the idea of completely forbidding anything, but there are two things that I just can't bring myself to give in on, even in small amounts on rare occasions: anything with msg or artificial sweeteners. Those two things are known to cause brain damage and it flips me out to think of her eating even just a little bit. Everything else I can give in on every once in awhile, fast food, hfcs, trans fats, white sugar, etc.

I knew MSG was bad news, but I didn't know it could cause brain damage! Wow! link? We do buy things like canned soup, and while I try to buy organic, I can't always afford it and do buy Campbells when it's on sale. It doesn't say MSG on the label but I know that it can say "flavoring".

[hottmama]

I forgot artificial sweeteners, too. That is an absolute NO for all of us.

[*Aimee*]

Originally Posted by hottmama

I forgot artificial sweeteners, too. That is an absolute NO for all of us.

Yeah, I figure thats a no for most people here automatically like, rat poison or something else My mom is just ALWAYS trying to give DS her diet tea or some other crap. I *do* let him drink tea, but its herbal and has no sweetner so big difference. Its just such a constant battle with us here I listed it

[mama_b]

Originally Posted by Steve's Wife

I knew MSG was bad news, but I didn't know it could cause brain damage! Wow! link? We do buy things like canned soup, and while I try to buy organic, I can't always afford it and do buy Campbells when it's on sale. It doesn't say MSG on the label but I know that it can say "flavoring".

There's a lot of good info in this book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...pluswebworkerA

You may be able to find it at your library if you don't want to buy it.