One of the foods that is majorly lacking in many people's diets are greens, especially leafy vegetables.
So we're talking about: Spinach Broccoli Spring greens/collard greens Kales Savoy cabbage Mustard green Turnip greens Okra Brussels Sprouts Green Beans Sugar snap peas Romaine lettuce (Arugula) Lambs lettuce (mache) And herbs like coriander, parsley & basil Green leafy vegetables, dark green vegetables and green salad foods have a combination of vitamin C which is great for immunity, iron which is necessary for growth and energy, calcium to promote strong bones and teeth, chlorophyll which is very cleansing and deodorising to the body, as well as great levels of many other vitamins, minerals, fibre and if they are raw, live enzymes, which help countless functions in your body perform better.
It's no wonder us nutritionist and health coaches want to see you get more into your children's diets and lives as quickly as possible.
Most adults have terrifying childhood memories of being forced to eat our greens, oftentimes because they were and are seen as medicinal instead of enjoyable.
As parents, we have a tendency to pass on their dislikes for foods and opinions about them to our children, giving them a slim chance of developing a good relationship with these life promoting super doper foods.
No one had to force you or your children to drink fruit juice because it typically tasted good and looked good.
So if you want your children to get more greens in, do the same, make them look and taste appealing, which will in many cases, mean you have to change the way you think and feel about them too.
Here are some things you can try to get your children (and yourself) to eat greens with a smile Less of the heat treatment Overcooking greens not only damages or loses a large amount of the nutrients in them, but it also makes them soggy, mushy and destroys their very vibrant colours.
If you are going to cook them for your children, steam them for 4-5mins at the most.
For example, broccoli steamed or boiled rapidly for just 4 mins becomes a beautiful bright green and retains it's taste and some crunch.
But if you cook it any longer, you get a soggy waterlogged dull green mush that hardly anyone wants to eat.
Juices & Smoothies Juicing greens or adding them to smoothies is a good way to get your children to eat more greens.
Yes they do come out very green, but providing you use sweet fruits and vegetables, they taste good.
The more your children drink green juices and smoothies, the less sweet fruits you'll have to add and the more potent and nutrient rich you can make them.
So you might have to start off with 3 apples and 1 small handful of spinach juiced together or put in a blender with some water and made into a smoothie.
Then as they get used to it, you can use just 2 apples, a bigger handful of spinach and a little water.
Finely chopped into salad Finely chopping greens is a great way to get your children to eat more greens too.
You could mix very finely chopped broccoli, kale or spinach into rice, pasta or even soups before you serve them.
Use them to garnish pizza, burgers or even chips.
Little green bits covered by their favourite foods can sometimes make it more appealing to them.
Remember though, the very best thing you can do is keep trying.
Try as many different ways you can, as often as you can and with persistence you will find a way to get your children to eat greens with a smile.