4 ingredients for a healthy school lunch

Image care of nomnompaleo.com. Click the image to see their week of paleo lunch box ideas.

The contents of your child's school lunch box can make a huge difference to their concentration, behaviour and energy levels.  Every school lunch should include the following 4 things.

1. Fresh vegetables - the more variety and different colours the better.  Carrot sticks, celery sticks, green beans, snow peas, cucumber (especially the baby ones), capsicum and cherry tomatoes all travel well and taste delicious.

2. Healthy protein - for sustained energy and to keep them full.  Hard boiled eggs, left over chicken, roast beef or turkey, ham, tuna, silverside, cheese, youghurt or even cold sausages.  Nuts are fantastic too if your child's school allows them.  In the hot weather make sure to either include a frozen drink ir ice pack to keep things cool or put their lunch boxes in a cooler bag.

3. Healthy fats - for growing brains.  Avocado particularly as guacamole dip for the fresh vegetables is great, olives, once again tuna, hard boiled eggs or cheese, coconut oil treats (paleo protein balls are fantastic) and nuts or nut butters particularly macadamias and walnuts if your child's school allows them.

4. Water - even mild dehydration leads to impaired concentration, tiredness and everything just seems harder.  Wherever possible avoid plastic bottles.  Even BPA free plastic bottles are now being shown to contain chemicals equivalent to or in some cases worse than BPA.  In my opinion glass is best however in schools this may not be the best option.  In this case stainless steel is a great alternative.  To give a plug to a local company (I suspect they won't mind) - check out Earth Bottles.  Their bottles are double walled so they keep liquids cold for 24 hours or warm for 12 hours.

Bonus: Fresh fruit - strawberries, blueberries, nectarines, apricots, apple, pear, mandarines, kiwi fruit (make sure you cut it and include a spoon) and the list goes on.  There are so many to choose from so mix it up.  The more varied the diet, the better the range of nutrients your child will get.

This is particularly important for kids but also applies to adults so remember to include all 4 items in your menu for the day as well.  It helps give you all the nutrients you require to keep your brain and body in tip top condition. Enjoy!

​~ Bel