Children and Healthy Eating: Easy, Cost & Time Effective Solutions [Podcast with Madiha Saeed]

“When you’re on the PCOS journey, sometimes you feel like you should be doing it on your own, not understanding that actually it’s a full family approach that will really help you succeed and keep your children and family healthier.” – Dr. Madiha Saeed

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Madiha Saeed about how to raise healthy children. She’s also known as the Holistic Mom, MD. She’s a family physician and bestselling author. She has a brand-new book out called The Holistic RX for Kids, parenting healthy brains and bodies in a changing world. And she is a mom of four young boys, so she knows a thing or two about getting kids to eat healthy inside and outside of the home.

We share practical and accessible tips to use immediately so children can implement healthy habits long-term.

Listen to discover:

• What is a holistic approach to getting children to eat healthily
• How to educate and empower children to be mindful of their bodies
• How to be a healthy role model
• Teaching children to notice how food makes them feel
• Redirecting the child’s focus to her “big why” to strengthen diet changes
• How to stock your kitchen for success: Providing healthy alternatives
• Easy food combos for eating the whole food rainbow

All PCOS Diva podcasts are available on:

Resources

PCOS Diva Facebook Live: How to get your family onboard the PCOS diet
HolisticMom, MD
The Holistic Kids’ Show Podcast
Adam’s Healing Adventures
The Holistic RX For Kids
Netflix docuseries: Human The World Within

Complete Transcript

Amy Medling:

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of chatter on my PCOS Diva Facebook boards about how do you get your family on board with the PCOS Diva lifestyle, especially the diet. If you have kids and a husband who just are used to the old way that you ate, how do you get them to eat lots of vegetables and all of those anti-inflammatory foods that are so important for healing PCOS, that are highlighted in the PCOS Diva meal plans and my programs, because it’s just not sustainable to be cooking two meals every night, one for you and one for everyone else. So recently I did a Facebook live and you can find that Facebook live in the PCOS Diva private community page on Facebook. You can watch that video. And I gave lots of tips on how to get your family on board, but I was thinking I would love to do a podcast, as well.

And I wanted to bring on one of my favorite experts about raising healthy kids, and so I was so happy that Dr. Madiha Saeed agreed to come on the PCOS Diva podcast. She’s also known as the Holistic Mom, MD. She’s a family physician and bestselling author. She has a brand new book out called The Holistic RX for Kids, parenting healthy brains and bodies in a changing world. And she is a mom of four young boys, so she knows a thing or two about getting kids to eat healthy inside and outside of the home. So welcome so much Dr. Saeed to the PCOS Diva podcast. And I can’t wait to hear all of the tips that you’re going to give us about getting our family on board with healthy eating.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Oh My gosh, I am so incredibly honored. I love your work, something that I’m very passionate about. It hits near and dear to my heart. And especially when you’re on that PCOS journey, sometimes you feel like you should be just doing it on your own, not understanding that actually it’s like a full family approach that will really help you succeed and keep your children and family healthier. So thank you so much for having me on today. This is a topic that I’m super passionate about because literally cooking two meals is like, that’s not sustainable. And I actually live with a family of eight, and we’re in a traditional Pakistani household where I’m the oldest daughter-in-law and everybody shows up to my house and guess what? That’s about 20 some people on the weekends. And I just cook the same way that I eat. So I can’t wait to distill some of that knowledge and practical tips from me to you. So I can’t wait.

Amy Medling:

And I know that you’re a doctor and as a family practitioner, I’m sure that you see a lot of women and girls with PCOS. I think that is another concern for a lot of moms is how do I now get my teen that’s been diagnosed with PCOS and needs to change the way that she eats on board. So I think it’s not just like our kids and husbands, but also our teen girls that have that. And even the younger girls that are showing insulin resistance and predisposition for PCOS. So where would you like to start?

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

All about holistic parenting. Right? And we know that we are mind, body and soul. Our children are mind, body and soul and holistic parenting can really help nurture a child’s mind, body, soul from the inside out with the skills that they need for emotional intelligence, enduring deep friendships, making correct decisions, managing stress and being able to remain resilient all throughout life even in through adulthood, no matter what life throws at you. So especially…And that’s what’s really important because you may have one child who has insulin resistance, you may have one maybe with anxiety or maybe one that has sleep issues. Whatever it is, it’s all about raising mindful children. And really remember mindfulness allows us to see our internal and external environment clearly. It’s showing us how best to respond and be fully aware of many of our emotions, our bodies, our minds, environment, learning how to keep it all in balance.

And when it starts to sway, we can then start to fix it on our own and teach the children how they can fix it on their own, just like what we’re doing with our own lives. Increasing our resilience in any situation and environment. So specifically when you have a child with PCOS or you’re starting to see abnormal periods or the other symptoms of insulin resistance, acanthosis nigricans, weight gain around the midsection, acne, irritability, brain fog, sugar crashes, carb cravings, and all of these can actually, after you’ve been diagnosed or even if you’re starting to see these signs, like you start seeing the blackness, or you see their periods are irregular, really starting to educate your child and empowering them with skills that they need to help put their bodies into balance.

And to first recognize that your body right now is out of balance and we need to actually put it back into balance. And then that way your, these symptoms that you’re experiencing will improve itself. Wouldn’t that make you feel so much better? So I think that if we can really help to just educate and empower our children to be mindful of their bodies, and then obviously live this lifestyle and then show our children that this can be fun and easy and cost effective and something that you can then just incorporate into your daily routine to help that resilience. And I know for just like, for both of us, we incorporate these things into our daily lifestyle to keep our bodies balanced with the food that we’re eating, the meditations, the yoga, the nature, the sunlight, the supplements, all of these different pieces, sleep and to really then role model that for your child is really important because remember-

Amy Medling:

I was just going to just, I think you said a really key word there, role modeling. And I think a lot, especially for the moms that may not have PCOS but their daughters have been diagnosed, it’s really hard to expect your children to do one thing when you’re doing the other. So it is critical that you are a role, a healthy role model.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Absolutely. That is really important. We’ve got to start there. But also by educating and empowering, because we know that insulin resistance can actually lead to inflammation and inflammation then can come back to insulin resistance and contribute to insulin resistance. So now studies have actually shown that chronic inflammation hijacks our children’s and teens’ brains. Studies have shown that this inflammation was found to decrease the strength of the connection between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex is responsible for taking a look at the full picture, weighing the risks versus the benefits, and coming to a logical conclusion and decision. While the amygdala is a fight and flight type of decision making. So you need both of these to make a good decision. So behavior and inflammation are intimately connected. And studies have shown that those children that suffer from chronic conditions, including insulin resistance, PCOS were actually at increased risk for developing depression, anxiety, emotional problems that actually persisted beyond childhood and adolescence into adult life.

So it’s really important to understand that when your child is showing these signs of inflammation or their body off balance with insulin resistance, or even maybe behavioral issues, that we need to really recognize that when our child’s lifestyle is out of balance, their brains and their bodies are not working appropriately. So we have to really focus on incorporating these key pieces into your children’s lifestyle that will help to lower that overall inflammation that then can help their brains start to work properly, and then therefore their children will, your children will actually start to make better decisions. And I know for…This is something that I’ve been experimenting in my own household, and where, once you can instill these life skills with your child, the entire stress of the house goes down. But you can actually talk to kids like adults.

And I think that’s what we need to do is we don’t give kids enough credit. That if they can figure out video games and they can figure out these really complex things that sometimes we can’t even figure out that they can figure out exactly what goes on in their bodies. So my kids know exactly what happens, what the, when you put food in your body and what happens to in our gut microbiome, what happens to our insulin, what happens to the cells, what is insulin resistance. So it really starts with a key foundational piece of educating them about what insulin resistance is and why it’s a problem, and then start to work with your teen and child to come up with a strategy on incorporating these key foundations of holistic parenting or functional medicine into their daily routine that can help improve their brain function, their DNA, their cells, their mitochondria, their microbiome, their immune system, and their overall health and wellbeing.

Amy Medling:

That’s…All of that is just so true. I think for my kids, part of the education piece was teaching them to really understand how food makes them feel.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Yes.

Amy Medling:

And we’re recording this right about a week after Halloween and so that’s, honestly, a perfect time because most kids will binge on candy that night and the next day, either that night they have a tummy ache or the next day they’re feeling like exhausted. It’s really hard. But, and that’s what happened to my daughter. She made some bad, well, some not so healthy choices for herself and she felt awful the next day. So it was a good lesson to say, well, this, if you put this type of food in excess in, and it’s not even food really-

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

It’s just food-like substances.

Amy Medling:

Yeah, exactly.

Amy Medling:

…Into your body, this is how you’re going to feel. And it’s just, sometimes it’s just not worth it. You got to make better decisions.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Yeah. Absolutely.

Amy Medling:

So, how do you go about teaching your kids to get in touch? And, I think it’s even teaching ourselves how to get in touch with how food makes us feel.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Absolutely. Because we know food and nutrients regulate every single chemical reaction in our bodies and studies have actually shown that children that eat like rainbow, whole foods packed with color, fiber, nutrients, minerals, good fats actually have healthier brains, less violent, improved behaviors, bodies about hormone balance. So I think the best thing is yes, to be mindful about how the food makes you feel but also alongside again, we talked about the education piece, that knowing exactly that this food that you’re actually putting in your body is not just food, it’s not just for fun. And I think that’s what we’ve done is we just incorporate, we’ve just connected food with fun for so long and that’s, it, it doesn’t go beyond that. But to really educate and empowering our children that food can be fun, yes. But guess what? It can also regulate every chemical reaction in your body.

And so to teaching them that there’s all these trillions of gut bugs in your belly and in order to keep them healthy, you want to make your, you want to choose those correct foods that would keep your gut bugs happy, depending on who you’re talking to. If you’re talking to a child or a teen. And I mean, there’s actually now great documentaries, even on Netflix right now called the Human. And it really dives into the gut microbiome and even talks about the insulin resistance, which is really cool.

So, my children actually…Yes! It just came out on Netflix and actually, well, that’s what my teenager’s been watching because now you have like pictures and really, I think just starting to educate and empower our children and our families, that food is so much more than just food. It is, it optimizes our genetics.

It transforms our biology. It can either hurt you or it can heal you. And so that’s empowering. And to then to make it fun. So once you’ve done the education piece, now we’ve got to make it fun. And in my house, we really, there, especially if we want to try to keep inflammation low, balance your hormones, we focus on food, making sure that it does three things. We want to make sure that it balances your gut microbiome, that keeps your insulin and your glucose balanced and is the most nutrient dense foods for you. And there’s tons of diets out there, so it’s really sometimes confusing, but instead of focusing on all the things that these diets have different, let’s focus on what these diets have the same. And that is tons of vegetables, rainbow foods, clean protein and then healthy fats.

So if we can focus on those three aspects, and that’s what I do with my children is I have them go down the list, vegetables, clean protein, and healthy fats. This way you concentrate on the foods that these children, these teen can have and not focus on the things that they can’t have. And especially right now, junk food is, especially for teenagers, literally destroys their brains. Studies have actually shown that these, our children and our teens are in a critical phase of neurodevelopment with lots of hormones and structures and behavioral and molecular connections. So specifically adolescents are vulnerable to these stresses that then lead to the behavioral changes. So this junk food, if we’re going to put junk into our kids, expect junk behaviors out.

Amy Medling:

Exactly.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

And studies have actually shown that kids that eat ultra processed food had 10% smaller brains and seven points lower IQ, and so junk food can actually shape an adolescent’s brain in ways that they can impair their ability to think, they can’t learn, remember, perform lower on memory tests and even control impulsive behaviors, increasing teenage depression and anxiety. And actually because teens brains are not fully developed and they’re still developing, they, teens brains actually get more pleasure than adult brains do when they get from these rewarding type behaviors as adolescents actually have more dopamine receptors and adolescents’ brains are more easily influenced by their environment. So how are we going to incorporate that into the child’s daily routine? Is that because everybody else’s teen is eating junk food and crap all like going to like the fast food. So again, in my house, it’s all about the yes mentality. Like, yes, you can eat this. You can, yes, you can eat that.

Yes. Because I stock my house with, for success. So the kids have, if they want the traditional nacho chips, that are like packed with MSGs and colorings and all this chemicals, I replace them with cassava flour chips. Yes, it still raises your blood sugar level, but less so than the processed food will do. And then to recognize…So then still having those replacements there. And again, with, they’ll have bars. If they want cookies and cakes, I’ll make it out of almond flour. I’ll make them out of cassava flour, which is at least a prebiotic. Again, these are just treats. They don’t, can’t have all the time, but then the kids don’t feel like they’re deprived. And same with, we have this processed wheat pasta, you can then switch it out for more healthier, with some a little bit more protein pastas which is, in my house what I love to do is we’ll do, again as a treat, lentil pastas, and then, but I put tons of like vegetables in there and broths, and then your protein of choice.

And then I’ll actually add broccoli sprouts, which is packed with sulforaphane, and cauliflower and mushrooms and carrots and you use like a sauce that’s packed with vegetables so that they’re getting it, but they’re still getting their treats, but their blood sugar levels are a little bit more stable compared to those that are just skyrocketing and then just coming down because what we don’t recognize is that the processed, conventional foods, for example, you want to look at the glycemic load of common foods. The glycemic load of, for example, corn flakes is higher than table sugar. And then it comes like corn chips, cheerios, then comes a bar, a candy bar, like a Mars bar, and then comes…

But the more whole foods that you have that are less processed, they don’t raise your blood sugar and insulin level as much so as the, as these processed foods do. So you, again, you want to look for still having those things as a treat in the, in your children’s pantry. So then they don’t feel like they’re ever being deprived and it, and then, but still focusing on your key ingredients to tons of vegetables, clean protein and healthy fats. Then I recognize that if the kids will want like a little treat with almond flour after that, then they’re satiated just with that little piece and then they’re like, “oh, I’m good.” Or a little piece of dark chocolate.

Amy Medling:

Right.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

You’re still being able to then cater to their desire, but then not having a no mentality. It’s always yes, you can have that. And then empowering your child with those options readily available.

Amy Medling:

What really has worked for me over the years has, in parenting, is finding what your kids’ currency is.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Yeah.

Amy Medling:

What is it that they really value?

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Yes.

Amy Medling:

And so when it came to food, as they got a little older, probably eight, I think it’s harder with a really young child, but what do they like to do? Do they like sports? Are they really into robotics? And then showing them how having a healthy diet helps them to excel in whatever it is that they do.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Absolutely.

Amy Medling:

So, figure out what is it, I call it in the work that I do, your big why. What’s your big why? And then kind of help them make positive choices, reminding them of their big why.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Absolutely. And again, it’s about, about educating and empowering your children to make those changes so that they can get to that. I know in my household this last year, we actually wrote five books together. And this last year and a half, I have two coming out simultaneously actually about, a children’s book that we wrote together. And it’s really fun to see how they really love to do things like that with me. But again, trying to help them find their purpose and then empowering them to do so. For example, and…But it’s so powerful, because I’ve noticed that one of my children loves to draw and color and one of them loves sports and playing chess, but the thing is he gets, sometimes the stress overwhelms him. It’s so much fun to like walk in to your 10 year old meditating completely on their own to put their nervous system back into balance because they’re wanting to try to excel in this game that they’re trying to play at school.

So then that really comes…So all of these pieces of their lifestyle, food is just one piece of that puzzle. And it’s so much fun because, and that too, they do recognize that their food one. My seven year old, because again, school, he really didn’t want to be agitated for that day because he was doing something really special in school and he, when I came downstairs, he was eating sauerkraut completely on his own. And I was like, why are you eating sauerkraut? And he was like, “oh mom, because I really, I felt I woke up this morning feeling a little agitated and I think maybe yesterday I had too much like organic sugar from Nana’s house, so I didn’t want to feel that way because I wouldn’t be able to do all these things at school that I really wanted to do. And so I’m eating sauerkraut so I can feed the good bugs in my belly and when my belly bugs are happy, then my brain will be happier.”

This is a seven year old. So we can totally teach teenagers, anybody dealing with any of these…When their bodies are off balance, teaching them these key pieces to help them really excel in what they want to do.

Amy Medling:

Yeah. That’s a great example. I love it. Okay, so it’s a process though.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Yes. Oh, absolutely.

Amy Medling:

It’s not going to happen overnight. So give us some tips for moms that are listening and divas that are listening whose families are, they’re used to the chicken nuggets and the pizza and the hot dogs and the french fries. How do you get them eating broccoli sprouts and more of the vegetables that really acquire certain palette before they’re enjoyable?

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Absolutely. It’s all about training your taste buds and providing those alternatives for your child. Because especially if you have a teenager, as soon as you start changing things out, it’s going to be a control issue. That they’re going to be like, “no, this is what I’ve been wanting. This is what I want.” And then they’re going to go to school and then have that. So again, providing them with those alternatives that they can have so then they can fight that craving. So for example, if the kid, if your child literally wants pasta all day long or like what you said, chicken nuggets. They’ll just eat chicken nuggets and then they’ll have like brownies. Let’s just give that example. So, change it up. So what I do is that I’ll make a chicken nugget but instead what I’ll do, I’ll actually batter it in chickpea flour and it’s so cool.

So then you’ll add, so you’ll do your chicken and then you’ll throw some chickpea powder flour in there and then you can bread it again with like some like dry chickpea flour, and then just fry in avocado oil, whatever it is, just very shallow, cook it, delicious chicken nuggets. My mother now will do that for…Will do that same recipe for KFC type people that for like 200 people. My mother will do that for 200 people on our celebrations, in the chickpea flour. So now here we know that chickpea flour is a little bit less glycemic, but the, that the, and then now you’re cooking in avocado oil. So switch it up with just healthier ingredients. And let’s say brownies, the kids love brownies. So then you can then switch it up for like almond flour and good healthy oils, like avocado oil, using honey and, or even cassava flour or coconut flour or any of those different alternatives and slowly start this journey with them.

Because I recognize that when I first started this, I had those alternatives, but now that the kids are sort of used to eating like vegetables, clean protein, healthy fats, they don’t even need that, even that sweet or the treat on a regular basis. Like I don’t bake every day anymore. Where so I was, it was just to have them, have those alternatives available, so then they don’t feel deprived. And even when I go to like, get togethers, for me, food is love. And I even, when I go to speak to audiences of 500, I will actually cook and take food with me and I’ll show them that there’s just like in this pasta, I put broccoli sprouts, I put cauliflower, I put all of these vegetables into their pasta.

So slowly but surely, this is their meals. And then in the snacks just have like a rainbow of fruits and vegetables available on the table for them to snack on because they’re always looking for stuff to just snack on and have that hummus, have the guacamole sitting there and then it’s in rainbow style. They’ll just come and snack on it.

Amy Medling:

Yeah. I agree with that. My kids love it when I just cut up rather than a salad, just do crudités, vegetables and dips. Kids love to dip.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Oh, absolutely. And that’s why, and they love the snack. That sometimes acts as their meal. And then have those nuts and seeds and things like that that are just available or just these trail mixes available that they can take with them to school, so I put all the seeds and pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds and cashew and coconut flakes and goji berries, just…And then that’s like their core. My kids love that as a treat.

Amy Medling:

That’s a great…Yeah. And that’s, and I would encourage PCOS Divas, too, to make your own trail mix. And that’s in pack and stash snacks. That’s really, you talked about insulin resistance and teaching your kids the signs of low blood sugar and making sure that you always have like a trail mix on hand to stave off that hypoglycemia that really, it makes me hangry and it makes kids crabby and crazy.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Oh, absolutely.

Amy Medling:

So yeah. I love that idea of trail mix. I know what really helped me transition, my family was doing a lot of roasting with vegetables and grilling vegetables. My kids wouldn’t normally eat maybe steamed vegetable, like say cauliflower, but they absolutely gobble up roasted when it gets kind of caramelized.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Oh, yum.

Amy Medling:

They love it. And I agree with you, too, to take food with you when you’re invited somewhere, something that you can eat and you know that you can kind of encourage your children to at least have some of what mom brought before they eat everything else.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Absolutely. I love to take, even just because it looks really great, I’ll either do like this pasta for them, just because nobody else, at least it’s for the kids and people are really enjoying it or just even take like a roasted chicken and then just the grilled vegetables. Who doesn’t love that, right? And that’s what I do. I’ll take grilled vegetables and then the roasted chicken out or just a salad or coleslaw is another way that my kids love.

Amy Medling:

Oh, yeah.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Salad, right? Because you take a roasted chicken and then you take coleslaw. Like you make a big delicious coleslaw. I love to even add broccoli, broccoli, sprouts, coleslaw in there, different types of which is the purple cabbage, the green cabbage, the carrots and then just avocado mayo in that with some goji berries and things like that so it’s a rainbow salad.

Amy Medling:

I know. So my slaw is that that’s the thing that people request me to bring.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Yes!

Amy Medling:

And I’ll do different things seasonally. I always like to put fruit in there, like I’ll put berries or…Not all at the same time, but like berries or cherries or pineapple or I actually am making, I’m having my lady friends over for dinner tonight and I’m making Thai chicken chowder, which is, I know it’s in one of my meal plans, the recipe. And then I bought some mango that was on sale. And so I’ll put that in the slaw.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Oh my gosh, delicious.

Amy Medling:

Yeah, that I’m going to make so…

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Oh, so you can keep it super simple with what you already have on hand and we just got to get creative and things that, whatever, you can still enjoy these delicious foods, but then keep your insulin balance or gut microbiome happy, mitochondria nourished.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

So there’s so much that we can do. And I, this is the same way that I cook for when I have 20 people over on the weekends. I focus on those vegetables, those clean protein, healthy fats. I’ll do that for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For in the morning time I usually have, I love my smoothies and throwing like the grain-free granola in there or just nuts and seed on top of that. My kids love smoothie bowls. So again, you can keep it really fun and exciting and nourishing all at the same time. And you can do that for a small group and you can do that for a larger group, so it’s so powerful and it’s so much fun. But when you start just doing this on a regular basis in your own house, it will start to become habit and then you start, then it makes things so much easier.

Amy Medling:

So, we talked about education, educating your family and your kids about how important healthy eating is. I know that your new book that is coming out will give you a lot of that information. Yeah. So, tell us again that the title of that and where we could find it.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Absolutely. So it’s called The Holistic RX For Kids, parenting healthy brains and bodies in a changing world. That can be found on Amazon and on my website and all the other bookstores along with, I do have a children’s book series that can do for like, for your pre-teen teenager and it’s called Adam’s Healing Adventure from Sickness to Health. The one that I have also coming out November 18th is actually called Adam’s Healing Adventure, the Power of Rainbow Foods. So it’s for 10, 11 year olds to really, it’s a little bit more packed with information. I didn’t want to keep it too basic, but then really provide children with that education and empowering with that. So lots of great resources out there. And then again, I love the work that you’re doing. So thank you so much for all you’re…

Amy Medling:

Oh, well you’re very welcome. So, pick up a copy of Dr. Saeed’s book and then try, work on changing your family’s taste buds with some of the tips and ways of introducing these healthy foods. And then finally make sure you get your family involved in the cleanup in the kitchen.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Oh my gosh. Yes. Oh my God, yes. That’s like the biggest blessing, giving them chores so they can decrease everybody’s stress in the house.

Amy Medling:

Exactly. Because that’s part of that sustainability piece, that everybody should be involved. You should not be the one that’s cleaning up all the dishes every night.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Never.

Amy Medling:

And get your kids involved and your husbands involved because that’s what is going to make this way of eating a success because it is more work. I mean it’s much more work than going and getting prepackaged food and heating it up in the microwave. But if you think about this is how our ancestors ate and they were much more healthy then we as a population are now and they spent a lot of time in food preparation, and unfortunately I wish there was a way around that, but we have to get in the kitchen and cook real food from scratch in order to heal.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Absolutely. And I just wanted to add one more piece to that amazing advice is because when you feed your child real food, when you feed your adolescent teenager real food, you can actually lower insulin resistance. You can lower leptin resistance. Well that then so your child will be satiated and they’re not constantly hungry all the time. Their bodies are nourished. And so I’ve noticed that once you…Yes, cooking the real food, but the thing is they’re eating less frequently because their bodies are nourished, your leptins are working appropriately telling your body that, “okay, I’m full now. I’m good. I don’t need…”

Because all this processed junk that we are getting from outside is actually inhibiting our leptin and then so therefore leading to, even leading to leptin resistance that your body just doesn’t know when it’s satiated. So if you want to do yourself a favor by eating real food, that’s why I tell my kids, I’m not going to feed you junk because I don’t want to be in the kitchen all day long.

Amy Medling:

Great advice. A leptin for those that don’t know, that’s a hunger hormone that kind of regulates our hunger and yeah, a lot of women with PCOS have issues with leptin. So making sure you’re eating lots of high fiber, nutrient rich foods really help with that.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Absolutely. The real foods that we’re talking about. Yep.

Amy Medling:

Yeah. So, well, thank you so much for sharing your tips and resources and you have a fantastic website and I know that you’ve got a podcast that you do with your kids. Just tell us.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

Yes. I can’t wait to have you on. It’s called “The Holistic Kids Show” podcast and where my now 14 year old, 10 year old and 8 year old interview the biggest names in functional medicine and parenting to really help now to inspire children. So we got to get other kids doing what your kids and my kids are already doing. So we’ve got to start this.

Amy Medling:

Yeah.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

To create revolution,

Amy Medling:

Absolutely, for this next generation. We have to heal them. Heal…I think it was Dr. Christiane Northrop that says that a woman who heals herself, heals her children’s children and that’s what we’re doing here.

Dr. Madiha Saeed:

That’s what we’re trying to do here, because every decision that you make right now can influence your child’s brain, their body, their nourishment, everything. So it’s so important to start with yourself and then also now and make it a family affair.

Amy Medling:

Well, thank you so much for joining us and thank you everyone for listening to this episode. I look forward to being with you again very soon. Thanks.