Jess first became interested in the topic of physical and mental resilience as a high school teacher. Her concern about the growing number of students struggling with recurrent illness and infection, aberrant behaviour, blunted energy, sleep disorders, learning, and mental health challenges, compelled her back to school to study holistic health and nutrition. Since 2007 she has pursued additional training in digestive health, autism spectrum disorders, traditional food preparation, yoga and stress management, biological approaches to mental health, functional medicine, and has become board certified in practical holistic nutrition. Her training, along with her front-line work supporting families with autism, ADHD and mental illness brought her the insights you’ll find in Raising Resilience.
There is nothing I am convinced of more than that food influences behaviour. Food interacts with the body in profound ways and both directly and indirectly effects every system of the body. So yes, food influences your child's behaviour and in Raising Resilience you'll learn exactly how to shift that to your advantage.
One of the things you'll learn in this book is how food influences the immune system. By following the Three Core Strategies in Raising Resilience, your immune systems will get strong and be better able to efficiently handle illness and infection.
There are a lot of things that are out of your control to change but food is a powerful tool at your disposal. In order to leverage it without losing your sanity you need to be systematic and strategic. In Raising Resilience I show you simple ways to change what you're already doing in order to maximize your efforts, and I share with you stories of my clients who experienced remarkable changes in mood, energy, infection, learning, sleep, aggression and growth - all by changing diet. Then you can decide if it's worth it.
Like any child behaviour, picky eating is a signal - something is up. You'll learn the three most common contributors to picky eating and practical ways to uproot them. As with all behaviours, when you uproot the cause, you see change.
There is a two-step process to improving resilience. This book will walk you through this process, help you find a manageable starting point and a clear path forward. You'll learn how to find your 80/20, how to keep your eye on what's most important and how to keep things manageable.
You're right to be concerned. While removing certain foods that stimulate the body's immune and nervous systems is an important part to improving resilience, so is improving nutrient density. Whenever you remove a food, you have to pay close attention to nutritional intake. You'll learn how to do that in this book. You'll also learn the critical steps to take so that you can eventually diversify the diet once again - this is an important piece, missed by many.