This mother almost never gave her daughter refined sugar.
In 2015, Shan Cooper became known for feeding her child a highly controversial diet, the Paleolithic diet.
The little girl, Grace, is now 8 years old. Since childhood, she has mainly eaten fresh produce, meat and eggs, eliminating all processed sugar.
Her mum is known for her blog “My Food Religion” where she shares healthy recipes using “ingredients that are as close to their natural state as possible, having undergone the least processing”.
As more and more of us embrace healthier lifestyles and diets, this mom raised her daughter with it.
A baby who did not eat refined sugar
At 13 months, Grace’s diet consisted of breast milk twice a day and meals such as fried eggs in coconut oil, broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, chicken, avocado, all kinds of fruits, beef, etc.
Although she does not usually eat dessert, her mother does not deprive her of certain pleasures. She prepares him cakes or dessert creams from time to time but always without sugar!
According to her mother, in 2015, Grace only fell ill once. Despite spending time with kids with colds, it seems her diet is supporting her immunity.
Her mother explains “She spends a lot of time with other children who are often sick, she sees them but is never sick”, she adds “It is certainly not because I am protecting her from all this. I think a nutrient rich diet gives him a more resilient immune system.”
Shan, suffering from many food allergies and intolerances, decided to adopt the Paleolithic diet to improve her health. She started by eliminating gluten, dairy products and then processed foods. She said she was “sick of not feeling good, it had become my norm and I didn’t want it to be anymore”.
This diet is based on what cavemen would theoretically have eaten in Paleolithic times. It is therefore lean meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts that are appreciated in this diet. This therefore does not apply to refined sugar, cereals, legumes, dairy products and processed foods.
However, some of the foods excluded from this diet are important for the body! Experts express their concerns about deficiencies in certain fibres, vitamins and certain nutrients. The deprivation of dairy products is also a deprivation of calcium and protein sources.
They also criticize the oversimplification of the way primitives ate. Indeed, this does not take into account the geographical areas and the very large variants of their diet. Studies have shown that cereals made up the diet of some humans long before they became commonplace for everyone.
” I’m not paleo…”
While Shan sticks to a general paleo diet herself, she’s not totally strict.
As she writes on her blog, “I am not vegan, vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, fat-free, carb-free, or any other food ‘denomination’. I take what I like in different dietary approaches and adapt it to what makes me feel good.”
Shan doesn’t mind Grace eating the same thing, explaining that “it’s not weird, nothing strange.
She likes it. I don’t give him toast or cereal. But I don’t think those are things that will kill her, if she eats a piece of bread, I’m not going to throw a tantrum!”. She is still tolerant and this diet is not an obsession.
