Lizzie King is a best selling author, cook, nutritional health coach and mother of three. She founded Lizzie Loves Healthy 7 years ago. a successful blog, to help families feed their children deliciously and keep them well. As well as teaching classes and holding workshops, Lizzie works with brands to create recipes and ideas for families to stay well.

If that wasn’t enough, in 2020, she launched Lizzie Loves - a natural remedies business that launched with 3 hero remedies to support children's health. We caught up with Lizzie to ask what her best healthy eating tips are and what we can do to ensure our children get the nutrients they need.

Would you tell us about your Lizzie Loves supplements for children and why you created them?

As a Nutritional Health Coach and Cookbook Author I started working in food to help children eat and feel better. I created my natural remedies Lizzie Loves when I was looking for effective natural options for my own children. The original diy recipes were so popular I created easy to use natural remedies that everyone could use at home or on the go.

How are your supplements different from other children’s supplements on the market?

They answer specific needs states that are the most pressing with young children, rather than supplementing vitamins and minerals in children's diets. One helps with sleep, one for immunity and one with stomach bugs. They are in powdered form in eco packaging, really easy to put together and for children to take. They are made from natural ingredients that are highly effective.

Children can be difficult when it comes to taking supplements, how did you navigate that when creating your range?

Initially I was clear that I wanted them to be in a powdered form so they were easy to take - you simply mix them into a glass of water or milk (or even stir through a favourite yoghurt, porridge etc). I also wanted my message here to be for the children taking them, rather than passively being given things. The idea being that they understood the reasons why they work and how, thus making the child fully invested in their own health and wellbeing. Empowering the children to see that they can help themselves feel better.

Your best-selling cookbook, Lizzie Loves Healthy Family Food, gives families healthy but delicious meal choices- from where does your passion for healthy eating come?

My life as a child revolved around food. My parents ensured that delicious food was at the centre of our lives whether at home or on holiday.
Having dealt with an auto-immune thyroid disease and after having my first child, I realised what impact every meal could have on our health.

Children, of all ages, can often be picky eaters, do you have any hacks for this that you can share with parents?

This is maybe the most asked question as it affects most families at different times, and can be the most stressful, exasperating situation to be in. As with most things to do with health there are so many varied reasons why this could be and I am always reluctant to talk about hacks and tricks. There is a chapter in my book to help fussy eaters with lots of ideas. My broad brush approach is to ensure you keep making a variety of foods, don’t rule things out because someone says they don’t like it - and dial down the stress and expectations on mealtimes - this will always have a positive impact on the mood at the table. On a more serious note there are mineral deficiencies such as zinc which can mean your child's tastes buds can be off, so do talk to an expert (NatureDOc Kids team are fabulous).

What would you say are the main things parents should keep in mind when planning meals for their kids?

Obviously planning meals puts you ahead of the game. Make batch cooking at the weekends a plan - a great way to volume cook and freeze meals. Keep the variety going, the meal rut is real. Letting your children choose some recipes or some days and get them involved and they are more likely to be excited by the end result.

Would you tell us your top three healthy eating tips for families?

My top three healthy tips for families:

1. Try and plan to eat one meal together - Where you don’t talk about what you are eating.
2. A colour chart on the fridge to get them excited about it and tick off colours as they eat them.
3. If in doubt fill up on a smoothie - adding in spinach or cauliflower ups the vitamins without tasting terrible. My Rainbow Smoothie Challenge is free on my website and has a lovely smoothie recipe for every day of the week.

Finally, would you tell us about the classes and workshops you hold and how our readers can find out more information if they would like to attend?

Currently I am available for private one to one kitchen work shops to help with meal times and plans and specific needs for children and families.

To learn more about Lizzie, visit her website.  

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