My son is allergic to nuts and he hates olives. I really want to have him follow the Zone with me and the rest of the family (when they aren't complaining about it) but what can I use for his fat selection for snacks. I've made smoothies and I've followed some of the snack recipes here on the site but many of them call for nuts. Up to now I've just been omitting the nuts but am I not getting enough Fats then? He's also sick of cheese and fruit after school every day too.

The good news, there's no need to eat nuts or olives to be in the Zone. Excellent choices are olive oil, extra avocados and guacamole. You can subtitute any of these for nuts. Since he hates olives, buy the tasteless olive oil (extra light, sometimes labled"for baking").

Avocadoes and light olive oil are both excellent choiced for smoothies, meals, mixed into yogurt, etc.

I showed him the list of foods so he could pick what he wanted to eat for his after school and evening snacks. He doesn't like the things listed under fats including avacadoes. Olive oil I use in cooking meals with but what to do for snacks. If I set out a veggie tray with some fruit he still needs a fat selection.

"If I set out a veggie tray with some fruit he still needs a fat selection. "

One option is to serve cold chicken that you cooked in olive oil for the protein in that snack. Another is to top the fruit with a little whipped cream (and remember, you still need some protein with it). To make it easy use light whipped cream from a can. Another good snack kids like is hardboiled egg whites filled with hummus. Another option is 2% Greek yogurt with some berries mixed in (Greek yogurt is lower in carbohydrate, so you can mix in a little fruit; 2% should have a decent amount of fat in it). More...steel cut oats mixed with olive oil, protein powder and spices; Greek yogurt, fruit and olive oil "popsicles; pizza made with 1/2 a pita bread (or Zone pizza crust)...the list is endless. Even easier would be Dr. Sears Zone bars, shakes (5 flavors), brownies, pretzels, cookies (6 varieties), bagels, granola (2 varieties) pizza, etc.

Hi Sue, I like your ideas. Thanks. My daughter is not allergic but I do have problems trying to find healthy fats for her. She does eat the nut butters. Sounds like you say that light whip cream is an okay fat for snacks, correct? If she has a glass of 1% milk with snack would that count as well?

I think there are 2 schools of thought on that...

In the Zone, the best fats come from monounsaturated fats in nuts, avocado, olive oil, etc. Milk fat is more of a saturated fat, and is not the best source of fat. So, the optimum zone recommendation is for skim milk paired with a mono-fat, such as almonds.

However, outside of the Zone recommendations, there is more coming out about milk fat, and I think we will see that milk fat is not a bad fat, but it needs to be complete. As we remove fat from the milk, something happens to the milk that makes the nutrients not absorb as completely. However, having the fat in the milk will help with digestion and absorption. I can't tell you where I have read this, as the forums don't allow posting links to info outside of the Zone.

All in all, I think a decent snack for a child is a glass of milk, 1% or 2% is fine. I don't know if I am ready to go out on a limb with the full fat thing, but a little fat is fine. All in moderation.

Got it. I am confused about the milk as well because in one dr. sears book I saw skim recommended and in another newer version he says to only use the 1%.

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Posted By Jennifer on 21 Aug 2011 06:59 PM
Hi Sue, I like your ideas. Thanks. My daughter is not allergic but I do have problems trying to find healthy fats for her. She does eat the nut butters. Sounds like you say that light whip cream is an okay fat for snacks, correct? If she has a glass of 1% milk with snack would that count as well?
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Hi, and thanks. A little whipped cream is ok now and then, but I wouldn't rely on it every day. It's good that she likes nut butters, almond and peanut are the better Zone choices. I'd give her some nuts along with the 1% milk.