My 1st grader came home from school commissioned to find as many ‘box tops’ as he could for a school project. As he rummaged our cabinets, he get seriously discouraged. “What’s wrong?”

“I only found 1 (on a Larabar box). There’s no way I’m going to win the contest.”

Then the light went on. With all the confusion about reading food labels, deceptive ingredients, and ridiculous serving sizes, I realized there’s only one thing you need to look for and avoid to start your way to a healthy diet.

It’s the box top. Just avoid all foods that contain box tops. I shall call it the ‘Anti-Box Top Diet.’ If the product you’re considering is endorsed with a box top, don’t buy it. Not sure how well you’re doing? Have your kids do an audit of your pantry looking for those little ‘golden tickets.’

But what about the money that goes towards education? I will guarantee that by giving your kids a box-top free diet, you’re giving them all the unfair advantage they need to exceed their classmates. The lesson in nutrition will also serve them much longer in life than their baking soda volcano project.

They learn to read by looking at labels. They learn to reason by choosing if that food will support their internal ninjas or not. And they will be much more productive as they will be considerably less sick.