This article originally appeared in UltraMetabolism.

The recipes and menus provided on The Daniel Plan can be enjoyed by the whole family. Parents and children alike can benefit from a whole, unprocessed, real foods diet. If you take the time to prepare nutritious meals for your family that you can sit down and enjoy together, you will find that it benefits your life in many ways.

Very few families enjoy regular meal times together. Very few families make the time to prepare and enjoy food with each other at the end of the day. This is an ancient tradition that existed for a reason. We slow down, we spend time with those we love sharing food and nourishment. All of this helps our metabolism. It might even help us all get along better.

Teaching your children to enjoy meals and conditioning their taste buds to the delicious tastes of whole organic vegetables and grass-fed animals offers them the opportunity to understand food in a way that you might not have growing up in this country. Teaching your children about the value of food is a way to give them a gift that will stay with them their entire life. What’s more, having your child help with food preparation is an important experience and a lifelong skill for healthy living.

You are a busy person. We all are. But try not to fall prey to the designs of corporate America’s fast-food culture. If you share the menus and recipes from The Daniel Plan with your family and teach your children about the value of eating well, you may provide them with the opportunity to avoid the weight and health consequences you are suffering with right now. At the very least, if you sit and eat with your family at night, you will give your family an understanding that food is important, that it is something to be shared and enjoyed with the people in your life, and that it is a vital way to maintain optimum weight and health.

Remember food is information talking to our genes. Share that information with your family.