Parents have always seen struggling and complaining about their child’s nutritional needs. It is hard to feed your child with balanced nutrition when there is so much attraction to junk food. The diet of your child must include an adequate amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, fruits, and dairy products to provide him with the energy that his body needs for growing up.
Having a balanced diet is crucial for every stage of life but this is especially important for growing up children who need quality fuel to fulfil the growing needs of their bodies.
Children can be picky eaters therefore, it is advised by nutritionists, that instead of offering the same meals, parents should try and experiment with new fulfilling recipes to cater to the needs of their children. In this article, we will discuss ways by which you can contribute to your child’s nutritional needs in a much easier way.
Breakfast Foods
Ideal breakfast foods for children’s nutrition include low-glycemic foods that have good fats and clean proteins to keep stable blood sugar. Berries are a great addition as they are loaded with antioxidants and are low-glycemic so they help maintain a healthy blood sugar. Berries are a thin skin and sprayed heavily with pesticide in conventional practices so it is important to get these organic.
Great fats for kids include coconut products, avocados, & extra virgin olive oil. Nuts and seeds are great but they should ideally be raw, soaked and sprouted. The best seeds include hemp, flax, pumpkin, sesame, black sesame and sunflower. All nuts are great except for peanuts which often contain fungal toxins and are highly allergenic and inflammatory.
Best Protein Sources:
Great protein foods for children’s nutrition include 100% grass-fed beef products, 100% grass-fed raw cheese products, organic eggs, organic chicken & turkey, wild fish from clean waters and wild game from cleaner parts of the country.
The best way to begin the day is high-quality liquid nutrition. Making a shake with frozen, organic blueberries, cinnamon, organic almond or coconut milk, extra virgin coconut oil for more good fats and bone broth protein is fantastic. One could also substitute organic, raw eggs or a sprouted hemp, pea & brown rice based protein.
Lunch and Snack Foods:
Lunch should consist of soaked and sprouted nuts and seeds. Granola’s, crackers and cookies can be made out of soaked and sprouted nuts & seeds and flavored with low-glycemic sweeteners like stevia & coconut nectar. At home, a stevia sweetened chocolate avocado mousse is a great treat that contains no sugar and lots of good fats and anti-oxidants
Great snack foods include raw veggies like carrots, celery, cucumbers, red cabbage & bell peppers. Almond butter, guacamole and hummus can be used for dips for these veggies. Also, raw nuts, coconut flakes, dried berries and cacao nibs can be combined to make a great antioxidant trail mix.
Best Foods For Dinner:
Children’s nutrition for dinners should be designed around high quality animal protein, healthy fats and veggies. This could be grass-fed beef, lamb, bison, organic chicken, turkey, duck, eggs, wild game, wild fish, etc. Steamed or sautéed veggies along with a baby spinach salad is great. Make a dressing with fresh squeezed lemon, dried herbs and extra virgin olive oil.
Starches that are okay to use include brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, yams & sprouted grain breads. Sweet potato fries can be made with sliced sweet potatoes grilled with coconut oil on a stainless steel pan. A mashed potato alternative can be made out of steamed cauliflower or sweet potato.