Cow’s Milk and Babies: Wait until One Year

Cow’s Milk and Babies: Wait until One Year

October 25th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Although your baby may have been on a cow’s milk based formula since birth and has tried other dairy products such as yogurt, you should still hold off on giving your baby cow’s milk for the first 12 months of life. Cow’s milk can cause a number of problems, and differs from other dairy based products in its safety for babies.

Cow’s Milk and Baby’s Body

Under one year of age, your baby’s digestive system simply isn’t ready for cow’s milk. The proteins can be difficult to digest and can cause gastrointestinal problems. In large amounts, cow’s milk can damage the lining of baby’s stomach, resulting in internal bleeding. This is only one of the ways in which cow’s milk can lead to low iron levels in baby and serious consequences.

Cow’s milk is also known to block the absorption of iron, which is essential to your baby’s blood. Iron helps to create new red blood cells and also hemoglobin. Low iron results in low levels of red blood cells and a reduced ability for oxygen to be carried throughout the body. This is known as iron deficiency anemia, and it is common in babies who do not get enough iron through baby food diet. Cow’s milk can cause iron deficiency anemia through both blocked iron absorption and also by causing stomach bleeding that leaches more iron from the bloodstream.

As your baby grows past one year, the digestive system will be better able to handle the proteins in milk, but the risk of anemia still exists, so cow’s milk intake should always be regulated.

Why Some Dairy Products are Safe

Not all dairy carries the same risks as cow’s milk. In foods like cheese and yogurt the processing methods that are used in manufacturing break down the protein and the lactose, making them easier to digest. This is why many lactose intolerant people are able to eat these foods and yet can’t drink milk. The same applies to cow’s milk based formulas, however there are still some babies who can’t tolerate even the dairy protein in these formulas and need a different option.

The main difference between milk and other dairy products is that yogurt and cheese are unlikely to be eaten in large amounts, and are even less likely to replace formula or breast milk. During the first year, your baby needs all the nutrients that are provided by these sources. Cow’s milk does not provide everything a baby needs nutritionally. After one year old, babies are able to use cow’s milk as a beverage because they are eating larger amounts of solid baby foods that provide a much better nutritional base. A baby who starts drinking cow’s milk too early may skip formula or breast milk feedings and lose important nutrients.

Until your baby is a year old, the only beverage that is really required is breast milk or formula. Along with meeting all of your baby’s nutritional needs, they also offer plenty of fluid intake to keep baby hydrated. Once your baby is a year old, you can start to replace these feedings with cow’s milk and wean from the breast or bottle. At this time you should still be cautious that baby gets less than 24 ounces of cow’s milk every day. This will prevent anemia and also make certain milk isn’t replacing meals.

Appropriate Serving Sizes for Toddlers

Appropriate Serving Sizes for Toddlers

October 21st, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Toddlers are obviously much smaller than grown-ups, and it stands to reason that they will therefore require smaller servings of foods than an adult would. Many parents, however, serve toddlers much larger portions of foods than they should really be eating. This doesn’t matter all that much if they are having a double portion of vegetables, but when it comes to portion sizes of some other foods, it can lead to serious problems.

Serving Sizes and Labels

The nutrition label of most food products states what a serving size should be for that particular food, but beware! The serving size usually stated on the package refers to a 2000 calorie per day diet, and most toddlers need about half of that. In fact, on average a toddler’s serving of any food should be about ¼ of what a standard adult serving should be. Don’t go by the label; instead learn how to properly measure the appropriate amount of food for your toddler.

The Right Serving Size for Toddlers

For each food group, you can learn to recognize what a serving size looks like by taking the time to measure out your toddler’s food for a while. Eventually, you won’t need to measure as you will easily be able to recognize what constitutes an appropriate amount. Here are some easy measurements you can perform to start serving proper portions.

For dairy foods, your toddler needs the equivalent of about 16-20 ounces of milk in a day. Not all of the dairy servings need to come from milk, but if your toddler is fond of milk you might find that no other dairy is really needed. If your toddler doesn’t like milk, you can replace a serving of milk with a serving of cheese or yogurt. The average serving size for either milk or yogurt is about ½ cup, or 4 ounces. ¾ of an ounce of cheese will also make up the equivalent of one serving of dairy.

Proteins such as meat or beans aren’t needed in large quantities. A serving of meat for a toddler is about 1 ounce. Other protein sources that make up a serving include ½ an egg, a few tablespoons of beans or a tablespoon of peanut butter. Your toddler only needs two servings a day, so keep a close eye on how much protein you are serving.

For grains, you can measure out ¼ cup of cooked cereal such as oatmeal, or ¼ cup of rice or pasta. ½ of a slice of bread or the same amount of a tortilla make up another serving of grains.

Fruits and vegetables can be the hardest to get into your toddler, but it’s a bit easier when you realize how small the serving size actually is. A serving of fruit juice can make up one of your child’s fruit servings for the day, but should be no more than 6 ounces. For the rest of your child’s servings, about ¼ cup of cooked or fresh fruits and vegetables provides a serving. This is equivalent to about half of a banana or other whole fruit.

For foods like candy, baked goods and other snacks, there is no real serving size as they are not part of your child’s balanced diet. Add these treats with caution and bear in mind that a small amount is as much as your child needs. A toddler doesn’t need a whole cookie, and will likely be happy to get anything at all!

Providing Enough Nutrition for your Toddler

Providing Enough Nutrition for your Toddler

October 12th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

When your toddler graduates from breast milk or formula to cow’s milk, she is no longer getting all the nutrition she needs in liquid form. Cow’s milk can’t replace all of the nutrients that were being provided by the breast milk or formula, so you will need to make certain that your toddler gets everything she needs from her food.

The key to good nutrition for your toddler is to make sure she eats a balanced toddler diet that offers a variety of foods. Different foods provide different nutrients, so the more variety in her diet, the better and more complete her nutrition will be.

Expanding Food Horizons

In the early stages of toddlerhood, before your little one decides to start getting picky about food, you should start offering as many different foods as you can, to introduce many new flavors. Spend some time in the produce department or at a local farmer’s market. Ask questions about fruits and vegetables you don’t recognize. They might turn out to be something you toddler loves, and could replace the nutrition missing from foods she refuses to eat.

Your toddler won’t eat everything you put in front of her, but the more different foods you offer, the more likely she will be to find something she likes. Every child, and even every adult, has some foods they simply don’t like and never will. Rather than forcing your child to eat something she really dislikes, try to find other foods that offer similar nutritional value to make up the difference.

Feed a Balanced Toddler Diet

The best way to make sure your toddler is getting all the nutrients she needs in her diet is to serve the right number of servings from each of the food groups. Aim for 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables, 2 servings of protein, 4 servings of dairy, and 3-4 servings of grains every day.

Spread all of these servings out over 3 meals and 2 snacks during the day, so that your toddler is only faced with a few foods at a time. The snacks are especially important as snack time is often when less than nutritious foods tend to hit the table. Make sure that every meal and every snack offers servings of nutritious foods, and skip empty calories that might fill your toddler up and cause him to skip out on healthier foods.

Using Supplements

If your toddler is getting the right number of servings from each food group every day, and eating a variety of different foods on a regular basis, it’s likely he is getting the right nutrition. Still, many pediatricians recommend a multivitamin supplement that can help to fill in any nutritional gaps in your child’s diet. Supplements are meant only to back up the foods your toddler eats, and shouldn’t be relied upon to provide all or most of the needed nutrients. Don’t skip servings of vegetables on the belief that the supplement will make up the difference.

Because toddlers are notoriously picky eaters, supplements are generally a good idea for those times when you just can’t get him to eat right. Think of them as a backup line of defense to keep your toddler healthy – but only a backup. No matter how difficult it might be, you should keep trying to get all the needed foods into your toddler’s diet every day.

Food Aversions in Pregnancy

Food Aversions in Pregnancy

July 30th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Many pregnant women will experience some sort of food aversion. Sometimes the aversion is so strong that the woman can not even stand the sight or smell of the food in question. Just like cravings, aversions generally occur in the first trimester, although the dislike of the food in question may continue well into the pregnancy, the response should become milder.

Aversions are normal, and generally can be blamed on the hormones that are running wild in a pregnant woman’s body, especially in that first trimester. While they are nothing to worry about, they do often cause pregnant women to miss out on foods that provide much-needed nutrition. If you are experiencing an aversion to a healthy food, or even an entire food group, you don’t have to choke it down. Just make sure you fill the nutritional gap in your diet with other healthy foods that supply the same nutrients.

Some of the most common food aversions are to foods like dairy, eggs, meat, and green vegetables. These are all important to a healthy and balanced pregnancy diet. Fortunately, with a little effort you can replace the nutrients found in these foods with other choices.

Skipping the Dairy Case

If it’s just milk you can’t stand, you have a number of other dairy choices to fill the void, such as cheese and yogurt. But if your aversion extends to all things made with milk, you will have to turn to some other foods to make up the difference. Hopefully you aren’t also turned off by leafy green vegetables such as spinach, as they are a great source of calcium. You can also choose calcium-fortified orange juice, and add a supplement just to be safe.

Temporarily Vegetarian

Meat is a very common culprit in food aversions, but it’s also an important source of protein and iron. If it’s just red meat, turn to poultry and fish. If you can’t bear those either, you can meet your needs by adding legumes, beans, and soy products to your diet. Again, an iron supplement might be a good idea, since it is such a vital nutrient during pregnancy. You might also find an aversion to eggs accompanies your dislike of meat, but if not, they are a great source of protein as well.

Turning Green

When those healthy green vegetables are the last thing you want to think about putting into your mouth, you are unfortunately missing out on a great source of nutrition. Make up for them by eating a wide variety of the fruits and veggies you can stomach. You can also try hiding the greens in other foods. Add finely chopped greens to pasta sauces or soups, and you probably won’t even realize they are there. If you can’t trick yourself, ask someone else to do it for you. If you don’t know where the offensive food is hidden, you might not be so bothered by it.

Food aversions can be annoying, especially when they involve foods you may have really enjoyed prior to your pregnancy. The good news is they will likely fade as the pregnancy progresses. As long as you make smart changes to your diet to replace the nutrients from the foods you can’t stand, your food aversions will remain just an annoyance and not a problem for your baby.

The Role of Protein

The Role of Protein

July 3rd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

The body needs many things to survive and to function at peak performance. One of the most important of these is protein. Protein is a macronutrient; this means that our bodies need quite a bit of it, as opposed to micronutrients like vitamins, which are not needed in large quantities.

Protein is a part of every cell in the body, and is used to perform many vital tasks, such as the creation of enzymes and hormones, and the building of tissue. Our bones, muscles, skin, and blood are all created using protein. Proteins are made up of amino acids, some of which our bodies are incapable of producing; we must provide these to our bodies through our diet. Unlike fat or carbohydrates, the body does not retain stores of protein, so we much continually replace it.

How Much Protein Do We Need?

The amount of protein recommended daily ranges from 10-35%, depending on age and gender. While high protein, low carbohydrate diets have been popular in recent years, the truth is that our bodies do not need to be overloaded with protein. A child between 1-3 years old requires on 13 grams of protein a day, while even an adult male needs only 56 grams. This isn’t really a lot, when you consider that one cup of milk contains 8 grams of protein. A child who has several glass of milk a day will easily meet and even exceed protein requirements.

What Foods Provide Protein?

The average person gets more than enough protein through their diet. Foods high in protein include eggs, meat, poultry and fish, dairy products, beans and nuts. As long as your diet contains some of these foods on a regular basis, you are likely getting enough protein.

A vegetarian or vegan diet can present some difficulties in getting enough protein, but it is certainly possible to do so. It simply requires a good understanding of nutrition and what non-animal sources of protein are available. In addition to the options above, tofu, some fruits and vegetables, and many grains contain protein as well.

Are All Proteins Equal?

There are two types of protein sources. They are incomplete, and complete proteins. A complete protein contains all of the amino acids our bodies require to survive. Complete protein sources are generally animal proteins such as meats, eggs, and dairy products.

It is possible to obtain all of the amino acids through a variety of other protein sources by mixing and matching these foods into your diet to ensure you are getting everything you need. Those who do not consume animal products will need to make sure various sources of proteins are incorporated into their diet to ensure the amino acids are all represented.

Some sources, while listed as complete proteins, may not be the best choice because they can be high in fat. A steak is a complete protein, but is also high in saturated fat. Dairy products too can be sources of excess fat. In moderation, these are excellent sources of protein and can be incorporated into a healthy diet. Leaner sources of protein, such as chicken, are a better choice for daily consumption, however.

Although the diet industry has pushed protein supplements in the form of bars and shakes for years, for most people the better choice is a healthy diet incorporating high quality, low fat protein sources. Synthetic sources may contain other ingredients that are neither necessary nor healthy.