Did you know that good nutrition are crucial to your child’s physical and mental development?
As parents or guardians, we want what’s best for our children and wards. We hate watching them suffer from allergies, ailments, infections, depression, mood swings and so on. But, the idea of putting children on prescription medications all the time worries me.
The side effects can be terrifying which includes physiological and biological imbalances like illnesses, disruption of gut microbiome, anxiety, allergies and more.
Good health can be largely achieved in a safe and natural way with diet and lifestyle modifications.
So, I am going to share 8 vitamins and minerals that can boost your child’s health and the food sources.
• Vitamins B9 and B12
There are a total of eight different B vitamins: B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6, B7 (biotin), B12, Folic acid and each one performs a vital role in the body.
The B vitamins are important for metabolism, energy, and a healthy heart and nervous system. It is important to mention that Vitamins B9 and B12 can have a direct impact on your mood. Folate (B9) deficiency has been directly linked to depression, while the deficiency of B12 can cause things like fatigue, anemia and mood swings.
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Foods Sources For B Vitamins:
Vitamin B12 comes mainly from animal-based foods, like meat, poultry, fish, and eggs. So, kids following vegetarian/vegan kids may not have enough B vitamins. In order to bridge this gap, Dietians advise to look for fortified foods that are high in B12. Check food labels for the content of cyanocobalamin, the active form of vitamin B12.
• Fiber
Though fiber isn’t a vitamin or mineral, but foods that are high in fiber also tend to be rich in important nutrients, like vitamin E, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Food Sources: Foods high in fiber include berries, avocados, whole grains and cereals, almost any kind of bean, pap,rice, potatoes. Beans are also high in protein and nutrients like vitamin A and potassium.
• Calcium
“Calcium is the essential building block of bones and teeth,” says Andrea Giancoli, MPH, RD, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The more bone your child builds now, the more reserves she’ll have when bone loss begins in later years.
Foods Sources: Dairy products, fortified foods, fish and dark green leafy vegetables, milk, liver, shrimps, egg, chicken feet, beans, nuts and seeds like sesame seeds, pawpaw, orange etc.
• Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that influences many critical body functions, including regulating the blood sugar and proper nerve function.
Food sources: cashew nuts, potatoes, almonds, bananas, beans, spinach.
Abimbola Olu-Sholanke is the mother of four children including a teenager. She is a certified Nutritionist and Dietitian who studied Human Nutrition at the University of Ibadan. She has the experience of 2 decades of following a healthy lifestyle and helping people to do the same. She has helped women with weak pelvic floor muscles, arthritis, hypertension, polycystic syndrome, obesity, weight loss issues, sinusitis, poor metabolism and gut related issues, premature aging among other lifestyle-related ailments.
Her areas of expertise include helping children become super kids through nutrition, healthy and lose weight, balancing of female hormones that cause ailments, how to burn fat faster especially in the tummy, eliminating stress and metabolic reset and getting rid of toxins. She has several success stories working with clients using nutrition and lifestyle solutions that are based on locally available foods, spices and herbs.
Abimbola loves mixing spices and herbs. She does her best writing early in the morning or late at night.