Food additives that are present in many foods industrial production and are considered completely harmless for adults, they can harm the health of the baby. It is no coincidence that we pay so much attention to the nutrition of young children. After all, after a long chain of various transformations, food elements become particles of our body and enter the structure of organs and tissues. Figuratively speaking, we are made up of what we eat. And for a growing organism, this is especially important: to get everything that is necessary for health, and at the same time not to eat anything that could in any way harm it.
Therefore, parents need to have an idea not only about food, but also about nutritional supplements. Many consider them quite harmless. However, everything is very relative, and primarily because adults and children have different level sensitivity to certain substances and react differently to them.
It is worth remembering that foreign substances contained in food products have an impact on children's body not only direct, but also side effects. For example, some supplements can bind vitamins or valuable protein components, essentially removing them from the body. When systematically consuming products with such additives, the child will experience a lack of one or another essential element. It is also impossible to exclude the possibility of an allergenic effect of foreign substances in food. In this regard, a fragile child's body is especially vulnerable.
Of course, all additives in mandatory are subject to examination. Evidence that additives have been tested for safety is when they are assigned special E-number, consisting of the letter E and three-digit number. They often replace very long and complex names chemical substances, which are not clear to the average buyer. On stickers and packaging food products These numbers must be entered, although now, whenever possible, the full names of the additives are indicated.
Agree, when it comes to the health of loved ones, it is very important to be able to understand what is written on the packaging of the products we buy.
Everything in excess is harmful
Most components are set to maximum acceptable standards, which the product manufacturer simply does not have the right to exceed. However, it should be noted that even the most strict committee, unfortunately, is not able to monitor how many foods or drinks with additives a particular person consumes himself or gives to his child. Take sweeteners, for example. One of them, xylitol (designated E-967), is used to replace sugar in the production of confectionery products for patients with diabetes and obesity. It is usually added to dietary canned food, confectionery and bakery products. It is believed that xylitol does not have any negative effect on the body, but it is still undesirable to give preschoolers products containing xylitol unnecessarily. When xylitol is taken in large quantities (up to 50g per day), it begins to act as a strong laxative.
In order not to harm your health, you must know what additives a particular product contains and how they can affect the body. For soft drinks and confectionery products, fruit sugar (fructose), glucose, milk sugar (lactose), aspartame (E-951), cyclamates (E-952), saccharin (E-954), isomalt (E-952) are also used as sweeteners. 953) and others. Fructose, glucose and lactose are harmless for small children, but additives with an E-number (aspartame, cyclamate and isomalt), although formally recognized as harmless, are still not recommended for children. Saccharin (E-954) is especially harmful on this list. It is allowed only in quantities not exceeding 5g per 1kg of product. Foods and drinks with saccharin are contraindicated for children.
Try to be careful with soft drinks that contain various sweeteners, flavors, colors or preservatives. Of course, nothing bad will happen if healthy child 6-7 years old will drink a glass of this drink, but only as an exception. Unfortunately, kids really like everything sweet, and they can ask for more and more. Still, remember that it is better to quench your thirst with compote, a decoction of dried fruits, or simply clean water. Factory-made juices also most often contain nutritional supplements. Therefore, they should also be given with caution, especially to children under 3 years of age, and always try to dilute the juice with water.
Parents, be careful!
In the store window there is a bright glossy box with an appetizing name: “Vanilla-chocolate pudding.” Further in large letters it is indicated: “Without dyes and preservatives.” “It’s not cheap,” the mother thinks, “but without any additives, it’s good for the child...” Everything would be fine, but it’s just too alarming long term storage It’s worth taking a closer look, and on the side surface of the package we will see (but in much smaller letters and numbers): “Dyes E-102 and E-124. Stabilizer E-407, aromatics, modified starch.”
Dye E-102 is tartrazine, one of two synthetic dyes approved for use in our country. Officially, it is recognized as harmless, but according to new information from some foreign scientists, it turns out that it can provoke allergies in children. Of course, its amount in products is very strictly dosed, but the possibility of development allergic reactions in children predisposed to them cannot be excluded. And we all know very well how common the problem of food allergies is among young children these days...
E-124 – crimson or cochineal dye. This dye is natural and does not pose a health hazard, but the amount added to the product is also strictly limited.
Stabilizer E-407 (carrageenan) is a harmless substance that is added to thicken the product and maintain its uniformity.
Such substances, despite the recognition of their harmlessness, are still foreign to the body. Unfortunately, any experienced nutritionist would tell a discouraged mother that the above pudding nutritional value I have no idea, such dishes are usually called empty calories. In this case, is it worth exposing the baby to risk, even minor?
Sellers are required to provide, at the request of buyers, detailed and truthful information about food additives in a particular product. You and I don’t necessarily need to understand alphanumeric notations. It is only important to know whether this product contains additives or not. For feeding preschool children (and especially children in the first years of life), it is best to use predominantly natural products whenever possible. And if you still make a choice in favor of factory-made, ready-to-eat ones, try to buy them only in specialized baby food departments.
Two pieces of sausage
Surely many still remember this, to put it mildly, simple song from the times of perestroika... In our country, the concept of material wealth until quite recently was associated with sausage on the table. Now all store shelves are full of sausages and other meat products. However, is it meat - that is the question? It is enough to simply compare the prices of meat, even frozen, and, say, boiled sausages or frankfurters to guess that there cannot be very much meat in these products. In addition, let’s reveal a little “secret”: meat products for minced sausage undergo such technological processing that they usually lose their natural color and acquire a not very attractive grayish tint. Therefore, to give them an attractive appearance, special substances are added that provide an appetizing pink color.
The same substances are also used in cheese making to prevent cheese from swelling. These are potassium nitrate (E-252), sodium nitrate (E-251) and sodium nitrite (E-250), which are added not only to sausages, sausages, but also to all kinds of smoked meats. Nitrate (nitrates) introduced into sausage mince is partially converted into more toxic substances, nitrites. Therefore, all these supplements are, of course, strictly dosed. But we remember that the intestinal microflora of children has its own characteristics and is disrupted much more often than in adults. Under these conditions, there is a high risk of nitrates turning into nitrites under the influence of intestinal microflora. Thus, the amount of nitrites additionally increases inside the child’s body, which can cause food poisoning.
Even for children school age suffering from dysbacteriosis or other diseases digestive system, it is better to do without sausages and without any canned food, except for special ones for children. And there’s nothing to say about preschool children.
Such delicious smoked meats...
“Mommy, I want this sausage cheese, please buy it!” - asks the baby. And the mother readily opens her wallet - how can you not pamper your own child and make him his favorite sandwich for breakfast? “And I usually buy hot smoked fish for my son. In general, he doesn’t eat well, but he enjoys smoked food, so we always try to give him something tasty for lunch,” her friend happily joins the conversation.
Do we know what we are really feeding our children? This is not an idle question, so let's try to figure it out. Smoking meat and fish products as a method of preservation has been used for a long time. Smoking smoke contains various substances designed to protect products from bacteria. An important part of the combustion products that make up the smoke are resins, which in turn may well have an adverse effect on the body. Therefore, we are constantly seeking more and more modern methods smoking, which in principle eliminates this danger. Thus, various smoking preparations are now used as substitutes for smoke smoking. But they are not perfect, since they contain substances such as phenols, formaldehyde and acetic acid. And any parent should understand that it is quite difficult to eliminate the negative effects of these additives on the body.
The verdict of nutritionists is clear: even adults should consume smoked meats in limited quantities. Well, small children should not know the taste of smoked products at all!
About antibiotics
We all know well that antibiotics are used in medicine for a number of diseases. However, some of them are also used in the food industry, in particular to protect products from spoilage during long-term storage. But not so long ago, experts found that under the influence of antibiotics the normal ratio of microorganisms that constantly live in gastrointestinal tract person. The WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives has approved the use of only antibiotics such as chlortetracycline (Biomycin) and nisin in some countries. In Russia and the CIS countries, this antibiotic is approved for preserving green peas, potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes, as well as for preserving dietary processed cheese, but in strictly limited quantities. This alone should alert a mother who is worried about the health of her child. Therefore, it’s better to play it safe – don’t give canned foods to your kids. The exception, of course, is canned baby food.
Are “taste enhancers” harmful?
One of the most common food additives today is glutamic acid(E-620), as well as its salts, glutamates, in particular monosodium glutamate (E-621). They actively enhance the taste properties of food substances, and also restore and “revitalize” these properties, which usually weaken during food storage. Glutamates are added to ready-made dishes and culinary products, to concentrated soups and canned food. These substances enhance taste by stimulating the endings of our taste buds while causing a feeling of satisfaction. In our country, monosodium glutamate is used in the diet of the adult population in an amount of no more than 1.5 g per day, or 0.5 at a time. For teenagers daily dose should not exceed 0.5g. The use of this additive for feeding children is not allowed at all. However, in many families where adults are busy at work from morning to evening, they often feed children soups made from concentrates. Having tried them several times, the kids are then extremely reluctant to agree to eat the first courses from natural products, demanding “soup from a pack” - because, in their opinion, it is much tastier than usual...
It should be taken into account that product packaging, as a rule, only indicates the type of additives, but not their exact quantity. A bowl of soup from concentrate, a piece of ham for appetite, a sausage for the main course - and now you no longer know how many harmful additives the baby received today. Of course, you may not notice any changes in the child’s condition, but it is very important to understand that each of our organs has its own reserve of safety and it is depleted from adverse influences. And as the proverb says, “a drop wears away a stone.” Who knows what will happen to your child in the future?! Let him grow up strong, strong and beautiful, able to overcome difficulties.
Food additives that are harmful to babies
| E-number | Additive name | Purpose |
| E-102 | Tartrazine (synthetic) | Dye |
| E-104 | Quinoline yellow | Dye |
| E-127 | Erythrosine | Dye |
| E-128 | Red 2Y, shiny FCF | Dye |
| E-140 | Chlorophyll | Dye |
| E-153 | Vegetable coal | Dye |
| E-154, E-155 | Brown | Dye |
| E-171 | Titanium dioxide | Dye |
| E-200 to E-240 | Preservatives of various natures | Preservatives |
| E-249 to E-252 | Potassium and sodium nitrites and nitrates | Preservatives and color stabilizers |
| E-260 to E-264 | Acetic acid and its salts | Preservatives, acidity regulators |
| E-280 to E-283 | Propionic acid and its salts | Preservatives |
| E-620 to E-625 | Glutamic acid and its salts | Flavor enhancers |
| E-916, E-917 | Calcium and potassium iodates | Flour processing products |
| E-952 | Cyclamates and cyclamic acid | Sweetener |
| E-954 | Saccharin | Sweetener |
Natalya Bezyazykova, nutritionist
Natalya Bezyazykova
Is your child picky about food and often refuses to eat? My daughter chews chocolates all the time and doesn’t want to switch to healthy salads? The most typical cases of appetite disorders are commented on by nutritionist Natalya Bezyazykova.
Insidious sweets
Ninth-grader Christina has a very good family: a complete set of parents, and even a caring grandmother. Previously, she always prepared hot, tasty, healthy lunches and dinners for her granddaughter. Sweets were only served with tea. But last summer she had to move in with Christina’s uncle, who had twins. Her parents are at work all day, and the girl is intoxicated by freedom. It's stupid to eat oatmeal and eggs if no one forces you to. A bun with jam and tea is much tastier. It was boring to reheat lunch, so Christina replaced it with a cake, her favorite chocolate bar and gingerbread cookies with filling, which she bought on the way from school. Here it is, sweet life!
Soon the mother noticed that her daughter was constantly in a minor mood, had lost weight, turned pale, was eating almost nothing, and was complaining of weakness. The girl was examined by specialists, no diseases were found, but a serious deficiency of B vitamins was discovered. It was strange to talk about poor nutrition girls from a very wealthy family. I had to treat her with vitamin preparations in the form of injections. What is the reason for Christina’s malaise?
Lack of B vitamins in the diet is one of the common causes of loss of appetite, especially in adolescents. Vitamins B-1 (thiamine) and B-8 (biotin) are most responsible for appetite. And it’s not just that Christina’s diet was low in vitamins. Sugar and sweets sharply increase the body's need for vitamin B-1, and those with a sweet tooth quickly develop signs of its deficiency: loss of appetite, muscle weakness, low mood, apathy, learning difficulties. And with a lack of biotin, it can even lead to aversion to food and depression. And problems with your appearance will begin: your skin will deteriorate, your hair will thin out.
What to do if there is a vitamin deficiency? Urgently stop consuming confectionery products, include sources of vitamin B-1 and biotin in your daily diet: brewer's yeast, beef liver, kidneys, nuts, brown rice, grain bread, pork, legumes, potatoes, bran, wheat germ, fresh eggs, pearl barley. Don't forget about fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs.
“Mom, I'm tired!”
Doctor, to hear such words from a first grader! I haven’t studied for another six months, and I’m already tired! The main thing is that he doesn’t eat anything, he even refuses his favorite salmon. Probably sick.
Artemushka, do you have any pain?
No... I just don't feel like eating. And everything is shaking inside.
Did you go out after school?
No, after school my grandfather and I went to English,” Artem said.
But we had 20 minutes for lunch,” my mother corrected, “and Temik only drank half a cup of compote. Yesterday I tried to shove a cutlet into him, but he vomited.
Was he outside for a long time yesterday?
Oh, what are you doing! Wednesday is our busiest day: chess and choreography. I even tried to feed the child in the evening, but he just threw an indecent hysteria. This had never happened to him before.
Everything was clear to the doctor. The boy was really tired to the limit, because children are exhausted not only by studying, but also by constantly being in public, in large crowds of people, under constant pressure from adults.
A child simply needs at least short periods of solitude, not to mention walks and carefree games in the yard. Fortunately, Artem’s mother followed the doctor’s recommendations and freed the boy from unbearable stress. My appetite gradually recovered and the hysterics stopped. But it also happens differently; it can end in a serious nervous breakdown.
Chasing your waist
Beauty contests, catwalk stars, fashion models... And so many girls have a painful desire to achieve “ perfect proportions" This fashion did not affect eighth-grader Mayechka, a pleasantly plump girl with cute dimples on her cheeks and laughing eyes. Her liveliness, wit and cheerful disposition attracted both her peers and adults. But one day at an exhibition, her friend admired the grace and airiness of the girl depicted in the drawing. And the struggle for airiness began. Maya either ate only boiled rice for three days in a row, then soy cheese, then drank only kefir, then generally switched to water and various teas to lose weight.
Soon she lost her appetite, she no longer wanted to eat at all, irritability appeared, and her A's in school were replaced by C's. Maya really lost a lot of weight: her cheeks became fashionably sunken, her eyes seemed to go out. Along with the kilograms, the liveliness, cheerfulness and charm disappeared. Skin problems appeared: dryness, peeling, red spots, cracks in the corners of the lips.
The doctor, to whom Maya’s concerned parents took her, diagnosed hypovitaminosis at first glance. Dry skin, peeling, spots are a sign of a lack of vitamin A, which dissolves only in fat and is not absorbed without it. Yes, and it is found in fatty foods (liver, fish oil, eggs, butter), and it was these that Maya excluded from her diet. Cracks in the corners of the lips reflect a lack of vitamin B-2, the main sources of which are also high-calorie foods: eggs, liver, kidneys, fish, cheese. Decreased appetite, irritability, apathy, pallor... This is how vitamin B-12 deficiency, found in liver, kidneys, pork, eggs and cheese, manifests itself.
It took only a month to cope with the consequences of a diet harmful to health. It’s especially annoying that the healthy and attractive Maya didn’t need any diet.
But what to do if a teenager’s obesity is not imaginary, but real?
Eleven-year-old Arinka was plump from early childhood, but in the fifth grade she gained so much weight that she once heard the boys shouting after her during a team game: “Fatty, don’t lag behind! We’ll lose because of this bun!” At home, the girl looked at herself sadly in the mirror and decided not to eat anymore. Any food seemed to her a treacherous enemy, and the very sight of her caused disgust and nausea. The girl was admitted to the hospital with suspected stomach disease. Like an ethereal shadow, she wandered along the corridor. An attempt to swallow even a piece of food ended in vomiting. The examination did not reveal any digestive pathology, but Arisha grew weaker and no longer got out of bed.
A psychiatrist was called and diagnosed severe anorexia nervosa (aversion to food). This disease can be caused by constant refusal of food in order to lose weight. This is very serious, os
Cauliflower, tomato and herb salad
- cauliflower – 1/2 a small head of cabbage;
- fresh tomatoes – 2 pcs.;
- fresh cucumbers – 2 pcs.;
- lettuce leaves - 1 medium bunch;
- canned green peas – 2 tbsp. spoons;
- green onion – 1 small bunch;
- sour cream – 1 tbsp. spoon;
- mayonnaise – 1 tbsp. spoon;
- sugar – 1 teaspoon.
Boil the cauliflower and separate into small florets. Cut tomatoes and cucumbers into thin slices, lettuce into wide strips. Place everything in a salad bowl, add green peas, finely chopped onion and mix. Season the salad with sour cream and mayonnaise, sprinkle with sugar and mix again.
Finnish fish soup
To prepare two servings you will need:
- fresh salmon (or other fish of the salmon family) – 120 g;
- 1 medium onion;
- 2 medium potatoes;
- cream 33% fat – 1.3 cups;
- fish broth - 0.5 cups;
- butter for frying;
- soy sauce, finely chopped regan (basil), salt - to taste.
Separately cook the fish broth. Peel the potatoes, boil, cut into cubes. Cut fresh salmon into cubes and set aside.
Cut the onion into cubes, fry in butter until golden brown, place in a saucepan. Then pour cream on the onion, add fish broth prepared in advance, chopped salmon, and potatoes. Boil the soup until thickened. Before serving, add a few drops of soy sauce, salt to taste and sprinkle with regan (basil).
Steamed salmon
To prepare two servings you will need:
- salmon or any fish of the salmon family – 400 g;
- dill – 1 small bunch;
- natural fish broth - 2 tbsp. spoons;
- lemon juice – 2 teaspoons;
- olive oil – 2 teaspoons;
- soy sauce, salt, ground white pepper - to taste.
Cut the fish into slices, place on a regular plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper, pour over soy sauce, butter, broth and lemon juice, sprinkle with dill. Cover the plate tightly with a lid or another plate and place it on a pan of boiling water. Leave for 10 – 12 minutes. Can be served with any side dish: boiled potatoes, rice, fresh vegetable salad.
***
You can complete your summer lunch with a cup of green tea or a glass of any freshly squeezed juice. Green tea is a wonderful tonic vitamin drink that perfectly quenches thirst in hot weather.
Juice can be made from any vegetables or fruits. For expectant mothers, we especially recommend mixtures in different options orange, apple, carrot, beet juice and celery juice. Use the last two only as small additions to the main juice, preferably apple juice. An excellent result is obtained if you add milk or cream to the juice at the rate of 10 parts juice to 1 part milk or cream. Bon appetit!
Not only tasty, but also healthy!
A fresh vegetable salad
Vegetable salad is an excellent vitamin and mineral assortment for expectant mothers. It is important that its calorie content is low: 150 grams of salad contains only 120 kcal - mainly due to the addition of sour cream and mayonnaise. For comparison: fried meat cutlet weighing 110 g contains 310 kcal, i.e. twice as much. The low calorie content of the presented salad with its high biological value is especially important during pregnancy. The vegetables included in this salad are very useful for the expectant mother. Tomatoes contain a lot of beta-carotene and a lot of vitamin C. Two large tomatoes a day are enough to fully provide the body of an adult ascorbic acid. Enriching the diet with these vitamins gives the future baby a chance to have a beautiful healthy skin, not prone to diaper rash and prickly heat, as well as good vision. Lettuce leaves contain a whole range of vitamins, and 100 g of leaves contains more beta-carotene than tomatoes: 1.75 mg versus 1.2 mg. However, it is difficult to eat so many lettuce leaves, so we can say that the main advantage of this vegetable plant is the variety of vitamins and minerals it contains. The composition of vitamins in green onions is also varied. But it is especially important that onion feathers are very rich in calcium, which is necessary for preserving expectant mother healthy teeth and strong bones.
Cauliflower plays a very special role in this salad. It contains exactly those vitamins that are extremely important during pregnancy. First of all, these are folates (folic acid, or folacin). The lack of this vitamin in the diet of the expectant mother is fraught with the development of anemia in the maturing baby. In addition, folic acid is necessary for the normal processes of tissue growth and development. In particular, the shortage folic acid during pregnancy is a risk factor for the formation of defects nervous system.
Finnish fish soup
The nutritional value of this soup is very high, because... In terms of fat content and, accordingly, calorie content, salmon is inferior only to a few types of fish, such as lamprey, wild boar fish and black halibut. 120 g of salmon contains 250 kcal. Add potatoes, cream and butter to this and you get about 400 kcal. Salmon is famous for its taste and its content of valuable and easily digestible protein. Salmon fat contains a complex of polyunsaturated fatty acids, known as OMEGA"3. This complex prevents the deposition of fatty substances on the walls of blood vessels, prevents the formation of blood clots in dilated veins, i.e. serves as a means of preventing thrombophlebitis, which is very important for expectant mothers.
In addition, salmon contains vitamin D, which has a beneficial effect on calcium metabolism and, accordingly, on bone strength. Special attention I would like to turn this into making broth. It must be cooked from natural products (fish, meat, poultry), and not prepared from cubes, as many people do now. The fact is that the cubes contain flavoring and aromatizing food additives, which are extremely undesirable during pregnancy. To improve the taste, it is better to add dill to fresh broth, Bay leaf or other natural seasonings.
Steamed salmon
This dish contains 86 g of animal protein, which is more than a third of the daily requirement of the expectant mother. This steamed protein dish is especially valuable for the second and third trimester of pregnancy. It creates optimal conditions for the functioning of the liver and biliary tract: does not irritate them, does not force them to work with tension. IN recent months During pregnancy, women have a tendency to stagnation of bile in gallbladder. Hot steamed dishes promote calm and efficient emptying of the gallbladder.
Green tea and freshly squeezed juices
Green tea healing properties superior to its black counterpart. It is more natural, because its production technology does not require fermentation and retains maximum of it beneficial properties. Green tea contains such valuable substances for expectant mothers as fluoride, iodine, iron, phosphorus and potassium. It prevents the deposition of excess fat in the body, intensively removes unnecessary substances from the body, and resists the effects of radiation.
Vitamins P and C contained in green tea create a very successful combination, enhancing each other’s beneficial effects. Any juice is good, but always freshly squeezed. Mixed juices of orange, apple and carrots not only create a successful taste range, but also complement each other. Beta-carotene from carrots, vitamin C from oranges, iron from apples - this is the optimal set for both mother and unborn baby. Just keep in mind that excessive consumption of juices from orange, red and black berries, fruits and vegetables can cause an allergic reaction. For example, you should not mix carrot, pumpkin and tomato juice, eat black currants daily and in large quantities, and abuse apricots and peaches.
Beetroot juice stimulates the intestines. A third of a glass at night - and the woman is freed from constipation, which is so annoying during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester. Celery juice added to any vegetable juice, will make its taste piquant, sharper, and also enrich it with potassium salts, vitamin PP ( nicotinic acid). In addition, celery has a diuretic and cleansing effect.
Add one part cream to ten parts juice and fat soluble vitamins A, E, K will be absorbed incomparably better. It is especially important to add cream to carrot juice.
In children. “After all, there are such pressures at school!” the caring mother thinks sadly. “And my Anechka (Yulenka, Egor) literally eats nothing: she digs into her plate with a fork, chews a little and leaves the table.” The concern is understandable. In fact, why do children lose their appetite?
Insidious sweets
Ninth-grader Christina has a very good family: a full set of parents, and even a caring grandmother. Previously, she always prepared hot, tasty, healthy lunches and dinners for her granddaughter. Sweets were only served with tea. But last summer she had to move in with Christina’s uncle, who had twins. Her parents are at work all day, and the girl is intoxicated by freedom. It's stupid to eat oatmeal and eggs if no one forces you to. A bun with jam and tea is much tastier. It was boring to reheat lunch, so Christina replaced it with a cake, her favorite chocolate bar and gingerbread cookies with filling, which she bought on the way from school. Here it is, sweet life!
Soon the mother noticed that her daughter was constantly in a minor mood, had lost weight, turned pale, was eating almost nothing, and was complaining of weakness. The girl was examined by specialists, no diseases were found, but a serious deficiency of B vitamins was discovered. It was strange to talk about the poor nutrition of a girl from a very wealthy family. I had to treat her with vitamin preparations in the form of injections. What is the reason for Christina’s malaise?
A lack of B vitamins in the diet is one of the common causes of loss of appetite, especially in adolescents. Vitamins B-1 (thiamine) and B-8 (biotin) are most responsible for appetite. And it’s not just that Christina’s diet was low in vitamins. Sugar and sweets sharply increase the body's need for vitamin B-1, and those with a sweet tooth quickly develop signs of its deficiency: loss of appetite, muscle weakness, low mood, apathy, and learning difficulties. And with a lack of biotin, it can even lead to aversion to food and depression. And problems with your appearance will begin: your skin will deteriorate, your hair will thin out.
What to do if there is a vitamin deficiency? Urgently stop eating confectionery products, include sources of vitamin B-1 and biotin in your daily diet: brewer's yeast, beef liver, kidneys, nuts, brown rice, grain bread, pork, legumes, potatoes, bran, wheat germ, fresh eggs, pearl barley cereal Don't forget about fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs.
"Mom, I'm tired!"
- Doctor, to hear such words from a first-grader! I haven’t studied for another six months, and I’m already tired! The main thing is that he doesn’t eat anything, he even refuses his favorite salmon. Probably sick.
- Artemushka, does anything hurt you?
- No... I just don’t feel like eating. And everything is shaking inside.
— Did you go out after school?
“No, after school my grandfather and I went to English,” Artem said.
“But we had 20 minutes for lunch,” my mother corrected, “and Temik only drank half a cup of compote.” Yesterday I tried to shove a cutlet into him, but he vomited.
- Was he outside for a long time yesterday?
- Oh, what are you talking about! Wednesday is our busiest day: chess and choreography. I even tried to feed the child in the evening, but he just threw an indecent hysteria. This had never happened to him before.
Everything was clear to the doctor. The boy was really tired to the limit, because children are exhausted not only by studying, but also by constantly being in public, in large crowds of people, under constant pressure from adults.
A child simply needs at least short periods of solitude, not to mention walks and carefree games in the yard. Fortunately, Artem’s mother followed the doctor’s recommendations and freed the boy from unbearable stress. My appetite gradually recovered and the hysterics stopped. But it also happens differently; it can end in a serious nervous breakdown.
Chasing your waist
Beauty contests, catwalk stars, fashion models... And so many girls have a painful desire to achieve “ideal proportions.” This fashion did not affect eighth-grader Mayechka, a pleasantly plump girl with cute dimples on her cheeks and laughing eyes. Her liveliness, wit and cheerful disposition attracted both her peers and adults. But one day at an exhibition, her friend admired the grace and airiness of the girl depicted in the drawing. And the struggle for airiness began. Maya either ate only boiled rice for three days in a row, then soy cheese, then drank only kefir, then generally switched to water and various teas to lose weight.
Soon she lost her appetite, she no longer wanted to eat at all, irritability appeared, and her A's in school were replaced by C's. Maya really lost a lot of weight: her cheeks became fashionably sunken, her eyes seemed to go out. Along with the kilograms, the liveliness, cheerfulness and charm disappeared. Skin problems appeared: dryness, peeling, red spots, cracks in the corners of the lips.
The doctor, to whom Maya’s concerned parents took her, diagnosed hypovitaminosis at first glance. Dry skin, peeling, spots are a sign of a lack of vitamin A, which dissolves only in fat and is not absorbed without it. Yes, and it is found in fatty foods (liver, fish oil, eggs, butter), and it was these that Maya excluded from her diet. Cracks in the corners of the lips reflect a lack of vitamin B-2, the main sources of which are also high-calorie foods: eggs, liver, kidneys, fish, cheese. Decreased appetite, irritability, apathy, pallor... This is how vitamin B-12 deficiency, found in liver, kidneys, pork, eggs and cheese, manifests itself.
It took only a month to cope with the consequences of a diet harmful to health. It’s especially annoying that the healthy and attractive Maya didn’t need any diet. But what to do if a teenager’s obesity is not imaginary, but real?
Eleven-year-old Arinka was chubby from early childhood, but in the fifth grade she gained so much weight that she once heard the boys during a team game shouting after her: “Fatty, don’t lag behind! We’ll lose because of this bun!” At home, the girl looked at herself sadly in the mirror and decided not to eat anymore. Any food seemed to her an insidious enemy, and the very sight of it caused disgust and nausea. The girl was admitted to the hospital with suspected stomach disease. Like an ethereal shadow, she wandered along the corridor. An attempt to swallow even a piece of food ended in vomiting. The examination did not reveal any digestive pathology, but Arisha grew weaker and no longer got out of bed.
A psychiatrist was called and diagnosed severe anorexia nervosa (aversion to food). This disease can be caused by constant refusal of food in order to lose weight. This is very serious, especially in teenagers. The treatment was long and persistent, but in the end everything ended well. However, in advanced cases there are also deaths. Therefore, if parents see that a child is starving himself, they should immediately consult a doctor.
If your daughter is teased with a bun...
If a teenager, especially a girl aged 11-12 years, has sharply gained weight and continues to gain it, this should not be ignored. Competent prevention, or at least timely treatment obesity will prevent many serious troubles in the future.
If obesity has already reached the stage when the nickname “Fat Trust” appears, treatment should be carried out only under the supervision of an endocrinologist with the participation of a methodologist physical therapy and a psychotherapist. We must also remember that the most common reasons insatiable appetite - disorders, unhealthy image life and everyday situations that cause neurosis.
Parents should know that overeating can be true and false.
False overeating
During periods intensive growth the need for calories increases. Parents must be prepared for this.
Eighth-grader Dima returned from school earlier than usual. There was a fairly large boiled chicken in the refrigerator, intended for lunch for the whole family... When mom returned from work, she found only chicken bones in the saucepan.
“We need to pay more attention to education,” my mother decided.
“No,” dad grinned, “we need to cook more food.”
Overeating is true
Distinguish different types overeating:
- Children are rodents. They constantly chew something between breakfast, lunch and dinner: chips, waffles, Snickers, pies. Such children may develop a tendency to overeat, and their weight will significantly exceed the weight of their peers.
- Gluttons willy-nilly. These children, having sat down at the table, tend to eat to their fill. And they are in no hurry to finish dinner. Because sitting at the table is much more pleasant than preparing homework, washing dishes and running errands for adults. And while lunch is going on, no one bothers the person.
- Hungry. 2-2.5 hours after eating, such children express a desire to have a substantial snack again. Detractors sometimes call them gluttonous. But loving parents often rejoice at the opportunity to pamper their child with something tasty.
If you're facing one of these problems, it's time to take action.
- Set an example for children to eat healthy.
- Offer him a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Encourage physical activity schoolboy.
- Expand his circle of communication with peers.
- If all this does not work, discuss the problem with your doctor or nutritionist.
The main thing is don’t despair if you can’t get results quickly. Your efforts will definitely pave the way to success.
Natalya Bezyazykova
All children are different. Yura sits in the library from morning to evening, preparing for the Physics Olympiad, but Valya can’t sit down for five minutes of homework. Seryozha cannot imagine life without communicating with friends, and Sveta takes great pleasure in spending free time in the company of books or a computer. Therefore, the schoolchild’s menu should correspond to the child’s character, his hobbies and lifestyle. A hot-tempered, excitable teenager and a melancholic, vulnerable quiet one cannot be fed the same way.
Oatmeal for a brawler
Is your child a passionate debater? Is he prone to competition, strives to remake the world in his own way and be a leader in everything? This is not always a bad thing, and in some cases, for example in “fighting” sports, it is simply necessary. However, if a son or daughter reacts too aggressively to quite ordinary life situations, you need to start taking measures as early as possible, otherwise problems cannot be avoided. It is unlikely that a school teacher will like it if a student reacts with fists or shouts to comments or bad grades.
It turns out that you can smooth out the “sharp corners” of your character with the help of food.
Teenagers prone to aggressive behavior, you cannot feed foods with additives such as potassium nitrate (E-252), sodium nitrate (E-251) and sodium nitrite (E-250). Nitrates and nitrites are added to sausages, sausages, smoked meats and many canned meats to give them an attractive appearance. They give the products a lasting “meaty” pink color. Their manufacturers strictly dose the quantity, not allowing it to be exceeded. However, if a child eats sausages too often, his body, due to age characteristics digestion, nitrates accumulate, which then turn into more dangerous nitrites.
The first signs of an “overdose” of nitrites are irritability, unmotivated aggression. So, will the teenager remain a brawler? Not at all. The main thing is to feed him correctly.
Personal menu
Replace foods with nitrates with natural meat and fish dishes. When purchasing vegetables, especially root vegetables, give preference to medium-sized tubers. Giant carrots, beets and potatoes accumulate more nitrates.
But what about those nitrates that have already entered the teenager’s body? Convince your child to start the day with oatmeal porridge with a spoonful of wheat bran. Firstly, oatmeal perfectly cleanses the body of everything unnecessary. And secondly, oatmeal, rolled oats and especially wheat bran contain a lot of magnesium, which has a calming effect, strengthens bones and muscles, helps normalize vascular tone, and serves as a preventive measure for vegetative-vascular dystonia. Soybeans, white beans, rose hips, millet, carrots, and nuts are also rich in this microelement. But watermelons confidently take first place in terms of magnesium content.
Also include foods containing pectins in your teenager’s diet: baked apples, buckwheat porridge, dishes made from boiled beets. They make a wonderful tandem with oatmeal to cleanse the body. Very little time will pass, and you will enjoy the changes in the child’s character, and you yourself will become calmer and more balanced.
Turkey for being harmful
A recently obedient, albeit easily excitable, child of 12 suddenly became explosive, prickly and stubborn. It was as if a spirit of contradiction had entered into him. He can, unexpectedly for himself, offend even a close and beloved person. His sarcasm and criticism frighten and offend adults, because the young man not only challenges any of their opinions and recommendations, but also strives to do his own thing, ignoring even common sense. Don't worry! Most likely, a teenager by nature is not stubborn or obstinate at all. His phosphorus-calcium metabolism is simply disrupted.
Personal menu
A stubborn teenager benefits from separate meals. The menu must be varied, but it must
try not to mix proteins with carbohydrates. For example, for breakfast you can give your child eggs, cottage cheese, cutlets or steak. But in this case, buns and sweets for tea are excluded. Good for lunch vegetable dishes: salad, vegetarian borscht, vegetable cabbage rolls or boiled cauliflower with milk sauce. For afternoon tea, tea with pies, buns or cookies. It is also useful to give a fresh fruit salad. For dinner, a meat or fish dish with a lot of greens is suitable.
Hot-tempered and easily excitable teenagers often have difficulty falling asleep. Therefore, the ideal evening dish for them would be boiled turkey with sauce with walnuts. White turkey meat contains a lot of tryptophan and vitamin B3 (niacin), and walnuts will supplement your dinner with vitamin B6. This triad (amino acid tryptophan, vitamins B3 and B6) has a calming effect, and in addition, has a beneficial effect on sleep. Therefore, turkey with walnuts and a cup of hot milk with honey before bed can become a favorite and very useful sleeping pill.
Sandwich for absent-mindedness
Over the summer, your little boy has suddenly grown out of all his suits, turned into a lanky, skinny big guy, and your daughter has become as tall as her dad and is thinking about the podium. Unfortunately, their character has also changed. The girl was vulnerable and touchy before, and the boy was not distinguished by his composure, but now... How forgetful and inattentive they are, they quickly get tired and begin to find fault with trifles and be capricious! In the evening there are none
If you calm down, you won’t get up in the morning.
If children grow, like Prince Guidon, by leaps and bounds, then how many building materials do they need for their bodies! They lack calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, which the children get from food. There is a threat of bone fragility and dental caries. In addition, the deficiency of these minerals affects the state of the nervous system, memory and attention deteriorate, and as a result, academic performance suffers.
Personal menu
Such teenagers need as much milk as possible, as well as fermented milk drinks, cottage cheese and cheese. Milk with added vitamin D is especially beneficial: without it, minerals necessary for bones are poorly absorbed.
Research in Irish schools has shown that even a very light extra breakfast (a cup of milk and a slice of bread with a small strip of cheese) significantly improves academic performance.
Foods rich in vitamins B and E, as well as choline, which is not accidentally called the substance of memory and composure, will help you cope with absent-mindedness. These are dishes from liver, kidneys, bacon pork, meat poultry, eggs, legumes, greens. It is useful to season vinaigrette and salads with unrefined sunflower oil. Serve the student tahini halva or sesame cookies for tea. All of these foods are rich in vitamin E.
Manganese is also important, it helps prevent osteoporosis, improves memory and at the same time reduces irritability. It is found in whole cereals, especially oatmeal, buckwheat and wheat grains, as well as green leafy vegetables, peas and beets.
The ideal breakfast for an absent-minded and capricious accelerator is a soft-boiled egg, oatmeal porridge, a glass of cocoa with milk and a sandwich with cheese.
For a snack at school, it is useful to prepare a “sandwich with a secret”: cut out the pulp from the bun and put liver pate into the resulting cavity.
Celery against depression
Does your child have a melancholic temperament or is he prone to pessimism? Even minor troubles can put him in a gloomy mood? Perhaps he simply lacks B vitamins.
Recent research in the UK has confirmed that even happy people begin to experience symptoms of depression if they lack niacin (vitamin PP) or folic acid (vitamin B9). And in adolescents, the need for vitamins is increased, so a deficiency of these substances occurs more quickly than in adults.
Personal menu
Just one sprig of celery (but every day!), a portion of grated carrot salad with apricots or dried apricots, an egg, liver dishes 1-2 times a week, grain bread for lunch - and a lack of folic acid will not threaten a teenager.
Kidneys, white poultry meat, fresh fish, dates, figs, and prunes are rich in niacin. Often people of a melancholic nature complain of various ailments, although they do not seem to be ill with anything: either their head will buzz, then their back will ache, or their legs will ache.
It turned out that the reason for all these troubles is that a person lacks endorphins, the hormones of joy. If their production in the body is reduced, then both mood and pain threshold decrease.
To correct the situation, you need to run to music, dance or eat something tasty: chocolate, banana, nuts, pumpkin or sesame seeds. But you shouldn’t get carried away with sweets and starchy foods, otherwise joy hormones will stop being produced.
Whatever the character of a teenager, in winter and spring his body especially urgently needs vitamins.
However, it should be remembered that multivitamin complexes are also biologically active additives The foods that are most beneficial for your child can best be selected by your family doctor or local pediatrician.
