The Three Essential Nutrients

My educational background is Nutrition and the lessons learned have stayed embedded in how I live everyday.

My son was an especially fussy baby (being AuADHD) so I have learned a few tips and tricks to share how to manage this.

Here we'll focus on three nutrients that MUST be eaten for children to develop properly. First: what is an essential nutrient?

Essential vs Non essential

Your body makes most of the nutrients it needs on its own. These are called “non-essential” nutrients.

However, there are also some nutrients that your body cannot make and the only way to get them is through the diet. These are called “essential nutritents.” Repeat: the ONLY way to get them is through the diet. The list of essential nutrients are:

• Vitamin A

• Vitamin D

• Vitamin E

• Vitamin K

• All minerals

Lets look at three important essential nutrients for growing bodies: calcium, iron, Omega 3, 6 & 9 Fatty Acids

1) CALCIUM

Benefits

Kids need enough calcium to support the huge amounts of growth going on in their bones. Calcium is also important for healthy muscles! Interestingly, girls are usually more likely to be calcium deficient than boys.

Sources

• Milk (unless you’re opting for chocolate milk – not recommended).

• Tofu

• Cheese. Soooo many different types of cheese don’t just opt for yellow! We love protein rich ricotta. Ricotta recipes below.

• Chia Seeds

• Almonds (for older kids with teeth)

Plan B Sources

Gotta have a plan B because sometimes your kids just won't eat the way you want or expect them too and that's normal.

Plant based alternatives to milk, cheese and yoghurt are becoming increasingly good buuuuut are pretty expensive and not ALL of them are actually a good enough source of calcium. To check if they are a good source, look at the label on the back and check for at least 100mg of calcium for 100g or 100mls. Always check the nutrient label on the back.

Did you Know?

Vitamin D (activated in your body by sunlight) boosts calcium absorption.

Ricotta Recipes:

• As a Dip: Whip a banana with 250 g ricotta for a yummy dip to use with apple slices!

• As a Topping: Use ricotta and honey as a topping on pancakes!

• Inside pastry: Filo triangles are is super easy. Make a filling with 250g ricotta, 1 diced cooked onion and 1 bunch spinach. Wrap in filo pastry (we prefer triangles) and bake at 180 for 10-15 mins.

2) IRON

Benefits

Iron carries oxygen around in your blood. Without enough, kids can feel constantly tired and weak. Importantly, it can also affect brain development.

For science nerds like me: the specific impact is to do with neurotransmitter systems (the chemicals that send messages to and from the brain) and myelination (the protective layers that form around certain types of brain cells which are important for enabling brain connectivity).

Ideal Sources

• Beans esp chickpeas and natto (fermented soybean)

• Herbs like coriander, dried basil, turmeric, ground cinnamon

• Dried raisins, plums (prunes) or dried apricots. (No idea what makes a raisin, sultana and current different – all I know is they all come from grapes. I welcome a reader to find out and share this useless but fun tid-bit in the comments)

• Spinach - lightly cooked is best as it makes more iron available to the body

• Meat (esp beef, lamb, chicken)

Plan B Sources

Fortified cereals (the only reason this is Plan B is because rather than relying on fortified cereals for all our nutrition we want to aim to expand the range of foods our little ones eat).

Did you Know?

Vitamin boosts iron absorption. Serve up some mandarin / orange slices with your iron. In case you are thinking “I can just give them orange juice” yes true but always keep juice to a minimum. Too much fruit without fibre (e.g. juice) will do damage to baby teeth but it also removes the opportunity to give them that extra bit of fibre so their body can make healthy poos.

Recipe Ideas

• Bean salad (4 bean mix and a dressing made of chopped red onion, cumin, salt and pepper)

• Turmeric Latte (makes 2): add to a saucepan 1 cup milk of choice, ½ tsp ground turmeric, 2 tsp tsp maple syrup or honey, pinch cinnamon, and then heat up for about 3-5 mins while stirring. Make sure its not too hot before serving! Optional: 1 tbsp cacao powder or coconut oil.

3) Omega 3, 6 & 9 Fatty Acids

Benefits

Omega 3 is important for

• Eye and brain development in infants.

• Cell membrane formation

• Hormone production especially in the blood and respiratory system

• It’s also been linked to lowering: inflammation, asthma symptoms, depression, and ADHD symptoms

Omega 6 is important for:

- Healthy skin and hair

- It’s also been linked to lowering symptoms of eczema and ADHD

Omega 9 helps keep good cholesterol high and bad cholesterol down.

Sources

• Avocado

• Legumes: Soybeans, almonds, cashews, walnuts,

• Fish: canned tuna, salmon, whiting, mackerel

Plan B Sources

• Mix a little flaxseed oil into peanut butter or a smoothie

• Fish fingers and nuggets

Did you Know?

Some fish are high in mercury - pregnant women and young children are encouraged to be particularly cautious about mercury intake from fish. Fish high in mercury are usually: shark (flake), ray, swordfish, barramundi, southern bluefin tuna, deep sea perch and marlin.

Instead go for: tuna, shrimp & salmon

Recipes

• Banana Chia seed pudding (adapted from My kids Lick the Bowl): mix ½ mashed banana with ½ cup coconut milk, 2 tbsp of chia seeds and ½ tsp cinnamon. Let it set in the fridge.

• Salmon nuggs: roll cubed salmon fillet in some mayo and then roll in almond meal until covered. Whack into an airfryer or bake in the oven for 10mins at 180 degrees, turn over then bake for another 5min.

Final Word

Of course there's more essential nutrients kids need so how do you make sure they eat them all without it getting to complicated?

Do this simple trick: eat like a rainbow! Try to include a few different colours in each meal and pick different colours of the rainbow at each meal. This simple tricks focus on variety and means you don't have to be guilty, or fearful about doing everything to perfection.

Do this and you’re well on your way to optimum health.

Good Resources About Nutrition

Nutrition for Kids.com https://www.nutritionforkids.com.au/recipe

Mykidslickthebowl.com (Mum of four with a background of Nutrition and Dietetics https://mykidslickthebowl.com/banana-chia-pudding/

Information within this post has been sourced from: National Institute of Health