Healthy Food For Kids

Kids need a filling and nutritious diet for growth and unhealthy foods will slow down their growth if the daily nutrition is not met accordingly. From carbohydrates for energy to go non-stop through out the day, the amino acids from protein to build muscle and recover them, vitamins and minerals for healthy functioning of organs and chemical reactions in the body
and fat for good cholesterol and cushioning of organs.

Though kids like foods that are surprising and delightful to their taste buds. Get creative with your recipes and start making your food nutritious and attractive. Here are foods for kids to kep them healthy. Give your child plenty of options ranging from chocolates to everything that they like.

Cornflakes with milk and fruits: We all feed our kids with cornflakes but make it more healthy with adding fruits to it. Include the fruit that your kids like eating. Strawberry, grapes, nuts, seeds, apples, bananas etc. This meal will provide your kid with carbs, protein and essential vitamins and minerals along with iron to improve metabolism.

Eggs: Eggs provide a lot of satiety and protein, vitamins and minerals. Make it healthier by adding a slice of cheese or add a few slices of vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber etc. The meal will keep the kids feel fuller and have lots of nutrition for a good growth.

Sandwiches: What about adding a slice of lean meat for non-vegetarians and cottage cheese for veggies ? Play around with your stuffing options with boiled mashed potatoes, cheese slice, tuna or vegetables. Choose whole grain bread or multiflour bread to make it more healthy.

Drinks: Say no to aerated drinks including the cola’s and sweetened sodas as they would add empty calories which is not healthy for a childs growth. Provide other varities from fresh fruit juice, lemonade, buttermilk, banana milk shake, mango shake and other shakes with fruits, nuts and seeds.

Walnuts: For healthy functioning of mind omega fatty acids are equally important. Walnuts, flaxseed and fish products like salmon, tuna etc are rich sources of omega 3 fatty acids which are important for developement of childs brain.

You can pick lots more  healthy options for your child. Keep foods providing empty calories and junk that add no nutrition away from their diets. Use less oil in the food and avoid fried foods. Follow these basics and keep your kids healthy.

 

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie Breakfast Recipe

Everyone’s heard that breakfast is good for you, but here’s a breakfast that really is. It is lip smackingly delicious and healthy.

Take 1/2 cup of low fat milk, 2 tbsp of chocolate syrup, 2 tbsp of peanut butter, 1 frozen ripe banana and 1 cup low fat yoghurt. Place it all in a blender and process until smooth. To make it better, you can use vanilla flavoured yoghurt. To increase the protein content and reduce carbohydrate count, substitute the chocolate syrup with chocolate whey protein powder.

This breakfast is loaded with protein, fiber to keep you satiated for longer. So you won’t get to the office and dig into all that junk food. Potassium from the banana will help you keep the blood pressure down on the morning drive The calcium from the dairy is good for your bones, and a recent study showed that dairy promotes belly fat loss. Also, this smoothie gives you good carbohydrates which will fuel your body through the morning.

This is a great breakfast smoothie recipe. Or even a pre workout smoothie. For a post workout smoothie, we recommend using only 1 tbsp of peanut butter.

To make it a weight gain smoothie, swap the yoghurt with vanilla ice cream and enjoy

Banana milk shake- unhealthy fattening?

Banana milkshakes (banana and milk combination) are a common topic of health debates- whether banana milkshakes are unhealthy, fattening & weight gaining or good for health? Many people believe that if you have banana and milk together, it will make you gain weight! This is one of the biggest myths- banana milkshake does not make you fat- Let’s show you how..

Let’s analyze this a little. For a basic banana milkshake, you need one banana and one glass of low fat milk. A banana by itself has negligible fat. See banana calories & nutrition. Milk is a dairy product. And a recent study linked dairy consumption with reduced storage of belly fat. So, we know its not the fat that is the problem.

Both banana and milk have a low-medium Glycemic Index, so it is not the carbohydrate content that makes you fat. Besides, it provides you with protein, fiber, calcium, vitamins, and minerals, which if anything, don’t make you fat. As you see, there is nothing in banana and milk that makes you fat.

If you’re worried about calories in bananas and milk, then 1 banana is about a 100 calories. 1 glass of low fat milk is about 60-80 calories. So, a plain banana milkshake would be about 160-180 calories. The total calories from this concoction are lower than a bag of chips (about 600 calories). What the culprit probably is all the additives in a banana milkshake to make it taste better- sugar, ice cream, unhealthy sweet syrup (basically, sugar and water), and all the extra flavouring. These additives are loaded with calories, and are what make a banana milkshake unhealthy and fattening.

The other reason why people associate banana & milk with being fattening & unhealthy is that in general people who are overweight are consuming more calories than they’re burning. If they added a banana milkshake to their diet, did they remove something from their diet to replace with a banana milkshake? We all know the basic rule of weight gain: More calories in, less calories out and you gain weight. As you can see, the poor banana and milk are just scapegoats for people not burning the calories that they consume.

If you just have a simple banana milk shake, it is loaded with benefits- healthy carbohydrates, protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and more. All you need to do to make a banana milkshake, is throw in one banana with a glass of low fat milk, and some ice cubes in the mixer.

Simple Banana Milkshake Recipe Tip: Next time you have a banana shake, add a pinch of cinnamon to it, or try some elaichi (green cardamom)- makes it delicious. The spices are loaded with antioxidants and make it even healthier!