The Power of Nuts and Seeds: Essential Nutrition for Growing Children

 Growing children need the right nutrition to support appropriate growth and development. Among the major aspects of growth are brain development and bone health. Ensuring children receive the right nutrition helps them grow better, and nuts and seeds play a vital role in their diets.

Nuts and seeds are excellent sources of antioxidants and contain a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. They are high in healthy fats, low in unhealthy fats, and are good sources of fiber and protein. Daily consumption of nuts significantly contributes to a child’s vitamin E, omega-3 fats, fiber, and protein requirements. Moreover, nuts are rich in nutrients like zinc, iron, calcium, and B-complex vitamins, which help build a child’s immunity, concentration, and overall health.

Establishing the habit of nut consumption from early childhood can help keep cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels in check, benefiting their adult lives. Here are some essential nuts and seeds that should be included in a child’s diet:

Nuts

Almonds
Almonds are an amazing health food, rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals. They act as antioxidants, boost the immune system, promote healthy brain development, strengthen bones, and enhance energy levels.

Walnuts
Walnuts are nutrient-dense nuts packed with essential minerals like magnesium, potassium, folate, calcium, zinc, and selenium. Walnuts contain folate and omega-3 fatty acids, which are crucial for brain development. These nutrients improve brain power by enhancing memory and boosting brain cell activity.

Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are rich in vitamins and minerals essential for development, such as vitamin K, copper, iron, and magnesium. They are one of the richest plant sources of zinc, a commonly deficient nutrient in young children.

Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower seeds are rich in folate, vitamin E, and selenium, making them safe for nut-free zones.

Flax Seeds
Flax seeds are excellent sources of protein, essential fatty acids like omega-3 and 6, vitamin E, calcium, iron, and zinc. These nutrients are vital for healthy brain and physical development.

Incorporating Nuts and Seeds into Children's Diets

Mothers can think of innovative ways to incorporate nuts and seeds into their children’s diets. Here are some ideas:

• Nut and Seed Butter: Spread almond, walnut, or sunflower seed butter on whole-grain bread or use as a dip for fruits and vegetables.
• Smoothies: Blend nuts and seeds into smoothies for a nutrient-packed drink.
• Snacks: Offer mixed nuts and seeds as a snack or add them to yogurt and oatmeal.
• Baking: Include ground nuts and seeds in baking recipes like muffins, pancakes, and cookies.

A solid nutritional foundation in childhood helps children grow into healthy adults. By incorporating a variety of nuts and seeds into their diets, parents can ensure their children receive essential nutrients for optimal growth and development.

Posture Matters: How to Sit Right and Stay Healthy

Hey there! If you're like me, you probably spend a good chunk of your day sitting at a desk, working away on your laptop. While it's   our productive lifestyle , all that sitting can lead to some serious issues with your spine and neck if not paid attention to. 

Trust me, I've been there – a stiff neck, aching back, and those annoying headaches. But here's the good news: with a few simple changes, you can improve your posture and avoid these problems. Let’s talk about why good posture is so important and how you can easily integrate it into your daily routine.

 Why Good Posture Matters

You might not realize it, but good posture is crucial for how your body moves and handles stress. It affects every movement you make and helps your body adapt to various stresses, whether you're lifting something heavy or just sitting at your desk.

When we slouch or sit incorrectly, our muscles have to work harder to keep us balanced. This extra effort leads to muscle strain, tightness, and inflexibility. Over time, this can cause wear and tear on our joints and ligaments, and even make our organs less efficient., leading to  headaches, back pain, and a general feeling of discomfort. 

Not fun, right? Let us focus on how can we get good posture.

Good posture means aligning your spine properly. Think of your spine from the front or back as a straight line, with all 33 vertebrae stacked neatly. . This alignment keeps your center of gravity directly over your base of support, reducing strain and fatigue.

• Align Your Body: Keep a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. This helps maintain your center of gravity and reduces strain on your muscles.
• Reduce Fatigue and Strain: Ensure your neck is vertical, not tilted forward, while sitting. Keep your shoulders relaxed, arms close to your body, knees at a right angle, and feet flat on the floor.
• Move Regularly: Even with perfect posture, sitting still for too long isn't good for you. Make sure to move around regularly to keep your muscles and joints healthy.

Good posture involves more than just sitting correctly. Here are a few extra tips to help you out:

• Use Ergonomic Aids: Ergonomic chairs and desk setups can do wonders for your posture.avoid sitting on sofa or bed with the laptops.
• Sleep Smart: Try sleeping on your side with proper support for your neck and legs.
• Stay Active: Regular exercise strengthens your muscles and improves overall health.
• Carry Wisely: Keep items close to your body and carry backpacks symmetrically to avoid strain

Maintaining good posture is key to reducing fatigue, minimizingmuscle strain, and preventing long-term health issues. By paying attention to how you sit and move throughout the day, you can significantly improve your physical and emotional well-being. So, let's make a conscious effort to sit correctly and incorporate regular movement into our routines. Your body will thank you for it!

BREAKFAST –Core To Healthy Lifestyle

 

Breakfast, seems a simple word but has a major role to play in our lifestyle.

After the long sleep hours of night, our body is just like the cold engine of a car and needs heating up to start away. Breakfast provides our body with fuel to kick start the body metabolism which has slowed down.

In today’s fast moving busy world, people think its ok not to have breakfast and opt for ‘BRUNCH’ but does it really benefit as breakfast alone would do??

You must have noticed that when you skip breakfast, you must be feeling less active at your work or school , and sometimes your attention span decreases.

And it also affects your next meal. When you skip your first meal of the day you may end up eating more than what is needed at your next meal. So these extra calories during your lunch or mid morning snack , gets stored as fat eventually adding to weight. So what does it imply?

Breakfast consumption not only spikes up your  energy levels  for day to start,  but also helps in portion control of the meals throughout the day.hence helping in weight loss and control over a long period.

Hence now the question is what to have when I find no time during the mornings, don’t feel like eating and such reasons. Well here are a few tips so you begin your day well.

Well, to start with you may have a fruit of your choice or also a fistful of dry fruit mixture like almonds, walnuts,resins, even roasted groundnut or peanuts would make a great choice.

-Opting for handy options such as a vegetable sandwich, chapatti roll stuffed with vegies and seasonings, parathas, omelettes bread , paneer sandwich or whichever stuffing’s you prefer for your rolls and sandwich. These foods can just be wrapped up and you may eat as you travel.

Secondly carrying smalltiffin where ever you are going and finishing i8t up before you begin your schedule. Tiffin with sprouted moong or poha, upma, dahlia, with some vegetable seasonings is definitely smart choice.You may later go for milk,buttermilk, smoothies(vegetable-fruit combo with curd), also you can cut fruits fine add them to your milk and have instead of blending the fruits as this leads to loss of fibre and vitamins and minerals. .

Ragi (nachni) Milk is another best option which you can go for your morning drink.

It’s better to avoid having just tea and coffee first thing in the morning as these are high in sugar and caffeine. Caffeineaggravates release of stomach acid, which in absence of food may damage intestinal linings over repeated exposure. Having a cup after wholesome full meal making sure that you maintain a duration of 30 minutes and above.is fine. And later at your mid-meal you can opt for green tea which are good source of antioxidants, which also help in burning body fat.

School going children mothers did not really worry about elaborate preparations, instead a simple glass of milk to which you may add powdered almonds for additional taste, a boiled egg or a omelettes stuffed with simple veggies like onions, grated carrots a little bit of cheese for additional protein  and a slice of bread does a great job. Others can also opt for it. You may also  give them French toast as its  healthy and tasty.Ratherthan that, a simple tip whatever you make, try and make it attractive so that your child just cannot resist it.

When it comes to Milk, to increase it’svalue you may powder a mixture of dry fruits instead of just one , cereal pulse mixture roasted and powdered ,store in a container and add it to your milk., Adding veggies, whole grains and pulses and making a quick dish also does wonders.

• Weekends we can opt for foods that include elaborate preparations like
• Idli with Sambhar is aperfect combo of carbs and proteins,
• Dosachutney(where in peanut chtney can be a smarter choice over coconut)
• Dhoklas, chappatis Rice bakhri, rice bonda, iddiappam(south indian ), rice bhath  and many more such preprations.

To sum up, Find sometime during morning hours to fill in your tank with fuel for rest of the day, I mean for having breakfast. Skipping not only breakfast but even other meals is not a very smart choice, by doing that you put your body at stress. Opt for healthy and easy meals, as per your convenience .to remain fit, active, conscious and control weight.

And here you are good to go